Using Mental Health SEO Keywords in Your Blog Writing: Tips for Therapists and Helping Professionals

If you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably already aware of the power of blogging for SEO. Blogs are a great way to pack keywords, location indicators, optimized photos, and of course great content into your website. We recommend that all of our clients use blogging as part of their SEO strategy. We’ve even had clients who use blogging as their primary blogging strategy because it works so well! As a copywriter, I really enjoy writing blogs for therapists and helping professionals because it allows them to deliver great advice to potential clients in a way that packs an SEO punch. If you’re considering using blogging as an SEO strategy, you may be struggling with where to start. Let me give you my advice as a Mental Health SEO Copywriter! 

What are Keywords? Choosing the Right Keywords for Your Ideal Client

When I start copywriting for our clients the first thing I do is look at their keywords, specifically which keywords aren’t ranking too well. If you’re not aware, keywords are those words or phrases that users are searching for on Google and other search engines. You might be wondering, what are the best keywords for therapists? The keywords that you’re going to be incorporating into your website largely depend on your ideal client. For example, if you’re a trauma therapist specializing in sexual assault trauma, the keywords for a trauma therapy page might be “trauma therapist”, “sexual assault survivor”, or “ptsd counseling near me”. Whereas if you’re a counselor that specializes in eating disorders, the best keywords for you could be “counseling for body image”, “eating disorder treatment near me”, or “counseling for anorexia”. 

Using Keywords in the Title of Your Blog Post

After you’ve identified the keywords that your ideal clients are searching for, you can start the process of building those counseling keywords into your website through service pages and blogs. If I’m working with a therapist that specializes in gender affirming therapy, I’m going to come up with topics that target keywords related to their niche. Let’s say I want to write a blog on the topic of gender affirming therapy for teenagers, I’m going to make sure that I pack keywords related to that into the title. Instead of something simple like “Gender Affirming Therapy for Teenagers” I would make the title “Supporting Your Transgender Teen Through Gender Affirming Therapy” or even “Supporting Your Transgender Teen Through Gender Affirming Therapy: Thoughts From an LGBTQ+ Counselor”. 

Building Mental Health SEO Keywords Into Your Content

Now that we have a title, let’s talk about content. I’m not going to go too far into writing since we already have some great blog posts that cover readability, how much to write, and other important factors to consider when writing blogs. However, I am going to discuss how you can build therapy keywords into your content. Naturally, if you’re writing a blog on gender affirming therapy you’re already going to be building that keyword into your writing. You’re also going to want to try to build related therapy keywords such as “transgender affirming therapist”, “counseling for transgender teens”, and “LGBTQ+ counselor” into your writing as well. It’s especially important for you to build keywords into the headings and subheadings of your blog as well, since these carry even more SEO weight. 

Creating Headings and Subheadings Packed with Keywords

Headings and subheadings are a great way to break up the content in your blog so it’s easier to scan. Like I mentioned, it’s also important for SEO purposes. (To read a quick explanation of headings and how to properly use them, check out this blog post). For the purposes of this blog, we’re just going to be discussing how to use counseling keywords in your headings and subheadings. If you’re breaking your blog down into sections on 1)understanding gender identity, 2)what to do when your teen is questioning their gender identity, 3)how to support your teen, and 4)how therapy can help, you’ll want subheadings that reflect those different topics. Remember, we want to pack mental health SEO keywords into those subheadings too. Here are a few subheadings that would do just that. 

• What is gender identity and what does it mean if my teen is transgender?
• My teen has told me that they’re transgender, what do I do now?
• How to support your transgender teen or child as a parent
• How gender affirming therapy can help you support your transgender teen
• Begin transgender affirming therapy in (your town) with an LGBTQ+ affirming counselor!

The specific mental health keywords you should use will depend on your niche and where you’re located. In different areas the same mental health topics might be searched for by clients in a different way. That’s why keyword research is so important!

Piecing it All Together

Now that we’ve put all the pieces together, hopefully blogging doesn’t seem as intimidating anymore. Remember, blogging shouldn’t feel like writing a grad school essay. It should be a fun way for you to give your clients advice, and tell potential clients more about your services and approach to therapy. If you have questions about what topics to write on, how often you should be blogging, or how blogs can help with client conversion check out this comprehensive guide on blogging to improve SEO specifically for therapists. If you’re still feeling stuck, you might want to read this blog on common mistakes we see people make when they first start blogging. Or, you can always reach out to us for help! 

Don’t Have Time to Write Blogs? Our Mental Health SEO Specialists and Copywriters Can Help!

If you don’t have time to work on blogging or SEO yourself, don’t worry, our team can help! We offer a range of SEO services that we created specifically for therapists, private practice owners, and helping professionals. Our team of Mental Health SEO Specialists would love to help you get your website to the top of Google so you can reach more of your ideal clients. If you’re interested in learning more about our SEO services, you can follow these simple steps: 

1. Schedule a free 30-minute video consultation with one of our team members
2. Learn more about how our SEO services can help you and your business
3. Check SEO off of your to-do list so you can get back to the work you love!

We can’t wait to be a part of your SEO journey and help you reach more of your ideal clients!

Other SEO Services Offered by Simplified SEO Consulting

Our goal at Simplified SEO Consulting is to help therapists reach their ideal clients through SEO! If you’re interested in outsourcing SEO work so you can focus on your clients or practice, then our Done-For-You SEO services are probably what you’re looking for. If you want to learn how to optimize your own website with the help of our team members, then you’re probably going to want to check out our 12-Week SEO Intensive program or our Small Group SEO Intensives. You can also purchase our DIY Online SEO Courses to learn SEO on your own, at your own pace. Regardless of which option is best for you and your practice, we are so glad to be a part of your SEO journey!

About the Author

Kaite Ritchie is an Administrative Assistant, Alumni Specialist, and Mental Health SEO Copywriter at Simplified SEO Consulting. Before joining the Simplified SEO Consulting team, Kaite worked as an Intake Coordinator for our founder, Jessica Tappana, at her private practice helping to connect clients with the counselors on their team. Now Kaite enjoys using her previous experience to help the therapists and helping professionals we work with to get connected with their ideal clients through the power of SEO! She loves writing blogs for counselors on various mental health topics that deliver great advice to their potential clients and improve their SEO. You can schedule a free consultation with Kaite to learn more about our SEO services!