Incorporating SEO keywords

You know you need to incorporate SEO keywords into your copy, but it feels so clunky and awkward. You’ve done SEO keyword research and have come up with what you want to rank for but are struggling to add those keywords in a way that flows and makes sense.

 

Copywriting for SEO doesn’t have to be difficult! I personally love the puzzle of adding keywords to my blog posts. As a mental health SEO copywriter at Simplified SEO Consulting, I have three tips for you as you work to add SEO keywords to your private practice website.

Write from the heart, use keywords later.

image of a person on a computer using SEO keywords in their copywriting

Writing with SEO in mind is important. However, if you want to reach your ideal clients for your private practice, copywriting which is authentic to you is even more important. You know your clients’ challenges and what they are facing. Pretend like you’re talking directly to someone you’re working with and write out what you want them to hear from you. Being honest and sincere is powerful.

While SEO copywriting can get people on your page, there isn’t a point unless those clicks convert to new clients. This is w

here writing from the heart comes in. Search engine optimization for psychotherapists can help you get more clients, but only if your content resonates with the people who land on your page.

Give yourself a day to reset your brain.

image of a confused brain trying to figure out which seo keywords to use

Writing from the heart is only the first step in incorporating SEO keywords naturally into your content. I find it helpful to write a blog post or webpage and then put it down for a day. Come back to it and find those places you can “sneak” in keywords. Switching up counseling and therapy for example can help you rank for both words! Your copy CAN have flow and style while still having great SEO. Sometimes you just need to get your brain out of therapist mode and into SEO mode. Think about what your ideal client might be typing into Google to find the help they are looking for. Put yourself in their shoes and remember that incorporating keywords into your copy and content is truly helping your ideal client. Perhaps they’re not ready for therapy yet, but are looking for a blog post that resonates. That is powerful!

Approach SEO keywords as a puzzle.

My personal favorite way to incorporate SEO keywords while copywriting is to approach it as a puzzle. Make it a word game where you try and fit in keywords wherever you can. When you approach it as a game and not a chore, that mindset shift makes a big difference in how frustrated you may get. I love the challenge of using as many keywords as possible, while still having the style and flow that I desire. There are so many words associated with counseling, see how many you can use! You likely enjoy word games (have you started playing Wordle yet, or is it just blowing up your Facebook feed?) so make SEO optimization simply another fun game to play!

Consider copywriting for SEO with Simplified SEO Consulting!

If you’re still struggling with incorporating keywords into your web content, it might be time to consider SEO copywriting from Simplified SEO Consulting. Our mental health SEO specialists love taking your words and optimizing them for SEO. If you don’t have the capacity to put words to a computer screen, fret not! We’ve got you covered at our SEO consulting firm specializing in SEO for therapists, psychiatrists & other mental health professionals. We love writing for mental health professionals like you.

As a busy business owner looking to scale, your time is very, very valuable. So, when I start talking about creating content to improve SEO it’s not uncommon that people start looking for ways to reuse that content.  And I’m supportive of that….as long as it doesn’t hurt your SEO.

I’ve had a few times where people told me they wrote such an amazing blog post that they published it on two different websites they own.  Or that they used it as a guest blog post for some big name website AND published the same content on their own website.  Unfortunately, neither of these are particularly great for your SEO.  Google likes to see fresh, new, relevant content.

But that doesn’t mean all is lost.  You don’t have to totally create content from Scratch!  Here are three ways content I’ve created has been re-used and it’s been helpful for SEO:

A keyboard with a person typing and a pad with the words "new blog post" representing how you can create new blog posts on similar topics to improve your SEO through backlink building1) The Guest Blog Post that Re-Uses an Old Idea

I often talk about Guest Blog Posting and people start groaning. They worry about having time to write a bunch of unique blog posts.  But there ARE some short cuts. One of my favorite things is to come up with a topic that can be applied to several different populations. Then, create an outline that can be reused and write a similar blog post for several different people.

I’ve done this a few times before and recently decided to do it again for this post.  So, I found two similar articles I wrote years ago for my own private practice blog and then asked a couple colleagues if I could write a similar blog post but with a focus on a different population for their website.  The result? Five different blog posts all talking about how to use the 6 levels of validation I learned back in my comprehensive DBT days but with five different populations. I actually wrote the three new articles in about an hour (even though they’re longer and I think actually better written than my original ones) because I already knew exactly what I was writing about.  But none of them are exactly the same, so it should help all of our SEO.  Take a look:

2) The Video that Becomes a Blog Post & Social Media Post

This is one of my favorites. As a practice owner, you can create a single video that can be uploaded to Youtube, used to write a summary as a blog post on the topic (make sure to embed the youtube video on the blog post as well) and then shared on Social Media.  You only have to come up with the topic and describe it once, but it’s shared across all of these platforms.

3) The Podcast Episode that was Used in Three Places

Photo of a microphone and headphones with the words "new podcast episode" representing how these three podcasts created a "new" episode from the same recording in a way that was good for SEO

In October, I spent an amazing few days in a retreat at Lake Lure with my Mastermind group. Four of us spent time doing everything from hiking, to networking, to quick sprints to knock out big projects and supporting each other as we presented at a virtual conference. The last day, my friend Gordon proposed we quickly record a podcast episode. We had a great time chatting about business and especially about how helpful it is to be part of a group like that while growing our businesses.

The other three members of our group each have their own podcast. So, Gordon graciously shared the recording with Whitney & Uriah.  In turn, all three turned the recording into a podcast episode. Sure, each created their own introduction, but they didn’t have to recreate the podcast. Then, they each wrote their own show notes. Now, all three have these show notes out on their respective website. And even though it’s describing the same thing and much of their episodes are the same content, this is actually helping all of their SEO because those show notes (while similar and describing the same content) are unique to that specific website.

Want to see how this worked? Check out the show notes on each of their website, and make sure to listen in on our conversation as well!

Want to Learn More About Optimizing Your Private Practice Website?

If you’re ready to get serious about your SEO, we want to help you through the process. First of all, we believe that if you survived grad school you can certainly learn the basics of SEO. So, if you’re the DIY sort of person bootstrapping it through building your own business, you may be interested in our DIY SEO Courses or our flagship 12 Week SEO Intensive Program. Or….we just started our very first Small Group SEO Mastermind, but it filled up so quickly we’re already starting a list for people who are interested in joining one this Spring or Summer!

Now…just because we believe you CAN doesn’t mean you want to optimize your own website or even should. After all,  we know your time is valuable as the business owner. So, we also offer “Done for You” SEO services. Interested in any of these options? If so, schedule a 30 minute consultation. In this meeting, we’ll chat a bit over Zoom to make sure we’re choosing the option that’s best for the next steps you are taking in your business.

Casual photo of Jessica Tappana, a mental health private practice owner as well as the founder of Simplified SEO ConsultingAbout the Author

Jessica Tappana believes in the power of psychotherapy to transform lives. She’s passionate about the field of mental health. She’s also built two successful businesses-a private practice in Columbia, MO where she still see counseling clients of her own in addition to supporting a team of 9+ clinicians and also Simplified SEO Consulting where she stays actively involved but has an incredible team supporting practice owners all over the world. She sees both of these businesses as contributing to her overall mission of spreading great mental health. Also, she believes that by helping practice owners have full, stable practices they’ll be able to do their very best work by feeling less stressed and being able to focus on working with the clients who fit them the best. She also believes that empowering her clinicians in her practice allows them to do the very best work for her clients.

In addition to running her businesses, Jessica loves to spend time with her family and also connect with other clinicians. In fact, having the opportunity to meet so many clinicians around the country has been one of the best benefits to building her businesses the last few years! The other consultants mentioned above live in Georgia, Tennessee & California. Other practice owners who have become close friends live in Florida, Nevada, Colorado, Kentucky & so many other places. But this passion for the field of mental health and belief that we can grow our impact by growing our businesses has led to the opportunity to form these incredible friendships that she values and learns from every day.

Writing your own blogs or service pages often comes with many questions. One of the most frequently asked questions is: “How long should they be?” However, it is a great question to ask when writing your own blogs or service pages for the first time! Because they actually have different length requirements, or well, length suggestions for SEO purposes but also so that you can put valuable information on your practice’s website. So, how long should they be?

Blogs
Shows a woman writing a blog for her private practice's website. Symbolizes how Simplified SEO Consulting can give mental health professionals seo private training to help with their SEO.

To start off with, your standard blog posts should be at a bare minimum of 500 words. These 500 words do not include your call to action section. This amount of words is just enough to cover a basic topic or cover a subject that is short. For example, this could be a blog update on what events your practice has taken part in. However, as an SEO copywriter, I would recommend blogs to be more than 500 words but 800 max for a standard blog. Because if you write more than that, you’re turning your blog into a cornerstone blog. Which is totally different from a standard blog.

Cornerstone Blogs

As I briefly mentioned above, a cornerstone blog is more than 800 words. For a cornerstone, we recommend at least 1,000 words. This is because a cornerstone blog is a deep dive into a topic so it will include more detail that you normally wouldn’t include on a service page or even in a standard blog. With a cornerstone, you will be able to go into more detail and include more information that you normally wouldn’t be able to due to your word limit.

In these 1,000 words, you will be including many SEO keywords to let Google know that you are writing about a topic that you are very knowledgeable about, but you are also including all the information you are wanting to share with your readers who are clients and potential clients. It helps with your SEO and increases your chances of ranking for these keywords on Google.

Service Pages

For your service pages, since these are not a place to go into a ton of detail, they are generally about 700-750 words or less. However, no less than 500 words because then that is too short. Your service page is a place where you are writing about a particular service that your practice offers. This can be anxiety treatment, EMDR, or even workshops. This page is to tell your clients, potential clients, and especially ideal clients, what this service is; what it entails; your approach to it; and how to go about scheduling an appointment. 

Therefore, it doesn’t have to be a super lengthy page. However, some services are less heard of than others and may take a little more explaining. This is why service pages have more of a range than blogs when it comes to length. Now, if you still feel like you need to delve more into the service is your providing, that is where your blogs can come in handy!

Will Anyone Read All of This?Shows a woman thinking. Represents how Simplified SEO Consulting gives mental health professionals seo coaching so they don't have to wonder about their SEO alone.

Now, you may be wondering, “Will anyone read all of this I’ve written? It seems really long…” and that’s okay! That’s a natural question to wonder and ask yourself. However, the answer is: Maybe! Some readers may read your whole blog, cornerstone, or service page and that is wonderful. But, most of the time, what we see is people browsing through the headers to see what is written and looking for what they want to know. 

For example, a reader may go onto your service page and browse through your headers only to see what the signs and symptoms of PTSD are. And that is okay! Your service page, or blog, is still drawing in readers and potential clients along with providing valuable information to them AND Google. 

This does bring me to the point of why headings and subheadings are important in your blogs and service pages. They can help your readers know what the sections of your page are about and help them find the information they are looking for. If you want to know more, here is a blog we have written about it! 

Ways to Make Your Blogs and Service Pages Shorter Shows a man playing accordion. Represents how Simplified SEO Consulting gives seo training on blogs and service page writing.

Okay, so you added A LOT of information to your blog or service page. That’s awesome! However, if it’s too long it can be a bit daunting or even difficult for readers to understand or even navigate. That’s why there are efficient ways to make your blogs and service pages shorter in appearance or in length and not sacrifice any of that valuable information!

Accordion Panels

One way to include a lot of information on a blog or service page on your practice’s website is to use accordion panels. Accordion panels are a type of web design that allows you to open and close panels to show or hide information. It’s often used for website menus, FAQ pages, and more. However, it can be a useful tool when you are wanting to have a lot of information on one page. It makes the information more digestible and makes it less overwhelming when navigating through your page.

Blog Series

Perhaps, you started writing your blog only to realize you wrote almost two cornerstones worth of content. You know that’s too long for one blog but you’re not sure what to do. Here is where the blog series comes into play! Blog series is a great way to break up chunks of content into multiple pages. This way your readers can still navigate through what content they would like to read but it is spread over multiple pages rather than condense into one overwhelming page or a blog that is lacking all the information needed. 

Blog series are also a great way to create content for your blog that shows you are knowledgeable not only to clients but also Google about this subject. Series also help you not have to worry about what you need to write over the next couple of weeks. It’s a win, win!

Internal Links

Lastly, when you do blog series or you want to allude to other information that you cannot fit into a page, internal links will be your friend. You can link your other blogs to one another so that readers can easily find them. However, using internal links can overwhelm readers at times if your blog or service page is full of them. So, use them strategically.

Lynsey, SEO Content Writer for Simplified SEO ConsultingAbout the Author:

Lynsey is an SEO Content Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. At Simplified, Lynsey enjoys writing all kinds of content for clients and their practices to use as resources. Her goal is to always produce quality content for her clients to use for their blogs and service pages. She knows that writing quality, original content is important not only to her clients, but to their practice and the clients that go there too! Especially, when the content is being used as a resource for mental health or even to help her client’s SEO. She is passionate about providing copywriting services for psychiatrists and therapists.

Schedule your next consultation if you’re ready to see how Simplified can serve you!

As an SEO expert and someone who loves to write, I often struggle to come up with creative blog post suggestions. Frankly, my ideas become stale after a while. This in turn makes writing less enjoyable and much more time-consuming. But, recently I was inspired to change my mindset and shift my thinking to make blogging a much more enjoyable creative outlet. And let me tell you, it’s working. What’s my secret you ask? Well, it’s allowing myself to look for ideas in the most unconventional places.

Wait a minute, if you’re not targeting keywords while you write your first draft, how will you optimize a blog for SEO?

young woman sits in her living room typing on her computer as she blogs for SEO. Learn SEO and more about copywriting from an SEO expert at Simplified SEO ConsultingIf you think blogging is just for SEO, then my last statement may have worried you a little bit. Perhaps you’re wondering, how do I target keywords? Can I even optimize them to boost my ratings? YES! You absolutely can! It requires a bit of practice but it’s totally doable. And you’ll find that once you learn to write this way, you’ll enjoy blogging so much more.

Here’s an example:

I recently saw a popular television show depicting an EMDR session to treat a character that had severe war-related PTSD. At first, I was a bit excited because I saw a topic I write about often getting the attention it deserves, but as the scene wore on I quickly realized, this is NOT the way my therapist clients talk about EMDR. There were no protocols being followed. And in the end, the client left more keyed up than when the scene began.

Honestly, it was not a good look and it did not adequately portray the healing that can come from working with a therapist trained in EMDR. The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I felt. Then as I was laying in bed I thought to myself, you should blog on this. Talk about what you can expect from an EMDR session and dispel the myths that make people afraid to try it.

Truthfully, this was one of the best blogs I’ve written. Why? Because I was inspired and it was fresh on my mind.

Say What You Want to Say and Enjoy the SEO Process

As someone who’s made their career practicing therapy, I’m sure you could talk about mental health issues at length. Maybe you do, but maybe you hold off. When you get inspired to talk about a mental health subject, in a conversation with friends, after watching tv or reading a book or news article, I encourage you to blog on it. Allow your passion and expertise to shine through in your writing. Think of it as your opportunity to voice your thoughts and show others who you are as a clinician.

Optimizing Your Blog for SEO

older woman types on her laptop. Perhaps she is a therapist learning how to blog for SEO. Learn how to draw inspiration from a copywriter and SEO expert at Simplified SEO ConsultingAfter you’ve written the blog, you should optimize it for SEO. Perhaps the topic you’ve written on pertains to a keyword you’re tracking, but maybe it does not. If it does, great! If it doesn’t don’t worry, you can still make it work! Just look for opportunities to tie what you’ve written to a keyword you are wanting to optimize for. Say you’ve written a blog about how to apologize after a big fight with your spouse because it’s something you were inspired to write, but couples therapy isn’t a keyword you’re tracking. What do you do? We’ll look for other keywords that can relate to the content of your blog. You could choose therapist, mental health support, or even anxiety treatment and weave it into the content you’ve written. For example, you could title the blog “A Therapist Shares 5 Things You Must Do When You Apologize” or something like that. You could tie in the anxiety piece by discussing how anxiety can cause you to be irritable and snap at your spouse when you don’t actually mean to. Then, you can share how anxiety treatment can help.

Where Will YOU Find Inspiration for Blog Posts?

Look for inspiration in your everyday life and blog on them. Some places I frequently get inspiration from include:
Conversations with friends and family

  • The news
  • Social media
  • Movies
  • Television
  • Books

Next Steps to Learn More About Blogging for SEO

I hope this helps you make the mental mind shift to think about blogging in a new light and gather inspiration where you can. My hope is that by writing on things you feel passionate about in the moment, you’ll let your personality shine through and write an awesome blog!

If you’re looking for more information on blogging our Blogging for SEO E-Course is a great place to start. Here you can learn more about what we look for in blogs and how to optimize the amazing content I know you will write.

If you’re looking for other SEO services or to learn how to optimize your own website, our team would be happy to help you with that as well. We offer a variety of full-service SEO packages and SEO training opportunities. Reach out to a member of our consultation team to learn more about the many ways we can help you.

Begin SEO Services with Simplified SEO Consulting

Happy man types on his laptop representing the joy that can come from writing what you want when you blog for SEO. Learn more from an seo specialist and copywriter at Simplified SEO Consulting If you’re ready to begin optimizing your private practice website, then we’d love to support you on your SEO journey. To begin, follow these steps:

  1. Schedule your free 30-minute consultation with a member of the Simplified SEO Consulting team
  2. Learn more about our SEO services and training opportunities
  3. Start optimizing your webpage and watch your site rank better on Google!

 

As a speech therapist, you understand the importance of communication. You work hard to help your clients communicate effectively, but how do you communicate with potential clients and promote your private practice? One excellent way is through guest blogging. If you’re not familiar with this practice, don’t worry! In this blog post, we’ll explore the power of guest blogging and how it can improve your private practice’s SEO.

What is guest blogging?

Guest blogging is the practice of writing a blog post for someone else’s website. This method is powerful because you can tap into the audience of an already established website. However, it is essential to emphasize that guest blogging is not about submitting the same content to multiple sites. This practice will only harm your online presence instead of enhancing it. Instead, target different websites with unique content to avoid duplication.

We’ve talked before about the power of guest blogging to build backlinks and authority for mental health clinicians. And we’ve written tips for guest blogging. But we thought at this point, our speech therapist practice owners might appreciate a blog post with examples relevant to your field as well.

Now, why should you give guest blogging a try?Photo of a private practice speech therapist helping a little girl.

First and foremost, it helps you to get backlinks. These are links from other websites that point to your website, signaling to search engines that your website is credible and trustworthy. With enough high-quality backlinks, your website will rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). With guest blogging, you’ll have an opportunity to include a backlink to your website, which will boost your SEO efforts.

Tips for SLPs Building Backlinks Through Guest Blog Posts

Guest blogging isn’t the fastest way to build backlinks. But it’s one of the best. It’s ethical. It’s helpful to both you and the person you are writing for. And if you’re guest blogging for websites that are remotely related to your own it’s especially helpful.

Choose Websites that Make Sense

When guest blogging, choose websites that match your niche. You want to target an audience that would be interested in your services. Identifying websites that match your niche makes it easy to generate content that attracts potential clients. If you’re struggling to find suitable websites to guest blog for, look for Facebook groups or communities where you can connect with other bloggers or guest post opportunities.

You may want to guest blog post for related professionals. For example, write a guest blog post on social communication for a therapist. Or, write a guest blog post for a pediatrician on things to consider when your baby has difficulty swallowing. Other related professionals may include PTs, OTs, learning specialists or tutors, education advocates or even nursing homes. Another great option is to guest blog for other SLPs.

Photo of a computer with the word "blog" on the screen pulled up an a person typing representing a private practice owner who is working on writing blogs.Tips for Pitching Your Guest Blog Post

When reaching out to the preferred website, be sure to pitch a relevant topic. Social media groups have helpful networking opportunities to connect with other bloggers who can accept or recommend your guest post to others. Make sure your pitch is personalized and targeted toward their audience. Communicate your areas of expertise and highlight how your guest post will be beneficial to their readers.

If you’re a current client of Simplified SEO Consulting, you can pitch an idea in our Facebook group. We’ve had a number of people do that and get some great backlink opportunities.

Writing Guest Blog Posts Efficiently

Speed up the process of writing guest blogs. One way to make it easier and more efficient is to maintain a running list of potential guest post topics. Write down anything that comes to mind and prioritize those that are the most relevant and most likely to attract backlinks. Also, create a writing schedule that works for you, and stick to it. Set aside some time each week to write a guest blog that will improve your SEO and attract potential clients.

Lastly, my favorite way to write guest blog posts for multiple websites is to take a single topic and write several guest blog posts on that topic. You can write one article, then completely rewrite it to say similar things on the same topic. There are various ways to do this. The kind of tried-and-true way is to write a blog post on X topic. Then go to a totally new screen and write a blog post on the exact same topic. Compare the two. You’ll use some similar phrases but chances are they’re actually pretty different in terms of the exact wording.

Final Tips for Guest Blogging to Build BacklinksShows a woman writing a blog for her private practice's website. Symbolizes how Simplified SEO Consulting can give mental health professionals seo private training to help with their SEO.

When writing a guest post, make sure it is informative, entertaining, and unique. Provide value to the reader and show your expertise in your field. By showcasing your knowledge, you’ll build your reputation as a reputable speech therapist, and you’ll ultimately attract more clients. Ensure your guest post is authoritative and provides valuable advice or information. Doing this increases your chances of earning backlinks from the website you’re guest posting on.

Guest blogging is an effective strategy to improve your private practice’s SEO and bring potential clients to your website. Remember, guest blogging is not about submitting the same blog post to multiple websites. Instead, target different websites with unique content to avoid duplication. Choose websites that match your niche, and be sure to pitch a relevant topic for their audience. Remain active and creative, producing quality content that resonates with your readers. Through diligent guest blogging, your private practice’s SEO will become strong, and your reputation as a speech therapist will flourish.

Your Next Steps for Improving Private Practice SEO

There are lots of options for your next SEO steps. Read more about our SEO services for Speech Therapy practices or move on to one of these next steps:

Headshot of Jessica Tappana showing her in a green dress with the ocean in the background. She owns a private pay psychotherapy practice that relies heavily on SEO marketing. She is also an international speak on SEO for private practice owners having spoken in Kentucky, California, Spain, Colorado and Georgia.About the Author:

Jessica Tappana owns a 12 clinician private pay psychotherapy practice in Missouri. Then, she started helping other therapists with their SEO about 5 years ago. She strongly believes she does her best work when she’s working with clients who are a great fit and able to say no to not-so-great fits because she knows more calls will come. So, she also believes other healthcare professionals do their best work in similar situations. Therefore, she founded Simplified SEO Consulting to support healthcare professionals in the private practice world. And, she’s grown a team of incredibly talented individuals who are all much more tech-savvy than she is!

Welcome back to part two of my comprehensive guide to copywriting for SEO series. I wrote this series because I know how challenging copywriting can be for busy therapists. I have had a lot of clients who tell me that copywriting is both intimidating and time-consuming. But, it doesn’t have to be so hard. My goal today is to simplify it a bit.

In part one I shared three tips to make copywriting easier: write like you’d speak to a client, speak to their pain points, and create a page for every service you offer. These tips are extremely important and it’s worth reading the blog to learn more about them. But today, I want to share three more practical tips to improve your writing experience and better your SEO.

3 Copywriting for SEO Tips:

  Include References to the Places You Want to Rank Wellpensive woman writes in a notebook next to an open laptop representing copywriting for SEP. Learn how to optimize your website in SEO training with an SEO specialist

It’s critical to include references to your location or the places where you would like to draw clients from in your website copy. This helps tell Google where you’re located, thus helping you show up better in search results for clients who are looking for services in that area.

If you have an online therapy practice, this tip is extra important. Because you cannot technically have a Google My Business listing, it often takes Google longer to realize what areas you serve. Therefore it may take longer to get you ranking in those areas. So, you must mention areas throughout your state in your website copy.

If you have multiple locations, it’s still important to make references to the places where you see clients. Although you may not be able to mention them all, look for spots to weave it in where it looks natural.

Two powerful places to really highlight where you’re located are in your footer and in a location(s) page. Let’s talk about those in-depth a bit:

  • Footer: If you have a physical address put it here. If you do not, then mention where you’re located. For example, “Our therapy office is located in Kansas City, MO however, we see clients throughout Kansas and Missouri.”
  • Location Page: I would argue that having a location page is for all practices that see clients in person. However, I feel it is especially important for practices with multiple in-person locations. On this location page, I encourage you to embed a map if possible and provide driving locations to your practice.

Look for Opportunities to Add Keywords and Internal Links

man types on his laptop computer in a cafe. He learned about copywriting for seo from an seo specialist at Simplified SEO ConsultingI know writing copy is intimidating but I encourage you to write first, then look for opportunities to target the keywords you want to rank for. The same goes for adding internal links to other pages on your site. Sometimes, simply putting your thoughts down on paper without worrying about other things makes writing easier.

Once you have written your page or post, then look for places to add in or modify the wording to add keywords and links. This can be done throughout a page or a post however, there are a few places that I find offer great opportunities to add in these SEO elements. These places are:

  • Headings and subheadings
  • A call to action section where you detail the three steps to start services at your practice (here you can link to your home, contact, about page, etc.)
  • An other services section where you share about the other offerings you provide at your practice and link to those pages.

Proofread Your Work

man with grey hair sits at his laptop and smiles at the camera representing copywriting for SEO and getting seo training with an seo specialist at simplified seo consultingI am certainly guilty of making spelling and grammatical mistakes when I write. Most people are. However, I always try to take the time to go back and proofread my work before publishing it. Even then, I am bound to make a mistake here and there. That’s when I rely on the wonders of technology and the tools that are at my disposal.

I personally love using the Hemmingway Editor and the Grammarly plugin when I write. Both tools catch common spelling and grammatical errors and they tell me if my writing is confusing or hard to read. I encourage you to use both as you work on writing copy for your private practice website.

Google likes to rank pages it considers “trustworthy.” So, if there are lots of spelling and grammatical errors it may hurt your rankings a bit. Now, I’m not saying it has to be perfect, but reading it over once or twice can really help.

SEO Services For Your Private Practice Website:

If you’re ready to optimize your website and improve your private practice website’s SEO, Then our SEO specialists can help! We would be honored to support you in your efforts to get in front of your ideal client on Google. To get started, follow these steps:

  1. Schedule your free 30-minute consultation with a member of the Simplified SEO Consulting team
  2. Learn more about our SEO services and training opportunities
  3. Start optimizing your webpage and watch your site rank better on Google!

About the Author:

Photo of Cory, our Content Coordinator who helps you write blogs for SEO and also offers 1:1 SEO TrainingCory Moss is a Simplified SEO specialist & our Content Specialist based in the Kansas City metro area. She specializes in working on readability for therapist websites. She really enjoys helping her clients get to the top of Google and attract their ideal clients. Cory is great at speaking to clients about their dream practice and figuring out exactly what content on their website will help them reach those goals. She enjoys helping people learn about SEO and watching how people can improve their optimizing over time!

Do online coaches and consultants need SEO?

Yes, you do! The field of online coaching is very broad. It is not enough to create a website and say that you’re a health and wellness coach, a life coach, or a coaching therapist. This may seem specific to you, but to your ideal client, this is very vague. It’s important that when you do SEO for life coaches, therapists, health coaches, and so on, that you’re getting specific with your niche. Not in a way that makes it too difficult to get clients, but by specifying and speaking to your ideal client or “avatar”.

Benefits of SEO for Coaches

  • First, you’re able to get in front of your ideal clients- The most visible you’re, the more likely people Mind map with SEO strategy. You deserve an SEO strategy that works! If you're offer coaching services, seo for coaches can help you. Learn how to find the best keywords for coaches or keywords for life coaching today. Read our blog to learn more!are to come in contact with your services. 
  • Builds credibility- SEO is all about building client relationships and connecting with your ideal clients through Google. Therefore, the better optimized your site, the more likely clients and prospects will see your programs and content. 
  • Raises your authority- When you’re a leader in your field, people follow suit, therefore, if you’re able to get backlinks and have reputable sites mention you on their site. The better you will rank. 

Tips on SEO for Coaches to Get Ranking Better!

Content is King! Or Queen!

Something that I see on coaching websites very often is clear, concise, and straightforward reasons to begin coaching with them. They outline what your goals are and how they can help you. Plus they outline the packages and how to get started. So what is wrong with this strategy when it comes to SEO? Google likes content and sometimes the way coaches build out pages can be more vague than you realize.

We know as SEO specialists and you know as coaches that nobody is going to ready a built-out service page, but Google will. Google loves content and if you can lay out your client’s pain points, why they may need support, how you can help, and where to get started in 500 words, Google is going to see you as a more credible source, than someone with 100 words on their page. Google needs built-out content, but what does the client need as well. A straightforward message that says “ I can help you”. That means in our SEO strategy with content, we need to make sure our keywords are niched down, headings make it clear that you can help, and that you understand who you’re trying to reach. It’s a balancing game. 

A great way to enhance your content is by creating pages on what is life coach, how can a health and wellness coach help you. Why do I need a business coach or consultant, and so on? Then creating resource guides, tips, and talking directly to your client’s needs, will help connect with your people, potential clients, and of course Google.

A Smart Keyword Strategy Will Get you on the map

What is considered a “smart” keyword strategy? Well if I told you what a health coach was, would you know what I do? Probably not, we often want to be ranking for the most highly searched for keywords, but forget that we also need to reach our ideal clients in the process. That doesn’t mean health coach, life coach, online coach, business consultant, and so on isn’t going to help you. It is just those search terms are being used by everyone and that makes them watered down. We need to be specific in who we are targeting. Online coaching for busy moms, coaching for side hustles, fitness coaching for busy women. Who are you targeting? Are they dealing with weight loss, time or stress management, building a business?

We must create a strategy that entails both a long tail ( online coaching for women in Texas) and a short tail ( online coaching) so you’re getting on the map for what you need and eventually moving up with the more challenging keywords. 

Content written on notebook near coffee cup and pen. Coaching is such a broad field and niching down is complex. Why not get support with seo for coaches. Whether you need seo for life coaches, health coaches, business coaches and more. We can help. Learn more today!

So how do I know if my keywords are right?

My response to this is how long have you been working on your strategy, do you know your ideal clients, and are you adding in the right content that connects. If you’re doing all these things and still see no results, then consider restructuring your approach. Chances are something in your copy is connecting or you’re haven’t found the sweet spot in your niche. Likewise, know that for an effective SEO strategy, you need to give it 6 months minimum to work. So how can you support your business in the meantime? Get connected!

Begin Connecting with Like-minded and different professionals

Building connections matter to get the referrals you need to your practice. Many individuals network or create podcasts to get their names out there with other professionals in their field. As well as with individuals they can partner with and refer to in the future. Two ways we suggest building on this strategy is to one create cornerstone blogs that talk about coaching, what you do, and how you help. Talk about the individual issues you see clients facing and how you can help to empower them to create the reality they are seeking. Additionally, an ethically built-out backlinks strategy will help skyrocket your credibility with Google. The more often people link to you the more Google recognizes your influence in your industry. Therefore, if you can do guest blogging, an interview, Facebook lives, or be on a podcast episode, always ask for a backlink to your site. 

Make sure your website design and appearance is professional and trustworthy

When it comes to your design and appearance, make sure you’re correctly reporting your qualifications and what you can help with. If you are not experienced in certain areas, get training so you can best support your clients. Make sure that your content and programs are original and are providing the results you expect for your clients. Additionally, make sure you have people you can refer out to such as counselors, dieticians, personal trainers, designers, life coaches, and more. Make sure when building your website that content is original and that you have a security tag on your website so it indicates that people who come to your site won’t be at risk of having their information exposed. The better care you take of your brand and content, the more trustworthy you will be to your clients and prospects. 

Make sure your coaching identity is clear

Often when I see coaching websites, they are lacking in content and don’t explain their purpose. Take time to explain your expertise, who you’re, help people recognize you’re human and capable of helping. Write blog content that connects

Is SEO for Coaches for You?

Yellow coaching words. SEO for coaches, includes seo for life coaches, health coaches, body image coaches, and more. If you need help with an SEO strategy, learn how we can help you find the best seo keywords for coaching today!

Whether you’re a body image coach, health coach, business consultant, coaching therapist, life coach, or anything in between, we can help you. Coaching is a necessary and complex business to get ranking, but our strategy can help. We strive to create individualized plans for each client so you’re bringing in the right people for you. If you’re ready for a strategy and support, see how we can help you!

Ready to Begin Working with Us?

Let’s work together to get you on the map for your niche. SEO is a great way to help you gain organic traffic as a coach. If you’re ready for support and an SEO strategy tailored to your needs, let us help you!. Our skilled and passionate team of SEO specialists is here to make sure your SEO journey is tailored to your brand and identity. Simplified SEO Consulting would be excited to help you on your SEO journey. To get started with our service follow these simple steps:

  1. Schedule a consult with our Client Success Specialist or Consult Team 
  2. Learn more about our wonderful team of SEO Specialists.
  3. Begin your ethical and holistic SEO Journey!

Other Services offered by Simplified SEO Consulting    Jasmine, an SEO specialists at Simplified SEO consulting. If you're looking for SEO help, then contact us today. You can learn about holistic SEO, an ethica coaching strategy and more. Schedule your free 30-minute consultation today with our consult team and learn how we support seo for coaches today!

Simplified SEO consulting offers a wide range of services that can help you begin working with your people. We offer. Done for You SEO Service packagesonline courses, and SEO training opportunities. Our most popular course includes our “Top of Google” Online course, and we have 12 weeks (about 3 months) of intensive SEO for those who want to learn with a guide. For those looking for a more specialized package, we also offer an SEO strategy package. To get started, schedule a consultation with our Client Success Specialist today!

About the Author:

As an SEO specialist at Simplified, Jasmine is an SEO services consultant and helps new clients become oriented to our services. If you are ready to begin SEO services then get in touch and schedule your free consultation today!

Jasmine, an SEO Specialist, and Client Success Specialists at Simplified SEO Consulting. You may be wondering where to start with your SEO for private practice or group practices. You have come to the right place.

Jasmine Jaquess is currently working towards her Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Northwestern University and is actively seeing clients in practice as part of her practicum. Currently, she serves as the Client Success Specialist in new client consultations with Simplified SEO Consulting and is a Mental Health SEO Specialist. She specializes in platforms such as Squarespace and Wix but has learned to love WordPress sites as well. Her favorite part of the job is writing copy for clients and helping them find their voice to communicate with clients how they can best serve them.

As a speech-language pathologist (SLP), starting a blog can seem daunting. You might be wondering if anyone will even read your posts or if you have enough interesting topics to write about. However, blogging is a fantastic way to connect with your audience, showcase your expertise, and attract new clients to your private practice. In this article, we’ll dive into some tips and tricks for successful blogging as an SLP. Whether you’re a seasoned blogger or just getting started, these tips will help you create engaging content that resonates with your readers and grows your online presence.

Why Blogging is Important for SLPs in Private Practice

Why is blogging so important? Simply put, it’s a way for you to communicate with your audience on a deeper level. By providing valuable information and insights, you establish yourself as an authority in your field, which helps build trust with potential clients. It’s also a great way to showcase your expertise, skills, and experience, and share your unique perspective with the world.

In addition, blogging helps improve your search engine optimization (SEO) by providing fresh, relevant content for search engines to crawl and index. This increases the likelihood that your website will appear in search results when people are looking for services like yours. It’s like threading a needle, where each stitch is a piece of valuable content that helps your website stand out from the crowd. By consistently creating high-quality blog posts, you can drive more traffic to your website and attract more potential clients.

How do I come up with Blog Post Topics?

The key to coming up with great blog post topics is to write about the things that will truly help your audience! What are they looking for? What will be truly useful to them? Sometimes, it can be particularly useful to take a more complex topic and write a series of blog posts that break it down into smaller pieces!

For more ideas, here is a blog post I wrote for specifically about coming up with blog post topics for SLPs. Our team has also written blog posts on writing blog posts that relate to what’s going on in the world and writing cornerstone blog posts that might be helpful.

Blogging Tips for Speech Therapists in Private Practice

Know your ideal private practice clients

Understanding your audience is key to writing engaging blog posts. Who are your clients, and what are their interests and needs? Are you targeting parents of children with language delays, or are you focusing on adult clients with communication disorders? By knowing your audience, you can tailor your content to their interests and needs.

And let’s be honest, you DO know your audience. It can just feel overwhelming when you sit down to start typing. My suggestion is to pretend you’re writing directly to one of your favorite clients or their caregivers. Just speak from the heart.

If you’re still struggling with what to say or not sounding natural, we have another solution. Often, we have our clients simply record themselves talking about a topic. How we talk tends to be much more natural than how we write. Then, you can type out what you dictated. Of course, you’ll remove the “ums” and polish it a bit. But overall, try to stick to retyping what you spoke into your phone.

Do a Little Keyword Research

Including relevant keywords in your blog post can help improve your website’s SEO and make it easier for people to find your blog. Be sure to research keywords (both short-tail and long-tail keywords) that are relevant to your content and use them in your blog post title, subheadings, and throughout your article.

That said, a huge trap I see private practice owners fall into is over thinking keyword research. So…I do mean a little bit. No more than 5 minutes per blog post! Truly. Why? Because ultimately if you’re writing content that is super helpful to your clients, you will naturally use keywords.

A word of caution: Don’t be too flowery in what you say. Look at the subheadings in this blog post or others we’ve written. They’re pretty direct. If you scan our blog posts, you’ll easily have a very good idea what they’re about. That is because they’re optimized for both our ideal clients (you!) and also search engines. Our subheadings naturally use keywords, because they describe our content. We don’t force the keywords in there or make every other word a phrase we think you’re searching. We just type from our hearts in a really clear way. And by being clear and direct, the words that we choose are hopefully those private practice owners looking for SEO services are using.

Write attention-grabbing titles

Your blog post title is the first thing people will see, so make it count. Use attention-grabbing titles that clearly and concisely convey what your post is about.

Again though, don’t overthink your titles. Don’t work so hard to make them attention-grabbing that they don’t even say what the page is about. You want the topic of the post to be pretty obvious to anyone reading the title. That’s because Google is ALSO reading the title.

Make blog posts easy to read

People are more likely to read your blog post if it’s easy to read. Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and subheadings to break up your content and make it more visually appealing. Readability truly does matter for SEO.

I often think of a private practice website we worked on in one of the most competitive areas of the United States. The practice owner explained that not only did they work with highly educated caregivers and family members, but it’s part of what set them apart in this overcrowded metropolitan area. So, we agreed to completely optimize their pages without touching readability on their website. A few months in, we were all frustrated that Google didn’t seem to be responding to our optimizing. So, we went through and worked on readability for all of their blog posts (still leaving service pages mostly the same if I remember correctly). And, the impact was pretty quick. Google started ranking them much better.

Over the years, we’ve emphasized readability less at some points than others. But it still seems to be pretty relevant for SEO. So, I encourage you to make your content very approachable by working on readability. Hemmingway Editor is my personal favorite tool for working on readability.

Use subheadings in your blogs

Effective website subheadings can naturally include keywords and phrases that will help with search engine optimization. Additionally, they help people to scan the page and quickly find the information they are looking for. Therefore, subheadings are an important part of on-page SEO.

To make your subheadings effective, be sure to use relevant, descriptive language that accurately summarizes the content in each section. For example, instead of using a generic subheading like “Introduction,” use something more specific like “The Importance of Communication for Children with Speech and Language Disorders.”

Proper subheading structure also helps to break up your content into manageable sections, making it easier for readers to digest. Consider using different levels of subheadings to create a hierarchy of information. For example, use H2 subheadings for main sections and H3 subheadings for sub-sections.

In addition to improving the readability and organization of your blog post, using proper subheading structure can also help to boost your search engine rankings. Search engines use the text in your subheadings to better understand the content of your post and how it is organized. By using relevant keywords in your subheadings, you can increase your chances of ranking higher in search results.

Include visuals on your blog postsPhoto from Bigstock of an African American female's hands on a computer representing a private practice owner who wants their speech therapy practice to rank well on Google and improve their SEO without blogging.

Visuals play a crucial role in creating an engaging blog post for readers. In addition to providing context and enhancing the overall appearance of the post, visuals can help break up long blocks of text, which can be daunting for readers. When readers are presented with a wall of text, it can be easy for them to lose interest or become overwhelmed, leading to a higher bounce rate. By incorporating visuals such as images, infographics, or videos, you can help maintain readers’ interest and make the content more digestible.

Images can be used to illustrate key points, add context, or simply provide a visual break from the text. Infographics, on the other hand, can be an effective way to present complex data or information in a visually appealing way. Videos can also be used to complement or replace text, allowing readers to consume information in a different format. Don’t forget to consider inclusivity on your website. Consider adding diverse photos that truly represent your clients, adding alt text to all images on your website and adding subheadings to your videos.

By incorporating visuals strategically throughout your blog post, you can make your content more engaging, easier to understand, and ultimately more shareable.

In addition to helping maintain reader interest and decreasing bounce rate, visuals can also be used to promote social media sharing. Eye-catching visuals are more likely to be shared on social media platforms, increasing your post’s reach and potential audience. By creating shareable visuals that are relevant to your content, you can encourage readers to share your post with their own followers, increasing your visibility and credibility. Overall, the inclusion of visuals is an important aspect of creating an effective and engaging blog post for SLPs in private practice.

Write for your audience

When writing your blog post, keep your audience in mind. Use language and terminology that your clients will understand and avoid technical jargon.

As an SLP in private practice, you want to make sure that the content you create is not only informative but also useful for your target audience. By focusing on creating content that is helpful to your clients or their caregivers, you are not only providing value but also building trust and credibility with your audience…and intern creating trust with Google.

By creating content that is easily shareable and useful, you not only increase the reach of your blog but also establish yourself as a valuable resource in your community. This type of content can also help establish your practice as a thought leader in the field of speech therapy. So when you’re creating content, always keep in mind the value it can provide to your audience, and don’t be afraid to write content that is meant to be shared and recommended to others.

Be consistent: Google likes fresh content

Consistency is key when it comes to blogging. Decide on a schedule for posting new content and stick to it. Whether you post once a week or once a month, consistency will help keep your audience engaged.

And from an SEO perspective, this is really important. I would much rather see someone post once a month than post 5 blog posts today and then none for 6 months. Why? Because not only will your audience come to count on you for the latest information, so will Google. You look like a more reliable source of information when you’re consistent. Like you’re staying on top of the trends and providing information that is really relevant.

Consider Updating Old Posts

Along those lines of staying up to date, it can be helpful to add to old posts. I’ll be honest and say I’m not the best at this. By now we have SO many blog posts that I don’t go back and update old ones nearly as often as I’d like. But I do now and then. Or have my team members do so. Because that shows Google that those older posts aren’t stale. They still have really relevant information.

Engage with your audience

Encourage your audience to comment on your blog post and engage with them by responding to comments. This can help build a community around your blog and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Share your blog post

Please, please, please don’t forget this step! Once you’ve published your blog post, be sure to share it on social media and other platforms to reach a wider audience. Encourage your followers to share your post with their friends and family.

You’ve put so much effort into your blog post! You want to make sure you’re getting “credit” for that work. So, share your blogs far and wide! And encourage others to do so as well!

Graphic demonstrating the positive impact of marketing SEO for SLPS - enhance your reputation and build trust with potential clientsYour Next Steps Toward Ranking on Google

As a speech-language pathologist in private practice, you know how important it is to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to marketing your business. Blogging is an essential part of that effort, but it’s not always enough to simply write content and hit publish. You need to ensure your blog is optimized for search engines, so your target audience can easily find your practice online.

That’s where Simplified SEO Consulting comes in. We offer a range of SEO services and training options specifically designed for healthcare providers in private practice. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to improve your existing SEO efforts, we have a solution that’s right for you.

Here are some next steps you can take to improve your practice’s SEO

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we offer a wide range of SEO services for SLPs in private practice. For your next step you can:

  • Schedule a free SEO consultation with Simplified SEO Consulting to discuss your current SEO efforts and goals.
  • Sign up for our DIY SEO courses. While most examples were originally given for psychotherapist private practice owners, it’s easy to adapt the material to fit an SLP private practice.
  • Join our SEO mastermind group to collaborate with other healthcare professionals (dieticians, psychiatrists, PTs, counselors, testing psychologists, etc) who are in private practice and get accountability as you optimize!
  • Join Jessica and a very small group of practice owners as we optimize on a Carribean cruise in July 2023
  • OR outsource to leave your SEO in the capable hands of our “Done for You” team

Don’t let your practice get left behind in the competitive world of online marketing. Contact Simplified SEO Consulting today to learn more about how we can help you improve your website’s SEO and attract more clients to your practice.

As mental health professionals, we often want to simplify everything. We know that people already have enough barriers preventing them from getting support for their mental health and life overall. So, when it comes to writing and organizing content on a website, many of our therapists want clean, straight-to-the-point, content.Image of colorful beads spelling "content." This image represents how you can work with an SEO services consultant for your private practice website to learn more about content.

This completely makes sense. However, in terms of getting ranking on Google, the more content, the better. Some central concepts to our SEO strategy are to add more service pages and blog posts, with at least 500 words each. And we really want service pages to have around 750-1,000 words, with blog posts having 1,000-2,000 words. Yes, this takes a lot of time, energy, and work! But, it’s so worth the return.

Think about it. If you were Google, would you rather show website searchers looking for “anxiety treatment” a website with 500 words about anxiety or 1,200 words about it? You’d go with the site with more content! So, you will hear our team harp on and on about how important it is to have lots of content about the particular keywords and services you’d like to rank for.

As I said, some of our therapists don’t like the way that long copy and multiple service pages and blogs look. And this is completely valid! So, we want to help your private practice website turn into something that you feel is representative of you and your brand. And we want your website to be helpful and accessible to your clients. Most importantly, we want you to be proud of your website.

With all of that being said, we want to collaborate with you to find solutions for getting lots of content on your site in a way that looks and feels right for you. Read on to learn about different ways we can organize content and pages on your site to make it just right for you.

Navigation Menus

Digital image of a computer screen. This image depicts how the you can learn SEO online to boost your private practice website rankings.As we add more service pages to your website, there’s a chance it may start to look clunky or overdone. And if you have a large group practice, there’s a chance you have upwards of ten services listed on your site. At times, this can sometimes be overwhelming for website viewers when looking at a long list of available services.

One option we offer for simplifying a navigation menu is to leave pages unlinked or “hidden.” On a Squarespace site, an unlinked, live page will be stored in the “unlinked” section of the backend navigation. Likewise, on a WordPress site, an unlinked, live page would simply be left off of the navigation menu. On both website platforms, you can choose not to have any of your service pages listed in a navigation menu if you’d like. Some of our therapists prefer to have a landing page for all their counseling services with clickable lists or boxes displaying the services available. This takes a bulky services menu out of the question and hosts “hidden” pages’ links on one main landing page.

In the SEO world, we are focused on increasing organic search. And with this strategy, it’s these pages will still get plenty of traffic without being explicitly listed on your website. Organic search allows any pages to be findable, not just those explicitly listed on the front end of a website. Those who are searching for a specific service will still be able to see unlinked pages in Google’s search results. Plus, other service pages, blog posts, and even a home page can link to these hidden pages. So website viewers can still find the page even if it’s not listed in a drop-down navigation menu. This is a great strategy to make sure your menus don’t become overwhelming and clunky.

On-Page Content

For the best return on your investment in SEO work, your service pages need to have at least 500 words. And if this sounds like a lot of words on a page, that’s because it is. Like I said earlier, Google needs lots of information about a specific keyword or phrase in order to rank you in prime spots on the first and second pages. If you don’t like the way a 500+ word service page looks after writing the content, there are options to break it up and make it look different. The point is, we want Google to give you credit for the words you put on a page. But how it looks can be individualized to your unique preferences.

Options for Content Layout

There are endless possibilities for how to layout content on your service pages! Some of our clients have opted to use an accordion feature on their pages. This looks like a list of questions or topics in individual rows with corresponding drop-down buttons. The drop-downs reveal answers or additional content about the original questions or topic. An accordion feature is a great way to have lots of information on a page without overwhelming the reader. They can go directly to the question they have, select the button for the drop-down, and find the information they need.

Another alternative to a traditional service page layout is a table. Tables can be a great place to contain lists of symptoms, benefits of a service, or comparing two services. Using tables or boxes can help get more content in a smaller space with designated space. Additionally, it helps readers jump to the specific information they are looking for while passing the information they already have. Strategically organizing content on service pages will help readers stay on your site. And the longer they stay on your site, the more likely they are to become clients! This is exactly our hope with SEO work.

Want to Learn More About Content and SEO Options?

Image of a person working at a computer with a search screen reading "SEO search engine optimization." This image demonstrates what a private practice therapist may look like while trying to learn SEO online.Wondering about what else we can do to help you get ranking on Google? With the help of one of our highly skilled SEO Specialists, you can learn about our options for SEO work. These include DIY online courses as well as Done With You online trainings. And if SEO is too time-intensive and overwhelming for you, our team of SEO Specialists would be happy to take on your website with our Done For You services. To get started with Simplified SEO Consulting, follow the steps below.

  1. Book a free 30-minute consultation call here.
  2. Speak with an SEO Specialist to learn about the best SEO option for you and your practice.
  3. Start working on your SEO and get ranking on Google!

About the Author

This blog post was written by Olivia Bahr, an SEO Specialist and Content Writer here at our SEO consulting company. Olivia has a passion for the LGBTQIA+ community, advocating for mental health, and is a dog lover. This fall, Olivia will be working toward an MSW degree at the University of Denver.

When I bring up the subject of blogging with my SEO clients, I get a variety of different responses, but the most common responses are: overwhelm, anxiety, and annoyance. As a writer, I struggled to understand why my clients responded negatively to the idea of blogging. After all, blogging is a super important part of a well-rounded SEO strategy. It is a great way to serve your ideal client and get to the top of search engines like Google.

So, to satisfy my curiosity, I polled our clients.

Here was my question: What holds you back from blogging?

  • I want to… I just honestly don’t have the time
  • I’d much rather use my time to do literally anything else (I want it done for me)
  • I don’t know what information to include
  • I’m used to the world of academia… so writing in a less clinical way is challenging
  • I don’t know how to add content to my website

And… the results are in. The overwhelming majority of our clients said they just don’t have the time.

I get it. Blogging takes some time and as a busy clinician, that’s something that’s hard to come by. But, I want to make blogging feel easy and accessible, especially for those of you who have little free time to devote to it. So today, I want to simplify the blogging process. My hope is that this will make it seem less intimidating.

Write about Things You Enjoy

male therapist concentrates as he thinks about what to write about. He learned about copywriting for SEO and blogging for SEO from an SEO specialist.First things first, in order to make blogging pleasurable and easy to do, it’s critical that you choose a topic that you enjoy writing about. Nothing is more draining than pouring your resources into producing a blog that doesn’t interest you. When you’re not writing about something you’re passionate about, you’re far more likely to get distracted or spend hours researching this topic just to get some ideas. Furthermore, your lack of passion for the subject will come across in your writing and your readers may be able to pick up on it.

A therapist in Franklin, TN shared this antidote with me: “I kinda like copywriting. But I like it more than blogging for sure. I have to decide that “this is the time” and be in the mood to write and be creative. And, I was given a sort of structure outline when I updated my SEO with you all, which was super helpful.

I like writing copy where I can just be myself and realizing that’s the best way to get the best-fit clients. Also, I really hate blogging. Titling, meta descriptions, snippets. And then writing blogs so that the SEO words are in there – that makes it feel sterile in so many ways. So website copywriting is preferable.”

Perhaps, you can relate to his sentiments. Maybe, you’re wondering, how do I target specific keywords and channel my clinical passions? Here’s my answer, first write down a list of topics you’re passionate about, or a list of things you’ve frequently found yourself discussing with your clients. Then take this list, and a list of the keywords you want to target and see how you can tie them together.

Here’s an example:

You’ve been talking to your clients about the importance of sleep hygiene a lot. You’ve helped them understand how getting good sleep impacts their mental health and you’ve provided them with tips on how to solve their sleep-related issues. Great. Write this down.

Now, check out your keyword list. What keywords could you boost? Anxiety, anxiety therapist, anxiety treatment, depression, depression treatment, trauma..? The list goes on and on. Choose or two and think of a way to tie them into this subject. You could write a blog on how proper sleep hygiene lessens depression symptoms, or a Missouri therapist explains why sleep hygiene is important.

When you write about what you enjoy, the words will come and it will take less time.

My hope is that when you sit down to write a blog using this approach, you will find it easy to write about the things you’ve talked about with your clients time and time again. You will know how to explain the subject in a less clinical way and have tips to offer your reader because you’ve shared them with your clients already. When you know what you’re writing about, it’s easier and quicker to produce a high-quality blog.

Write About Timely Topics That Interest You

Another thing you can consider is writing about current events or timely topics. Recently, we discussed Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw from certain Olympic events. My colleague was able to quickly write this blog because she was interested in the topic and had a lot to say because it was fresh on her mind. I encourage you to look for opportunities to do the same.

Perhaps, you read a recent article or news brief that you think your clients would be interested in. Talk about it in a blog post. The key here is to do it when you feel inspired, and that’s usually soon after you hear about a current event. If you don’t have time to sit down and write 500 words on the subject, make a list of talking points on a piece of post-it or on your phone. Then, come back to it later.

Finding the time to do some copywriting is doable, but knowing what to write is another story…

If time isn’t your issue and thinking about what to include and the structure of a blog post overwhelms you, I can help you with that too.

Female blogger writes in a notebook at a coffee shop. She learned about copywriting for SEO from a simplified SEO specialistMy suggestion is, write as you would talk to a client.

  1. Address their pain points
  2. Emphasize
  3. Provide education on the subject
  4. Give them actionable tips
  5. Offer them hope (and tie it into your services)

If this isn’t your counseling style, that’s okay. You can still write like you would talk to a client. Then, follow the advice I gave earlier in this blog and look for keywords to target after you’ve written something that interests you. Don’t get too in your head about the structure or what to include, remember you talk to people for a living and you have the skills to communicate your message to your ideal clients.

Finding High-Quality Copywriting Services

Lastly, I have to acknowledge that some people truly do not have any extra time to write a blog. And, that is absolutely okay. If this is the case, I encourage you to consider outsourcing the work if possible. There are lots of copywriting options available at our company and elsewhere to help you blog and get in front of your ideal client. Consider the following:

  • Ask your clinicians if you have a group practice
  • Ask others to guest blog
  • Reach out to grad students or interns
  • Talk to a copywriter

A mental health consultant in Denver, CO said: “Copywriting for me feels like a luxury in my life these days. I generally enjoy it but only when I’ve had good sleep and exercise, my other work is caught up, and add that I have childcare…these stars don’t align often. I wish all my blogs could be in my voice or at least highlight more unique perspectives our practice works from. It seems I have to choose between not having it done or it being more generic.”

If you choose to hire a copywriter, it is best to find someone who is willing to work with you to learn about your practice, your ideal client, your brand, and most importantly your specific voice. Our team of SEO specialists would be happy to help you blog with the goal of attracting your ideal clients. We also have a resource list that includes other copywriters we know and trust.

Final Thoughts on SEO and Copywriting

woman sits at her laptop next to her cat and smiles. She learned about blogging for SEO from a simplified seo specialist

I realize that as a private practice owner, you’re pulled in lots of different directions. So, the time commitment and mental energy that is needed to write copy and blog for your website may be one of the last things you want to do. I hope that approaching blogging in this way will help lessen your stress. It takes some time to get used to blogging and writing copy, but once you do, it will be easier and less time-consuming.

A therapist in North Carolina and Maryland says it best: “Copywriting is so different and it took me a bit to get the swing of things. Using your own voice, connecting with your client, and market yourself is not always easy but totally doable and worth it once you can find your flow!”

Want to know more about blogging, SEO, or copywriting, please reach out to us!

If you’re looking for SEO support, we would love to help you and be a part of your journey to get to the top of Google and reach your ideal client. We offer a variety of SEO options designed to meet the needs of private practice therapists. When you’re ready to begin optimizing your therapy website, please follow these steps:

  1. Schedule your free 30-minute consultation with a member of the Simplified SEO Consulting team
  2. Learn more about our SEO services and training opportunities
  3. Start optimizing your webpage and watch your site rank better on Google!

About the Author:

Cory Moss is a Simplified SEO specialist & our Content Specialist based in the Kansas City metro area. She specializes in working on readability for therapist websites. She really enjoys helping her clients get to the top of Google and attract their ideal clients. Cory is great at speaking to clients about their dream practice and figuring out exactly what content on their website will help them reach those goals. She enjoys helping people learn about SEO and watching how people can improve their optimizing over time!