The Perils of Pre-Written Blog Posts: Why Therapists Should Write Their Own Blog Posts

Therapists are often told they should maintain their blogs. To not only market themselves and their services, but to share their knowledge. As a therapist, you may get behind on blogging due to being busy at your practice. Or you struggle with blogging because you can’t find the inspiration. It all makes sense. However, this creates opportunities for therapists to turn to pre-written therapist content and pre-written social media posts.

This pre-written therapist content may be convenient but comes with perils. Ones that can directly affect your SEO and cost you clients. In this blog, I will talk about the perils that come with pre-written therapist content and pre-written social media posts for therapists.

Duplicate Content

First, I want to put it out there that I understand why a therapist would want to choose pre-written therapist content. It’s convenient and makes it easy for a therapist who is busy, doesn’t like writing, or isn’t good at it. However, when you choose services that provide you with pre-written blogs, pre-written social media posts, or just pre-written therapist content in general, you risk the odds of having the same material as someone else. This is called duplicate content. Duplicate content is when content is similar or even the exact same content on other websites or even your own.

These services don’t take away options once someone chooses them. The services tell the clients they can personalize them and hope that some will. So maybe the posts will be less identical. But, why did you choose a pre-written blog or social media post in the first place? So you didn’t have to write it yourself. So, the odds of someone personalizing the pre-written content to where they are not even a sliver of the same is very slim. Which means there is duplicate content on your and another person’s page. This also means Google will notice there is duplicate content and there can be consequences.

Google Will Find Out

Why should you worry about duplicate content and Google finding it? Google states in their terms of service, “We want to maintain a respectful environment for everyone, which means you must follow these basic rules of conduct: – comply with applicable laws, including export control, sanctions, and human trafficking laws -respect the rights of others, including privacy and intellectual property rights”. Google then goes on to say “Your content remains yours, which means that you retain any intellectual property rights that you have in your content.

For example, you have intellectual property rights in the creative content you make, such as reviews you write. Or you may have the right to share someone else’s creative content if they’ve given you their permission. We need your permission if your intellectual property rights restrict our use of your content. You provide Google with that permission through this license.” Google clearly states that they need your permission to share your content. Just like you need permission to share others’ content. This is why the license to use Google is the agreement to share your content with them. So they can use it to track patterns of data along with preventing spam, malware, and illegal content.

Google also goes on to define your content as “Your content: Some of our services give you the opportunity to make your content publicly available — for example, you might post a product or restaurant review that you wrote, or you might upload a blog post that you created”. So, to specifically highlight that Google even points out that blog posts that people write and share are covered by intellectual property rights. This means if the owner of the original content finds out you’re sharing their content without their permission, you can be sued.

Ownership of Pre-Written Content

So having large amounts of duplicate content can have some negative impact on Google rankings. They claim it is highly unlikely but can happen. But, Google will also not be sure who the original content’s owner is. Unless you submit a DMCA request to claim ownership of the content. A DMCA is a legal request also sent to the infringing website owner requesting the content to be removed. Also, Google will also be unsure of which version of the pre-written content to keep in its indices. This will lead to Google having to decide which version of the content is the most trustworthy and which will be linked to during search results.

The trouble for you as the website owner with the duplicate pre-written therapist content, this means you might not be getting recognition or credit for the content. Google will have to choose one site to be the authority on this blog post’s content. They will divert all search traffic from Google searches to the one they deem the most trustworthy and less to the duplicates. This means, if Google does not deem you the original content provider or the authority on this topic, you will not get any search results for it. It can also negatively impact your rankings.

Google Penalties

Google has also stated that in some circumstances, that duplicate content can lead to penalties. Or, the complete deindexing of a website. However, there is no specific duplicate content penalty, and mostly happens to websites that scrape content from other sites. But, this means that if your website has an excessive amount of duplicate content, Google may completely deindex your website where it will not come up in search results at all.

It is rare but if Google notices that you are continuously posting pre-written content that is posted on other sites, it could be a cause for concern. It could put your website and all of your hard work in harm’s way. Also, it could also damage your credibility. However, as stated above, the original owner of the content can submit a DCMA request to have the content removed from your website.

This Affects Your SEO

As I mentioned above, Google won’t know who wrote your content originally. It will just see that the pre-written content is duplicated on multiple pages. It will have to choose out of all the duplicate content who receives the authority, and trust. Along with getting the Google search results rankings. This means that if you’re not the authority or main page, you can really lower your rankings if you continuously use pre-written content that is also used by others.

However, if you are the main page or the authority, it can also have a negative impact. Your rankings may be strong at first but as more people duplicate the same pre-written content, it will slowly impact your rankings. This will also lead to people finding your website and content less and less, which leads to fewer clients. No therapist or private practice wants that.

How Does Pre-Written Content Affect Your SEO?

Besides leading to fewer rankings, duplicate content can result in less organic traffic as Google likes to avoid ranking pages that use duplicate content found on other websites and pages. This can be from someone scraping your content, having multiple of the same pages on your website, or even having printable versions of your URL.

Sometimes Google doesn’t want to rank it at all and will even refuse to index your pages with duplicate content. Which means your content isn’t even searchable on Google. Which can burn your website’s crawl budget on all your duplicate content. For the person who wrote the original content, it can lead to a dilution of backlinks. It can even look as if they purchased backlinks, which is a way to lessen credibility.

Ethics

Now, not only can it affect your website and rankings, but it’s not ethical. Some services will take content from other sites where the content is original and use them for pre-written content services. This not only will affect you by having duplicate content on your site but affect the original content’s owner because their authority on the topic will be questioned. It also will appear as if they have duplicate content when they wrote the post. It also will hurt their SEO.

Which is an unfair byproduct of this process. However, the original content that they expertly wrote where can end up on the website of a therapist who is not an expert on that topic. It leads to the therapist who chose the pre-written content advertising they are an expert. When in reality, it was content pulled from an expert’s website.

As a Copywriter, I Would Prefer You Wrote Your Own Blogs

I am the copywriter for Simplified SEO Consulting and I write for our clients by request. I absolutely love my job as I get to write about interesting topics and tailor all content to the client’s voice. I’m saying this because I would rather you, a therapist or mental health professional, write your own blogs and social media posts over using pre-written, canned content. If you’re struggling with writing for your website, consider hiring a copywriter. Because a copywriter will be able to individualize your content and you won’t have to worry about it being a duplicate.

Here are some of our favorite SEO Sources and what they say about duplicate content:

Begin Writing Your Own Content Today!

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we understand that crafting high-quality content can be a daunting task for private practice owners. While pre-written content may seem like an easy solution, it can actually be detrimental to your online presence. Duplicate content can hurt your search engine rankings and make it difficult for potential clients to find you. Hiring a copywriter or utilizing tools like ChatGPT can help you create original, SEO-friendly content that showcases your unique expertise and practice. Don’t let pre-written content hold you back. Let Simplified SEO Consulting help you develop a content strategy that will set you apart from the rest. Ready to begin?

Please apply to work with us
Learn about our team
Begin writing original content today!

Other SEO Services At Simplified SEO Consulting

If you feel as if you want to learn more, there are other services you can use as well! We offer options such as our 12-week training, small group intensives, and courses. Our strategy session can be a great option if you need support getting started with SEO or doing a site move or redesign. These can also be helpful to find better keywords, evaluating your current SEO performance, and more. Or, if you’re ready to work with a passionate and skilled team, our Done for You Program may be a great following approach

About the Author:

Lynsey is an SEO Content Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. At Simplified, Lynsey enjoys writing original content for clients and their practices. She realizes that writing quality, original content is important not only to her clients but to their practice and the clients that go there too! Especially, with the content being used as a resource or even just to boost a client’s SEO. Her goal is to always create content that resonates with the client and learn as much as she can along the way. She is passionate about providing copywriting services for psychiatrists and therapists.

Apply to work with us if you’re ready to see how Simplified can serve you!

December 1, 2022/0 Comments/by Danica Wolf

SEO Basics, SEO Tools

Do Law Firms Need Digital Marketing? Unveiling the Power of Online Presence

These days, the question of whether law firms need digital marketing has evolved from being a mere consideration to an absolute necessity. As a personal injury attorney, you may be wondering how to market your law firm, establish your firm’s credibility, and stay competitive in an increasingly digital world. Not only will we answer the pivotal question, “Do law firms need digital marketing?” but also provide insights into the strategies and techniques that can propel your law practice to new heights in the digital realm. Let’s uncover how SEO for personal injury attorneys can boost your online presence and reach ideal clients.

Understanding the Digital Legal Landscape

Before delving into the importance of digital marketing for law firms, let’s take a moment to understand the context. The legal industry has undergone a profound transformation in the digital age. Clients seeking legal services no longer rely solely on recommendations from friends or traditional advertising methods like billboards or print ads. Instead, they turn to search engines and online platforms to find the right attorney for their needs. This shift in consumer behavior is the driving force behind the undeniable need for digital marketing in the legal field.

What is Digital Marketing for Law Firms?

Digital marketing for law firms encompasses a wide array of strategies and tactics aimed at enhancing your online presence and engaging with potential clients through digital channels. It includes:

Website Optimization: Your website is your digital storefront. Optimizing it for search engines (SEO for Personal Injury Attorneys) ensures that it ranks well in search results when individuals look for legal services in your practice areas and location.

Content Marketing: Content is king in the digital realm. Creating valuable, informative, and relevant content (Content Ideas for Law Firms) not only establishes your authority but also provides potential clients with the information they seek.

Social Media Marketing: Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn offer excellent opportunities to connect with your audience, share your expertise, and showcase your law firm’s personality.

Email Marketing: Sending informative newsletters and updates to your subscribers keeps your firm top of mind and fosters client relationships.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: Using platforms like Google Ads to bid on relevant keywords can place your law firm at the top of search results, ensuring maximum visibility.

Online Reviews and Reputation Management: Encouraging satisfied clients to leave positive reviews and managing your online reputation is crucial for building trust (Best Marketing Materials for Law Firms).

The Power of Content Marketing for Law Firms

Content marketing is a cornerstone of digital marketing for law firms. It involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract and engage potential clients. Here’s why content marketing is indispensable:

Educating Your Audience: Content, whether in the form of blog posts, articles, or videos, allows you to educate your audience about legal matters, helping them understand their rights and potential courses of action.

Showcasing Expertise: By sharing insightful content on specific legal topics (SEO for Personal Injury Attorneys), you demonstrate your expertise and establish yourself as a trusted authority.

Boosting SEO: Search engines reward fresh, high-quality content. Regularly updating your website with valuable content improves your search engine rankings and online visibility.

Engaging with Potential Clients: Content opens the door for engagement. When potential clients find your content informative and helpful, they are more likely to reach out for legal assistance.

Creating a Digital Marketing Strategy for Your Law Firm

A successful digital marketing strategy for your law firm begins with a clear plan. Here are the key steps to creating an effective strategy:

Define Your Goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your digital marketing efforts. Whether it’s increasing website traffic, generating leads, or boosting brand awareness, clear goals will guide your strategy.

Know Your Audience: Understand your target audience, their needs, preferences, and pain points. Tailoring your content and messaging to resonate with your ideal clients is crucial.

Keyword Research: Identify relevant keywords (SEO for Personal Injury Attorneys) that potential clients use when searching for legal services in your practice areas. These keywords will inform your content strategy.

Content Calendar: Create a content calendar outlining the topics, formats, and publication schedules for your content. Consistency is key to building an audience.

Leverage Social Media: Choose the social media platforms where your audience is most active. Share your content, engage with followers, and participate in discussions.

Measure and Adapt: Regularly monitor the performance of your digital marketing efforts. Use tools like Google Analytics to track website traffic, conversion rates, and other relevant metrics. Adjust your strategy based on the data.

The Importance of SEO for Law Firms

One of the fundamental aspects of digital marketing for law firms is SEO (e.g. “Best SEO for Lawyers”). SEO is the practice of optimizing your website and content to rank higher in search engine results, ultimately driving organic (unpaid) traffic to your site. Here’s why SEO is essential for marketing your law firm on the internet:

Visibility: SEO ensures that your law firm appears prominently in search results when potential clients look for services you offer.

Credibility: High search engine rankings convey credibility and trustworthiness, influencing potential clients to choose your firm.

Competitive Advantage: SEO helps you stay ahead of competitors in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

Cost-Effective: Compared to paid advertising, SEO offers a cost-effective long-term strategy for attracting organic traffic.

Do Law Firms Need SEO?

Absolutely. Consider this scenario: a person is involved in a car accident in your city and is searching online for a “Personal Injury Attorney Near Me.” If your law firm doesn’t appear on the first page of search results, you’re missing out on a potential client. SEO (SEO for Personal Injury Attorneys) ensures that your law firm is visible to individuals actively seeking legal services in your area.

The Benefits of Digital Marketing for Lawyers

Increased Visibility: Digital marketing strategies, especially SEO, improve your online visibility, ensuring that potential clients find you when they need legal assistance.

Cost-Effective: Compared to traditional advertising methods, digital marketing is often more cost-effective and offers better targeting options.

Building Trust: Regularly sharing valuable content and engaging with your audience on digital platforms helps build trust and credibility.

Measurable Results: Digital marketing efforts can be tracked and analyzed, allowing you to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and make data-driven decisions.

Competitive Edge: Embracing digital marketing gives you a competitive edge over law firms that rely solely on traditional advertising.

Consider Simplified SEO Consulting for Your Law Firm’s Digital Marketing Needs

Hopefully you now agree that the question of whether law firms need digital marketing has a resounding answer: yes. In the digital age, a strong online presence and effective digital marketing strategies are essential for attracting clients, building credibility, and staying competitive in the legal industry. As a personal injury attorney, partnering with a trusted SEO and digital marketing expert like Simplified SEO Consulting can be your gateway to success in the digital realm. Don’t miss out on the opportunities that the digital world offers—start your journey towards a thriving online presence today. Start with these simple steps:

Schedule a consultation here.
Meet with one of our great SEO Specialists.
Watch your Personal Injury Law Firm reach more clients!

Other Services Simplified SEO Consulting Offers:

Simplified SEO Consulting offers a range of services to help you improve your website’s online presence. We offer Done For You SEO Services and DIY Online SEO Courses, which are customized to enhance your search engine rankings and attract your ideal clients. We also have a 12-week Done With You Intensive Program for comprehensive training. Our Content Networking service can help you boost your online presence and attract more of your ideal clients. Check out our blog for more tips and guides on SEO.

November 20, 2022/0 Comments/by Danica Wolf

SEO Basics, SLP private practice

5 Common SEO Mistakes SLPs in Private Practice Make

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an essential digital marketing tool that boosts the visibility of your private practice website online. As a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) running a private practice, it’s important to ensure that your website is optimized for search engines to attract more clients. However, getting your SEO right can be a challenge, especially if you aren’t familiar with the best practices. In this post, we’ll highlight five common SEO mistakes that SLPs in private practice often make and provide some tips on how to fix them.

Not having a technically sound website

First, it’s important to have a mobile-optimized website. With more people using their mobile devices to search for services and products online, having a website that isn’t optimized for mobile can negatively affect your website ranking on search engines. To fix this, ensure your website is responsive and easy to navigate on all devices.

Second, I more often these days see private practice owners with a lot of 404 errors on their website. These pesky errors can be a big problem. Website visitors get annoyed when they’re constantly taken to the dreaded “404 error” page. And, Google starts to take notice if you’re website has a lot of errors that start impacting the user experience.

Overuse of keywords

While it’s important to include relevant keywords in your website content and meta descriptions, overloading your website with keywords can hurt your SEO. Search engines can flag your website as spammy, and your website may appear lower in search results. Ensure that you use keywords appropriately and naturally within your content.

Not optimizing page titles and meta descriptions

Page titles and descriptions play a crucial role in optimizing your website for search engines. They offer a summary of the content of a page to search engines and potential visitors. Using clear, concise titles and descriptions that include relevant keywords can boost your website’s ranking in search engine results pages.

Neglecting the importance of local SEO

As an SLP in private practice, you’re likely serving clients in a specific geographic area. Neglecting the importance of local SEO means you’re missing the opportunity to attract local clients. Ensure that your website includes local search terms and that your Google Business Profile is complete and accurate.

Not optimizing images on your website

Images on your website can make your content more engaging and attractive, but they can also slow down your website’s loading speed. Slow loading speed can negatively affect your website’s SEO. So, optimize your images by compressing them, using appropriate alt text, and choosing appropriate file formats.

You absolutely CAN optimize your own website

Optimizing your website for search engines can be a daunting task, but avoiding these common SEO mistakes can help you rank higher on search engine results pages, attract more local clients, and grow your private practice. By having a mobile-friendly website, using keywords appropriately, optimizing page titles and descriptions, prioritizing local SEO, and optimizing your images, you’re well on your way to improving your SEO and getting more clients through your website. Embrace these tips, and don’t hesitate to reach out to a digital marketing expert if you need further guidance.

I know it can seem overwhelming to work on optimizing your private practice website. But you CAN do this. Personally, I’m not very tech savvy at all. Truly, I’m not. But when I started my private practice, I was absolutely determined to make it work. So, I learned how to do this stuff as part of that business building phase. Now, I have an incredible team of SEO specialists at Simplified so I honestly outsource much of the SEO work for my own practice to them. But I realized long ago that if I of all people can do SEO, so can other private practice owners. That’s why often my favorite part of the job is when I wear my training hat and help teach other private practice owners the things I”ve learned.

Next Steps for Optimizing Your Private Practice Website

So, if these are the things you shouldn’t be doing, what SHOULD you do to optimize your website? You can read more about our SEO Services for SLP Private Practice Owners or move on to these “next steps:”

Sign up for KWFinder and start doing some keyword research using these tips!
Start one of our Do-it-Yourself SEO courses (our Top of Search Engines course will have a ton of step by step instructions!)
Join our next Small Group Mastermind
Apply for a call with one of our SEO Specialists to chat about your SEO needs

About the Author:

Jessica Tappana owns a 12 clinician private pay psychotherapy practice in Missouri specializing in anxiety and trauma. Additionally, 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!

November 13, 2022/0 Comments/by Jessica

SEO Basics, SEO Tips

How Internal Links Boost Your SEO

Looking to get your website to the top of Google searches? Ranking with Google might seem intimidating and really makes you question, “Where do I even begin?”. With this blog post, you’ll be able to learn a simple way to help boost your website and start helping you rank higher on Google.

With SEO optimization there are many ways you can keep someone interested in your website. One important way to do so is by adding internal links. By adding internal links you are helping the viewer navigate your site and keeping them within your site domain. Read on to learn what internal links are and how you can use them!

What Are Internal Links?

Internal Links are hyperlinks added to specific keyword-rich anchor text so that when clicked, it can direct someone to another part of your website relating to said anchor text. As a website owner, internal links are something you are easily able to control.

By using the internal links you can ensure that when someone clicks on it and it will take your viewer to another one of your pages within the domain. You want to make sure that viewers have the ability to relocate to a new spot on your website and stay interested in the content you are providing.

What is an Anchor Text?

Anchor text is the text on your page most relevant to what you will be hyperlinked back to another place on your website. One good practice to have is to ensure that your anchor text is keyword-rich. Make sure you are using a keyword specific to the page you are on and the page you want to link to so your viewer can see it. Photo of a desk with the words SEO written on it and different terms pointing to it reading content, strategy, traffic, social media, web, links, and keyword. This photo represents the work that goes into SEO. By adding internal links you can make your page relevant to Google.

Common Places to Fit Internal Links

Inserting internal links into a page can be pretty simple. But it may also be a challenge at times to decide where you can fit internal links. The first place internal links can naturally be linked in a page is in your Call to action and Other services sections. In these sections, you have the easy opportunity to insert internal links. In your call to action, you will typically have the opportunity to link to your home page, about page, and team member pages.

This is also a great place to insert your contact page so potential clients can reach out to you. In the other services section, you are able to link your other services offers (i.e. anxiety treatment, therapy for depression, trauma therapy, etc.). Within the text of your page, you are able to link other service pages relating to what you are talking about. This also includes linking relevant blog posts if you have them.

Examples of Internal Links

So we know internal links are hyperlinks that take a viewer back to your website, but what do they look like? Typically internal links are linked to a blog post, a service page, team information, etc. There is usually always a spot to add an internal link. When adding the internal link, always ensure you put a link on relevant anchor text so it makes sense to the viewer.

If you have a blog mentioning anxiety and its symptoms, you should be able to link the post to an anxiety page, or another anxiety blog. Using the keyword anchor text of anxiety symptoms would ensure that the viewer understands they will be linked to something describing anxiety symptoms. This describes to viewers on your site what you’re linking to, as well as telling Google what you’re linking.
Another option is linking your ideal viewer back to your team page. On one of your service pages, you might be describing your “Caring Therapists”. You are then able to hyperlink the word therapist back to your team page that displays all of the members of your team.

How Internal Links Affect Google

Adding internal links to your site provides Google the knowledge of what your site and the pages on it are about. Google discovers the links on your website and begins to rank your pages and website in the search results. Google will begin crawling the pages to better understand your content.

When crawling pages and finding links that link back to your site, it reassures Google that your pages have helpful information and links. Google will begin indexing your pages at this point. So when someone searches for specific keywords relating to your page, Google will be more inclined to pull the page up to the top of the search results.

Don’t feel discouraged when it comes to your website’s ranking and how long someone navigates your website. Internal links provide an easy but effective way to get your website moving. Google takes its time crawling your pages so it can learn to understand your site and deem what’s important to show at the top of the search results. Working with Google can seem challenging, but with a little time and effort, you can begin to boost your SEO in no time!

Learn How To Start Boosting Your SEO With Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team at Simplified SEO Consulting wants to guide you in the right direction when it comes to boosting your SEO. Having guidance in your SEO journey is important for your website’s journey and we understand. To start your SEO journey follow these three simple steps:

Apply to work with us on your SEO
Meet With One of Our Skilled SEO Specialists
Begin SEO Services for Therapists

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

Looking for a different way we can support you? Simplified wants to support you no matter what your SEO journey is. We offer support in both our Done For You SEO Services and DIY Online SEO Courses. Simplified SEO Consulting also offers a 12-week Done With You Intensive Program. Check out our blog for more helpful tips!

About the Author:

Brianna is a Mental health SEO Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. At Simplified, Brianna enjoys optimizing websites and interacting with clients. Her goal while working with our clients is to ensure they enjoy their SEO journey and understand how the SEO process works.

Looking for extra support? Schedule a consult with the consulting team to see who can help you and how.

November 10, 2022/0 Comments/by Brianna Joplin

SEO Basics, Websites

Meta Descriptions for Therapist “About” Pages

Let us start with the basics of what a meta description is really for. The short answer is that it gives both Google and potential clients a snapshot of your page. The tricky part is that you have to summarize your 500+ word page within a certain amount of characters. All while making sure the meta description positively affects your SEO.

In order to fully utilize your meta descriptions it must fulfill its two main jobs. The first job of the meta description is to help improve search engine rankings. So that your page will appear in Google searches for your ideal clients. Its second job is to navigate people from their search and onto your page. Thus improving your “click through rate”.

Tips for Writing A Good Meta Description for Your About Page

For service pages, the meta descriptions highlight that specific therapy technique or service page that you offer. While on blog posts they display the topic of the post and your expertise on the subject. However, your meta description on your about page should specifically showcase your area of expertise and your specific niche. That being said you know what you are offering to your clients better than anyone. This means you basically have everything that you need to write the meta description for your about page. However, these guidelines can make crafting it a little easier.

Picking the Right Keywords

The best keywords for your about page are normally going to be general “counselor”, “therapist”, or “psychologist” type keywords. However, if you specialize in one specific area then you might have a more specific keyword. For example, if you are a counselor who focuses mainly on trauma, PTSD, CPTSD, and emotional abuse recovery then your main keyword might be “trauma therapist”. Another example is if one therapist in a group practice only offers couples or marriage counseling. The main keyword on their about page might be “marriage counselor” or couples therapist”.

Keep It Unique

If you are the only therapist at your practice then keeping your “About” page meta description unique will be fairly simple. It will already stand apart from your service pages because you are highlighting yourself as a counselor/therapist/psychologist. However, if you have a group practice you will want to make sure that you have unique metas for each of the therapists. Tailor the meta descriptions on their pages to their unique skills, strengths, and niches. One of the ways to do that is to highlight different keywords for each person’s page when appropriate.

Not Too Short & Not Too Long

Watch the length of your meta description carefully. To start you want to make sure that it is over 120 characters but do not want it to go over 155 characters. If you go over the 155 then you risk the text getting cut off. However, if you are under 120 characters then your meta description might not be picked up by Google at all and they will just pick a snippet from your page. In order to get full use of it I like to make meta descriptions as close to 150-155 characters as possible. Honestly, I rarely find it hard to meet the 120-character minimum. Instead, I sometimes struggle to keep it under 155. In these cases, I will reword sentences or change out phrases until I get a combination that meets all the guidelines listed above.

Other Things To Consider

If there is room at the end include a call to action. Such as:
- “Learn more now”
- “Call today to learn more”
- “Read on”
When you can include a location within the meta description

Examples of Meta Descriptions for Therapist “About” Pages

Mary Smith | Trauma Therapist | Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0X3

Mary Smith is an expert EMDR & trauma therapist in Winnipeg. She specializes in treating emotional abuse, CPTSD, & PTSD. Call to learn more!

Dr. Kent | Psychologist | Little Rock, Arkansas 72002

Learn more about Dr. Kent who is a Psychologist in Little Rock, AR. He provides counseling for general anxiety, agoraphobia, panic attacks & more. Read on!

Jane Foster | EMDR Therapist | Dublin, IE D07 V57C

Jane Foster is an understanding EMDR therapist at Example Therapy Services. She specializes in trauma recovery with children, teens, & adults.

Final Thoughts on Writing Meta Descriptions for Therapist “About” Pages

Search engine optimization is not always an exact science. It’s a dance of balancing what Google wants, maintaining your voice or vision, and appealing to your ideal clients. This means you might find yourself needing to rewrite your meta description and that’s alright. When optimizing your about page try starting with the meta description. Then after optimizing the page go back to the meta description and see if you want to make any changes to it. Another time you might end up rewriting the meta description is if you are not seeing the “click through rate” that you are wanting. For example, if Dr. Kent, from the meta description above, is ranking well for “psychologist in Little Rock, AR” but isn’t seeing a lot of clicks then it might be time to do a rewrite.

Learn More About SEO for Therapists & Mental Health Professionals

If you are interested in learning more about SEO for Therapists, Psychiatrists, or Psychologists then Simplified SEO Consulting can help guide you. We offer services that range from completely do-it-yourself SEO courses to done-with-you SEO classes to done-for-you SEO. Whether you want to learn how to do search engine optimization yourself or if you are looking to work directly with a Mental Health SEO Specialist we can help you grow your business! Ready to find the best way to get your website in front of your ideal clients? Then book a free consult today!

About The Author

Winnie is a Mental Health SEO Specialist who enjoys helping private practice owners grow their websites and their businesses. Her primary focus is working with therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and functional medicine doctors who choose our done-for-you services. She has written meta descriptions for home pages, about pages, service pages, and blogs for mental health professionals across the United States and in Canada.

November 8, 2022/0 Comments/by Winnie Youger-Rash

Content, Local SEO, SEO Basics

How Blogging is Not Just for SEO

You’re feeling uninspired. Thinking that you’re only blogging for SEO or to boost your rankings. I know I’ve caught myself thinking I’m only writing blogs for SEO and SEO-targeted keywords. However, it’s not true! Blogs are not just for SEO. They have many different purposes and can be used in many ways at your practice! From writing about topics you’re passionate about to addressing questions you’re asked about daily in therapy, blogs can cover a lot of territory. SEO-wise and topic-wise!

Blogging About Frequent Questions From Clients

As a therapist or counselor, I’m sure you’ve noticed clients coming in and asking about the same things. Topics like “How do I know I have Anxiety?” or “How Do I Know if I’m HSP?”. Aside from answering them in therapy, wouldn’t it be cool to have something written all about what they’re asking? That’s where a blog can come in handy! You can write blogs for your clients about topics you hear about frequently. It can come from questions you’ve been asked or you can blog about struggles your clients have been going through. For example, you can write about “How to Navigate Going Back to Work Postpartum: Tips from a Therapist”. Not only can you pack in SEO keywords, but you can also write to inform your clients about topics they are currently going through or could go through in the future.

Start Blogging About Your Services

This may sound cliche, but you can write about topics that connect back to your services! This way your clients or potential clients will know what your practice offers. For example, you may have a client who is already seeing you for one service. Then they read your blog about your mindfulness classes and ask to join those! Or, someone finds your blog about mindfulness. The one where you talk about how your practice offers them. Then they contact your practice to start. It can also just be a random person on the internet who appreciates the ways mindfulness can ease anxiety.

These blogs can be a great way to give insight to your clients about the services they may be taking part in. But, it can also give insight into the other services you offer. Like your approach to therapy for anxiety and depression. They can also just help others by looking for information from a reliable source. They can now do this without seeking contact with actual people. This may seem small but to a client who is looking for a therapist to trust with their mental health, this is a big win!

Write Blogs About Events Important to Your Practice

When blogging, you might think you can only write about topics you deal with inside your therapy sessions. However, you can blog about what your practice finds important outside of those, too! For example, if your practice sponsors or takes part in any runs/walks or fundraisers for any awareness campaigns. For example, the “Out of the Darkness Walks” that is organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

This can be a great blog topic to let clients know what your practice is involved in. It’s also a different way to give information about a topic. This can also let clients know how your practice is giving back to the mental health community outside of therapy. It also helps your clients find a community- if they resonate with this cause or foundation. They might enjoy getting involved and knowing that someone they trust is already there. It can also show that your practice is involved in the mental health community and trying to raise awareness about the struggles you’re working to address.

You Can Write Blogs About What You’re Going Through

This may seem a little confusing at first because it’s not like clients come to therapy to hear about your problems. But, if you’re an anxiety therapist who also has anxiety, it can be helpful to write blogs about situations that you’ve been in. For instance, if you’re an anxiety therapist who has anxiety, you could write about times your anxiety has been triggered and what you did about it. Like when you were moving and how you coped, or how you went to a holiday party and suffer from social anxiety. Or, if you’re someone who is a highly sensitive person, which I feel not everyone talks about enough, you can talk about your experiences.

Blogging about how to cope with certain situations you’ve been through or potential situations that bring you stress will probably help some of your clients or potential clients. Maybe even random people on the internet! Also, it’s more than likely your clients have also been in these situations or will benefit from these tips in the future. Plus, it makes them feel seen knowing even their therapist has been in a situation where their anxiety was a struggle.

Are you Interested in Learning More About Blogging?

At Simplified SEO Consulting we offer a variety of options that includes blogging. This is to teach therapists (and their team members) how to improve or maintain their online rankings. If you’re looking for a small group setting then our Small Group SEO Intensives would be a good place to start. Or, if you’re wanting a more personalized approach, then our one-on-one SEO trainings may be the best option for you. Perhaps, you’re looking for a more affordable option to get started, we have several DIY online courses that cover different SEO strategies too!

There are several options! So, you may be wondering what choice is best for your practice’s needs. That’s why we offer free video consultations. A member of our team would be happy to learn more about your practice and your SEO goals and give you their suggestions on what makes the most sense for you.

Other SEO Services Offered at Simplified SEO Consulting

As I mentioned, we realize that training and DIY options aren’t suitable for all practices. Or at least, they may not be suitable for your practice at this moment. So, for those who want to outsource, we offer Done-For-You SEO services at different levels. Or, if you’re still considering SEO then you may want to start learning a bit more with our free 7-day SEO email series. You can also check out our other blogs on SEO as well to gather more information on how SEO can benefit your practice.

About the Author:

Lynsey is an SEO Content Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. At Simplified, Lynsey enjoys writing about different content topics for clients. She also realizes how important these topics are to the client, their practice, and their clients too! Especially, if the content is being used as a resource within the mental health field. Her goal is to always create content that resonates with the client and learn as much as she can along the way. She is passionate about providing copywriting services for psychiatrists and therapists.

Apply to work with us if you’re ready to see how Simplified can serve you!

November 3, 2022/0 Comments/by Lynsey Heskett

SEO Basics, SEO Tips, SEO Tools

What are Good SEO Keywords For Functional Medicine Doctors & Related Healthcare Professionals?

Keywords are the foundation of effective SEO strategies, helping your functional medicine practice or healthcare service stand out in online searches. Let’s dive into the world of SEO keywords and discover how they can elevate your online presence.

What are SEO Keywords?

SEO keywords are specific words or phrases that people use in search engines to find information, products, or services related to their needs. When it comes to healthcare SEO keywords, these keywords reflect the terms patients commonly use when looking for holistic care, integrative medicine, or specialized treatments.

What is a Keyword List?

A keyword list is a curated collection of relevant words and phrases that resonate with your practice’s offerings. This list serves as a guide for optimizing your website content, ensuring that you address the concerns and queries of potential patients.

What is the Easiest Way to Find Keywords?

The simplest way to discover valuable keywords is to pay attention to your patients. Listen to the words they use during their initial appointments – these are often the same words they’ll type into search engines. By incorporating these patient-centric phrases, you align your content with their needs and improve your chances of being found online.

How Do I Generate Keywords for SEO?

To generate effective keywords, consider the following:

**Relevance:** Think about terms directly related to your practice and the services you offer.
**Search Volume:** Choose keywords with a decent search volume to maximize visibility.
**Competition:** Aim for keywords with moderate competition – not too broad or too specific.
**Intent:** Understand user intent – are they seeking information, services, or products?
**Long-Tail Keywords:** These are longer phrases that reflect more specific queries. They can be highly targeted and effective.

Understanding Keyword Difficulty

In the world of SEO, not all keywords are created equal. Some are relatively easy to rank for, while others present more challenges. This is where the concept of keyword difficulty comes into play. Keyword difficulty refers to how hard it is to rank for a specific keyword based on factors like competition, search volume, and the quality of existing content.

When selecting keywords for your functional medicine practice’s website, it’s important to strike a balance between high search volume and manageable keyword difficulty. While targeting keywords with massive search volumes might seem tempting, they often come with fierce competition, making it difficult for your website to appear on the first page of search results.

Tools like KWFinder can provide insights into keyword difficulty, helping you identify keywords that strike the right balance for your practice. This strategic approach ensures that you’re optimizing your website for keywords that offer a good chance of ranking well and driving relevant traffic to your site.

OK, But How Do I Find Unique Keywords for SEO?

Unique keywords can give you an advantage for SEO. It can be helpful to find “hidden gems” or keywords that few of your competitors are searching for. Often these have less search volume (fewer patients are using those terms) but a lot less competition. So, you’re more likely to rank for those.

Leveraging Paid Keyword Research Tools for Targeted SEO

While there are various ways to generate keywords for your functional medicine practice’s SEO, using paid keyword research tools can significantly enhance your keyword strategy, particularly if you’re looking for those more unique keywords. Our team at Simplified SEO Consulting highly recommends leveraging tools like KWFinder by Mangools, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz to streamline the process and gain valuable insights.

Paid keyword research tools offer a multitude of benefits, including accurate data on keyword search volume, trends, and competition level. These insights guide your SEO efforts, ensuring you target keywords that align with your practice’s unique offerings and resonate with your target audience.

By using paid tools, you can make informed decisions about the keywords you prioritize, ultimately attracting the right patients to your functional medicine practice. Our Done for You clients benefit from our comprehensive approach, which involves using a combination of 2-3 different keyword research tools. KWFinder is by far our favorite keyword research tool, but we’ve found it’s useful to also look at the data on a couple of other tools as it often looks a little different or offers other kinds of insights. This approach allows us to uncover hidden opportunities and tailor your keyword strategy for optimal results.

How Do I Find Keywords for Free?

Even if you’re on a budget, there are ways to find keywords without spending money:

Google’s “Questions People Ask”: When you search on Google, scroll down to the “People Also Ask” section for ideas.
“Answer the Public”: This tool generates questions related to a keyword, helping you understand what users are seeking. At the time of this writing, you typically get one free search per day but that one search will give you TONS of great ideas for long-tail keywords you can use.
Your own clients: As I mentioned earlier, listen closely to the terms your clients are using during their first appointment to explain why they’re coming to see you. These are likely similar to the searches they’re doing online.

The Art of Keyword Placement

Once you’ve compiled a list of targeted keywords, the next step is to strategically incorporate them into your website’s content. This process is known as keyword placement, and it’s a critical aspect of optimizing your website for search engines.

Effective keyword placement involves naturally integrating keywords into your content while maintaining readability and user experience. Overstuffing your content with keywords can have a negative impact on user engagement and may even result in search engines penalizing your site. Instead, focus on placing keywords in the following areas:

Title Tags: Use your primary keyword in the title tag of your web pages to provide a clear indication of what the page is about.
Headers and Subheadings: Incorporate keywords into headers and subheadings to guide both users and search engines through your content.
Body Text: Integrate keywords naturally throughout the body of your content, ensuring that it flows smoothly and provides value to your readers.
Meta Descriptions: Craft compelling meta descriptions that include relevant keywords, enticing users to click through to your site.
URLs: Where possible, include keywords in your URLs to provide a clear URL structure and improve search engine visibility.

By thoughtfully placing keywords throughout your website, you’re signaling to search engines that your content is relevant and valuable to users searching for specific topics related to functional medicine.

Common Keyword Research Mistakes Practice Owners Make When Learning SEO

Overthinking: Don’t get caught up in overanalyzing keywords. Keep your focus on providing valuable content.
Excessive Time Spent on Keyword Research Research: Balance your time between research and content creation – both are essential. We’ve seen a number of medical professionals get so caught up in keyword research that they spend very little time actually optimizing their website.
Content Mismatch: Craft content that addresses patient questions rather than solely relying on keywords. Quality content is more important to Google than using the perfect phrase a couple of times on your website
Not Understanding User Intent Neglect: Consider the intent behind keywords. Are users looking for information, solutions, or services?
Ignoring Location: For local healthcare services, incorporating geographic keywords is crucial.

By understanding the world of SEO keywords and avoiding common mistakes, you’ll enhance your functional medicine practice’s online visibility and attract patients who align with your patient-centered approach.

Ready to Elevate Your Functional Medicine Practice’s SEO Strategy?

Now that you have a better understanding of how SEO keywords can play a pivotal role in boosting your functional medicine practice’s online visibility, it’s time to take action. Harness the power of strategic keyword research to connect with patients seeking your specialized care.

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we’re here to guide you every step of the way. We specialize in healthcare SEO. More specifically, we are passionate about offering SEO for functional medicine doctors who we have seen offer incredible care to people who have struggled for years with not feeling like the root of their medical issues was treated by the traditional medicine system. Our SEO team of experts understands the unique challenges and opportunities that functional medicine doctors like you face in the digital landscape. We specialize in crafting tailored SEO strategies that align with your practice’s goals and resonate with your target audience.

Are you ready to unlock the potential of your practice’s online presence? Let’s connect and explore how our proven SEO solutions can drive traffic, enhance your authority, and help you attract more patients who are seeking your integrative approach to healthcare. Schedule a free Zoom consultation with our experienced team members today. Together, we’ll pave the way to a brighter and more successful future for your functional medicine practice.

November 1, 2022/0 Comments/by Jessica

Analytics, SEO Basics, SEO Tips

Universal Analytics & Google Analytics 4: Understanding Key Differences

Google and the tools used to track essential website metrics have evolved a lot over the years, and one of the biggest upcoming transitions will take place on July 1st, 2023. That change is the discontinuing of Universal Analytics and migration to exclusive use of Google Analytics 4 for all Google Analytics properties. This may sound Greek to you. But, today we are going to be talking about some of the key differences between the two, and what you need to understand before this transition.

Data Collection Changes

Historically, Universal Analytics has used a session-based data model that makes use of different “hit types.”

Google defines hits as “an interaction that results in data being sent to Analytics.” There are a variety of hit types, such as social interactions, a user loading a new page, or clicking on a link. Google reports these interactions by breaking them down into categories, actions, and labels. Universal Analytics collects and processes data based on the number of sessions on your site. Due to how the data is collected, the same person may visit the site more than once, but it will count as multiple sessions, even though it’s just one person visiting your site multiple times. As a result, tracking sessions can sometimes report less accurate data in terms of understanding how many users are actually viewing your site.

Understanding Categories, Actions, and Labels

Universal Analytics reports different kinds of events on your site by breaking them down in a way that separates them into different categories, actions, and labels. Because of this, it can become difficult for the average user to understand how to track the correct categories, actions, and labels so they can capture the specific data they want from their site. An example of this could include a clinician wishing to track every time a visitor clicks on the “contact” button, or visits their scheduling page. Generally, more technical knowledge is required to create triggers to get the data you want since these are not automatically captured by Universal Analytics.

Google Analytics 4, everything is an event

As previously mentioned, of the biggest changes in how Google Analytics 4 approaches capturing data. Google Analytics 4 uses machine learning and automated data collection. It also uses a different model from Universal Analytics that is centered around events rather than sessions. Everything is seen as an event; every page view, every time a person loads up a new page, every click on a link, etc. By transitioning to this approach, things become a bit more streamlined when tracking important data, and setting up other triggers to track additional events. Instead of having to remember each category, action, and label for each event you want to track, there are now four main types of events that can be tracked within Google Analytics.

The first set of events is automatically collected events

These are events that are automatically recorded by GA4 once they occur on your site. These events may include:

When users click on an ad
Loading up a new page
Starting a new brand new session on the site
Users the bottom of the page for the first time
A variety of other collected events.

The second type of event is enhanced measurements

A graphic of a laptop screen with the text “web analytics” representing how to rank on Google for therapists. Learn more about private practice SEO and SEO for psychotherapists today. These are measurements for more specific things you want to track on your site. This could include events like when someone downloads a file from your site. Or, clicks on an external link leading to another site. With Universal Analytics, only page views were tracked originally, and capturing other important events would be something that must be set up using categories, actions, and labels. But with GA4, this process is automatic, so you don’t have to worry about setting it up yourself! You can simply choose to enable Enhanced Measurement when creating a data stream (which we will get to in just a bit).

Next, we have recommended events

Events of this type are those that Google suggests you implement on your site. Events like these often need a bit more background information to implement fully, which is why they are recommended by google instead of automatically recorded. Adding these can provide additional features and extra data on reports. Google will offer a predefined name for specific events that are common, such as when a user submits a form or requests information. In this case, Google would likely recommend setting up an event that is titled “generate_lead.”

Finally, we have custom events

These are events that you define. This means that you must set up the parameters to collect information yourself. As a result, it can be a bit harder to implement properly. These types of events won’t usually show up in most standard Google Analytics reports, so you will need to take a few extra steps to set up custom reports with this data.

Data Tracking Changes

Both Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 use properties. Properties are websites, mobile apps, blogs, etc. with a unique tracking ID. For both UA and GA4, you will have to add this unique id in order to start tracking data on your site. But, tracking the data will differ for each. With Universal Analytics, data is tracked using a “view”, which is a set of specifications for tracking traffic on your site. You can set up multiple views in order to filter out data, track certain data, or set up different goals.

Google Analytics 4: Goodbye views, hello data streams

Unlike views in Universal Analytics, Google Analytics 4 uses data streams. Views are no longer used in GA4, which means you can’t create new views to filter your data. Instead, data streams are used to allow you to collect data from multiple sources in the same property. Unlike in Universal Analytics where you would have to have multiple properties to track data from your site and a companion app, you can instead create data streams for both your site and app to track each of them on the same property. For most private practice owners, you likely won’t have to worry about including apps with Google Analytics. But, it is still worth knowing how things are changing between UA and GA4.

Data Metric Changes

Finally, we are going to address how metrics have changed between UA and GA4. In Universal Analytics, you are likely familiar with the metrics “bounce rate”, “pages per session”, and “average session duration”. Bounce rate is the rate at which people only visit one page of your site before ‘bouncing’ off your site. Since GA4 has moved away from a model centered around sessions and page views, these metrics haven’t been available until recently. Instead, new metrics have been implemented to track how engaged users are with your site.

A hand points to a graphic that reads “analytics”, surrounded by technical symbols. Learn how to rank on google for therapists by contacting Simplified SEO Consulting. We offer seo services for therapists and other services. The new metrics used with GA4 won’t show you data like how long someone is staying on your site. Instead, these metrics aim to focus on how engaged users are with your site. One of the main metrics is “engaged sessions”, which are the number of sessions that:

Have lasted longer than 10 seconds,
Have a conversion,
Or have had 2 or more screen/page views

Other related metrics include “engaged sessions per user,” “engagement rate”, and shift the focus from “how fast are people leaving my site” to “how long are people staying on the site”. In essence, the engagement rate is essentially the inverse of the bounce rate. But, it can still tell us vital info about how engaged people are with your site. using

Why these changes matter

The upcoming migration to Google Analytics 4 isn’t something that can be avoided. As a result, SEO specialists and therapists alike must understand how things are changing to accurately collect, track, and report site data. Taking the time to understand how to adapt to the new processes implemented in Google Analytics 4 will be vital in continuing to keep track of important data. Our team is here to offer support during this transition.

Begin Improving Private Practice SEO with Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team is preparing for the upcoming transition, and honing in on the data we need to focus on most. By doing so, we hope to ensure we are providing the best insights for our clients. We would be happy to offer support in cultivating your site’s SEO and helping you get to the first page of Google. To start your journey with Simplified SEO Consulting, please follow these simple steps:

Apply to work with Simplified SEO Consulting
Meet with an SEO specialist
Begin SEO services for therapists

Other Services Offered with Simplified SEO Consulting

SEO is an ever-changing field. This is why we are happy to offer a number of services in support of your private practice. We are happy to offer support with our Done For You SEO Services and DIY Online SEO Courses. We also offer a 12-week Done With You Intensive SEO Program as well. Please visit our blog to read other informative posts today!

About the Author

Sterling Humburg-Cage graduated from the University of Missouri with a BA in Psychology in 2020. He integrates what he learned in school into his work as an SEO Specialist with Simplified SEO Consulting. Sterling prides himself on helping current clients & alumni problems solve difficult SEO issues. He’s great at giving clients multiple options about how to approach a situation. And, responding in a timely manner to client concerns. Since he started, Sterling has met frequently with our alumni and provided them extra problem-solving support. He now provides additional support with a variety of local SEO services. He often goes the extra mile to do outside research. By doing so, he sure private practice owners have everything they need to rank well on search engines long term for the keywords their ideal clients are using!

October 17, 2022/0 Comments/by Sterling Humburg-Cage

SEO Basics, SEO Tips

SEO for Medical Practices

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, where digital presence is increasingly vital, mastering the art of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become paramount for medical practices. As a healthcare professional, you understand the importance of reaching your ideal patients effectively. After all, you can’t treat patients until they reach out and ask for or at least accept your care. That’s precisely where SEO steps into the spotlight.

Welcome to our comprehensive guide, “SEO for Medical Practices.” In this journey, we will navigate the intricate realm of healthcare SEO, unraveling its significance, best practices, and actionable strategies. Whether you’re a functional medicine doctor, a family medicine doctor, a chiropractor, a speech-language pathologist, or any other healthcare specialist with a private practice, this guide is your compass to enhancing your online visibility, building trust with your patients, and empowering your practice to thrive in the digital age. So, let’s embark on this transformative SEO journey, where your medical practice’s success is the ultimate destination.

What is SEO and how does it works?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a digital marketing strategy aimed at improving a website’s visibility on search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. Basically, anything you do on or off your website to try to help it show up more often in search results counts as “SEO.”

The goal of healthcare SEO is to increase organic, non-paid traffic by optimizing various elements on your website, so it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO involves a series of strategies and techniques that help search engines understand the content and relevance of your website, ultimately leading to better rankings.

Is SEO Free on Google?

While SEO refers to organic rankings, making it technically free in terms of ad spend, it often requires a significant investment of time and/or money to achieve substantial results. Achieving high rankings for relevant keywords can be complex and competitive, necessitating a well-thought-out strategy, quality content creation, and ongoing optimization efforts to attract your ideal patients consistently. Investing in SEO tools and expertise, or even partnering with a healthcare SEO agency, is essential and can promote and produce more efficient and sustainable results.

What is local SEO for doctors?

Local SEO is a subset of SEO that focuses on optimizing a healthcare practice’s online presence to attract local patients. It’s crucial for medical professionals with physical locations, such as doctors’ offices, clinics, or healthcare facilities. Local SEO ensures that your practice appears in local search results when patients in your area search for services related to your specialty. It involves strategies like optimizing your Google My Business listing, local citations, and creating location-specific content to establish your practice’s presence within the community.

What does a local SEO company do?

Local SEO companies specialize in helping healthcare providers enhance their visibility in local search results. They achieve this by ensuring that your practice’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistently and accurately listed across various online directories and platforms. They also identify opportunities to optimize your website’s content to make it more location-specific, increasing your chances of ranking higher for local search queries.

Is doing local SEO worth it?

Absolutely. Local SEO can significantly benefit healthcare practices with physical locations. However, on its own, it may not be sufficient to achieve high rankings. An effective SEO strategy typically involves a broader approach, including comprehensive keyword research, content strategy, on-page SEO, and, most importantly, local SEO. This combination builds trust with search engines like Google, contributing to overall SEO success.

What are some examples of SEO?

SEO encompasses various strategies and practices that work in harmony to enhance your online presence and reach. Examples of SEO components include on-page SEO, off-page SEO (link-building), technical SEO (website structure and performance), and local SEO. Each element plays a crucial role in improving your website’s visibility and ranking on search engines. When all these elements work together seamlessly it ultimately attracts more patients and establishes your practice as a trusted authority in your medical field.

What is an example of on-page SEO practice?

On-page SEO involves optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. It includes practices such as specifying an SEO meta description, optimizing images, integrating keywords, using keyword-rich subheadings, implementing schema markup, and including internal links to relevant pages on your website. These strategies collectively enhance the visibility of your healthcare practice online.

What is the SEO strategy for Healthcare industry?

Because there are over 200 factors search engines like Google will consider when they’re trying to decide how to rank your website on Google, the truth is that there are a lot of different ways you can craft your SEO strategy.

And the truth is that every website should have a unique SEO strategy crafted based on the specific needs of your practice. But we have found that a successful SEO strategy for healthcare professionals involves several key components:

Technical Soundness: Start with a technically sound website that accurately represents your practice’s brand.
Quality Content: Create high-quality content that demonstrates your expertise and addresses your ideal patients’ questions and concerns.
On-Page SEO: Optimize your web pages with relevant keywords and on-page SEO techniques to establish a strong foundation for search engines.
Regular Blogging: Maintain a consistent blogging schedule to provide fresh, informative content that appeals to both patients and search engines.
Local SEO: Optimize your online presence for local searches to build trust with search engines, especially if you have a physical location.
Building Backlinks: Acquire high-quality backlinks to establish authority and credibility within your healthcare niche.

What are the best practices for healthcare SEO?

To excel in healthcare SEO, prioritize the needs of your patients and create informative content for your medical website that is easy to understand. In addition to following Google’s guidelines, consider conducting regular website audits to identify technical issues or areas that might affect user experience. Mobile optimization and fast page loading times are critical factors to ensure your website caters to the needs of users. Also, staying updated with industry changes involves keeping an eye on emerging healthcare trends and adapting your content strategy accordingly which can help maintain your healthcare SEO’s effectiveness. Ethical, patient-focused SEO practices are not only the key to long-term success but also help build strong patient relationships and promote your medical practice as a trusted authority in the healthcare field.

Why is medical SEO important?

Medical SEO is crucial because it helps healthcare professionals attract and engage with their ideal patients online. And these days, your patients are looking for you online. That’s simply where people look for healthcare providers these days. Even if they’re getting recommendations from someone else, they may still do a Google search. And when they find your practice online easily, it helps confirm that you are indeed the practice they should reach out to. In other words, by optimizing their digital presence with effective SEO in the healthcare industry, practitioners can build trust, credibility, and visibility within their field. This is where experienced medical SEO companies come into play, offering specialized expertise to ensure your practice’s online success. Medical SEO is a powerful tool for staying competitive in the healthcare industry, ultimately empowering practices to grow and serve their patients effectively.

Can I do SEO on my own for free?

Yes, you can learn and implement SEO on your own, even on a limited budget. However, be prepared for a significant time investment and a learning curve. While it’s possible to start with minimal expenses, you may need to invest some money in resources like books, webinars, or tools.

In fact, I initially did my own SEO for my business. I’m the founder of Simplified SEO Consulting and also own my own group private pay mental health counseling practice, which allowed me to apply these SEO strategies directly into my own clinical practice. I started learning SEO on my own. And I did invest some money in books and some paid webinars. But it was pretty minimal. I will tell you I spent hours and hours every week for months to start moving the needle on my SEO, but it worked. And it worked on a budget. It wasn’t easy, but it absolutely worked.

If this is where you are, take a look around our website. We have a ton of helpful information on here completely free! Join our mailing list. You’ll get free tips for 7 days and then a few times a month we’ll send you free SEO tips. Put those into practice and it’s a great starting place. We also offer SEO training options such as working 1:1 with our team for 12 weeks of completely individualized SEO training and support.

On the other hand, many people do find the process overwhelming. This is NOT because you can’t do it. It’s because your time is simply too valuable to spend the hours and hours it takes to effectively learn and implement a good SEO strategy. In that case, outsourcing becomes important.

How do I find a good company for SEO?

When selecting an SEO company, consider factors such as their understanding of the healthcare field, their clear optimization plan tailored to your practice, their receptiveness to your needs, budget alignment, and realistic timeframes for results. Simplified SEO Consulting specializes in SEO for healthcare professionals, providing expertise and tailored strategies to help you succeed.

Honestly, I always recommend talking to at least two different companies so you have a couple of options. Here are some questions you may want to ask as you speak to them:

Does this SEO company understand the healthcare field?
Do they have a clear plan for optimizing your website that will help you grow your business?
Are they listening to you when you describe your work and your ideal patients?
Are they within your budget?
Can you commit to the timeframe they’re saying it will take to get results?

Simplified SEO Consulting as an SEO Agency for Small Businesses in the Healthcare Industry

Our journey into the realm of SEO for functional medicine doctors and healthcare professionals is driven by a passion deeply rooted in our understanding of the healthcare landscape. From our inception, we’ve been dedicated to crafting digital strategies tailored to small healthcare businesses, with a primary focus on mental healthcare services. Our commitment extends beyond mere technicalities; it’s about nurturing the profound impact your practice has on the lives of your patients.

Over the years, we’ve proudly extended our expertise to an array of healthcare providers. We’ve worked with a variety of healthcare providers including psychiatrists, speech-language pathologists, and various other professionals in private practice. This diversification allowed us to appreciate the unique nuances of different healthcare fields while harnessing the common thread that unites them all – the dedication to helping people live healthier lives. As a dedicated healthcare SEO agency, we are committed to tailoring our strategies to each healthcare specialty, ensuring that your practice succeeds in the digital landscape.

What Makes Simplified SEO Different as a Medical SEO Agency?

What sets us apart in the realm of SEO for functional medicine doctors and other healthcare experts is our unwavering commitment to ethical, effective, and results-driven strategies. We don’t just aim to boost your online visibility; we aim to connect you with the patients who genuinely need your expertise and care. Our approach to SEO for small local businesses is equally reliable, ensuring that your practice thrives within your local community.

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we’re not just an agency; we’re your partners in success. We understand that your mission is more than just a business; it’s a calling to serve your community. Together, let’s embark on a journey to reach the pinnacles of search engine rankings, attract the right patients, and make a lasting impact in the healthcare industry. Join hands with us as we empower you with SEO strategies that align perfectly with the heart and soul of your healthcare practice.

SEO for Medical Practices with Simplified SEO Consulting

Now that you’ve uncovered the essential insights into SEO for medical practices, as well as learned about some SEO for medical practice examples, it’s time to take the next crucial step towards enhancing your online presence and patient outreach. At Simplified SEO Consulting, we’re not just passionate about optimizing your digital strategy. We’re dedicated to helping your healthcare practice flourish through offering effective SEO services.

Our specialized expertise in SEO for functional medicine doctors and healthcare professionals places us at the forefront of the industry. We’ve crafted tailored solutions that resonate with the unique needs of healthcare businesses. So, whether you’re a mental health counselor, a psychiatrist, or any other healthcare provider in private practice.

With us, you’re not just a client – you’re a valued partner in your journey towards online success. We prioritize your goals, ensuring that every aspect of our strategy aligns perfectly with your practice’s ethos and mission. Together, we’ll harness the power of ethical, effective SEO to connect you with the patients who truly need your services.

Don’t miss the opportunity to transform your healthcare practice and reach new heights of visibility and patient engagement. Take action today, and embark on a seamless SEO journey with Simplified SEO Consulting. It’s time to let your practice shine and empower more individuals with your invaluable healthcare services. Set up a free Zoom consultation with one of our team members now to begin your SEO services and witness the remarkable growth of your healthcare business.

October 15, 2022/0 Comments/by Jessica

SEO Basics, SLP private practice

Keyword Research Tips for Speech Therapists in Private Practice

Looking for help with keyword research as an SLP? As a speech therapist in private practice, keyword research is a vital aspect of your SEO strategy. Proper keyword research ensures that your website and content are found by your target audience, leading to more traffic, higher conversions, and better ROI. Here are some tips on how to conduct effective keyword research for your speech therapy practice.

Understand Your Target Audience

Before you start researching keywords, it is essential to understand your target audience. Who are your ideal clients? What are their needs and pain points? What are their goals and motivations? Knowing your target audience will help you identify the right keywords to use in your marketing efforts.

Brainstorm Relevant Topics for Keyword Research

Once you have a clear idea of your target audience, brainstorm topics that are relevant to your practice. For example, if you specialize in pediatric speech therapy, relevant topics might include language development in children, speech delays, or phonological disorders. These topics will help guide your keyword research.

Use Online Keyword Research Tools

There are many online tools available to help you with keyword research. Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs are all popular options. These tools provide valuable information such as search volume, competition, and related keywords. Use these tools to identify high-volume, low-competition keywords that are relevant to your practice.

My personal favorite keyword research tool is Mangool’s KWFinder. I like that I can choose to look at a specific area. I usually look state wide at keyword data even if I’m targeting a more specific part of the state. Occasionally, I’ll use another tool and I’ve tried out tons of other tools. My second favorite is probably SEMRush, but it’s honestly a lot steeper learning curve to get to where you really use that one effectively.

Understand the competition

Analyzing the top-performing websites in your niche will give you an idea of the kind of content they are ranking for, the keywords they are using, and the level of competition. Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz to get detailed information about your competitors’ strategies. Mangools also has some helpful tools for this competitor research such as their SERP Checker & Link Miner.

Analyze and evaluate your keywords

Keyword research isn’t a one-time activity. Keep evaluating the performance of your keywords, and keep an eye on how your website is ranking for them. Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to measure your website’s traffic and monitor your keyword rankings.

One really important thing to keep in mind is the user intent of specific keywords. Sometimes, you may find that lots of people are searching for a keyword related to your topic. However, you may realize that they aren’t very likely looking for your services if that’s the keyword they’re using. So, use common sense. And when you identify a keyword to target ask yourself what the person who searches for that is most likely really looking for.

Optimize your website for long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are phrases that contain three or more words and are highly specific. They have lower search volume than short-tail keywords, but they also have lower competition. Use long-tail keywords in your website content to target a more specific audience and improve your chances of ranking for those keywords.

Long tail keywords are essentially golden opportunities. These lower volume but easier to rank for keywords are often your perfect next client. Why? Because they know what they’re looking for. Their language is more specific in their query. These clients are more often really ready to get started.

Use location-specific keywords

If you’re targeting a local audience, use location-specific keywords in your website content. Include the name of your city or region in your keyword research to improve your chances of ranking for location-based searches.

Local SEO is becoming more and more important for private practices. If you’re anything like me, you may have searched a number of times recently for a keyword and a specific location. For example, I asked Siri this evening for the 10 day forecast in Barcelona, Spain because I’m planning a trip and wanted to know the weather in that specific place. And over the weekend, I asked Siri for the best restaurants in the Topeka, KS area when I was going to be traveling through.

This isn’t uncommon for your potential new clients either. So, read some of our blog posts about local SEO and find ways to target location-specific keywords as well.

Use keyword variations

People use different variations of keywords to search for information online. Use keyword variations in your website content to capture a broader audience. You can also use keyword variations to optimize your website for voice search.

Using keyword variations involves using synonyms, related words, and long-tail keywords, which are phrases containing three or more words. For instance, instead of just “speech therapy,” you can use long-tail variations such as “speech therapy exercises for children,” “speech therapy for adults with autism,” or “speech therapy for stroke patients.” By using different keyword variations, you increase your chances of appearing in voice search results and attract more potential clients to your private practice.

Create quality content

No matter how much keyword research you do, it won’t matter if your content isn’t high quality. Focus on creating informative, engaging, and unique content that resonates with your target audience. Make sure your content is easy to read, well-structured, and free of spelling and grammatical errors. This means having service pages that clearly lay out your services and any specialties you may have. And, it generally means blogging regularly as well.

Use keywords naturally

When incorporating keywords, write for your audience, not just for search engines. Use variations throughout your content. Consider the user’s intent when optimizing your page for a particular keyword. Do not stuff your content with keywords, or it may be penalized. Ensure your content is high-quality, relevant, and engaging. Utilize related terms and synonyms to support the primary keyword instead of saying the same word over and over again.

Keep track of your progress

Monitor your website’s ranking and traffic regularly to see the impact of your keyword research efforts. Keep tweaking and adjusting your strategy based on the results you see.

I can’t emphasize this enough. So, so often I see private practice owners tell me they’re working so hard and not seeing any SEO results. They’ve been reading our blog posts and my emails and trying to follow along but are frustrated it’s not working. Then, I ask about how they’re currently ranking and how they’re tracking their rankings. Quickly they sheepishly say that they aren’t tracking their rankings.

Tracking your rankings is SO important. It’s the first sign SEO is working. Often, you’ll rank for a term for weeks before enough people start landing on the website that you have a noticeable increase in calls. Without tracking your progress, you could get discouraged that it’s “not working.” In fact, it is working and you are ranking. OR you can see that you’re moving up and what you’re doing is working but you’re still on that annoying page 2 or 3. So, you know to keep it up until you get to that page 1 spot.

Don’t Overlook Keyword Research…But Don’t Obsess Either

Keyword research is an essential part of SEO, and it’s very helpful for speech therapists in private practice to use it to their advantage. By understanding your target audience, analyzing your competition, and optimizing your website content, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more clients to your practice.

However, keep in mind that keyword research is an ongoing process. It requires constant monitoring and adjustment to stay relevant. And, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. As helpful as I think Keyword Research is when you’re doing super intense optimization, if you find it overwhelming then start with just writing really great, client-focused content. You’ll naturally use some keywords. Or just pick one keyword you *think* people are using even if it’s not perfect.

Imperfect action is certainly better than no action when it comes to SEO!

Your Next Steps Optimizing Your Private Practice Website

Read more about our SEO Services for SLPs in private practice or move on to one of these next steps:

Read my Ultimate Guide to SEO for SLPs blog post
Sign up for KWFinder and start doing some keyword research using these tips!
Start one of our Do-it-Yourself SEO courses
Join our next Small Group Mastermind
Apply for a call with one of our SEO Specialists to chat about your SEO needs

October 10, 2022/0 Comments/by Jessica