How to Create a Solid SEO Strategy for Your Mental Health Practice
You’ve recently started your own private practice and you know how important an online presence is.
To save some money, you decide to learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on your own. You don’t know much when it comes to SEO. Except that it has something to do with improving your website’s visibility on Google.
You think to yourself, “It can’t be that hard to learn. I’m a smart person who can figure things out.”
Fast forward a few months and you’re no closer to figuring out how to make SEO work for you and your website.
Rather than taking on another client, you find yourself Googling “Is an SEO strategy necessary for my website?” You’ve spent hours learning online marketing. Whether it’s after work, on the weekends, or between clients.
It’s left you drained of your valuable time, energy, and resources.
Feeling frustrated, annoyed, and overwhelmed, you throw in the towel. Instead of online marketing, you think of other ways you can grow your practice. This is when mailers start sounding like a great idea.
If this sounds like you, not to worry. This guide will help clarify some confusion. And, if you’d rather surrender this task altogether, I can help with that, too.
My name is Mary and I’m a mental health and wellness copywriter.
I write copy using your voice to connect with your audience. This way you can grow your online presence without sacrificing paid hours with clients. Schedule a Discovery Call where we’ll talk about your goals and how I can help move you forward.
So we’re on the same page, let’s review why it’s worth it to have an SEO strategy for your practice.
5 Reasons Why SEO is Important for Mental Health Practices.
1. Improves your credibility
You want to be an authority in your field, and ranking higher in SERPs is a great way to do this. This lets your readers know your website and practice are relevant and trustworthy. A great way to establish credibility.
2. It’s a cost-effective marketing tool
If you’re looking to market your mental health practice on a budget, SEO is the answer. Paid advertising can be expensive, and often people bypass the ads and go to the organic results. SEO generates organic traffic and prospective clients over the long run.
3. Connects you with your target audience
When your website’s optimized for relevant search terms, you’re able to attract your ideal client. The goal is ranking for keywords that are relevant to your customer, and SEO is a great way to do this.
4. Boosts your local SEO
If you haven’t done so already, set up a Google My Business (GMB) account. This is crucial when it comes to your practice and SEO. 64% of consumers use GMB to learn more about local businesses (1). Make sure your private practice is Googleable.
5. Increases your visibility and traffic
Ranking higher in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) increases your website’s visibility and organic traffic. When this happens you’re able to reach your ideal client, and thus, grow your practice.
Now let’s talk about how you can create an online marketing strategy for your business.
10 Steps to Create an SEO Strategy for Your Mental Health Practice.
Step #1. Be very clear on your audience
It’s easy to miss or skip this step. You might think your ideal audience is obvious –︲anyone in need of mental health care. But identifying your ideal client should be a little more in-depth.
A few questions to ask yourself when trying to identify your ideal client include:
What clients do I look forward to seeing the most?
What mental health issues am I passionate about?
If I had to focus on one or two mental health areas, what would they be?
What clients make me the best therapist I can be?
What clients drain me the most?
When you know your audience and their pain points you’re able to write content addressing those needs. Your tone, messaging, and optimization are effective when you’ve got a clear picture of who you’re talking to.
Step #2. Don’t skip keyword research
Keywords are the words or phrases people type into the Google search bar. Doing keyword research is putting yourself in your ideal client's shoes. It’s about discovering and analyzing the keywords they put into search engines.
A few tips for helping you discover optimal keywords include:
Think like your customer and their pain points
Study your competitors and what they’re doing
Find long tail keywords (three to four-word phrases) that specify your services
Don’t forget to use keyword research tools
Check and track how well your keywords are performing
Keyword research gives you valuable information about the kinds of queries your ideal client is searching for. When you know these queries, you can create a content strategy to answer those questions.
Step #3. Optimize your website for SEO
Optimizing your website is the process of enhancing your website’s performance. Particularly web traffic, conversion rates, and how easy it is to use.
A few ways you can better optimize your website for SEO include:
Give your reader valuable and useful information
Showcase your expertise and authority in your industry
Make sure each page has its own title tag
Update your blog consistently
Optimize your images with alt text
With an optimized website you’re able to bring in more revenue.
Step #4. Quality content over quantity
The content you put on your website is a reflection of you and your practice. It’s also a huge factor in your ability to rank well on search engines. You might be wondering what’s considered quality content.
For simplicity, it’s content that’s relevant, engaging, and useful for your readers.
A few ideas to help you create quality content include:
Make sure your content aligns with your business goals
Highlight your expertise in your field
Use a variety of formats, such as blogs, videos, social media, and podcasts
Write in a way that’s easy to digest and understand
Keep your content updated
A big mistake made is forgetting to make the content about your reader – not you. High-quality content comes when you understand your audience and their needs.
Step #5. Measure and adjust your strategy
It’s not worth your efforts if you don’t track and make adjustments as you go.
What exactly are you measuring? Good question.
This is an easy step to get overwhelmed with because there are hundreds of metrics you can track. Actually, Google uses over 200 factors in its algorithm when ranking content (2). We’re not going to do that.
Instead, let’s focus on a few key performance indicators (KPIs) to see if your SEO techniques are working.
KPIs to pay attention to include:
What are your organic conversions?
What is your cost per acquisition?
What is your return on investment?
How visible is your website organically?
How well are your keywords ranking?
The sooner you start monitoring your metrics the better you’ll know if your SEO strategy is working. And where it’s not working you can make adjustments.
Step #6. Place keywords in the URLs on your website pages
The URL is the web address for your page and is a great place to strengthen your SEO. URLs impact your digital marketing because they improve the user experience. They help users and search engines understand what your content is about.
Let’s say you’re writing a blog. Your long tail keyword is “holistic treatments for depression.” Be sure you include these keywords in the URL.
Other ways you can optimize your URLs include:
Use hyphens between words rather than spaces
Keep them short and sweet
Don’t overstuff with keywords
Make sure URLs aren’t repeated on your website
Should be reader-friendly
This is a step that gets overlooked but has the potential to play a huge role in your website’s SEO strategy.
Step #7. Optimize your title tags
If you aren’t clear on what a title tag is, let’s clarify.
A title tag, also called a page title, is a link on search engine results pages. When you click on it, you’re then taken to that webpage. Title tags also show up on social media posts and in your browser tabs.
You want your title tags optimized because they tell Google and your readers what your page is about. Title tags need to be clear and grab the attention of your readers.
Other ways you can optimize your title tags when it comes to SEO include:
Keep it simple so the whole title appears in the search results
Write a unique title tag for each web page
Use one keyword and avoid over-stuffing
Use it as your meta description if it’s too long
Should be relevant and match the searcher’s intent
Good titles mean you get more engagement, so this is a step that’s worth spending some time on. Create attention-grabbing title tags by asking yourself, “What’s the benefit my audience gets from reading this piece of content?”
Step #8. Review your copy and add keywords where appropriate
While I’ve mentioned this already, it’s worth saying again. Avoid keyword stuffing. This actually hurts your SEO strategy efforts. You want a balance between incorporating your keywords and sounding like a human.
Areas you can incorporate your keywords naturally include:
Headings and subheadings
In the link text
Alt image text
Title tags
Graphics
Get creative and see if you can rework a sentence and include your keywords.
You also want to add variations of your keywords. Let’s say your long-tail keyword is “depression in adolescents.” Switch off every few and say teenage depression instead.
Step #9. Improve the experience for users
You want your practice to be warm and inviting as clients walk in the door.
You might have a receptionist there to greet them, and a few comfortable chairs for them to sit in while they wait. Maybe there’s some helpful literature available to read. You want your clients to have a good, positive experience when they come to your practice.
This same concept applies to your website visitors.
Don’t do all the work getting them to your website and leave them confused, lost, and not sure what to do next. When this happens they leave and usually don’t return.
Ways you can improve your user experience include:
An easy-to-navigate website
No broken links
Small chunks of content
Mobile friendly
Create bullet points or lists
Focusing on the user experience benefits the reader. It also improves your organic search and helps your website rank higher on SERPs.
When to Hire a Professional to Help With Your SEO Strategy.
In today’s digital world, having an intentional online marketing plan is crucial.
So many people turn to search engines to seek information and help. If you don’t have a strong online presence focused on increasing your visibility, you’ll get passed up.
But that doesn’t mean you need to be the one to do it.
Why not collaborate with a copywriter who understands SEO? And one who specializes in mental health and wellness copy? This means you can focus on your clients while I handle your online presence.
Let me support you by taking on your copywriting and SEO needs so you can:
Grow your practice without draining your energy
Use your gifts and talents effectively so you can connect more with your clients
Stop guessing what will work only to feel you’ve wasted your time and money
Book a FREE 15-Minute Discovery Call with me today.
Let’s come up with a solid SEO strategy for your practice. Stop spinning your wheels doing a task that leaves you feeling drained and confused. Free up those minutes spent learning SEO. This way you can take better care of yourself while giving back to your clients.
Can’t wait to chat with you.😊
(1) "Google My Business 2023: Analyzing Your Business Statistics." 22 Mar. 2023, https://blog.gitnux.com/google-my-business-statistics/. Accessed 2 May. 2023.
(2) "Google's 200 Ranking Factors: The Complete List (2023) - Backlinko." 27 Mar. 2023, https://backlinko.com/google-ranking-factors. Accessed 3 May. 2023.