SEO for Therapists: A Beginner’s Guide
Learn all about using SEO for therapists to reach and serve the families and individuals in your area with this mini-guide to search engine optimization in the medical sector.
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insights from 98,500+ hours of health & wellness marketing experience
When a patient looks for a therapist, one of the first things they do is turn to a search engine. Upon searching “therapist near me,” they’re met with pages upon pages of results. Of course, they’re not going to look through every single one, but rather stick with the first page or two.
With SEO for therapists, you can ensure your therapy website shows up as one of the first results and doesn’t go unseen. Stay tuned as this beginner’s guide to therapist SEO covers:
Does your therapy practice need more than just SEO to improve your online visibility? No problem — see how digital marketing for therapists can give you the tools to succeed online!
What is SEO for therapists?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy that involves optimizing your therapy website to improve its visibility and accessibility on search engines like Google. SEO has four main components to it, and each have different factors that affect your search engine performance:
- Local SEO: Google My Business profile, local keywords, reviews
- On-page SEO: Title tags, meta descriptions, content, keyword usage, images
- Off-page SEO: Backlinks, social shares, guest blogging
- Technical SEO: Page speed, sitemaps, index status, HTTPS, site navigation, URL structure, internal linking, structured data, mobile-friendliness
By optimizing your therapy site for things like local, technical, and on- & off-page SEO, you can improve your site’s position in search results and make your practice visible to patients looking for your help.
Benefits of SEO for therapists
Now that we’ve covered what SEO for therapists is, let’s look closer at the benefits it brings to your practice and your patients:
Generate online awareness for your practice
Since most people only pay attention to the first page of results, the sites that appear there get clicked on much more often than those on later pages. This means that unless your site is on the first page, potential clients might not even know you exist. SEO can be a great tool to get your site onto that first page, and generate awareness and clients for your practice.
Attract your ideal patients
While being at the top of the rankings for a broad term like “therapy” might bring a lot of traffic to your site, it’s unlikely that all of those people are actually going to contact you and become a client.
Through SEO, you can optimize your site for therapy-related queries that best fit your practice and attract your ideal patients with targeted website content.
Build authority online
Google’s algorithm uses many factors to rank websites in search results, one of which is “helpfulness.” When you use SEO for therapists, you’re creating informative, educational content for your site to attract patients. As more people visit this helpful content, it sends signals to Google that your site is trustworthy and helpful to searchers, and your rankings improve.
Plus, this SEO content helps prospective patients learn more about your practice and various mental & behavioral health topics. As a result, they can confidently make informed decisions about choosing a therapist. More specifically, choosing you as a therapy provider.
7 SEO strategies for therapists
Now that you know why SEO matters, you might be wondering how to get started. It’s a process that requires time and dedication, but with the help of these seven SEO strategies for therapists, you’ll be well on your way to ruling the search results.
- Conduct in-depth keyword research
- Optimize for local SEO
- Claim & optimize your Google My Business profile
- Educate with content marketing
- Improve your site’s technical SEO
- Make your site mobile-friendly
- Encourage patients to leave online reviews
1. Conduct in-depth keyword research
Keyword research and optimization is the backbone of any successful SEO strategy, no matter what industry you’re in. Conducting extensive keyword research helps you identify what queries your target audience is using to find your practice and informs all other aspects of your SEO strategy, like deciding what kinds of content to create, how to position yourself online, and more.
When it comes to researching what keywords to use, there are a few places you can start, like Google. Google offers related searches based on your query — use those related searches to build up your keyword lists and find new phrases to target!
Besides Google, there are plenty of paid and free keyword research tools you can use, like WebFX’s KeywordsFX.
2. Optimize for local SEO
SEO is about making your business visible online, and that starts with ensuring those closest to you can find you via local SEO. Optimizing for local SEO helps you bring in more patients from your area, and appear in search results for local keywords like “therapist near me” or “therapy in [city/state].”
To do this, start by integrating location-based keywords into your website and think about potential long-tail or conversational keywords people in your community may use to find your office, like “[location] therapist for [mental illness]” or “best therapist in [location] for [mental illness].”
3. Claim & optimize your Google My Business profile
To take your local SEO efforts up a notch, remember to claim and optimize your Google My Business (GMB) profile. Your GMB profile acts as a quick snapshot of your business, showing searchers important information about your practice like your location, contact details, website, reviews, and more.
Optimize your GMB profile by ensuring all your important information is filled in (e.g. address, phone number, business hours, etc.), and integrate relevant keywords into that content when possible. Then, add pictures to your profile, that way searchers can get a better sense of connection with you.
You’ll also want to periodically review and update your GMB profile to ensure you’re always displaying up-to-date information for prospective patients.
4. Educate with content marketing
Whatever they’re dealing with, patients are choosing to trust you with managing their mental well-being. By using content marketing for therapists, you can begin building that trust with them before they even have a session with you.
Content marketing involves creating and distributing educational, helpful content that offers value to your patients. For you, this can come in the form of blog posts about managing mental illness, infographics, therapist bios, and more. The more helpful people find your content, the more search engines will notice and reward you with better rankings.
5. Improve your site’s technical SEO
While it often gets overlooked in favor of more interactive things like on-page SEO, your therapy website’s technical SEO plays a major role in how well you perform on search engines.
Technical SEO involves optimizing elements of your site that contribute to user experience (UX), like site navigation and architecture, security, loading speed, and more.
Google’s algorithm rewards sites with great UX, so improving your technical SEO for faster load speeds, easy navigation, and secure browsing is crucial to winning higher rankings (and winning over patients).
6. Make your site mobile-friendly
Another important aspect of technical SEO for therapists is having a responsive website design. In other words, creating a mobile-friendly site that adapts to viewing on different devices.
Having a mobile-friendly site is crucial to your SEO success because it makes your site accessible to 56% of people browsing on their phones, tablets, and other mobile devices. Not to mention, it’s a key ranking factor in Google’s algorithm.
7. Encourage patients to leave online reviews
Did you know 70% of people read & consider patient reviews when searching for a new healthcare provider? Not only that, but 75% of people rely on reviews as their first step in the searching process.
Showcasing patient reviews on your site, GMB, Yelp, and other third-party directories helps not just prospective patients, but your SEO as well. Positive reviews help enhance your credibility and build trust with search engines. Plus, they can bolster your local SEO performance, helping you stand out among local competitors.
Ready to implement an SEO campaign for your practice?
At WebFX, we know the mental health industry, and we understand its competitive nature.
Our marketing experts will help you decide how to effectively market your practice and see the results that you’ve been looking for.
Contact us today for a free quote!
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