Some basics that therapists need to know related to SEO

Google is the most used search engine today and ranks all the content out there in the world according to what their search engine bots determines to be most helpful and relevant to searchers. 

Here are the main elements related to search and some SEO tips:

1. Keywords and Search Phrases

Keywords are what you are likely familiar with. When clients are looking for help they type in either a phrase or a few keywords such as "help for dealing with anxiety" or "therapist, anxiety, Farmingdale, NY". Optimizing your website completely for keywords without keyword stuffing or turning off clients is a part of SEO. It is a piece of what helps clients find you. 

Google is looking not just for words, but quality without spam or overdoing it. Google is now able to understand context, surrounding text, and synonyms so you cannot just stuff your page with keywords and would probably would experience a drop in rank if you did. 

When you have quality writing with good SEO signals, you have have the chance to attract more clients and may even get the clients who you are the best fit for.

2. Your domain name (not to be confused with page titles)

Having a great domain name does not suddenly get you to rank, and without all the rigorous SEO work even an amazing name will not get your site to rank, but it is the one SEO strategy that is the easiest to accomplish in proportion to its impact. 

Make sure, as a therapist with a local business, to have at least two of these keywords in your domain name: what you do, your location, who you treat. You do not want a domain name that is too long (more than 4 words) and still want humans  to easily read and remember what your domain name is! :)

Also, once you get a domain name, you do not want to change it because doing so erases nearly everything you waited and worked for. You will have to wait for Google to trust you again. Luckily you would still (I hope) have your subname and pages with your amazing content and SEO structure so that at least with time you can rank again without having to redo everything except that the waiting and unknown is very difficult!

Lastly, did you know that the longer your domain name is around, the more Google trusts you? A ten year old site with two relevant sentences can outrank a one month old site full of content for this reason.  I call this the 'Bob's diner' effect! Bob's dinner may not serve variety and the food is okay, but they have been around for years and consistent so they bring in a ton of people due to trust and reliance!

So, even if you are not ready to complete a whole website you can still come up with and buy a great domain and just put your location, town, number, and a paragraph or two about your services on a page attached to it until you are ready. It will give you a little boost with Google when the time comes.

3. NAP (Name, address, phone number)

Your NAP needs to be consistent throughout your pages and other web content. Make a choice about whether you want to use your given name or business name, or both and stick to it in the same order everywhere.

4. Niche it up! 

Along with your general practice information, it is a good idea to have at least one niche specialty page. It gives you a boost in ranking faster in early stages and your won't have to compete against as many people in a search. The niche I chose was working with children, and I had a detailed page devoted to it. I did not just simply state services with a couple of sentences, but really tried to connect with the potential parent of the client. Google, believe it or not, understands different styles of writing and looks for length as well.

5. Your Content, content, content...

I bring this up often because it is so important. Provide relevant, quality, detailed content. It will help you tremendously and you can never go wrong with it. Google loves it, clients love it, and you will love it too after you write it out and see the results.  :)