You’ve heard it multiple times: blogging is key to ramping up your SEO strategy. However, it’s another thing on your never-ending to do list. Blogging for private practice? You never thought you’d be doing this! In this blogpost, we’re giving you all the reasons you should be blogging so that you can compete with the best therapist websites online.
Why Blogging Matters for the Best Therapist Websites
Before we dig into things you need to be doing to compete with the best therapist websites online, we want you to understand why this all matters. Blogging for private practice should be one of the top things you do on a weekly basis. To provide some perspective, we consistently publish new blogposts twice per week. This is a part of our larger vision on how we want to show up online.
There are many reasons why blogging matters for the best therapist websites. It’s how they actually appear first when you type in certain things. It’s how they get visibility. If you are considering blogging for private practice (as you should), here’s reasons why we’d recommend it:
- Blogging boosts organic visibility and helps your practice get found on Google. Think about if your website appeared for exactly what your ideal client searched! How amazing?!
- Search engines reward consistent, client-focused content. This is not a myth. The more that you publish consistent, high-authority content, the more Google will see you as a trusted source. This is why certain brands are appearing in the AI summary over others.
- It builds trust with potential clients before they reach out. A practice that appears on Google “feels” more legit. They can clearly see that you’ve worked hard to get found online.
How SEO Blogging Improves Therapist Website Performance
The keyword to understand here is “SEO blogging”. We’ve seen many clients publishing consistent blogs but only about topics that aren’t as client-seeking such as “My Favorite Makeup Products in 2024”.
The best SEO for therapists focuses on client-searched terms such as “anxiety therapy near me” or “eating disorder dietitian in nyc”. It would be ideal for your website to rank for these terms because 99% of the time, these individuals are your ideal client and it makes it an easy decision to work with you. No decision fatigue.
SEO blogging also helps to increase time spent on the website. This will help boost your engagement rate in your Google Analytics. Because your blogposts contain actual helpful information to your ideal clients, they’ll be more curious to stay around and find other resources.
Lastly, to really nail down your therapist website SEO, you’ll be internally linking in other areas of your website. When you do this, it will help Google understand your site structure. When Google understands your site structure, they’ll prioritize certain pages that may rank for certain content. I encourage you to search online for the best therapist websites and see if you notice consistencies in their SEO strategies.
Start with Keyword Research for Therapist Blogging
To get started with blogging for private practice, you’ll want to begin keyword research. Keywords are the words that users type into Google. So as a therapist, you want these to be related to your services, location or specialty.
Our biggest tip is to invest in an SEO tool. We recommend SEMrush. These tools allow you to see how often someone searches a keyword and if it’s worth trying to rank for.
To find these keywords, do the following:
- Identify common questions your ideal client is Googling. Let’s say you are an anxiety, people pleasing focused therapist for 18-25 year olds. They may be Googling questions like, “natural remedies for anxiety” “how to stop being a people pleaser” or “how to manage stress about work”
- Use SEO tools – like SEMrush! As mentioned above, these tools are key in identifying what keywords are actually “rankable”. There are times where certain words are either not searched enough or too searched where it would be too difficult to rank for.
By utilizing these therapist blogging tips for keyword research, your website will soon be appearing alongside the best therapist websites!
Tip: Focus on one main keyword per blog post and use it naturally.
It’s normal to feel overwhelmed with all of the SEO chatter. But it all boils down to this: focus on one main keyword per blogpost and/or post. Then, use it naturally throughout headings and paragraphs. Do not overuse it or make it feel forced. You can get flagged for keyword stuffing.
Choose Blog Topics That Speak to Client Needs
The best therapist websites have blog topics that actually resonate with their ideal audience. Not all of your content has to be “therapist website content” as long as it feels authentic and relatable to your audience. Using our anxiety therapist example, you may blog about your evening routine that promotes a stress-free environment.
When choosing blog topics, think about what your clients are currently struggling with and how your services can help them. For our website, we focus on providing SEO, branding and website tips that are catered to private practices. This is because our ideal clients need this information to feel more confident online. Some great example topics for a first blogpost would be:
- “What to Expect in Your First Therapy Session”
- “How to Choose the Right Therapist”
- “Why Your Mental Health Deserves Attention”
Use On-Page SEO Best Practices
Going back to keyword strategy, on-page SEO is what is evaluated when you use your keywords. When completing SEO for therapists, we like to incorporate keywords in different areas of blogs:
- Title
- First paragraph
- At least one header (H1, H2, H3)
By using keywords in these areas, Google bots better understand which keyword you are trying to rank the blogpost for. Otherwise – they would have no idea what to prioritize!
Some other best practices when trying to compete with the best therapist websites on Google Search is to:
- Use internal links to other pages or blogposts
- Include alt text on images
Tip: Tools like the All in One SEO plugin make this easier!
We use the All in One SEO plugin via WordPress to help us structure our on-page SEO for rankability. To become the best therapist website on Google, tools like this are essential. Otherwise, you would be guessing on your SEO strategy which is not sustainable.
The Best Therapist Websites Maintain Consistency for Long-Term SEO Growth
One of the hardest things to do when beginning SEO blogging is to maintain consistency. I like to think about it as therapy sessions: you likely recommend 6 or more sessions to a client so that they can see maximum growth for what they are searching for. Otherwise, a one-off session wouldn’t be as beneficial.
With SEO, it’s the exact same premise. You have to be consistent with it to see growth. We always tell clients that anywhere from 6-9 months is when you’ll begin seeing traction from blogposts. Here’s some tips to help maintain consistency:
- Start with one blog per week. This feels easy and attainable for those who are just starting out. Once you master this, consider two a week!
- Repurpose blogs into newsletters, Instagram posts, or Pinterest pins. Or– vice versa. Many of our clients love Instagram but struggle with blogging. We always tell them to start publishing blogs that are repurposed from their social posts.
Want to Create One of the Best Therapist Websites?
Our team at Studio Adagio is committed to helping you become one of the best therapist websites. We love when our clients come back to us to say that they never have to market on social media because their website works for them!
With consistent blogging, correct keyword research and optimal design and branding, your therapist website design will surely show on Google Search.
Consider applying to work with us to begin the first steps into your SEO journey through branding or website design.
