SEO Services - Marketing Your Online Therapy Service
Like the proverbial double-edged sword the internet has proven a mixed blessing for therapists. On one hand patients now have a handy tool for quick and private contact and communication with a variety of therapists who might have been previously unknown to the general public. As an added bonus prospective patients can, through a therapists website, learn about the therapist before making an appointment or scheduling a session. In this way both patients and therapists benefit by making what is hopefully the 'best match' before a session has even begun.
On the other hand patients can be overwhelmed by the vast numbers of available providers the internet gives them access to. A person seeking therapy may find the decision-making process of choosing a therapist in and of itself stressful and off-putting. At the same time the relatively 'democratic' nature of the internet may draw prospective clients away from licensed and or otherwise highly qualified therapists with false promises and bogus credentials. A patient who suffers from a bad experience at the hands of an internet quack suffers twice; once by not getting the assistance he or she is seeking immediately, and again when they choose not to attempt to find the appropriate therapy through another avenue, having been discouraged from one bad experience and left to doubt the entire practice of therapy.
One of the most reliable ways to assure that patients reach those therapists who are best suited to their needs is to make sure the websites of those most qualified service providers are accurately and appropriately represented in the major search engines. There are some basic steps of search engine optimization that every therapist should follow when establishing and promoting his or her website.
It's important that you have a top level domain (TLD) for the country you are practicing in. In the USA a.com or.net domain name is sufficient, but if you are practicing in England (for example) you should have a.uk domain name that resolves to your home-page. This is not just for the convenience of your patients or to show national pride as some may assume, a country specific TLD makes sure your domain gets a higher ranking in country specific searches such as google.co.uk!
Pick the correct keywords for your site. We all know that qualified and experienced therapists can address any number of patient issues, but bogging your site down with an exhaustive list of every possible keyword combination that applies to therapy and therapists can actually hurt your chances of getting highly ranked in the searches that reflect your specialty. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have one list, somewhere on your site (perhaps on your biography page) that does include all the possible issues you are qualified to address with patients, but when it comes to keywords you should pick only those few that reflect on the type of therapy you specialize in. (EG - 'Drug and Alcohol Addiction Support and Therapy' or 'Children and Childhood Trauma Therapy and Support')
Make sure your site is well constructed. Does every page have appropriate and unique Title tags, Meta Description tags, and Meta Keyword tags? Don't just copy and paste these so they are duplicated on every page. Make sure the information you put in each of these fields is accurate and reflects your primary keywords. Resist the urge to fill these tags with blocks of spammy keyword lists.
Search engines use programs called 'spiders' or 'robots' to review your site. By providing a sitemap file in your home directory you give these programs a helpful shortcut to finding all the most relevant search info on your site. If you don't have a sitemap (or don't know how to make one) simply search online for a sitemap creator. Many SEO services offer them for free online.