SEO for Mental Health

77 percent of health care patients use search engines to scope out potential providers before scheduling an appointment. Three out of four of them never make it past the first page of Google. What’s more, people who find you though organic search are very likely to pick up the phone and call. So, you can see that it pays to rank high on Google for search terms related to your mental health practice.

How do you go about improving your search rankings? A mental health SEO company would use a combination of many technical and strategic SEO techniques to generate leads from organic traffic. Here are some to consider.

SEO Tips for Mental Health Professionals

• Get specific with keywords. What search terms would a prospective patient use to look for you? Chances are, these would include your city, specialties, specific disorders, and/or certifications. Make a list of keywords that include these terms and incorporate them into your website, targeting unique keyword groups for each page. Some keywords will perform better than others; for help in finding the best ones for your practice, contact a mental health SEO agency.
• Publish lots of great mental health information. If you are already blogging, good for you! If not, consider starting a blog. Choose topics based on your keywords. Be sure to publish well-written, engaging information that will be helpful to your patients. Your blog will demonstrate your expertise and help build trust with potential clients as well as boost your search rankings.
• Add your practice to local online directories. Local citations are an easy and excellent way for both search engines and human visitors to find your site. Create listings on local business and health care directories, popular directories such as Google My Business and Yelp, and mental health directories such as Psychology Today and GoodTherapy. Be sure to keep your NAP (name, address, and phone number) consistent for all.
• Get links back to your site. When other sites link to yours, it tells Google you’re an authority. It’s also a great way to get traffic from other sites. Start with local and professional links first, such as links from professional certification sites and links from other local practitioners whose services complement yours. Once these are in place, one of the best ways to get more links is to contribute guest posts and articles to local, lifestyle and health-related websites/blogs. While time-consuming, this is one of the most powerful things you can do to achieve rock-solid Google placement. Consider hiring a qualified mental health SEO firm to help if you don’t feel you have the time or writing skills to do it yourself.

SEO takes time to do, but if you start now and stay consistent with it, your mental health practice website will become a virtual workhorse, funneling patients to your door.

To learn more about Straight North’s mental health SEO services (including SEO strategy, keyword selection, content creation and technical SEO), call us now at 855-883-0011 — or request a quote online.