I had the wonderful privilege of sitting down with Daniel Fava of Private Practice Elevation to talk about everything you need to know about finding keywords in order to build your website’s SEO in private practice.
If you have no idea what SEO or keywords are, don’t worry, we literally break down EVERYTHING you need to know about them in this podcast episode. I highly recommend you give it a listen:
You can also find links to that handy dandy cheat sheet and all the other resources mentioned here:
SEO for Therapists: How To Find Keywords for Your Private Practice with Dr. Marie Fang
As we were chatting about each step to nail your SEO in private practice, I remembered what it felt like to first get started with content creation in my practice: I felt completely overwhelmed.
So in this article, I want to dive into dealing with some of the fears that arise surrounding website content creation in private practice. I know how it feels to have access to all these amazing tips yet feel completely overwhelmed by content creation!
Common Fears Surrounding Website Content Creation in Private Practice
If you’re feeling stuck, chances are high that one of these fears or roadblocks has held you back:
“I have nothing interesting to say”
Guess what buck: you have TONS of interesting things to say. If you feel like you can’t access them, you may be experiencing one of two roadblocks:
- You’re out of touch with your niche
- You’re in a confidence slump
If you’re not sure about your niche, start there. You might find this article helpful to get you started: Private Practice Marketing Strategy: Find Your Niche
If you’re in a confidence slump, then I suggest addressing that first – for your own health, if not for the sake of content creation. Find some people who support you and ask for their help in reminding you what amazing things you have to offer the world!
“I don’t have enough time”
Honey, I hear ya on this one. Time is short, and when there are so many things to juggle in the rest of life, content creation for private practice has a way of falling to the very bottom of the to-do list.
If you struggle with finding the time, I suggest you create protected time in your schedule for content creation. Consider it part of your work schedule. You can start by setting aside as little as an hour a month. Make sure you mark it in your schedule or else it won’t happen!
Personally, I create quite a bit of content, so I set aside all of Monday every week for content creation. That way I hammer that work out and I can feel good for the rest of the week knowing I did the part that’s easiest to put off (though arguably the most helpful for my business!)
“I have to come up with completely innovative content”
I’ve felt this before. I used to think every blog post I wrote needed to be something that no one had ever spoken about before. And though you absolutely never want to copy others’ work or attempt to repurpose someone else’s content, you can bring your own fresh perspective to a topic that there may be thousands of other resources available for.
I suggest you write what you know. We often take for granted the knowledge we already have, but the world needs to hear it! Start with the tools you offer to clients in your sessions already and build from there. No need to come up with content that you haven’t even learned yet!
“It has to be perfect”
If you believe your content has to be completely perfect, you’ll never get anything done. I’m not suggesting you shoot for putting crappy work out into the world, but if you allow your inner critic to drive the car during content creation then you’ll never get it done.
A great alternative is to shoot for a really crappy first draft, come away from it for a while, then return to edit that copy later. You might also be helped by having a friend read your work for you after creating the first draft.
“I have to create content weekly in order for it to work”
Though this is a nice sentiment, and weekly content is great to push out if you’re able, more often than not I’ve seen this belief hold people back from creating content altogether. Find a cadence that works for you. Even if you aren’t updating your website very often, updating it infrequently is far better than never doing it at all.
“What good will this do for my practice?”
I know that feeling. I finish a blog post or I update my homepage with great content and then I wait. And I wait. I check my stats every day only to find crickets. Then what? It can be really discouraging! If no one is finding your content, what good will it do for the world?
This is where persistence comes into play. When I first launched the Private Practice Skills website in November 2018, I posted weekly blog posts for a couple of months before I ever started getting more than a couple of monthly visitors to my website. It was only after several months of weekly blogging that I started getting traffic from Google searches.
Be kind to yourself and trust that in time the work will come around! In my private practice, potential clients call me because they found a specific blog post of mine through a Google search that speaks to exactly what they need help with. This can happen for you too!
How to Get Started with Website Content Creation in Private Practice
As I mentioned at the end of the Private Practice Elevation Episode, if you’re feeling completely overwhelmed by all the steps to finding keywords in order to boost your SEO, don’t let that hold you back! I’d rather you completely forget about those steps and just get to writing something – anything really.
Write about something you enjoy or that you’re passionate about. Embrace that writing website content is a craft just like any other, and it requires practice and patience in order to succeed.
If you’d like a little more help with private practice website content creation, I have a video all about How to Write Great Private Practice Website Copy. Dive in there to get started and have fun with it!
Best wishes to you as you launch in this endeavor. Don’t forget to check out Daniel Fava’s post all about SEO for Therapists using Keyword Research. You can also snag the handy-dandy cheat sheet there to keep track of all the steps.
Until next time, from one therapist to another: I wish you well!
-Marie
Photo by Lauren Mancke on Unsplash
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