How Long Will It Take Your New Therapy Website to Rank on Google?
No one knows how many Google searches are done in a day. Google doesn’t share that information openly. But when experts make educated guesses, the total is well over 5 billion per day.
Those searches are for everything from carpet cleaning services to local therapists. If your practice doesn’t rank well enough to show up in Google results, you can be sure you’re missing out on potential clients.
In this article, we’re going to talk about:
- Why Google ranking is important for your therapy website
- Why it takes time to improve Google ranking
- 3 things you can proactively do to improve your website’s ranking
Why Google Ranking Is Important for Your Therapy Website
Imagine a potential patient visits Google and types “therapist near me” in the search bar. What are the chances your website will be one of the first results they get?
Search engine optimization (SEO) focuses on making sure you end up at the top of the Google ranking for relevant keywords.
A solid SEO strategy is one of the best things you can do for a growing therapy practice. The more potential clients find your website, the more appointments you’re likely to set.
Conversely, without a good SEO strategy, potential clients are less likely to find your practice online.
But improving the Google ranking for your therapy site takes time.
Looking to increase web traffic? SEO can be one of the most powerful tools to attract new clients.
Use the link below to view a free on-demand webinar, Online Searches and Your Private Practice.
Why It Takes Time To Improve Google Ranking
Google compiles a lot of data to determine how each individual website ranks. That data includes everything from the actual content on your site to how users interact with your content.
The following things make a website more likely to rank:
- Useful, relevant content
- Content that pulls the reader in, leading to a significant amount of time on the page
- Content that links to other pages (on and off your site) that’s also useful and relevant
As you research SEO, you may come across older or outdating articles that recommend things like strategic placement of keywords in headers, a specific level of keyword saturation, or even keywords sprinkled throughout the metadata for your site. These are no longer the dominant factors in building your Google ranking.
What matters more now is simply valuable content that leads to a positive user experience.
As Google analyzes your content and watches user patterns, it tracks it all. Over time, that gives Google’s algorithm an idea of how relevant, valuable and significant your website is compared to other websites focused on therapy.
If your current ranking is low, improving it will take time because you’re going head-to-head with your own history. You’ll have to show Google, over time, that your site is more valuable to users than other sites.
Google wants to connect search engine users with the content they’re looking for. When you convince Google your site includes that content, you’ll rank better.
Three Options for Improving Your Search Engine Ranking
The length of time it takes to improve Google ranking for your therapy website depends on your SEO strategy. Some methods for boosting SEO take longer than others.
In this article, we’ll look at three strategies: DIY content marketing, PPC campaigns, and working with a professional SEO consultant. We’ll cover all three in that order.
Here’s how these three options compare.
DIY Content Marketing
Content marketing is all about providing valuable information related to your area of expertise. In your case, mental health.
For example, you might feature a blog article on your website that gives users tips on how to improve their mental health in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. Or how they can care for loved ones from a distance. Or even self-care tips for overcoming anxiety.
Why It Works
As counterintuitive as it sounds, giving away valuable information for free is actually good for your business. It helps you grow an audience that trusts you and views you as an expert. That’s why content marketing works.
It shows Google you’re a credible source of information. Over time, that’s exactly the kind of content that will improve your Google ranking.
In fact, content marketing is a great way to build leads—over time.
The Downside
But that’s one of the chief drawbacks of content marketing. It’s a long-term strategy. It may take months (or even years) before you see a significant uptick in organic traffic.
On top of that, you’ll need to carve out time to produce all those blog articles … or videos, or webinars, or downloadable resources. The type of content doesn’t matter. What matters is that it’s genuinely valuable. Creating that kind of content will require an investment.
For this reason, content marketing is usually best as part of a larger strategy rather than a stand-alone strategy.
Make sure potential clients in your area are finding your website when they’re searching locally.
Check out our blog, Best Practices for Marketing Your Practice Locally.
PPC Campaigns
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising involves bidding on keywords that are relevant to your business. You’re actually paying for positioning.
If your PPC ads (and the web pages they point to) are well-written, you’ll appear right at the top of the search results.
Why It Works
The advantage of PPC is that you don’t have to wait to get on the first page of the search results through organic growth alone. By paying for high ranking, you’re more likely to drive traffic to your site in a fraction of the time.
If you use the right keywords, you might even be able to pay for your PPC campaigns with the profits they create. Plus, you’ll only pay for your PPC ads when someone actually clicks on the link in search results.
The Downside
While PPC campaigns deliver faster results, it’s not a perfect strategy.
First, there’s the cost. While you only pay when someone clicks, the cost per click for popular keywords can be high. And if those clicks don’t convert into appointments, you won’t see any return on your investment.
Second, your PPC ads will need to point to landing pages on your website. Both the ad copy and the landing page will need to be well-crafted. Even though you’re paying for ranking, you’re still competing, too. Other therapists will also be bidding on the same keywords. If you want your PPC ads to show up, you’ll need strong, optimized content.
Finally, PPC campaigns have a high learning curve. You have to get the keywords and key phrases just right. If you don’t, there’s a risk you could spend a lot on clicks and not get any appointments in return.
While the results may be faster, they’re hardly guaranteed.
View All of Your Important Marketing Data in One Place
Learn more about who’s interacting with your business online; from your website itself, to how it’s performing with search engines, to your email marketing, to social media.
Sign up for a free 14-day trial of our easy-to-use dashboard, Brighter Insights today.
Hiring a Professional
Using SEO to improve your Google ranking is complex. It takes time and there are a lot of potential pitfalls. That’s why many therapists elect to hire an expert.
A qualified SEO consulting firm will have the experience and insight to make both content marketing and PPC campaigns successful. They’ll also be able to help you update your core website to achieve the best results.
Why It Works
SEO is a time-consuming task. A lot of well-meaning business leaders attempt it on their own only to discover they don’t have the bandwidth to handle it.
Sure, “pay someone else to do it” isn’t a cure-all for every business challenge you face as a therapist. But in this case, it’s a solid option. After all, you’d likely rather focus on helping your clients.
Additionally, an SEO firm will typically be able to deliver better results faster.
The Downside
Hiring an SEO expert is more expensive than a DIY approach. It’s also more expensive than tackling PPC on your own. You’ll need to pay for both the SEO help and your PPC ads.
But this truly is the quickest way to better Google ranking. Still, the cost may be prohibitive for some therapists. If you’re concerned that may be the case for you, we recommend that you still reach out to an SEO expert for a consultation.
Just as you would encourage a potential client to consider all the options before making a decision, it’s in your best interest to have all the facts. If it turns out you truly can’t afford it, you can always fall back on a DIY approach.
Final Thoughts
Your digital marketing efforts for your therapy practice are important. If you want folks to find you online, you need to focus on SEO.
In this article, we’ve suggested three ways you can do that, ranging from DIY all the way to hiring a professional. Each comes with pros and cons.
Whichever approach fits best for your practice, we urge you to take SEO seriously. Your potential clients are online. They’re using Google to look for counseling services. Whether or not they’ll find you depends entirely on your SEO game.
It’s in your best interest to make it good.
Want the beautiful therapist website you deserve? Then you’re in the perfect place.
Brighter Vision is the ultimate marketing package for therapists, centered around the best therapist website you’ve ever had. Fill out the form below to learn more about our team of professionals who can’t wait to help your practice grow like never before 🙂
Ready to See How Brighter Vision Can Help You Get More Clients?