You’ve gotten on board with the idea of writing a blog for your therapy practice or organization. You’ve listened to your copywriter and you’ve identified reasons why you should have a blog in the first place. You’ve been told it’s important to update your blog.

At this point, you’ve realized why you need to build an audience and how to do it. 

So now what?

Know Where to Start

The first place to start is a conversation with your copywriter. If it’s me, I’d say you need to update your blog once a week. Twice a month is the least I would recommend. For one reason, your SEO will be boosted by a blog updated 4 times a month rather than 2. Google likes consistently updated blogs.

I took my website from the depths of Google to page one within less than three months. This is fast for SEO, which is a long game. It can take 3-6 months, depending on keywords used and whether or not you have a consistently updated blog, to move up in the Google rankings. My weekly blog helped speed up the process.

It isn’t enough to have a blog. It’s great that you’ve recognized the need to have one. Providing resources to your clients and getting potential clients to hop on an initial call are great reasons to have a blog. 

But regularly updated blogs are a big deal from a marketing standpoint. Aside from boosting your SEO, blogs are a great way to sell your services. SO you need to make sure you update your blog.

As a mental health professional, this may feel “yucky.” But you’ve got to be able to market yourself or else you’ll lose out to the competition.

There are plenty of mental health professionals out there who are using other forms of copy to boost their following. Social media has become a very popular way to get your name out and get people engaging with you. But there are good reasons why blogs are a better boost than social media. You can have both, but don’t neglect your blog.

Make the Most of Your Blog

Blogs aren’t just about selling your services, although that should usually be your call to action (CTA). They’re also a resource for your clients.

When I visit a mental health professional’s website, I always look to see if they have a blog. Blogs establish you as a thought leader in your field. I get a greater sense of what kind of therapist you are or what kind of products you’re selling from the types of blogs you’re writing.

And let’s be clear. Not all blogs are created equal. Slapping 500 words together about how hard the holidays are for couples to navigate is not the same thing as writing a well-crafted, SEO-optimized blog about handling the holidays with your partner and family in a way that only you, as a marriage and family therapist, can help. This is just an example, but you get my point.

What Your Blogs Should Be Like

Well-optimized blogs should be at least 1000 words. They should be well-crafted and carefully thought out. The best blogs tell a story. I don’t mean that they include anecdotes, although they can. When I say they should tell a story, I mean that the arc of the blog should take you from point A to point B. It should be clear to you what the author is saying and what they want you to do next.

Regularly updated blogs give you the opportunity to create a story arc through your blog. You may choose different topics that are relevant and new each week. Or you may choose to write a series of blogs that all center around the same theme.

As an example, I’m currently writing blogs for a therapist about mindfulness. We’ve been focusing on what mindfulness is, how to teach mindfulness to children, what mindfulness looks like in therapy, and so on. It’s become a whole series of blogs that her audience has come to expect.

We’ve talked a little before about the difference between content and copy. Content informs, copy converts. While it’s important to use your blog to inform your readers about topics that matter and are relevant to you and what you do, the blog shouldn’t just be words on a page about something you read about. 

Your blogs need to sell your services, and not just through your CTA at the end. The whole blog needs to be a marketing tool. Again, I know it feels icky to sell your therapy services. But there’s a whole group of people out there who are doing it, and if you’re not you’re losing to the competition.

Why You Need to Update Your Blog Consistently

As we already talked about, Google rewards consistency. Google crawls millions of pages everyday, and when it crawls yours you want it to find content that is worth ranking in a search. That’s why your blogs should be relevant as well as consistent.

Even the top experts don’t know how exactly how the Google algorithms work, but I can tell you the basics. If Google crawls your website and finds that you’re putting out consistent content, let’s say once a week, your ranking will go up. The more you post, the more content you create. And the more content you create, the more there is for Google to rank.

If you write weekly blog posts, that’s weekly content that is going to move you further up the Google rankings because there’s more to crawl. 

But let’s not forget about keywords. This is something your copywriter takes care of. Keywords are the words that people type into Google to find the answers to things. You want to make sure you’re using the right keywords. This is where it’s important to hire a copywriter to do the writing for you, so that you can be sure Google will find you from these keywords.

Blog With Me!

Now that you understand the what, the how, and the why, it’s time to figure out the who. And that’s where I come in!

Contact me to set up an appointment to talk about your blogging and copywriting needs. Let’s work together to rank you higher in a Google search and get you some consistent, relevant blogs. 

Happy blogging!