Private Practice Elevation with Daniel Fava – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of the Private Practice Elevation Podcast, you’ll learn why professional copywriting isn’t just about “information on a page”.

It’s more about building trust, increasing conversions, and positioning your practice as the clear choice in a competitive market.

If you’ve invested in a website but it’s not generating aligned inquiries… 

If you’re charging premium rates but your online presence doesn’t reflect that… 

Or if you’ve been trying to DIY your messaging late at night after sessions, this conversation will help you see what might be missing.

The problem is that many therapists treat website copy like a formality. They reuse old content, copy and paste from their Psychology Today profile, or keep things too vague, hoping clients will just “reach out to learn more.” 

But in today’s landscape, where potential clients are comparing dozens of therapists and AI is influencing search results, generic messaging simply doesn’t convert.

You might think that as long as your website looks nice and explains what you do, that’s enough. 

But good design without strategic copy is like cake without icing.

A pretty website can build credibility, but only powerful messaging creates connection, preference, and action.

Today Daniel is talking to Rebekah Hudson, professional copywriter and now part of the Private Practice Elevation team. With a background in corporate marketing, branding, SEO, and communications (and a deep understanding of the mental health space), Rebekah brings both the art and science of persuasive writing to therapists who want their websites to actually work.

Why would I need professional copywriting if I can just write my website myself?

Therapy and marketing are two different skill sets. A therapist helps clients feel safe in the room. A copywriter helps strangers feel safe enough to book the room. Strategic copy builds trust, reduces decision fatigue, and creates preference, which is what drives conversions in a competitive market.

How does copywriting impact premium fees and professional positioning?

If you’re charging premium rates, your marketing needs to reflect that. High-quality copy aligns your online presence with your pricing, helping prospective clients perceive your value before they ever speak with you. Premium therapy services deserve premium positioning.

What should I look for when hiring a copywriter?

Good copywriting is both an art and a science. It’s not enough to find someone who is “good with words.” You want someone who understands SEO (and AI search changes), persuasive structure, calls to action, your industry’s language, and how to convert clarity into action. Ask about their background, revision process, SEO strategy, and experience writing specifically for therapists.

This Episode Is Brought To You By The Following Sponsors:

Alma is on a mission to simplify access to high-quality, affordable mental health care by giving providers the tools they need to build thriving in-network private practices.

Learn more about building a thriving private practice with Alma at helloalma.com/elevation.

Today, we’re digging into a big question that a lot of therapists wrestle with: How do I know when it’s time to redesign my website?

Maybe you’ve had that nagging feeling that your site just isn’t doing your practice justice anymore… or maybe you’re not even sure what should be working better. Either way, this episode will help you get clarity.

We’ll talk about some key signs that your website might be holding you back — from outdated design and tech limitations, to messaging that no longer reflects the work you actually do.

If your website doesn’t represent where your practice is heading — or worse, it’s not helping you attract the right clients — it may be time for a fresh start.

Key Takeaways:Your Website Doesn’t Represent Your Practice Well, or Where Your Practice is Heading

• Your niche has shifted — Maybe you’ve gone from seeing “anyone who needs help” to now focusing on couples or trauma work. If your website still sounds like you’re a generalist, it’s not speaking to your ideal clients anymore.
  
• You've grown, but your site hasn’t — Whether you’ve added associate therapists, new services, or expanded locations, your website still looks like it’s just you doing everything — and that can create confusion.

Poor User Experience and Outdated Website Design

• Hard to navigate = lost clients — If people can’t find your contact page or understand what you do in under 10 seconds, they’ll likely click away and keep Googling.
  
• It looks old or clunky — A website that looks like it was built in 2010 (or even 2018!) may subconsciously signal to clients that your practice isn’t current, tech-savvy, or actively growing.

Limited Functionality and Scalability

• You can’t easily update it — If your website is stuck on a platform or template that makes changes feel like surgery, you’ll stop updating it — and it slowly becomes less useful.
  
• You want to add features, but can’t — Whether it’s online scheduling, adding a blog, or building out pages for a group practice, you’re hitting walls with what your site can do.
  

Technical Limitations

• It’s slow or not mobile-friendly — A slow-loading site or one that breaks on mobile is frustrating for potential clients (and bad for Google rankings too).
  
• Your SEO is suffering — Old tech can mean messy code, poor optimization, or a structure that makes it hard for search engines to understand what you do and where you are.
  

Your Website Doesn’t Actually Get You Clients

• It’s not converting — You’re getting traffic (maybe from Psychology Today or ads), but few people are reaching out. That’s a red flag your site isn’t doing its job.
  
• The message isn’t resonating — If your copy is vague or generic, it’s probably not connecting with visitors emotionally — and they’re not seeing that “this therapist gets me” feeling.
  

If you’re wondering how PPE can help you reach your ideal clients with a solid marketing strategy, schedule a free 15-minute call here: https://privatepracticeelevation.com/kickoff

Or visit our website to learn more: https://privatepracticeelevation.com

In this episode of The Private Practice Elevation podcast, you're going to learn about the 4 Mountains of Successful SEO for private practice websites.

 

"What do you mean by 'the 4 mountains of SEO'", you ask?

 

The 4 Mountains are the main pillars or categories that make up a holistic SEO (search engine optimization) strategy for your website.

 

Most people, when they think about "doing SEO", focus solely on making sure they have some keywords in a few places on a page.

 

Or they may put keywords in page titles and meta descriptions and hope that may move the needle of their ranking results.

 

But there's actually much more that can and should be done in order to make sure your SEO efforts are truly effective.

 

It's when all 4 Mountains are working together that we see exponential growth in organic traffic, bringing more of your ideal clients to your website.

 

So let's break down these 4 Mountains of Successful SEO and what goes into each of them.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• The four main pillars that need to be in place to have a greater impact on your SEO efforts
• The tasks that you'll focus on within each of the 4 mountains to help you rank your website better for keywords
• How to think holistically about your search engine optimization strategy so that you can grow your website traffic month after month

Coming Soon: Live SEO Class with Daniel

We've been refining our SEO process over the last couple of years and we're super excited with the results our clients are getting. For some time now I've wanted to share that process with a small group of private practice owners so that they can learn how to implement their own SEO strategy. So we're putting together an SEO mastermind group/training program. It will consist of live classes, content templates, an SEO workbook, and private online community to give you a step by step process to create and implement a holistic SEO strategy for your business.

 

If you're interested in more information and want to be notified when we launch, please click here.

Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcasts

If you're not yet subscribed to the podcast I want to encourage you to do that today. This is the best way to make sure you don't miss an episode! Click here to subscribe on iTunes.

 

And if you're feeling extra generous, I'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. Reviews help others find the podcast plus I'd really love to hear what you think! Click here to leave a review. Just click on "Ratings & Reviews" then "Write a review." Let me know what you like best about the podcast. Thank you!

 

Episode Transcript:

 

0:00  

Well, hello there, and welcome to episode number 118 of the private practice elevation podcast. I am your host, Daniel fava. And I'm excited to have another solo episode. So here I am, it's been it's been a long summer, it's been a fun summer, it's been a full summer. But one thing I did at the beginning of summer is I started interviewing some great people, and I really hope that you've been enjoying those conversations that I've had. But one of the purposes of doing that was to Yes, connect with people bring you great content, but also for me to kind of pull back just a little bit and just enjoy the summer. 

 

0:35  

So that is really what I've been doing, we dropped down to every other week on this podcast. And that was just it was really helpful, just to have a little bit of time off and not worry about, you know, having content all the time. And, you know, even for myself, it can be, it can be hard to keep up with everything. And I know that some of you kind of feel that if you have a podcast, or if you're trying to create consistent content for your blog, to get it ranking for SEO and all that stuff. You know, a lot of people will recommend you got to have a blog post every week, you got to get your website full of content. 

 

1:10  

And while that stuff is helpful, I believe it doesn't really serve your life, if it's going to cause you more stress, and kind of suck your productivity and your creativity, then something needs to change. So that's one thing that I really just love about having my own business is that I can make those changes when needed and will likely pick up I believe in the new year with with more frequent episodes. I'm even thinking about maybe working on some sort of quick tip episodes that could be you know, just really digestible tips for you to apply to your online. Your online marketing your website, SEO, you know, stuff like that. So if you're thinking about doing that in the new year, but for now this every other week deal has been working really great. So yeah, it's been a it's been a long summer.

 

2:00  

So we have two boys, five year old Samuel, and our one and a half year old Caleb. So it's been it's been a blast. But it's been you know, hard to, to keep them busy sometimes and juggle, you know, work life balance and all that sort of stuff. So we had, we had the kids and camps when when they were available. We had babysitters over here and babysitters over there and then we lost our babysitter because she went back to school before our kids preschool and kindergarten started. So we had to find a new person and we got a new person. Then we took a couple trips here and there went to North Carolina. 

 

2:36  

And actually, as I'm recording this now planning to go on our last trip of the summer to Cape sandblast in Florida, and I'm really looking forward to that. Because our our North Carolina trip was really great. It was fun got to see my brother and his wife and four kids. They live in Virginia, so we don't see them a lot. So our kids just had a blast playing with the cousins doing that whole thing and, and also my parents came down we met North Carolina and Wilmington, and just had fun going to the beach and just hanging out. There was lots of rain. So there was it was it was a little bit tricky trying to manage, you know, just having fun with the kids and all that sort of stuff. But it was it was a full house. There was a packed house. It wasn't on the beach. So you know me as an introvert that was it was hard at times to find that time to get away and escape. So I'm really looking forward to this trip in Florida because we're going to Cape Sand Blas, which is like Old Florida from what I hear. I haven't been yet but it's you know, white sand beaches, not a lot of stores, restaurants. And just there's a state park there. So really just looking forward to some downtime, you know, before the school year starts. 

 

3:45  

And our kids still go to school and preschool for another two weeks. For some reason their school starts pretty late. Everyone else, you know, all the public schools have been back. Oh, that two weeks now? Pretty much. 

 

3:57  

So yeah, we're just hanging on to summer here. So. So yeah, so that's, that's where I'm at. That's where my summers been. One thing that has kept me just kind of sane or just kind of excited over the summer sounds funny to say, but if you've been reading my emails, you know that I'm very into bourbon. So I've been I've been enjoying bourbon for years and years. But back in June, my brother and I went to Kentucky and we took a trip toward the distilleries, a handful of distilleries, obviously not all of them, but really just started loving just the history and learning about it and just how the different processes can change how bourbon tastes and so yeah, I've just been really just enjoying trying new bottles and even have a geeky spreadsheet where I keep track of which ones I want to try next. And you know what's hard to find and all that stuff. 

 

4:47  

So that's been just kind of fun. And in my wife, Liz, she doesn't enjoy it as much as I do. And she'll say that I'm completely obsessed and kind of just geeking out over this. This is just kind of what I do with hobbies. I get really into stuff especially at the beginning.

 

5:00  

So I've kind of been in that phase right now. But Liz does enjoy a good old fashion with me. So it's been, it's been fun to have her taste some of the stuff that I've been enjoying. So that's, that's been a nutshell, that's where, where I've been what I've been doing. 

 

5:14  

And we've just been rocking and rolling in private practice elevation, just working with some really great clients lately. And, you know, over over the last year or so, our SEO services have really, really grown a lot, we've really refined how we work with folks on SEO, because people are at different stages in in their journey with SEO. Some people, they know a little bit about it, or they've done their research. So they've created content, that's for it. So their websites, optimized to a degree, but they don't know what to do next, you know, so we've been providing SEO assessments as a great starting point for our clients that we can come in and understand, Okay, what's been done? Where do your opportunities lie? 

 

5:56  

And what should you focus on. And then from there, we work on our SEO base camp service, which is a foundational service, it's a two month project pretty quick. But it's really doing the heavy lifting and making sure that your website is optimized, you know, those main service pages, but also, you got to understand which keywords to use in order to optimize the website. 

 

6:16  

So we'll do the keyword research, we'll come up with that content plan on which pages are your biggest opportunities, and then we'll optimize those pages, and fill in some gaps like optimize your Google business profile to go along with this work that we're doing just really give you that foundation give you that base camp for your SEO. And then we have had for a long time our monthly SEO service, which is more of an SEO maintenance, you know, once you have that foundation in place, that is the hard work the heavy lifting, but then you have to maintain that. 

 

6:49  

And so we take that content calendar, that content strategy, plan, those keywords that we researched in SEO Basecamp project, and then we apply that long term on a monthly basis and continue optimizing the website, creating blog content, that sort of thing. So in a nutshell, that's what SEO looks like. So what we're talking about today, we're talking about the four mountains of successful SEO. So these are the four main pillars, the main things that are going to really hold up your SEO, campaign or SEO strategy, so to speak. 

 

7:23  

And so when we do an assessment, or when we work on any website for SEO, these are the four main categories that our work is going to fall under. A lot of the times people have one or two of these in place, or maybe none of these in place, but they just don't know where to begin. So what I'm going to do is just kind of outline these pieces, these are the things that you're going to want to have in place in order to have a successful SEO strategy working for you in your practice.

 

7:51  

So as always, I want to make this digestible. And so you know, if you're new to this idea of search engine optimization, SEO, and that's what it stands for, like, Yeah, let's start at the very beginning here, if you're not familiar, SEO stands for search engine optimization. 

 

8:04  

So it's all the things that you can do on your website. And as you'll learn here to also off of your website to help Google and search engines understand what your content is about, and then serve that content up to a user, you know, searching on those search engines. 

 

8:21  

So basically, how it works is search engine will crawl through your website pages, it's going to create an index, almost like a Rolodex, you know, it's going to look at those pages and say, oh, there's a page about EMDR therapy, there's a page about trauma therapy on this page are anxiety therapy in Atlanta, and it creates that index, and then it's going to deliver those results in an order of what it feels like the user is going to be most useful to the user. And so you know, when we talk about rankings and ranking on Google, that's what the algorithm does, the algorithm takes that index of pages, and it says, oh, this person typed this into Google, I believe that this page is going to be the most useful for what they are searching for. 

 

9:06  

And so if your website is optimized well, when somebody searches for those specific terms, such as anxiety therapy in Atlanta, you hope to be at the top of that list, because of all the different factors that are at play here. And so when we talk about these four mountains of successful SEO, that is where you spend your time on those optimization pieces in order to help your website rank better. So I'm going to outline these, these four mountains of successful SEO here and then we're going to kind of dive in a little bit, just to give you a little more context on each one here. Alright, so these four mountains of successful SEO, these are the categories that we focus on. 

 

9:48  

So if we're going to assess your website, if you come to us and say hey, how can I not ranking? What can I do? We are going to grade you and assess you on each of these and so they are technical SEO

 

10:00  

Your content, and on site SEO, and off site SEO. So again, that's technical SEO, there's your content. There's your on site optimization, and off site optimization. 

 

10:15  

Alright, so now that you know what these four categories are, let's dive in here. Let's pick these apart a little bit. So you can understand what goes into each category. So you can help get your website ranking a little bit better for the keywords that are important for you. 

 

10:29  

Alright, so technical SEO for for a web page to appear in search results, the search engines must be able to crawl it, and index that they must be able to access those pages in order to understand what those pages are about, so that it can create that Rolodex of content. 

 

10:46  

So solid technical SEO makes this a seamless process. And there are a few components that go into your technical SEO that you want in place for it to for Google to be able to crawl it really well. And so some of these might sound pretty confusing, or pretty geeky. Most of these pieces are already in place. You know, if you have a Squarespace website, or if you have a WordPress website, and just kind of straight out of the box, a lot of this stuff is in place. There's some aspects of it that might require a little more tweaking. But sometimes those those things, you know, those situations arise when No, they aren't in place or something isn't set up, right. So that's where it becomes important to be aware of these different pieces. So the first thing is your robots dot txt file. So that obviously sounds geeky robots. 

 

11:37  

What the heck is that about? So a robots dot txt is a file that lives on your hosting server that has a couple of different like commands in there that says, hey, Google index this, Hey, Google, don't index that every once in a while. It's very rare. It hasn't happened with any of the clients that we assess their websites or worked on SEO for every once in a while, it might have something in there that shouldn't be there that basically says, Hey, don't crawl through these important pages that I want to rank. 

 

12:05  

So that's your robots file. 

 

12:07  

The next is your XML sitemap. So this is super important. So a sitemap, you've probably heard that term before. This is what Google will look for, to see all the different pages on your website. If you are on WordPress, we recommend using Yoast SEO, if you install that plugin is automatically going to create a sitemap for you. Other platforms like Squarespace, they also will just include a sitemap that's part of it. But the next step is making sure that Google actually knows where that Sitemap is. 

 

12:36  

And so that's why we use Google Search Console, which is a free service, you can get on there. And you can let them know where your Sitemap is located, to nudge it to crawl through that, and then Google over time will continue to crawl through through those pages. The next component of technical SEO, SEO is your speed. This is a big one. So making sure that your website loads fast is very important. And Google has said over the last few years, that this becomes increasingly more important, especially as more people are viewing the your website on their mobile phone. 

 

13:11  

So they want to make sure that your page loads quickly. We can't really get into all the details about speed optimization here. But there's something to be aware of if your website loads slow. And somebody else has very similar content on their website, but it loads fast, Google is going to consider that a better experience. And another aspect of this is also mobile usability. So that's another technical SEO component, you want to make sure that your website is accessible on mobile phones, because Google considers mobile now before it considers the desktop. So a Google search console will also give you errors if your website doesn't appear well on mobile, it'll tell you some things you got to fix for that. Another thing is security. 

 

13:53  

So that's your SSL certificate, making sure that your website has some encryption, especially if you have forms on the website. That's something that's just super easy to get through your hosting company, something we include when we host websites at private practice elevation, have an SSL security certificate installed on your website. And the other aspect of technical SEO is just errors, errors that appear. 

 

14:16  

And again, Search Console is helpful here. It'll tell you if there are broken links on the website 404 errors, which means page not found errors, those types of errors, you want to be able to understand where they are and how to fix those. So that is technical SEO in a nutshell, you know, in each of those, we can really break down things that you can do in that but you know, we're really just trying to give you the overall view of these four mountains of successful SEO.

 

14:46  

All right, the next mountain that we're going to talk about is your content. So content has been the absolute backbone of SEO since its inception. It's really It's how you share your expertise, which is what the search engines value because that content

 

15:00  

It really provides insight into your services, and just the value that you provide to visitors to your website and potential clients. So let's dive into content and kind of what we are looking for in order to make

 

15:14  

your content successful. So for search engines, so your content should have four qualities, that kind of sets, that's kind of funny, because it kind of sets up the first one is quality that your content needs to have. It's got to be quality, quality content. So if you have similar services to somebody in your area, but they have just great content on their website quality content, meaning it goes into depth, it's not just 300 words on a page with a couple of bullet points about your services, but they've got landing pages for each service. 

 

15:47  

That's quality, you also want to have photos on there, just you know, all the information that somebody would need in order to consider your service. So that's number one quality, it's got to have keywords. So that's kind of an obvious thing for search engine optimization is to make sure that you're using the right keywords, and those keywords should appear on the pages that you want to rank for those services. 

 

16:10  

So anxiety therapy, and Atlanta. If that is an important keyword for you, you want to have a landing page devoted to anxiety therapy in Atlanta and make sure that that keyword appears throughout that page. recency is another factor, Google likes websites that are up to date, that are recent that are growing in content, in the fourth quality that you want to have in your content is relevancy. 

 

16:34  

So it is relevant for your ideal clients, for your potential clients. That is kind of it kind of goes along with keywords, you know, if you're focused on the right keywords, it should stand to say it's probably relevant to the service that you're providing. It's when you start adding content that is maybe more like you're using your blog, like a journal and has a random thoughts and stuff like that. 

 

16:56  

That's not really relevant for your ideal client. But if you're focused on, you know, 10 ways to decrease your anxiety this week, stuff like that, that goes along with those service pages that you're that you're writing, you know, that is relevant.

 

17:15  

So when we're assessing websites, we're taking a look at those service pages, we want to make sure that it's got all of these all these aspects in place, we want to make sure it's using keywords, there's images and text on the pages. And also that has got a nice structure to the content itself. And we'll talk a little bit more about that in the on site optimization piece. 

 

17:35  

Another thing too, those service pages, a great way to get more of those keywords and more of that great content is to have an FAQ section on your service pages, you know, so if you feel like you're having trouble getting that content on those service pages, you can include an FAQ section on each and every service page. And that will help you there. Alright, so let's get on to the third mountain of successful SEO. And this is likely where you've probably spent most of your time if you've done any search engine optimization. This is really what comes to mind when people think about SEO and how to improve their rankings of their website. And that is on site optimization. So on site SEO, is how we add context to that content. So we've created that great content. So how do we break that page into sections and optimize headers, you know, and make it easier for search engines to really understand what those pages are all about. 

 

18:31  

We use on site SEO to do that. And there are four main factors or four main places that we're gonna spend our time when it comes to on site SEO, and that is number one, your page Titles and Meta descriptions, your headers on the page itself, alternative tax that goes along with images, and then internal links. So for your page titles, and meta descriptions, this is this one carries probably probably the most weight, I would say. And making sure that you've got an optimized title for the page, and a meta description. And so these are the things that show up in search engines when you type in, I always use this as an example. It's just easy anxiety therapy in Atlanta and you see those search results. 

 

19:14  

The page title is what you see, you know, is that larger text and then the meta description is going to be that little intro deck intro text, you know that that kind of entices you to click gives you a little more context about what the page is about. So once you know which keywords you want to optimize a page for, you want to make sure that you're using those keywords in the page title and in the meta descriptions. So that just makes it easier for Google to understand what that's about. 

 

19:41  

The next step is your headers. Now, I would say that this has probably been one of the biggest trouble areas for most people that come to us and they want us to do that SEO base camp where we optimize their their current website, is their headers are just they're all out of whack.

 

20:00  

So I want you to think about Wikipedia. If you've ever been to Wikipedia, and you're searching for information on a specific subject, the first thing that they show on Wikipedia, when you come to a landing page is you'll see that nice outline. And you'll see, you know, just that, the those headers, and this is kind of just how they operate, they organize it so well. It's just, it's a page outline. 

 

20:24  

And so you'll see that sort of top level subject. And then underneath that main subject, you'll see a couple other subjects, but then under that you've got, you know, ABCD under that, and it just the content follows a very nice flow. And a lot of the times when we look at these pages that you know, that people want optimize, we can see that they've got just different headers all over the place. So a lot of times people use headers, because, you know, especially in like Squarespace, if you're building the website, yourself, if you highlight text, and you choose h1, or h2, and that's what we're talking about, like the header code there. A lot of the times in the styles of the website, it will be styled differently, you know, so you sometimes you just want to give more emphasis to a sentence on your web page. 

 

21:11  

So if you're not aware of this, you might just highlight something and choose h1, well, h1 should, there should only be one h1 on your on any landing page on your website. And that is really where your main keyword should be. And then under that you've got a hierarchy. So h2 are the next top level subjects that go along with that content. And so you can break up your text into these headers and sub headers so that Google can can see just the different your keywords, and you just see the different topics that fall underneath the main topic. And this is another great way that FAQs on service pages works really well. 

 

21:50  

Because you can have those h2 sub headers for those different questions such as How much does anxiety therapy cost? How do I know if I'm a good fit for anxiety therapy, you know all those things. So that helps Google read through the content, and understand what the page is about and also helps users skim through the content because people don't read people will skim through, they'll see those headers, and then they'll decide what to dig into and read further. So that's headers. 

 

22:19  

Next is alternative text. So that is a little bit of code that goes along with your images. So that's why it's really good to have some images throughout your landing pages. Because you can insert some alternative text that basically is really designed for people visually impaired, to understand what text what images, sorry, which images, you're what they're about. But you can also put some keywords in there, you don't want to just stuff it with keywords you can describe the images about but try to work in the keywords. And that's another way that we optimize your your on site, how you do your on site optimization. 

 

22:55  

The other part of on site optimization is internal links. And so this helps Google actually crawl through your website quicker. When you create new content, it can help it get indexed a little bit quicker, it can also help people just find more related content throughout the website. So things that you can do anytime you write a blog post, you want that blog post to really serve those service landing pages that you have. So you can always just put related content, you know, and link over to your service landing page. 

 

23:26  

So you know, you can mention in that blog post, if you're considering anxiety therapy, you know, check out this page here and link over to that. Likewise, on those service landing pages, you can have a related blog post about anxiety therapy, and then have links to those blog posts. And that just creates this this interlinking web that Google can crawl through and see that related content.

 

23:49  

All right, our fourth and final mountain of successful SEO is your off site SEO. So off site SEO is everything that happens outside of your website makes sense off of your site. The search engines look for external signals such as backlinks, Google Maps, social media, as a gauge of your online authority and trustworthiness. 

 

24:11  

The way I kind of like to describe this as that it's kind of like a resume when you have you're applying for a job and you have those referrals. You know, please reach out to my former employer, you know, and get some recommendations. You know, it is a vote for your website, having a great referral network to your website tells Google that okay people trust you people are linking to you. And so if you have more backlinks and also quality backlinks from other websites that have good authority, all of that is really that pours a lot of fuel on the SEO fire and that can be a real catalyst for growth of your SEO. 

 

24:51  

It's also one of the steps that most people overlook because it does take time to build backlinks into to build relationships with people to get those backlinks. And so it can often be overlooked in an SEO strategy. But as I mentioned, the main factors of offer off site SEO are backlinks, your social media presence, and also local search. So you want to have all of those in place, local search is probably the easiest place to begin. So that's your Google business profile. 

 

25:23  

Starting there, if you don't have a Google business profile, which is a free listing of your business, definitely get that set up. If you are online, only, I really encourage you to still set up a Google business profile. And you're allowed to list your service areas. 

 

25:39  

So you don't necessarily need to list a physical address, you can list your service areas, you know, if you work in multiple states, or you're trying to get you know, all of one state, that's where your license, do that it can help you show up at when people are still searching near you, for your services, you want to be able to show up. And so definitely get a get a Google business profile set up on the other aspect of local search is having other business profiles set up. 

 

26:07  

So having your business listed on other business directories can be helpful for a local search as well. So Google sees that your business is listed repeatedly, in a certain area, certain physical address, if you are, you know, working with people who you have a physical office, you know, that you can list, you know, go for that do that. The other aspect, as I mentioned, is backlinks, you know, so things that you can do for backlinks, you could you can sponsor some events in your local area, you could get listed on different business websites in your community. If you have other people who are referring to you see if you can have a place on their website to be listed as a referral source. Another thing that you can do that's great is guest guest blogging, guest blogging on other websites, or writing articles for other websites. 

 

27:00  

And those articles, you know, list you as an author, and they link back to your website. Podcasts are also great too, if you mean you have expertise to share, so there's likely a handful of podcasts that you could do a little research, follow the the host of those podcasts on social media and learn a little bit about them, and then offer your expertise as an episode for their for their podcast, and then you will likely be linked from their website to your website, building that authority. 

 

27:31  

And so it's great for traffic building, as well as just building that backlink SEO stuff. And then the other piece is social media. And that's just another part of building authority is just Google wants to see that, okay, this business is established, they've also got social media channels. 

 

27:48  

And if you're not really active on social media, that's okay. If you're writing a blog post, maybe like once a month, you can always just use that blog post to share on social media, you don't have to answer comments, you don't have to, you know, get all in with a with a social strategy. And all that, I kind of say that, because that's kind of,

 

28:09  

I'm kind of preaching to the choir here, because I have that love hate relationship with social media, I mostly spend my time on Instagram, just because it's simpler for me. But sometimes you get, it can be so easy to get overwhelmed with social media and like, you know, trying to get likes and followers and all that stuff. 

 

28:25  

But at least as a starting point, you can always just list your business on the different channels, and then share a couple blog posts here and there to show that you're active. And all of that can help Google just see that you are, you know, you're a legit business, you're active, that sort of thing. Another thing too, you can share your blog post on your Google business profile as well, which is another another great thing to do, which can link back over to your website. 

 

28:49  

So it's a way of showing Google Hey, my profiles active, and I'm contributing. So those are the four mountains of successful SEO. So just to review, we had technical SEO, content, on site optimization, and off site optimization. So those are the four main mountains that we look into when we work with our clients. And we have aspects of all of the all of those mountains, it baked into the services that we provide, because we really, really want to take that holistic approach to SEO, in order to make sure that all of these mountains are being tended to to really create a great strategy for your online visibility. So I hope that this has been helpful for you. 

 

29:34  

And if you are feeling like all of this stuff is pretty overwhelming. You're not really sure you know how to go from point A to point B. There's something that I've been working on, it's been just kind of just in my brain for a while and you know, now that we're getting back into the school year, I'm focusing a little bit more on this idea. And so what it is, is I'm calling it SEO base camp live. So as I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast, we have our SEO base camp service, which really takes our clients through the keyword optimization, content planning content calendar, and on site optimization of their website. 

 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Your homepage is often the most visited page on your website.

But many people either have not enough information on this page to be effective, or they try and cram everything into one place and end up losing visitors and potential clients.

So, how can you make the most of this strategic web page and make sure that you're getting your potential clients to where they need to be in order to convert them to a new client?

This short episode is packed with simple tips and things you can do today to improve the homepage on your therapy website. 

 

In this week's Encore Episode, we're talking with a very special guest: Maureen Werrbach from The Group Practice Exchange. Maureen helps healthcare owners successfully start and scale their businesses, so that they can have a larger impact on their communities.

She is also the owner of a group practice in Chicago, Urban Wellness, where she employs 40 of her own clinical staff.

So, Maureen knows a thing or two about scaling a private practice and leading a team of clinicians that share her vision for her business.

If you want some key lessons to help you can start and continue to grow your own group practice, listen up!

With online marketing, it's often said that you can't grow what you don't measure.

No matter what your private practice business goals are, keeping track of certain metrics - not only pertaining to your website but your entire business - is paramount to moving your practice toward reaching those goals.

How will you know you hit a goal unless you actually measure the results of your actions?

In this episode we'll go over four basic metrics around your private practice website that you should be tracking. Knowing these metrics will help you understand what you can focus on in order to see growth in your therapy business.

For full show notes and links from this episode, visit https://privatepracticeelevation.com/01

In this episode of The Private Practice Elevation Podcast, EMDR therapist and consultant Christy Pearl delves into the impact of childhood emotional patterns on our professional lives. 

 

She emphasizes that most people have experienced some form of insecure attachment or emotional abandonment in their early family life, which can influence decision-making and the way we show up in our careers. 

 

Christy explains that these patterns can manifest in various ways, such as struggling with boundaries, handling money, and feeling reactive rather than responsive in professional settings. 

 

She highlights the importance of doing our own healing work and cultivating self-compassion and curiosity to overcome these patterns. 

 

Christy also emphasizes the role of the body in healing and suggests that accessing our unconscious material is crucial for aligning our thinking brain with our emotional and physical memory.

 

If you're feeling stuck, under-confident as a leader, or you've seen how certain situations trigger you in your private practice, this episode will help guide you toward healing and growth.

Key Takeaways:

• Unresolved emotional patterns from childhood can impact decision-making and the way we show up in our careers.

• Many people are surprised to discover that these patterns also affect their professional lives.

• Doing our own healing work is essential for showing up in a grounded and present manner.

• Cultivating self-compassion and curiosity can help us overcome negative self-talk and shame.

• Accessing our unconscious material is crucial for aligning our thinking brain with our emotional and physical memory.

 

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• www.christiepearl.com

This Episode is Brought To You By

 

Alma is on a mission to simplify access to high-quality, affordable mental health care by giving providers the tools they need to build thriving in-network private practices. When providers join Alma, they gain access to insurance support, teletherapy software, client referrals, automated billing and scheduling tools, and a vibrant community of clinicians that come together for education, training, and events.

 

Alma gives clinicians the tools they need to build thriving private practices. When you join their insurance program, you can get credentialed within 45 days, and access enhanced reimbursement rates with major payers. They also handle all of the paperwork, from eligibility checks to claims submissions, and guarantee payment within two weeks of each appointment. 

 

In addition to their insurance program, Alma offers timesaving tools and administrative support — so you can spend less time on paperwork, and more time delivering great care to your clients. 

 

Learn more about building a thriving private practice with Alma at helloalma.com/elevation. 

 

About Christie Pearl 

 

Christie Pearl is a Certified EMDR Therapist and EMDR Consultant in private practice with over 18 years of experience in the mental health field. She specializes in EMDR Intensive Therapy for Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families who are struggling with work stress and performance anxiety. She helps Adult Children create a healthier relationship with work so that they can own their brilliance and be who they want to be today, instead of who they had to be as children. Her mission is to inspire, encourage and equip Adult Children on their journey to reconnecting with their authentic selves. 

 

The Impact of Childhood Emotional Patterns on Professional Life The Impact on Parenting and Personal Relationships

Pearl highlights that these unresolved emotional patterns not only affect our professional lives but also spill over into our parenting and personal relationships. 

 

She explains that many individuals who have experienced emotional immaturity or dysfunction in their own upbringing struggle to show up as the parents they want to be. They may feel guilt and shame for not being able to break free from these patterns and may find themselves repeating the same dynamics with their own children.

 

"The best thing you can do for your kids is what you're sitting here with me doing right now for yourself. And in my experience, most people, at least most adult children that I work with, have an easier time accessing that inner loving place within themselves for their kids or for other people. And it's a matter of learning how to turn some of that compassion and grace towards yourself." - Christy Pearl

 

Navigating Emotional Patterns in the Professional World

 

Pearl acknowledges that running a business can be a catalyst for uncovering and addressing these emotional patterns. As business owners, we are faced with various challenges, including client relationships, financial decisions, and time management. 

 

These challenges often trigger our unresolved emotional wounds and can lead to reactivity, self-sabotage, and difficulty in setting boundaries.

 

"I think there's a really good reason for that, which is we might have adapted early on in our early life by really learning how to compartmentalize... So we grow up and we continue functioning like that in our work. And whether you leave the house or not to go to your job at this point, we bring it all to work with us." - Christy Pearl

 

The Importance of Self-Awareness and Reparenting

 

To navigate these emotional patterns in the professional world, Pearl emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and doing our own inner work. She encourages individuals to cultivate curiosity and gentleness towards themselves, recognizing that healing is a process that requires patience and self-compassion. 

 

By addressing the unconscious material stored in our nervous systems, we can align our thinking brain, emotional memory, and physical sensations to respond from a grounded and authentic place.

 

"I think it's about doing your own work... It's not just a mental exercise. We've got to get into the body because part of what our brain can do is conscious. And then we've got all this unconscious stuff that's hanging around in our nervous system... If we don't get down into that unconscious material and allow ourselves to bring that up into our conscious minds where we can deal with it, then our thinking brain and our emotional physical memory never match." - Christy Pearl

 

Conclusion

 

In conclusion, addressing childhood emotional patterns and their impact on our professional lives is a transformative journey that requires self-awareness, self-compassion, and a commitment to doing the necessary inner work. 

 

By recognizing and healing our unresolved emotional wounds, we can break free from repetitive patterns, set healthy boundaries, and show up authentically in our careers. The process of reparenting ourselves and cultivating emotional safety within can lead to profound personal and professional growth.

 

As we continue to explore the intersection of our personal and professional lives, it is essential to approach our careers with curiosity, gentleness, and a willingness to confront our emotional patterns. By doing so, we can create a more fulfilling and authentic professional journey, one that aligns with our true desires and values. 

 

The path to healing and growth may be challenging, but it is also incredibly rewarding. Let us embrace the opportunity to transform ourselves and our professional lives, one step at a time.

In this episode of The Private Practice Elevation Podcast, you're going to learn how clinical support can help you prevent burnout in your life.

 

Whether you've experienced burnout in your past, feel like you're on the edge of it now, or have moved past burnout, you're going to learn some great tips to help you - no matter where you're at on your journey.

 

Most people think that just rest is the key to avoiding burnout. While rest is important, it's so much more than just a work-life balance. 

 

There are some key activities that you can do to help you avoid burnout altogether.

 

And our guest today suggests that you begin NOW, even if you don't feel burnout at the moment.

 

To help us understand more about burnout and how clinical support can specifically help you overcome or avoid burnout altogether, we're chatting with Shannon Heers

 

Shannon Heers is a therapist, Approved Clinical Supervisor, and founder of Firelight Supervision. 

 

Firelight Supervision provides clinical supervision to counselors and social workers pursuing licensure, as well as clinical consultation for post-licensure professional growth and development.

 

Because of the supervision work Shannon and her team do with so many clients, she's got a wealth of experience and wisdom when it comes to burnout.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• What burnout looks like, including details from Shannon's own burnout story

• Why it's so important to have a burnout prevention plan even if you don't feel burnt out now

• Activities that you can do daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly in order to prevent burnout

• Why community is so powerful and the ways it helps you avoid burnout

In this podcast episode, you're going to learn some of the most important aspects of creating effective social media content that will engage your ideal clients and start conversations.

 

Now, you may be wondering how social media marketing works when it comes to ethics… 

 

Don't worry, our conversation has that one covered.

 

But the main issue is that using social media for lead generation for therapy is ethically frowned upon.

 

Not so with coaching services though!

 

So how can you add coaching to your therapy practice and open a whole new world of potential with your social marketing - and really all your marketing?

 

I know from my conversations with many therapists that social media is often a love-hate relationship, with the majority of people hating it.

 

I myself have backed down from social media for a while due to my own fatigue and, to be honest, lack of understanding of how to make it all work.

 

So to help us iron this stuff out, answer the big questions about using social media ethically, and start getting results from this avenue of marketing, is our guest, Carly Hill.

 

I first began following Carly on Instagram because I was so impressed with her content and her consistency. I knew she was doing it well and I wanted to learn from her.

 

So I'm super excited to have her on the Private Practice Elevation Podcast and pick her brain.

 

Carly is an LCSW and business strategist for clinicians. She specializes in helping overworked and underpaid female clinicians make more money and more impact by teaching them to build the online coaching business of their dreams.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• The ONE THING you need to understand in order to be successful with social media marketing
• The subtle difference between marketing/social media for a therapy practice vs a coaching business
• Using social media for lead generation for coaching vs therapy-ethics
• Why conversations are more important than likes and followers
• How to use the Pain-Agitate-Solve copywriting framework to craft any social post that will stop your ideal client in their scroll and get them to take action
• How to provide value to your audience and develop your like, know, and trust factor
• Why you shouldn't be afraid to promote your offer and services
• How to keep things simple and just get started with social media marketing

Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcasts

If you're not yet subscribed to the podcast I want to encourage you to do that today. This is the best way to make sure you don't miss an episode! Click here to subscribe on iTunes.

 

And if you're feeling extra generous, I'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. Reviews help others find the podcast plus I'd really love to hear what you think! Click here to leave a review. Just click on "Ratings & Reviews" then "Write a review." Let me know what you like best about the podcast. Thank you!

 

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Carly Hill Coaching
• Therapist To Coach Accelerator Facebook Group
• Carly on Instagram

About Carly Hill

 

Carly Hill is an LCSW and business strategist for clinicians. She specializes in helping overworked and underpaid female clinicians make more money and more impact by teaching them to build the online coaching business of their dreams.

 

She helps clinicians break free out of the 1:1 model to leverage their time, get paid for their knowledge, and live a life of true freedom. She helps clinicians to find their coaching niche, develop their high ticket offer, and organically call in their ideal clients easily and effortlessly using her unique modern marketing masterplan.

 

How To Create Effective Social Media Content: Key Takeaways Start with a system.

Do you have a love-hate relationship with social media marketing? It can be overwhelming, especially when we don't have a system in place to help us manage it. Today, we're talking with Carly Hill, an LCSW and business strategist for clinicians, about how to create effective social media content.

 

Carly Hill specializes in helping overworked and unpaid female clinicians make more money and more impact by teaching them to build the online coaching business of their dreams. She helps clinicians break free out of the one-to-one model to leverage their time, get paid for their knowledge, and live a life of true freedom.

 

Carly helps clinicians to find their coaching niche, develop their high ticket offer, and organically call in their ideal clients easily and effortlessly using her unique modern marketing master plan.

 

When it comes to social media, Carly recommends starting with a system. Having a system in place will make it easier to post consistently on social media. It can also help you to stay organized and make sure that you're not overwhelmed by the task of creating content.

 

She suggests starting with a platform that you enjoy, like Instagram. Instagram is simpler and more fun than other platforms like Facebook. It's also easier to manage and can help you get started on social media marketing.

 

Once you've chosen a platform, it's important to have a system in place to help you create and post content. A system can help you stay organized and make sure that you're consistently creating content that connects with your ideal clients. It can also help you create content that leads them to take action.

 

Having a system in place can make social media marketing less of a chore. When you see it working, staying motivated and creating content is easier. With a system in place, you can start to see the potential of social media and use it to reach your ideal clients.

 

Discern between therapy and coaching.

However, when it comes to therapy and coaching, there are some key differences that need to be taken into account. Therapy and coaching can be used together, but they are not the same. It is important to understand the differences between the two in order to use social media effectively and ethically.

 

Therapy is a medical treatment that is used to treat mental health disorders. It is regulated by the government and requires a license to practice. The goal of therapy is to treat a mental health disorder and help the patient manage their symptoms.

 

Coaching, on the other hand, is a more general approach to helping people. Coaching does not require a license and is not regulated by the government. The goal of coaching is to help people reach their goals, such as career advancement or personal development. Coaching can also be used to help people who are struggling with mental health issues, but it is not a replacement for therapy.

 

When it comes to social media, it is important to discern between therapy and coaching. Therapists are not allowed to use social media for lead generation purposes, as this is not ethical. However, coaches can use social media for lead-generation purposes and have engaging conversations with their followers. Coaches can also share testimonials, which is not allowed for therapists.

 

It is also important to note that if you have both a therapy practice and a coaching practice, and your niche is the same, you don't need to have two separate social media accounts. You can use your coaching social media for lead generation and promotion, and if someone is interested in your coaching services, you can discern if they are a fit for your therapy practice or if they can be coached through their issue.

 

In conclusion, it is important to understand the differences between therapy and coaching in order to use social media effectively and ethically. Therapists must use social media for educational purposes only, while coaches can use it for lead generation purposes. If you have both a therapy practice and a coaching practice, you can use your coaching social media for lead generation and discern if someone is a fit for your therapy practice.

 

Know your ideal client.

When it comes to social media, it is important to know your ideal client. You need to understand their pain points and what their living hell is, as well as what their heaven is. Knowing your ideal client allows you to create compelling hooks that will stop the scroll and grab their attention. You also need to be speaking to them in their language and not using clinical jargon. Finally, you need to have clear and concise call to actions that direct them to the next step.

 

It is also important to assign value to what you are offering. Invite your ideal client to a free training or a free Facebook group as if you are inviting them to a dinner party. This will help build trust and show them that you understand their needs.

 

Overall, it is essential to know your ideal client when it comes to using social media. Knowing their needs, pain points, and language will help you create effective posts that will capture their attention and lead them to the next step.

 

Be consistent and inviting.

Consistency is key when it comes to social media marketing. You have to be present and be seen in order to get noticed. This means posting regularly and creating content that your ideal client can relate to. You want to create a presence on social media that will capture your audience's attention and make them want to engage with you.

 

It is also important to be inviting and engaging. You want to make sure that your audience knows that you are here to help them and that you understand their pain points. Start off by calling out to your ideal population and their pain, and then agitate their pain and let them know that there is a solution. Invite them to take the next step, whether it be a free guide, a training, or a call. This will help move them along in the journey and create a relationship with them.

 

Finally, don't be afraid to put yourself out there. You have to invite people to take that next step and create these posts. It can be intimidating, but it is important to be seen and be heard in order to be successful. Start with something simple and ease into your voice and your face.

 

Overall, being consistent and inviting are important when it comes to using social media. Knowing your ideal client and creating content that speaks to them will help you create relationships and move them along in their journey. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and invite people to take the next step.

 

Promote yourself and your offer.

When it comes to creating content, having a system is key. This system should involve figuring out who your ideal client is and talking to their pain and their "heaven". Break these topics down into five different buckets, such as burnout, energizing, mom guilt, etc. Plug these topics into copywriting frameworks or create a calendar to keep yourself organized. On Mondays, you can promote yourself and invite people to free trainings, on Tuesdays ask them what they want you to teach on, Wednesdays do free training, Thursdays do a PAS post, Fridays talk about fun facts about you behind the scenes. This will help you batch your content and save time.

 

Reusing content is also important. If you are talking about burnout on your blogs for one week, you can hyperlink the posts you did on Instagram and your blog about burnout. This will also save you time.

 

Don't be afraid to share your offer. You are using social media to convert and get a paying client. Invite them to take the next step and let them know what you have to offer. It can be uncomfortable to promote yourself, but you are doing a disservice if you don't share what you have to offer. Give them permission to raise their hand and let them know that it is okay to promote yourself and share your offer.

 

Connect with ideal clients.

It is important to connect with your ideal clients on social media. You can use social media to reach a wider audience and to help your ideal clients find you. You can also use social media to create conversations, generate leads, and educate your ideal clients on the value of your services. You can share stories about how you have helped your clients and to showcase what you have to offer.

 

When you are creating content for social media, think about what your ideal clients need to know. What do they need to understand about your services and how you can help them? What kind of stories can you tell that will help them understand the value of working with you? Share tips and resources that will help them solve their problems.

 

When you are creating content, remember to be authentic and relatable. Make sure that you are using language that your ideal clients understand. Speak to them in a way that will make them feel comfortable and connected to you.

 

It is also important to be consistent with your content. Post regularly and create a schedule for yourself. You want to make sure that you are putting out content that is helpful to your ideal clients and that you are keeping them engaged.

 

By connecting with your ideal clients on social media, you can help them understand the value of working with you and you can create relationships with them. 

 

You can use social media to create conversations, generate leads, and educate your ideal clients on the value of your services. By being consistent with your content and being authentic, you can create relationships and help your ideal clients find you.

 

In this episode of The Private Practice Elevation Podcast, we're going to talk about the most important things you need to know before you start a faith-based therapy practice.

 

I know many therapists that want to integrate their faith into the work that they do - both clinically and in how they run their practice.

 

My wife happens to be one of them!

 

But one thing that can be a challenge is understanding how to position your practice from a faith-based perspective without excluding other clients that don't adhere to a certain faith.

 

You may want to bring faith into the work you do, but you may be afraid it will turn other clients off.

 

So how can you create a practice that stays true to who you are and the faith that's important to you in such a way that will help you grow your business?

 

Today we're speaking with my friend, Whitney Owens, all about building a faith-based private practice.

 

She's sharing her wisdom about what she's learned both firsthand from building her own practice as well as the business owners she consults with.

 

There are a few key decisions and questions you can answer before starting your own faith-based therapy practice, and Whitney is here to help us unpack them.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• What it means to have a faith-based practice and how it can apply to all walks of faith
• Practical ways that you can bring more of your faith into your clinical work and business-building
• The difference between an "overt" faith-based practice and a "covert" one and what that means for your marketing
• Examples of marketing a faith-based therapy practice
• Tips for branding your faith-based private practice that will help you with your messaging and what you put on your website
• Why it's so important to track your marketing numbers and return on investments
• Why having a community around you while you build your practice is so important

This Episode Is Brought To You By Managed WordPress Hosting by Flywheel

 

If you're looking for a hosting company that will not only host your website but also supports you with some of the best customer support I've ever received, then Flywheel is for you. We've partnered with Flywheel to host all of our clients' WordPress websites because their speed, security, and extremely responsive customer service is the best in the business.

 

Learn more about hosting with Flywheel (affiliate link)

Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcasts

If you're not yet subscribed to the podcast I want to encourage you to do that today. This is the best way to make sure you don't miss an episode! Click here to subscribe on iTunes.

 

And if you're feeling extra generous, I'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. Reviews help others find the podcast plus I'd really love to hear what you think! Click here to leave a review. Just click on "Ratings & Reviews" then "Write a review." Let me know what you like best about the podcast. Thank you!

 

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Whitneyowens.com
• Waters Edge Counseling (Whitney's group practice)
• Abundant Living Rome
• Fava Counseling Associates

 

About Whitney Owens

Whitney Owens is a licensed professional counselor, group practice owner, and faith-based private practice consultant. She is located in Savannah, Georgia, where she manages a private pay group practice with 10 plus clinicians. Along with running her practice, she consults practice owners around the country on how to start and grow a successful faith-based practice. She hosts summits, a weekly podcast, and a membership community for faith-based practice owners called Wise Practice. She has spoken at numerous events such as both the Georgia and Maryland annual professional counselors conferences as well as trainings for Florida's Counseling Association. In 2023 she will be speaking at Meet you in Kentucky, which is for group practice owners, as well as hosting her own summit in Savannah. In her free time, Whitney enjoys spending time with her husband and two girls, running, reading, and relaxing in the backyard.