What Is SEO Really?

Search Engine Optimization matters. A lot. Especially when it comes to finding professionals that provide services that we need like therapists, counselors, life coaches, relationship coaches, breathwork instructors, “meditation groups near me”... No matter what your professional title is or what your company does, where you are appearing in search results is what ultimately determines your success. 

We live in a time where the Google search bar rules over all. If you really want to show that you have authority within your industry, there’s no better way to do so than popping up on that first page after they press “search”. But how do you get to that first page? Is there a formula for it? How do you hack the algorithm? 

While you don’t have to cough up a budget for google ads when you don’t even know if it’s going to work, it might be in your best interest to delegate your SEO out to a copywriter for the mental health industry. 

If you really would like to do it on your own, you absolutely can learn how. But this isn’t a start-today-and-end-tomorrow type of time investment. SEO is something that you have to commit to. And then you have to maintain it. 

But Like...What Is It
I’m sure that you have heard the acronym about a million and one times. Especially amongst your circle of friends that are also business owners. Everyone brings it up, few talk about it in-depth, and pretty much no one actually knows what it really is. 

When you break it all down and place all of the pieces side-by-side, the definition of SEO is fairly simple. All it is is an implementation of strategies all combined together to naturally and organically shift your ranking on search platforms. 

There are several different strategies for great SEO. One of the most important ones to familiarize yourself with and use religiously throughout your web pages and your blog posts is your use of keywords. Generally, you will have your standard keyword phrases which consist of 2-3 words max. Then you’ll have your long-tail keyword phrases which consist of 3-5 words max. 

You’ll want to use these phrases scattered through your text...naturally. And mix them up with a few of your keyword options. You know when someone is speaking to you telling a story and they use the conversation fillers “like” or “uhm” every few seconds? Yeah. The point is, you don’t want your keywords to come off like that. That will completely throw off your SEO, and Google recognizes it as spam.

It’s also best practice to add a long-tail keyword phrase into your headings and titles. Heck, just make the whole heading a long-tail keyword phrase. It can only help you in the long run.

How Long Is This Going to Take?
One of the most frequently asked questions that everyone wants to know when it comes to SEO is, “How long should it take?” There’s a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to the answer to this question. 

The truth is...it completely and totally depends on you. This is where the maintenance of your website really becomes a topic of conversation. This is also where you’ll probably start to realize that you really want to hire a mental health copywriter. 

Typically, when contributing to your website on a regular basis, you can bump up to the first page of google results in just a few months. You know, as long as you are really digging your feet in. And I mean knees deep in the mud kind of digging your feet in.

You’ll want to ensure that each page on your website has a minimum of 1,500 words and that you’re posting a blog post every single week. If not every week, then at least twice a month (but keep in mind that this will slow your SEO progress down as opposed to if you were posting every single week). 

The time commitment is up to you. And that time commitment will be your decider when it comes to how long it takes for you to get to that first page of search results. 

Can Social Proof Speed It Up?
Social proof is one of the easiest ways to assert authority in any industry. That’s never been a secret. And when it comes to local growth it’s easy to rely on peer reviews, word-of-mouth, and things alike. But how do you transition that into the online world so that you can show off your practice and gain more clientele?

The online space uses the same idea of social proof to rate authority and trustworthiness across websites through something called backlink building. This is when other websites link back to your website.

It’s important to ensure the quality of the website that is linking back to yours. You’ll want to partner with highly regarded and trusted websites to have an external link from theirs to yours. If you have a spammy website vouching for yours it essentially tells the search engines that your website is probably going to be spammy, too. Obviously, you don’t want that. 

One way that you are able to do your own backlink building is through content creation. Another reason that a copywriter can really come in handy for you. When creating your content, a copywriter knows to go ahead and build in those links to your pieces. 

When you are producing and posting quality content on a regular basis that contains external links back to your website, this will act as a huge plus for your SEO ranking. 


Using a combination of different strategies, and being able to analyze and adjust as necessary are skills that take a lot of time to develop. 

At the end of the day, Search Engine Optimization has an algorithm that you can mostly figure out on your own. But it’s just so much easier when you have someone else focusing on all of those little details for you. 

Click here and fill out the contact form, or send me an email at ellisgreywriting@gmail.com. Let’s chat about where you are at with your SEO now, and create a plan on how to take you where you want to be...in the least amount of time.​