SEO for therapist and coaches-How I got to the top!

I GOT A WEBSITE. IF I COULD DO ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY I WOULD HAVE MADE SURE MY WEBSITE HAD MY “KEYWORDS” IN THE TITLE.

• WHAT ARE KEYWORDS OR KEY PHRASES? KEYWORDS ARE WHAT THE SEARCH ENGINES ARE LOOKING FOR TO CATERGORIZE YOUR SITE. MY PRIMARY KEY WORD/PHRASE IS “ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES”

• WHAT IS A SEARCH ENGINE? A SEARCH ENGINE IS A PORTAL IN WHICH A USER INPUTS KETWORDS TO FIND A PRODUCT, SERVICE OR INFORMAITON. THE MOST POPULAR SEARCH ENGEINES ARE GOOGLE, YAHOO, AND MSN.

• ARE ALL SEARCH ENGINES CREATED EQUAL? NO. GOOGLE IS BY FAR NUMBER 1. OPTIMIZING YOUR SITE FOR GOOGLE DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN YOU ARE OPTIMIZING YOUR SITE FOR THE OTHER TWO MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES.

• THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID AFTER GETTING A WEBSITE WAS TO START USING SPONSERED PAID SEARCH. IT TOOK ME 2-3 YEARS TO GET FROM PAGE 8 OR 9 TO PAGE ONE OF GOOGLE. IF I DID NOT USE PAID SEARCH TO NARROW THE GAP.MY BUISNESS WOULD HAVE SUNK BEFORE I HAD A CHANCE TO MAKE IT TO THE TOP.

• THE THIRD MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID WAS WATCH MY COMPETITORS. I FOUND WHO WAS AT NUMBER ONE FOR MY DESIRED KEYWORDS. THEN I GOOGLED THEIR URL AND FOUND OUT EVERYWHERE THEIR SITE WAS LISTED.

• THE FOURTH MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID WAS TO ADD CONTENT TO MY PAGE. MY HOME PAGE HAS A LOT OF CONTENT ON IT. IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THE CLEANEST PAGE OUT THERE. REMEMBER THE INTERNET SPIDERS JUDGE YOUR SITE BY THE TYPE AND NUMBER OF WORDS AND PHRASES ON IT. THE MORE INFORMATION I HAD ABOUT “ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES” THE MORE I MOVED UP IN THE SEARCH ENGINES.

• I ADDED A BLOG. THE NUMBER ONE RULE IN SEO IS “CONTENT IS KING” A BLOG GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADD KEYWORDS AND KEY PHRASE UNIQUE TO YOUR INDUSTRY. I MADE ATTEMPTS TO WRITE A BLOG POST AT LEAST EVERY OTHER DAY. YOUR POSTS SHOULD BE AS UNIQUE AS POSSIBLE. STEALING ARTICLES FROM OTHER SITES MAY HELP BUT INTERNET SPIDERS LIKE NEW CONTENT. WHEN WRITING I ALWAYS KEPT IN MIND THAT I WANTED TO INFORM THE WORLD. NOT ONLY POTENTIAL CLIENTS.

• I ADDED A RESOURCE PAGE. IN THE SPIRIT OF PROVIDING INFORMATION TO MY READERS A RESOURCE PAGE ALLOWS YOU TO ADD LINKS TO OTHER SITES. LINKING TO OTHER SITE HELPS YOUR PAGE RANK MODERATELY. BUT BEING LINKED ON SOMEONE ELSES SITE CAN GREATLY HELP. LINK SHARING IS A POPULAR WAY TO SOAR IN THE SEARCH ENGINES.

• I ASKED POPULAR SITES AND BLOGS TO ADD MY URL. IF YOU ARE LINKED TO A POPULAR SITE (ESPECIALLY IF IT IS RELATED TO YOUR BUISNESS) YOUR ARE GOING TO RISE WITH THE TIDE. A POPULAR SITE HAS A PAGE RANK (PR) OF 1-3. IF INTERESTED I WILL LINK WITH YOU.

• I ADJUSTED MY METATAGS. METATAGS ARE FOUND ON THE BACK END OF YOUR SITE. THEY ARE HTML CODES USUALLY CALLED TITLE TAGS OR KEYWORD TAGS. YOUR META TAGS SHOULD MATCH THE KEYWORDS YOU THINK SEARCHERS ARE USING.

• I SUBMITTED MY SITE URL TO THE MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES.

• I TRY TO COMMENT ON THE BLOGS OF OTHER PEOPLE IN MY INDUSTRY OFTEN (ALWAYS SIGNING MY COMMENTS WITH MY BUSINESS NAME AND URL) COMMENTING ON BLOGS IS A GOOD WAY TO MEET PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY AND GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE. MAKE SURE YOUR COMMENTS ARE RELATIVE TO THE DISCUSSION AND DON’T GO OVER BOARD. IF YOU DO THIS IS CONSIDERED SPAMMING.

• I CREATED PRESS RELEASES. I MAKE IT A HABIT TO TRY AND PUT OUT A PRESS RELEASE ABOUT MY BUSINESS AT LEAST ONCE A QUARTER. PRESS RELEASES ARE A GOOD WAY TO RISE TO THE TOP OF THE YAHOO SEARCH ENGINE.

• I SUBMITTED ARTICLES ON MY SUBJECT. YOU CAN FIND SEVERAL ARTICE SUBMIT SITES AND WRITE ARTICLES. ALWAYS SIGN END WITH YOUR BUISNESS NAME, PHONE NUMBER, AND URL.

• I READ BOOKS ON MARKETING. THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD STUFF OUT THERE ABOUT MARKETING IN GENERAL. ONE OF MY FAVORITE WRITERS IS SETH GODIN. HE HAS A BLOG.

• I READ EVERYTHING I COULD ON SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION) ONE OF MY FAVORITE WEBSITES IS SEOCHAT.COM

• I KEEP UP WITH WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE INDUSTRY BY USING GOOLGE ALERTS. GOOGLE ALERTS IS A FREE SERVICE FROM GOOGLE. WHENEVER SOMEONE WRITES A BLOG OR ARTICLE CONTAINING YOUR “KEYWORDS” THEY WILL SEND YOU A LINK TO YOUR EMAIL.

• I UTILIZE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE (MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, TWITTER, FRIENDSTER ETC)

• I CREATED 3-4 ALTERNATE BLOGS.

• I ADVERTISE ON CRAIGSLIST, L.A. BACKPAGE AND TOPIX.NET

Daybreak Counseling Service
Shannon Munford M.A.
www.daybreakservices.com
twitter.com/angryinla
310-995-1202