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How to Talk About Insurance on Your Private Practice Website

Guest post by Danielle Kepler of beyourownbiller.com

I recommend every clinician in-network or out-of-network mention insurance on their website, even if you do not accept any insurance and want nothing to do with it. Let’s face it, you can’t avoid at least some interaction with it. 

Besides the typical therapist directories, I recommend having an Insurance and Fees page on your website regardless of your insurance network status because clients will want to know their insurance options when looking for a counselor. Pictures of in-network insurance company logos also help with website copy.

Writing the copy for your website varies depending on your network status and your relationship with insurance in your practice.

Let’s start with out of network clinicians. You have a few options based on how you want to run your practice. 

Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do I want to have any interaction with insurance at all in my practice?
  • Do I want to provide superbills for clients?
    • An itemized receipt for services so that clients can submit to their insurance for out-of-network reimbursement.
  • Do I want to accept assignment and bill insurance as an out of network provider?
    • Will have to submit CMS-1500 claims?
  • Do I want to verify out of network benefits myself or have the client do it?
  • Will you accept HAS/FSA/HRA funds for payment?

Based on your answers to these questions, copy on your website may look like this:

“I am out of network with all insurance companies. Many clients are able to utilize their out-of-network benefits for counseling services and get reimbursed by their insurance company. I will provide you with a copy of a superbill which you can submit for possible reimbursement. I also encourage you to verify your out-of-network benefits prior to your session. If you have access to HRA/FSA/HAS funds, I accept those funds as forms of payment.”

Guest post by Danielle Kepler of beyourownbiller.com I recommend every clinician in-network or out-of-network mention insurance on their website, even if you do not accept any insurance and want nothing to do with it. Let’s face it, you can’t avoid at least some interaction with it.

In-network clinicians have things a bit easier as they are listed on insurance provider directories which often list their websites, pictures, and often a short self-introduction.

Provider directories drive clients to your website who already are in-network with insurances you accept. As an in-network clinician, you also have options based on how you want to run your practice.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do I want clients to verify their own insurance benefits?
    • BYOB recommends having a separate page that walks clients how to do this on their own.
  • Do I want to verify insurance benefits for my clients?
  • Would I want to verify benefits prior to the first session or wait for the EOB?
    • BYOB recommends verifying BEFORE the first session.

Based on your answers to these questions, your website copy might look like this:

“I am an in-network provider with the following insurances listed on this page. I will verify your mental health coverage prior to your first session. To do so, I will need the following information.

  • Your Insurance company
  • The customer service number on the back of the card
  • Your member and group IDs
  • Your (and the main subscriber’s) birthdays

I always recommend adding a blurb (whether you’re in-network or out-of-network) to your insurance/fees page that says something like this:

“Please note that benefits are an agreement between you and your insurance company. I cannot guarantee any insurance coverage or reimbursement. If you have eligibility concerns or questions, you should contact your insurance provider directly.”

in network infographic

Many clinicians who do not verify insurance also link to a separate page in which they explain to their clients the questions to as when verifying their own coverage (deductible, copay etc.).

Make sure you also add some insurance company names to the metadata on your Insurance and Fees page to help with SEO.

unnamed

Get In Touch With Danielle

For further questions about adding insurance to your website, feel free to contact me at danielle@beyourownbiller.com

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Private Practice Websites: DIY vs Hiring A Web Designer

When it comes to building a website for your private practice, you basically have two options: build it yourself or have someone else do it for you.

In this article, I’ll share my thoughts on when to DIY your therapy website and when to hire a professional to do it for you.

When it comes to building a website for your private practice, you basically have two options: build it yourself or have someone else do it for you. In this article, I’ll share my thoughts on when to DIY your therapy website and when to hire a professional to do it for you.

The Importance of Having A Great Private Practice Website

A website is one of the best investments you can make for growing your private practice.

And I’m not just saying that as a web designer.

A website helps you reach your potential clients by giving them the information they require in order to trust you with their challenges.

It also gives you total freedom to connect with clients, to share your personality through photography, videos or blog posts, creating a bond before the first session even begins.

A great-looking website can also give your practice a professional edge, helping you to stand out as an expert in your field, fully qualified to lead your clients through the transformation they seek.

One study showed that 94% of people cited web design as the reason they mistrusted or rejected a website. (Source: Tyton Media)

So yeah, having a good website is extremely important!

But what’s the best route to take in order to get a great website?

Well, let’s talk about two options: building your own therapy website and hiring out.

private practice diy website

When To DIY Your Private Practice Website

If you’re thinking about building your website yourself, I think there are certain criteria that my make this the best option for you:

1: Your Budget Is Small

If you’re in a place where you don’t have the extra funds to devote to your website investment, the DIY option may be right for you.

The rise of many website building platforms (Wix, Squarespace, etc.) have made creating your own website much more user-friendly, but also much more affordable.

WordPress (the most popular website platform) is open-source, meaning you’re free to use the software for your own website, you just pay for your hosting (which is often cheaper than the monthly fee for other website-builders.)

Related: The Cost Of Building A Private Practice Website

2: You Enjoy Technology (At Least A Little)

Frustration and fear when it comes to technology is one of the most common hang-ups I hear from my blog readers.

To many, trying to create a website is like learning a whole new language.

But if you enjoy the puzzle and trying to get all your tech pieces to fit together, then DIY may be a good fit.

Because there will be those times when technology makes you want to throw your computer out the window and wish for simpler times centered on candle-light and snail mail.

So if you don’t at least enjoy it a little bit, it’s going to be a long road.

I’ve heard many a war-story from people who tried to DIY their website but just hit so many challenges with the tech stuff, it ended up taking over 6 months to create.

They can’t get that time back. Time that could have been used on other high-impact marketing efforts they enjoy if instead they hired a professional to take care of the website.

3: You Have the Time to Build Your Website Yourself

Creating a website is no small project.

Doing it all yourself means you’ll be spending a lot of time to bring it all together.

You’ve got content to write, platforms to learn, questions to Google to get it all figured out.

So, before embarking on a DIY private practice website, you’ll want to assess what’s going on in your life and business and decide if you’ve got the time to devote to the project.

How much time it takes will depend entirely on how complex your website is and your ability to set chunks of time aside each week to work on the website.

I’m a big fan of creating momentum in projects by focusing my time on one project before moving on to the next.

A website is no different.

If you don’t put ample time on your calendar each week during your DIY website project, you’ll likely lose momentum and the whole thing will take you 6 months to even launch.

So, if you’ve got some good chunks of time in your week which could be used for website-building, DIY may be your jam.

private practice website design hire

When To Hire A Web Designer to Create Your Private Practice Website

There are times in your private practice where I think it makes the most sense to hire someone to create your private practice website for you.

Here are some ways to determine if this is the right direction for you.

1: You’re Ready to Take Your Practice to the Next Level

When you’re first starting out in private practice, there is a lot to do get your business off the ground.

Your time and money is often spent on those early marketing efforts of just getting your name out there.

But once you’ve established yourself and have a steady stream of clients and referrals flowing in, it often frees up both time and money to focus on new marketing efforts to grow your income even more.

This is where a professionally designed website could be a beneficial investment.

You know your time is better spent on other activities, like writing, networking and speaking, rather than trying to get a photo to crop the correct way in Squarespace or learning HTML.

Adding a website that looks great, helps with your SEO and gives you a home-base to share your expertise can be the perfect addition to your marketing efforts, helping you attract more of the clients you love, get the rate you deserve and grow your business.

2: You Prefer to Leave Website Strategy to The Professionals

Anyone can make a website.

But it takes a professional to create something that actually solves your business problems.

A good web designer can help you identify the current challenges in your private practice and present you with a solution.

This is a HUGE asset to the future of your business.

If your online marketing efforts are not yielding the results you desire, it may be time to bring in a professional to help you determine how a new website fits in with your marketing strategy.

3: You Know Which Activities In Your Business Are Worth Your Time

In the short term, a DIY website is certainly cheaper than hiring a web designer.

But when you add up all the hours you’ll spend creating content, setting up your hosting, building web pages and a number of other tasks, it may actually be costing you more.

If you think about your hourly rate for a therapy session and apply that to the time you spend working on your website, that’s basically what you’re paying to have it created.

Instead of paying a designer, you’re paying yourself.

So if you’re hourly rate is $125 and you spend a total of 28 hours working on your website, that’s 28 hours you could have been with a client.

Or you could have paid someone $3500 to take care of the website while you focus your time on other marketing efforts and seeing clients.

In that time, maybe you could have brought in 4 new clients.

And if you see those clients 7 times then it’s fully paid for the website while also giving you more freedom to focus on the business activities you know are worth your time and result in more clients.

Then, when your new website is launched you’re set up for even more success.

4: You Don’t Understand The Nuances of Good Web Design

A website not only has to be easy to use, but it also has to look great.

In a study on website usability and design, 38% of people said they will stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive. (Source: Adobe)

People will judge you and your credibility as a therapist based on how your website looks and performs.

If not done well, visitors will bounce off your website before even having a chance to read your content or learn anything about you.

Whether consciously or subconsciously, our minds register whether a website is pleasing to the eye before deciding to engage with the content.

I can’t tell you how many restaurants I’ve passed up because the place had a crappy website.

If they treat their website so unprofessionally, how do they treat the food or the patrons?

I’ll take my business elsewhere.

Good design speaks of professionalism and helps potential clients take you seriously as the expert I know you are.

So if you’re not confident in your abilities to lay out your website in such a way that it looks good to clients while also communicating clearly what it is you do, you may consider hiring a web designer.

Conclusion

So, will you create your website yourself or hire a web designer for your private practice website?

I hope the thoughts above help you determine what’s right for you.

A website is a BIG project and a huge asset to your private practice.

So take your time with this decision and weigh all the costs before taking the plunge.

If you’ve decided that DIY is just not your jam and you’d like to learn more about what a custom-designed website can do for your business, let’s have a conversation.

I want to hear about your practice and your current marketing challenges and see if a website can help provide a solution.

Together, we’ll come up with a strategy that works for you and grows your private practice.

Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation here and learn more about how we can work together.

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Stop Lying to Yourself (and Start Getting Your Full Fee as a Private Practice Therapist)!

A guest post written by Liz Miller, LPC, LMHC, NCC

You did it! You hung out your shingle and started your private practice counseling business. And at first, it’s great just to start seeing your new clients. A private practice! You’re doing this thing!

Except that your list of “reduced fee” clients is growing, or your full fee was never exactly that “full” a fee to begin with. Why? Because deep down you’re afraid that if you charge what you’re worth, the phone will stop ringing. Or worse, you don’t know what you’re worth as a therapist.

In this article I’ll share with you 3 questions to help you value your private practice and get paid your full fee.

In this article I’ll share with you 3 questions to help you value your private practice and get paid your full fee.

Fear of failure leads new private practice clinicians to devalue their services, creating a vicious cycle.

When you ask for lower fees, you get them. Then you struggle and the fear of failure increases.

As a clinician, you’re used to helping clients realize that we “teach people how to treat us.” But, the same is true of you as a business owner! The problem is that you don’t realize what therapy is worth to your clients, so you set low fees based on faulty assumptions and create self-fulfilling prophecies.

What if you challenged your own assumptions the way you ask clients to challenge theirs?

When you work with clients who don’t see their own worth and aren’t getting what they want out of life—in their jobs, in their marriages—you teach them to challenge their self-limiting or distorted beliefs and assumptions, don’t you?

What if you did the same thing for yourself in your business?

You have razor sharp CBT skills as a therapist. Use them!

What are the self-limiting—and business-limiting—beliefs that cause you to undervalue your work?

First, brainstorm all the reasons you tell yourself you can’t raise your rates or ask your clients to pay them.

If I raise my rates or require full fees:

  • Clients won’t be able to afford therapy.
  • Other therapists will believe I’m greedy or only profit-driven.
  • I’ll be violating my own desire to help people.
  • The phone will stop ringing, clients won’t come, and my business will fail.

Next, ask yourself some tried-and-true CBT questions as if your own therapist was asking them, and get brutally honest with yourself as you answer:

 

Am I examining all the evidence, or only what reinforces my belief?

While some clients might struggle to pay the fee I need to create a successful practice, it’s also true that many self-pay therapists have thriving businesses, so there is evidence that many clients can pay full fee.

 

Could my belief be an exaggeration of what’s true?

It’s true that a few individuals could look down on me for creating an abundant lifestyle through my full-fee private practice, but many more will understand that my successful business will allow me to give generously within my community.

 

Would others have different perspectives on this situation? What are they?

Many business owners in other fields—from law and architecture to plumbing and home building—understand that a successful business allows them to extend pro bono services to more people, not fewer. And, a successful business helps them employ others, too.

 

Is this thought black and white, or is it more complicated?

If others have created successful private pay practices, could my reluctance to charge well for my services be about more than a simple marketing analysis? For example, if I’m assuming no one in my smaller community will pay my full fee, and I find that other private pay therapists in small communities are charging more than I am, what are they doing that makes it work for some, but not other therapists?

 

Did someone else impress me with this belief, and if so, are there others I respect who would challenge it?

Where did I get my own money stories, anyway? Are my doubts and fears really my own, or have I willingly adopted someone else’s narrative?

 

Finally, get crystal clear on what you are really providing for your clients.

 

When you’re talking to a prospective client, and the lump in your throat is threatening your ability to state your full fee with confidence, remember:

You are NOT charging your full fee for one hour of psychotherapy. (Please repeat that!)

You are giving the human being on the other end of the line the skills and self-knowledge to:

  • Recover from the addiction that’s been ravaging their life for years so that they can restore their family and live to see their children get married.
  • Restore a loving, life-giving, fruitful bond with their spouse, which is empirically proven to increase longevity, health, well-being, and even financial security for themselves and their children.
  • Exchange anxiety or depression for a confident and joyful life, with all the implications that holds for their careers, families, and ability to serve their communities.

You are providing the opportunity for nothing less than a changed, restored life. This is what your full fee covers.

Are these outcomes worth the price of a semester of college, a weeklong trip to Disneyworld, or selling something on Craigslist while cutting their cable service for a few months?

Are these outcomes worth it to your reduced fee clients who are able to access your services because your thriving full-fee practice supports them? What about all the other outcomes that result from your philanthropic giving as a successful entrepreneur?

 

Take these 3 steps to change your perspective and start earning your full fee:

  1. Put on your CFO hat and get serious about understanding your finances. There are lots of resources available to help you understand what your gross income—and fee—needs to be to support the life you want, based on the expenses and needs of your business.
  2. Once you know the fee you need to charge, get ruthless about focusing on the evidence that supports your goals, not just your fears. Interview other therapists, get peer support in an online forum, and find out what successful full-fee therapists do to create a thriving practice.
  3. Finally, practice stating your full fee with confidence, reviewing first what your fee really provides both you and your family, and your clients.

Remember:

It’s as scary to face a struggling practice every day as it is to take a deep breath and state your full fee with confidence.

If you’re going to be out of your comfort zone whichever way you go, why not go for it? You might just get the practice of your dreams!

 

About Liz Miller

Liz Miller, LPC, LMHC, NCC is a private practice therapist in Moscow, Idaho, who is passionate about helping committed couples repair painful marriages, and helping individuals heal from trauma and create courage, meaning, and freedom in their lives. When she’s not working, she can be found walking her dog, playing guitar, or camped next to a river.  She is happiest outdoors in places where she can see the Milky Way.

Visit Liz at lizmillercounseling.com

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How to Convert Private Practice Blog Readers into Paying Clients

Blogging is a great way to increase the traffic coming to your private practice website. But how can you turn that traffic into paying clients and grow your therapy practice?

In this article, I’ll share with you 5 ways you can increase your chances of converting blog readers into paying clients.

Blogging is a great way to increase the traffic coming to your private practice website. But how can you turn that traffic into paying clients and grow your therapy practice? In this article, I’ll share with you 5 ways you can increase your chances of converting blog readers into paying clients.

1: Consistently Create Blog Content for Your Potential Therapy Clients

Sometimes I feel a bit like a broken record on this one… but that’s ok.

Consistency is key!

You must be consistent with your content marketing (blogging) in order to see true impact on your traffic.

As your traffic increases, so do opportunities to create new clients.

When you’re constantly adding new content to your website, you’re doing a few crucial things:

  1. You’re increasing the amount of pages that Google is indexing on your website. This could mean an improvement in search rankings.
  2. You’re also increasing the amount of keywords you’ll be ranking for which, once again, can improve your chances of being found in search engines.
  3. You’re demonstrating your authority and trustworthiness by sharing a wealth of knowledge on subjects that your potential clients are concerned with.
  4. You’re giving potential clients more reasons to stick around on your website and form a connection with you.

I must also stress that consistent does not necessarily mean weekly.

Consistent means what works for you, so long as it becomes part of your routine for marketing your private practice and adds new content to your website over time.

If you’re finding it difficult to stay consistent, it’s time to come up with a game plan.

Schedule some time into your calendar where you can focus on coming up with new ideas for blogs as well as time for writing them.

If you want to learn how I’ve managed to stay consistent with my own blogging, check out this post: Blogging for Therapists: 3 Simple Steps to Blog Consistently

2: Include A Bold Call To Action on Each Blog Post

Your website content should take users and potential clients on a journey.

What do I mean by this?

You want to lead your users through stages of familiarity with you and your services.

When they first come to your website or find one of your blog posts, they may have never heard of you.

So, they read your words, click around your website and get a sense of your services and who you are… they get to know you a bit.

Then, when they decide it’s time to reach out and learn even more, they’re taking the next step in getting to know you and actually beginning a relationship with you by calling or emailing you.

Hopefully that conversation leads to them becoming a client.

In order to get a potential client to take that next step, you have to give them the opportunity to do so.

People need direction.

So, give them a clear and simple call to action at the end of each blog post.

Encourage them to take whatever next step you’d like them to take to move your relationship with them to a new level.

Many therapists like to offer a free 20-minute phone consultation while others give away a free resource in exchange for an email.

Here are a couple examples of bold calls to action from a few recent clients of mine:

call to action private practice

cta lori buckley

cta liz miller

3: Give Something Away

A great way to build trust, serve a population and nurture potential clients is to offer them something of value absolutely free.

This is where being generous pays off.

If you truly want to help your population of ideal clients, find ways to serve them whether they become a client of yours or not.

This can create a great connection with potential clients and showcase your expertise, which may keep you in mind for when they are ready to reach out for therapy.

Some things you could give away to attract potential clients:

  • A PDF checklist on a topic
  • An e-book
  • A video that teaches potential clients about a topic they are concerned with
  • Free consultation calls
  • A PDF resource with lots of information on a specific issue your clients may be dealing with

You could get very creative with what you could give away.

The key is to make it something that your potential clients can’t ignore.

It should be something that would be very valuable to them and meets them right where they’re at – which is often struggling to overcome a certain challenge in their life.

You can help them get one step closer to freedom and give them a reason to call you when they’re ready to go even further by becoming your client.

4: Offer Solutions to Your Clients’ Pain Points

Why even have a blog in the first place?

Is it just to get more clients?

That’s certainly one of the main reasons we jump into blogging and content marketing.

But just like the last tip, at the core of what you do must be a desire to help people overcome whatever it is that’s holding them back.

Isn’t that why you got into therapy in the first place?

So, when you write blog posts, focus on the specific pain points and issues you love to help your clients overcome.

Use your blog as a way to educate potential clients and showcase your expertise.

If you help someone, whether they’re a client or not, this creates an appreciation and affection for you as a person.

That could certainly lead to more clients in the future.

With every blog post, try and focus on a specific lesson, skill or bit of information that can help your potential clients overcome a pain point in their life.

Create small wins for them now so you can hopefully create big wins for them later when they come in for therapy as your client.

5: Eliminate the Distractions

As a web designer devoted to folks in private practice, I’ve reviewed many therapy websites.

One of the biggest mistakes I see therapists make with their websites is having too many distractions.

We live in busy times, where people’s attention spans are extremely short.

When presented with too many options, people will often choose none of them.

So if your amazing blog posts are surrounded with lots of ads, a very busy sidebar, or multiple calls to action… people may bolt.

Which means they won’t even read your blog posts.

They’ll get overwhelmed by the work they need to do to even read your content and just move right along.

So if you want to attract more clients with your blog, you need to make sure they read your content in the first place.

Choose one main call to action to include in your blog post and that’s it.

If your sidebar is jam-packed with images and buttons, try and eliminate what isn’t essential.

And if you want to make sure your text is more readable, I actually wrote a blog all about it!: Blogging for Therapists: How to Increase The Readability of Blog Posts

Conclusion

Blogging still remains one of the best ways to increase traffic to your private practice website.

It increases the amount of keywords you’ll rank for on Google and offers you a great way to serve your potential and current therapy clients.

You can use the tips above to make sure you’re using your blog posts to their full potential in order to attract clients to your private practice.

You may want to take a look at the blogs you’ve been posting and update them with calls to action or make them more readable.

And you can keep these tips in mind as you write future blog posts and come up with new ways to bring in more of the clients you love to serve.

I’d Love To Chat With You About Your Website

I know what it’s like to try and build a website and figure out this online marketing stuff on your own. Oh the Googling, the questions and all the roadblocks that can come up along the way!

So, I offer Skype consultations as a way to help you overcome any challenges you may be facing with your therapy website and keep you moving forward.

Got a problem or just want to pick my brain? You can draw from my 15 years of web design experience and we’ll come up with a plan to improve your website, bring in more traffic and attract more clients.

If you’d be interested in scheduling a Skype consultation, you can click here to sign up.

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How To Set Up Pinterest Rich Pins for Your Private Practice Website

Rich Pins allow Pinterest to display extra information about you and your website when pinning content from your website. It’s a great way to stand out on Pinterest and makes it easier to drive traffic back to your therapy website.

In this post we’ll go over what Rich Pins are exactly and how to get started using them on your own Pinterest profile and private practice website.

Rich Pins allow Pinterest to display extra information about you and your website when pinning content from your website. It’s a great way to stand out on Pinterest and makes it easier to drive traffic back to your therapy website. In this post we’ll go over what Rich Pins are exactly and how to get started using them on your own Pinterest profile and private practice website.

What Are Pinterest Rich Pins?

Rich pins are a way for Pinterest to provide some extra information about your website along with pins that link back to your pages and posts.

By enabling a bit of code on your website, it allows Pinterest to gather a little information about any content pinned from your website.

A bold title, your website name and your profile picture all appear with your pin to let pinners know more about who they’re repinning and where the content came from.

Here’s an example of what Rich Pins do:

pinterest for therapists rich pin

All this extra info will help you stand out in the busy Pinterest feed.

Notice how Rich Pins display your blog titles clear and gives your ideal audience more chances to click over to your website.

And tests have shown that Rich Pins have been proven to increase traffic.

So you’re going want to set up this functionality if you’re using Pinterest to promote your private practice blog.

You may be wondering, what does a NON Rich Pin look like?

For comparison’s sake, here’s an example:

pinterest non rich pin

There’s no extra information, such as a bold title for the content, a “read it” button, or “Article from” highlight of the author’s Pinterest profile.

This can result in less repins, fewer follows and less traffic back to the original website’s content.

Getting Started With Rich Pins for Your Therapy Website

Setting up this extra Pinterest functionality does not take long and has tons of benefits.

And you can set it up once, and then any content pinned from your website will display as a Rich Pin.

In order to enable Rich Pins, you have to have what’s called “Open Graph” code on your website.

This is the same type of code that Facebook uses to pull in information for links you share on their platform.

The process is a little different depending on which website platform you use. So I’ll cover a few of the most popular ones below.

Using WordPress to Set Up Rich Pins

The process to enable Rich Pins is extremely easy when using WordPress.

Step 1: Install the Yoast SEO plugin

Step 2: Click on “Social” under the Yoast SEO settings

rich pins yoast 1

Step 3: Click on the Facebook tab and make sure Open Graph is enabled

rich pins yoast 2

Step 4: Validate your Rich Pins with Pinterest using their Rich Pin Validator

rich pin validator

Once validated, Pinterest will show you the information they see for your website:

rich pin pinterest validated

Using Other Website Platforms to Enable Rich Pins

Wix: Setting up Rich Pins with Wix

Squarespace: Already supported when you link your Pinterest account from within Squarespace settings. Once linked, run the Rich Pin Validator here.

Weebly: You’ll have to first add the Open Graph code to your website’s “Head” code. Check out the instructions here.

How Using Pinterest led to a 15x increase in traffic to my own website… in just 6 months.

Rich Pins are just one of many simple strategies you can use to help drive lots of traffic to your private practice website using Pinterest.

Now, I’ve spent the last couple years testing what works and doesn’t work for driving traffic to websites.

And Pinterest can be a game changer.

It currently accounts for more than 90% of all traffic to this here site… and all without having to pay for my content to be seen (like you have to do on Facebook).

And after just 6 months of using Pinterest strategically I saw a 15x increase in my traffic!

I’d like to share this Pinterest strategy with you…

Because what I’ve learned is that it’s not rocket science, so anyone can follow this system to see an uptick in their own website traffic.

So I’ve compiled together my favorite traffic-driving tactics, combining blogging with simple Pinterest strategies to help you grow your website traffic quickly into a free, 10-day email challenge.

Ready to use Pinterest to explode your traffic, grow your audience and attract more of your ideal clients? Join the free 10-day Kickstart Your Blog Traffic Challenge by clicking the banner below:

Click here to join the free challenge

 

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Blogging for Therapists: How to Find Your Niche

When you begin to create a blog for your private practice, your first question may be “What on earth should I write about?” quickly followed by “Where do I begin?”

But when it comes to blogging, there is another question that’s an even more powerful place to begin.

Who are you writing for?

Once you know the answer to THIS question, the rest falls into place.

In this post I’ll share with you some simple steps you can take to help you get clear on who your ideal client and blogging audience is to make writing blog posts easier.

In this post I’ll share with you some simple steps you can take to help you get clear on who your ideal client and blogging audience is to make writing blog posts easier.

Understanding who your ideal clients are and creating content specifically for them is key to driving traffic to your site.

Though casting a wide net and writing in generalizations can be appealing in the beginning, it actually shuts out the opportunity to provide the best content to the specific type of client you’re looking for.

Related: 5 Tips To Increasing Your Website Traffic by Choosing a Niche

How to Find Your Blogging Niche

Take some time to go through the exercise below to help you uncover the focus of your blog and your ideal audience.

Step 1: Take a step back and ask yourself “What clients do I really love working with?”

Really think about that and try and describe your ideal client.

Think about their lifestyle, their age and career. What does their family look like?

Try to describe the in as much detail as you can.

Step 2: What are some common challenges that you love to help your clients overcome?

Think about some of the things you’ve worked together to overcome and the outcome of your work together.

What type of therapy work really excites you?

Do you love helping newly married couples start their marriage off with solid communication skills?

Or is it helping someone move past a trauma in their life?

Step 3: How can reading your blog posts help this population?

What transformation can you help your clients achieve?

Why should they read your blog and what can they expect from reading your blog?

Step 4: What impression do you want to leave on someone after they’ve read your blog?

Think about how you want an ideal client to feel after reading one of your blog posts and describe it.

Do you want them to feel inspired to connect with their family in new ways?

Or maybe you want your ideal client to feel proud and unashamed of who they are.

Do this for each client that has energized you to discover what marketers call your “Target Audience.”

An Example of Defining Your Blog’s Focus

Because I like to be a little more show than tell, here’s an example of what it looks like when you define your blog niche and ideal client:

“I’m energized by the work I do with young professionals, aged 25 -30 years old. They are primarily unmarried, focused on their career and have an active social life.

They often struggle with insecurity, poor boundaries and overcoming shame from past and present relationships.

My blog posts can provide this population with ideas and knowledge that they can apply to their lives today in order to understand their boundaries, improve their communication with others and begin seeing a positive change in their lives and relationships.”

See how descriptive you can be?

Then, every time you have a new blog post to write, you can sit down and picture your ideal client.

Pretend like you’re talking to just one person, and I know your blogs will become packed with extremely valuable information that will attract your ideal clients to your private practice website.

Download the Free Find Your Blog Focus Worksheet

To help you navigate through finding your blogging niche and establishing your private practice’s voice and tone, I’ve created a worksheet for you to download here.

This worksheet is from a future course (tease!) I’m creating all about driving traffic using your blog.

With this Free PDF, you’ll be able to:

  • Identify your ideal client
  • Create a list of blog categories and subcategories (topics) to write about
  • Break through bouts of “writer’s block” with ease

Every client you see is unique, but chances are, they have several things in common.

That is your specialty. It’s what you’ve trained years for and are now spectacular at it. The same practice should be used when blogging for your private practice.

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Getting Started with Google Analytics

Understanding your audience is critical to the success of your private practice. Web traffic stats give you a clear picture of who is visiting, where they’re coming from, how long they’re on your site, and so much more. And with Google Analytics, all of this information is free!

Getting Started With Google Analytics Pinterest. Understanding your audience is critical to the success of your private practice. Web traffic stats give you a clear picture of who is visiting, where they’re coming from, how long they’re on your site, and so much more. And with Google Analytics, all of this information is free!

Getting started with Google Analytics can be a bit daunting at first, but after a few simple clicks, and some basic knowledge of how to read reports, you’ll be ready to refine your content to reach your target audience – your future clients!

For example, is your traffic peaking at a specific time? Then that’s when you know to post new content!

Is it coming from a specific source, like Pinterest? Now you know where to focus your marketing efforts!

Here’s how you get started:

 

Step 1: Create a Google Account

This one is rather simple, especially if you already have a Google or Gmail account!

Just click on the Google Analytics Sign Up page and either register or login, if you already have an account.

Screen Shot 2017 06 05 at 9.06.15 AM

Step 2: Sign up for Google Analytics

Once you’ve logged in to your Google account, you’ll see this screen. Click on “Sign Up” to start your Google Analytics account.

Screen Shot 2017 06 05 at 9.07.34 AM

Step 3: Set up your website tracking

The following screen will prompt you to enter some information regarding your website. It gives you the option of entering information for a Website or a Mobile site.

VERY IMPORTANT – Choose “Website”! Then enter the information requested.

Screen Shot 2017 06 05 at 9.11.24 AM

Step 4: Get your tracking code

Once you’ve gone through the aforementioned steps, Google Analytics will provide you with your own unique tracking code.

Once that code is entered into your WordPress site, ideally through a plugin, data will bounce back and forth between the two tools, providing you with all the information you need about your audience!

The tracking code page looks a little something like this:

gatrackingcode

Not Using WordPress?

Click on the website platform you’re using to view instructions on where you’ll need to place your Google Analytics tracking code:

Useful Reports:

Now that Google Analytics is up and running efficiently, you’re going to want to monitor your reports.

The ones I find most useful are:

  • Audience Overview (bird’s eye view of what your audience is doing)
  • Audience Demographics (characteristics of your audience including age, interests, gender, etc)
  • Acquisition Overview (where your audience is coming from)
  • Acquisition Social (what social media platforms your audience is coming from)
  • Behavior Overview (what your audience is doing while on your site).

Here is the Audience Overview Dashboard:

Screen Shot 2017 06 05 at 12.24.55 PM

Here, you can see how many new visitors there are vs returning visitors, the total number of people visiting the site in a given time period (May 29-June 4), and on average how long they were on the site.

The metrics you monitor can be changed in the drop down menu under “Overview”.

Screen Shot 2017 06 05 at 12.28.24 PM

If you ever get stuck, Google Analytics has a built in tutor to walk you through reading reports in each section.

Screen Shot 2017 06 05 at 12.30.55 PM

Conclusion

The more you know, the better you can serve your prospective patients.

Using Google Analytics on your private practice website is an easy way to learn all you can about your audience in real time, make necessary changes, and draw even more traffic to your business.

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[Video] Private Practice Website Review: Jessie Bohnenkamp, LPC, NCC, MA

This month’s 5-minute private practice website review comes to us from Jessie Bohnenkamp.

Jessie has done a great job with her website over at http://www.thinklikeacounselor.com. She’s even used WordPress (bonus points for that ;))

Want to view past website reviews? Click here.

First Impressions of Her Therapy Website

I really like the feel of this website. The wood background really leads me right into Jessie’s content and still manages to feel clean and not overwhelming. Sometimes graphic backgrounds can be distracting, but this one gave the feel of a therapy office to me.

The website is simple but certainly not boring. It’s easy to digest the information Jessie has on each page.

I also like the font and style she’s used for her photos, which gives the website a sense of branding.

Cleaning up the Home Page

In the video, I mention a few simple design tweaks that Jessie could do to clean up her home page.

She’s got a couple large paragraphs of text, which, if broken up into smaller paragraphs (and possibly some more section headings) could really make the page feel lighter and easier to read.

I think some of the info in her sidebar can be eliminated in order to get rid of the empty white space at the bottom of the page.

Since she has social sharing buttons at the bottom of each page, I don’t think they are necessary in the sidebar. I’d rather see her link to her own social profiles so that people can follow her elsewhere. But the sharing aspect is just taking up space.

Having too much in your sidebar can distract from the main content of your page, which is what you truly want people to be reading.

Using The About Page to Attract Potential Therapy Clients

I think Jessie could add more to her about page to really turn it into a landing page for potential clients to get all the information they need to book a session with her.

I recommend adding an introductory paragraph that identifies with her potential clients.

She can empathize with their struggles and the issues that she loves to help her clients with.

Then she can move into her bio, her passions and her approach to counseling.

I would also break up the paragraphs a bit more to make them easier to read.

I forgot to mention it in the video, but it would be great to add a standout call to action on the bottom of this page.

The About page is often the second most-visited page on a counselor’s website, so you want to use this page to lead potential clients along the path toward booking a session with you.

She mentions that she’s available for counseling, but it’s a bit lost in the bottom of the last paragraph. She could pull that out, bold it and link to her contact page and it would help lead her potential clients on their way to booking with her.

Beefing up The Therapy Services Page

My last tidbit of therapy website advice is to spend some time really expanding the services page.

When it comes to the issues that Jessie helps her clients with, I only see a short paragraph at the top of her Services & Rates page.

I think she could create a whole section on the various issues she helps her clients with.

Then, for an added SEO boost, she could create specialty landing pages and really dive into how she helps her potential clients overcome these challenges. Linking to these pages from her services page can also help provide the information a potential client needs to feel confident in choosing to work with Jessie.

For tips on creating SEO boosting specialty pages, check out this post.

Conclusion

I’m a fan of simplicity and think Jessie has done a great job to create a simple website that has some of the most important information any therapy website could have.

In a few places, she could benefit from spending some time to add more information to identify with potential clients, give them the confidence and information they need as well as boost her search engine optimization.

All in all, great work, Jessie!

Check out my latest FREE training to learn the content you need in order to attract your ideal clients to your website, plus tips on driving more traffic. Just click the banner below to get started!

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How to Use Facebook to Market Your Private Practice

Last week I sent out an email to my audience asking one simple question: what would you like to know about using Facebook to market your practice?

Well, I was amazed at the response and the questions that came back were just SO good!

Many of you want to know if Facebook is even relevant for marketing your therapy practice.

Some folks were concerned over privacy issues and how to separate your personal Facebook account from a business account.

So many of you really wanted to know more about how to use Facebook ads to market your private practice.

I really needed an expert to answer all these great questions, so I reached out to Jennifer Spong Sneeden, from Thriving Therapy Practice, for some help.

Jennifer has seen SO much success in using Facebook to market her private practice that it’s actually become her number one source of new clients.

She’s since taught hundreds of other therapists to use Facebook effectively in their own practices.

To help you out, she decided to create the video below just for the CMTW audience, answering some of your most common questions about Facebook.

Now, Jennifer is taking this one step further…

Because she’s so confident that Facebook is one of the best ways to grow your own practice, she’s agreed to host a free, exclusive live training just for the readers of this here blog.

In this virtual training, she’s going to show you her simple 5-step system to build your Facebook following, engage your fans, and increase your income.

If Facebook seems like a waste of time because you’re not getting the results you want, this FREE training is for you. Just click the banner below to claim your spot:

Learn how to use Facebook to market your private practice

This Facebook training will take place, January 19, 2017 at two different times: 1PM and 8PM EST. Sign up now to make sure you get a spot.

We’ll see you there!

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How to Use Gmail with Your Own Therapy Website Domain

When you purchase a custom domain (the URL where your website lives) you often have the option of setting up an email address with your domain name in it (i.e. info@createmytherapistwebsite.com). In my experience though, these domain companies have terrible email interfaces, making it difficult to check your email and stay organized.

Since Gmail is such a popular and user-friendly option for email, many folks end up just using a Gmail account for the main email for their private practice.

In this article, I’ll show you how to have the best of both worlds by setting up Gmail to work with your own custom domain so you can ditch the @gmail address, stay organized and look professional.

Learn how to use Gmail with your own custom domain for your therapy website.

The benefits of using Gmail with your private practice website’s domain:

  1. As I mentioned above, using an email address that is consistent with your website URL makes you look more professional. It establishes your private practice as a brand and re-emphasizes your business and where it can be found online. For example, daniel.therapy@gmail.com doesn’t carry the same professionalism as info@danieltherapy.com.
  2. Gmail keeps you organized. Gmail does an amazing job of providing tools and integrations to keep your email organized. You can create folders, tags and custom rules for categorizing emails. Plus, the search functionality (I mean, it’s Google, right?) is outstanding, so you can always find that old email you’re looking for.
  3. Domain companies don’t have great email interfaces. Compared to Gmail, the email interfaces you find within most domain and hosting websites are pretty terrible and not easy to use, which often leads to wasted time and lost emails.
  4. If your domain provider’s email servers go down, you’re still covered. Because you’re using Gmail’s email servers instead of your hosting/domain provider’s, you can rest assured knowing that Google’s powerful servers are the ones handling your email.
  5. You can access your email anywhere using apps. Because it’s Gmail, you can easily access your email through Google’s apps right on your phone or tablet. Even if you’re offline, you’d still be able to see your recent emails, rather than having to rely on signing in to your domain’s email interface.

How to Use Gmail with Your Therapy Website’s Domain Name:

 

First, sign up for a Google Apps for Work account.

google apps private practice

I love Google Apps for Work because it keeps all my business stuff separate from my personal stuff. I used to import my business emails into my personal Gmail account and let’s just say, things got messy.

After the 30-day free trial, it’s only $5 a month, plus you get all the benefits of using Drive, Calendar, Docs and other Google apps (except it’s all for your business).

If you’d like a 20% off coupon, just click here, enter your email and I’ll send it right to you.
Free 20% coupon code for Google Apps for Work

Click “Start FREE trial” and follow the steps to set up your account.

setup gmail therapy custom website domain

In the steps to follow, you’ll choose the main email address you’d like to use with your domain name. This first email address will be your main Google Apps for Work admin account.

Google will ask you to verify your domain to make sure no one else is using your domain with Google Apps without your permission.

There’s a couple ways to do this, Google gives you some popular hosting providers that you can log into, but yours may not be on the list.

So, if you don’t see your provider there, the easiest way to verify your domain is to copy a piece of code that Google gives you and paste it into the <head> section of your website’s code. If you’re using WordPress, you can use this plugin to edit your website’s <head> code.

Once your account is created, you’ll have to change some settings in your domain’s email settings to use Google’s servers instead. These are called “MX Records”.

1. Log into your hosting/domain account to visit the control panel.

2. Locate the area for your domain’s DNS records. Here’s how it looks in an iPage account:

dns records ipage private practice website

3. Locate the MX Records for your domain:

mx records therapy website

4. Update the existing MX records to point to Google’s mail servers by entering these MX record values. (they are already in place in the example above)

5. Delete any old MX records that don’t point to Google’s mail servers.

6. Wait for the changes to take effect and you’re good to go! It could take anywhere from a couple hours to 72 hours depending on your domain provider.

If you get stuck at any point, Google has a great support team. Also, your domain host will be able to assist you in updating your MX records as well. The setup may seem a little daunting, but once you get it set, there’s nothing else to do but enjoy the service!

I’ve been using Google Apps for Work for months now and it’s really simplified and organized my business. Not only is my email in one place, I can keep my Google Drive and Google Docs linked to the account as well.

I’ve also got a boat-load of 20% off coupons for Google Apps. If you’d like one, just click on the banner below, enter your email and I’ll send it to you!

Free 20% coupon code for Google Apps for Work

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