SEO for Therapists, Part II: Off-Page SEO

Written By Stacie McPherson

Welcome back, my friend. 

Here's the thing about mental health practice SEO: your website is only half the equation. The other half happens everywhere else on the internet (a.k.a. off-page SEO). It's your practice's reputation across the digital world, and it has a HUGE impact on whether Google decides to show your website to people searching for support.

If you read my previous blog post (SEO for Therapists, Part I: On-Page SEO),  you know more about on-page SEO than approximately 90% of other therapists. If you haven’t read it, back the truck up and start there. 

You need both on-page AND off-page SEO for SEO to work for your therapy practice. SEO isn’t a place to go half-assed. Go big or go home, or your time will be wasted. 

Off-Page SEO for therapist practices includes:

  • Quality backlinks - Links from reputable mental health organizations, directories, news outlets, guest posts on relevant sites

  • NAP consistency - Name, Address, Phone identical across all online directories, your MAP pack, and your website

  • Professional directories - APA (or ACA, NASW, etc.), state psychological association, specialty organization listings, TherapyDen, etc. 

  • Social signals - Active (even minimal) presence on relevant social media platforms

  • Monitoring - Regular checks on backlink quality, review management, citation accuracy

  • Google Business Profile - Claimed, verified, complete with current info, and regular posts (this is HARD if you’re 100% virtual)

  • Client reviews - Regular Google reviews (and responses to them), plus reviews on other relevant platforms (this is HARD given our ethical considerations)

Off-Page SEO for Counseling Practices

Google’s algorithm doesn’t evaluate your website in isolation (i.e. your website with keywords). It also looks at how the rest of the internet treats your site. Are other credible websites linking to you? Are you listed in reputable directories? Do you have positive reviews from real people? All of these signals tell Google, “This practice is legitimate, this content is trustworthy, and we should show it to people who are searching.” One of the things that makes SEO difficult for therapists is the “quality reviews” part of things. You can still rank high in SEO without reviews; however, you need to excel at other aspects of SEO to make it happen. 

This is especially critical for therapist websites because Google classifies health and mental health content under what it calls YMYL, “Your Money or Your Life.” These are topics where inaccurate or low-quality information could genuinely harm someone. For good reason, Google holds mental health websites to a higher standard for demonstrating expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (commonly shortened to E-E-A-T). Off-page SEO is one of the primary ways you demonstrate that authority.

Sbaffi and Rowley (2017) found that the authority of the website owner and the presence of credible external endorsements positively influence user trust. In practical terms: when your therapy practice shows up in trusted directories, gets back-linked from respected sources, and has genuine reviews, both Google and your potential clients take you more seriously.

What sucks? Therapists cannot solicit reviews from clients as an ethical standard. There are workarounds (see section on Online Reviews), but it leaves many ethical therapists at a disadvantage. Don’t worry, you don’t need reviews to rank high with SEO, but you do need to be very methodical with other facets of SEO. 

Your Google Business Profile

SEO experts will tell you, if you do one single off-page SEO task for your therapy practice, get a Google Business Profile (A.K.A.: GBP). This is the listing that appears as a map listing when someone searches for therapists in your area. It includes your practice name, address (can be anonymized to just your town), phone number, hours, website link, reviews, and photos. Google uses it to determine whether your practice is relevant to searches. While this is a highly touted aspect of SEO, you do NOT have to have it to win at SEO.

If you opt for a GBP: claim your profile, verify your location, fill out every single field, upload quality photos, choose accurate categories (“Psychologist,” “Marriage and Family Therapist,” “Counselor,” etc.), and make sure your name, address (or anonymized town), and phone number exactly match what’s on your website and directories. Google cares about consistency and when I say exactly, I mean it. Down to every comma and abbreviation used (e.g. street vs St. or STE vs suite). Everything needs to be identical.

If you’re a fully virtual therapist (such as myself) you can get a GBP listing that only shows your town (but not your full address). Google makes you jump through fire-y hoops, but it is possible. Follow their directions carefully, and if you’re ok with AI, search step-by-step instructions for how to navigate this as an online only therapist. 

Online Reviews: The Ethical Tightrope

Let’s address the elephant in the room. Reviews are a massive factor in SEO and consumer decision-making. Survey research has found that over 70% of healthcare consumers read online reviews when selecting a new provider, and 80% consider a provider trustworthy only if they have five or more reviews (Reputation & YouGov, 2022). Google’s algorithm treats reviews as strong ranking signals.

Here’s the really, really annoying thing for therapists: the APA, ACA, NASW (etc) Ethics Codes create constraints around soliciting reviews from current or former clients. You can’t ask, “Leave me a 5-star review!”the same way a pizza place can. This puts mental health professionals at a significant disadvantage in the SEO game, compared to other types of businesses.

There ARE ethical ways to navigate this. You can encourage reviews in contexts that don’t create an ethical conundrum (e.g. consulting clients, workshop attendees, or professional colleagues.) A well-worn trick is to have colleagues leave you reviews stating that you’re a competent professional. If you get a review from one of the aforementioned options, don’t forget to respond thoughtfully. If a former or current client leaves a review, NEVER respond (it can be a breach of HIPAA.)  

Backlinks: The Holy Grail

A backlink is when another [reputable] website links to yours. In Google’s eyes, a backlink is essentially a vote of giant confidence. The more reputable the site linking to you, the more weight that vote carries. 

For therapists, backlinks might come from being quoted in a news article, contributing a guest blog post, being listed on a university’s referral page, having your practice featured on a professional association’s website, or being cited in an online resource about mental health in your community.

Quality matters far more than quantity. One link from a respected domain (hello Forbes) is worth more than fifty links from random, low-authority sites. And buying backlinks is a fast track to getting penalized by Google. Don’t do it. Seriously. It’s the SEO equivalent of falsifying credentials and not worth the risk.

Building a genuine backlink strategy takes time, relationships, and an understanding of what makes your practice uniquely valuable as a resource. It’s one of the more advanced areas of SEO for mental health practices and often one of the best places you can make an impact with your off-page SEO for your therapy practice. 

  • NOTE: SEO experts argue often about whether or not backlinks are a valuable part of the SEO ranking process. This is where things get industry focused. Given that we cannot solicit reviews from clients and some of us don’t want a GBP, backlinks are our saving grace. I place backlinks in the must-have category for off-page SEO for private and group therapy practices. Three high-quality backlinks can do more for your SEO rankings than 10 four star reviews. 

Therapist Directory Listings

Directory listings are profiles on sites that list therapy practices. GoodTherapy, TherapyDen, your state psychological association’s directory, and others. For therapists, these serve a dual purpose: they’re direct referral sources AND they’re backlinks that strengthen your off-page SEO. 

Pro Tip: Notice I didn’t list Psychology Today as an option. Their directory DOES NOT add SEO or backlink benefits. I see therapists state that it does, all the time. Psych Today masks your website address on their listing and it will not create a backlink. You get zero SEO from Psychology Today, unless you’re a blog or magazine contributor. Don’t believe me? Check your backlinks on your Google Search Console. Psychology Today won’t be there. 

One of the most common mistakes? Inconsistent information across listings. If your GoodTherapy profile has one phone number, your GBP has another, and your website shows a third, Google gets confused. And a confused Google doesn’t rank you well. Audit your listings regularly. Make sure every one of them matches your website exactly. Since Psychology Today masks both phone and website info, (AGAIN) it does not provide SEO benefits. 

Social Signals

Google believes that social media signals (likes, shares, followers) are not direct ranking factors. However, social media activity can indirectly boost your SEO for your counseling practice by driving traffic to your site, increasing brand awareness, and creating opportunities for your content to be shared and linked to by others.

Research has consistently demonstrated that social media platforms play an increasingly significant role in how individuals discover and engage with mental health providers (Naslund et al., 2020). When you share a blog post on Instagram or LinkedIn and it resonates with someone who then shares it with their audience. That ripple effect leads to organic backlinks, increased site traffic, and expanded brand recognition. All of which feed your broader SEO ecosystem.

You don’t need to become a social media influencer. But having a consistent, active presence that points people back to your website is part of the bigger picture. Don’t forget to include your social media links on your website for consistency. 

Bringing It All Together

Part I of Therapist SEO was about building a solid website on-page foundation, and Part II is about making sure the world knows you’re out there. On-page SEO makes your counseling website site worthy of ranking. Off-page SEO convinces Google that other people agree. Together, they form a comprehensive SEO strategy that helps the right clients find your therapy practice when they’re searching for support. 

At MTN Design Co., this is literally what I do. I build therapist practice websites that are designed from the ground up for SEO, with the clinical awareness to keep you ethically sound while still being competitive. I understand the unique landscape of web design for therapists, counselors, and psychologists because we deserve to be seen. 

Want a website that has on-page SEO built in? Or maybe you’re a DIY’er and want to consult about SEO?

Let’s Connect

References

Naslund, J. A., Bondre, A., Torous, J., & Aschbrenner, K. A. (2020). Social media and mental health: Benefits, risks, and opportunities for research and practice. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 5(3), 245–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-020-00134-x

Reputation & YouGov. (2022). 2022 Healthcare Trends Report. Reputation, Inc. https://reputation.com/resources/research-reports/2022-healthcare-trends-report/

Sbaffi, L., & Rowley, J. (2017). Trust and credibility in web-based health information: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(6), e218. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7579

Tuliao, A. P., Mullet, N. D., Hawkins, L. G., Holyoak, D., Weerts, M., & Inyang, A. (2022). Searching for mental health services: Search strings and information acquisition. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 7(2), 198–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-021-00238-y

Stacie McPherson https://www.MTNdesign.Co
Next

SEO for Therapist Websites, Part I: On-Page SEO