Are you wondering where to start with marketing your private practice? I tell my private practice owner clients to start with creating a profile on Psychology Today after they are clear on who their ideal client is. Psychology Today is one of the largest online directories for therapists, psychologists, and mental health providers. In this blog post, we will discuss the value of the psychology today therapist finder, so you can decide.
What is Psychology Today?
According to a recent study conducted by American Psychological Association, the number of people seeing a therapist has doubled in the past decade. In fact, it has more than doubled especially with the recent pandemic. A lot of people are seeing a therapist, but where are they going to find a therapist? Google. When you do a search for a therapist you will find that the first few results will be Psychology Today profiles. Having a profile on the directory definitely helps with the authority and trust factor.
Here is what you can add to your profile:
- A professional profile photo
- A description that speaks to your potential clients describing their pain points, the transformation, and the call-to-action for them to go to your website to learn more. You should also let them know all the ways that they can get therapy, for example, Telehealth.
- A list of your specialties
- The issues that you work with clients on
- A website link (to me this is the most important because it helps to legitimize what you do!)
- A brief video introducing yourself, again letting your clients know that you understand what they are experiencing and how you can help them.
- A picture of your office
- The finance section is all about the cost of treatment and the insurance that you take
Is it worth it to create a Psychology Today profile?
Before people actually go to a therapist they research to find the perfect therapist. This research is of course done on Google. The first few searches that come up are Psychology Today results and other directories. This is good if your profile comes up in that search, but just think about how many potential clients you lose if you are not in those first few searches. This means that you have to make sure that your website also comes up in search results. Like I said it is the start…many mental health providers rely on their Psychology Today profiles, thinking that it will send a large amount of referral traffic to their website. It is a great resource for referrals but it should only be part of your marketing solution.
What are other ways to get exposure?
Beyond Psychology Today, there are many other ways to market your therapy practice. Creating a website with a good search engine optimization strategy is your number one priority. Whether Psychology Today or any other qualified resource sends you traffic, your website needs to have information that welcomes your ideal client into your world. Your website is like the storefront of a brick and motor store. It has to sell your services by showing them that you are the solution that they need. Below you will find other marketing sources that should send traffic to your practice website:
- Be interviewed on a podcast
- Start your own podcast
- Speak at conferences or webinars
- Start a TikTok. Mental health professionals are creating short, snappy videos to convey messages to audiences.
- Create wellness content on YouTube and other social media channels
- Write a book
- Create a Linkedin profile
Psychology Today is a valuable marketing tool and should be a part of your strategy, but it should not be the whole marketing solution for your private practice. It is just one piece of the puzzle to attracting the right clients to your website.
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