Search-Placement.com Goes Trolling For Customers

I'm writing after getting two emails from therapists, in different parts of the country, who got unsolicited emails from a company called search-placement.com.

Basically, the problem with their pitch is this: no one can guarantee where you will land on Google's organic listings, at least not without an unlimited budget (and then, it might require some serious black-hat trickery).

When you do SEO, you influence the search engines. But that's it, you can influence them, you cannot control them. Google *hates* to be played, and if it thinks you are playing them (rigging the game) or trying to, it *will* punish you on the search engine rankings.

I have written to these guys to try to find out what the cost model is - I figure they have a high monthly fee involved. Will write more as I find out.

Best, Peter

I'm Going to Be Presenting in October

If you are a regular reader of this blog, I'm sure you know Casey Truffo and the Therapist Leadership Institute. I am excited to announce I will be one of the presenters at the Practice Building Virtual Conference running October 13-17.

The focus will be, as the name says, on building your practice. I'm still fine-tuning my presentation, and will give you some teasers :-) as we get closer.

There are CEUs available for this, and since it is a virtual conference, there's no travel involved (which saves so much time and money).

This will be the second conference of Casey's that I am involved in - I'm a big fan of hers. So check out all the details!

First Thoughts on Bing

If you've been busy doing other things, you might have missed the launch of Bing.com, Microsoft's latest attempt at taking on Google.

A few first impressions and thoughts:

- while it has some improvements over Google, I don't yet see anything groundbreaking.

- it's going to take something big to overcome Google's mindshare in the community of web users. To "Google" someone is a verb now, like to "Xerox" something used to be.

- in my search of Seattle counselors, I got ads for a California therapist, as well as an Indiana one and an Atlanta one. Might be an end-used mistake, but seems like a lot.

- if you want some impressions, might be a good place to advertise on in the short term as people try it out. I'll withhold bothering with it until I see more.

- I haven't yet gone out on the SEO blogs and seen how people are tuning for this particular search engine, but I bet there is already some speculation and results.

OK, back to work! Best, Peter

Wired on Google Adwords

The latest issue of Wired has not only a great piece on the history of Google Adwords but one of best explanations of the bidding process I have seen.

Really a "can't miss" article if you are interested in Adwords.

Best, Peter

Clients Googling You (in a Different Way)

At the Casey Truffo conference I spoke at a few weeks back, there was another very interesting fellow presenting on therapeutic boundaries, partly on how they are changing in the age of the Internet.

One of his points was we should expect that our clients (and potential clients) will Google us and find out various things about us – not necessarily from our practice websites. I thought it was an interesting idea, and then it was proven true in my own caseload.

A fairly new client, upon hearing me sing in my office before I came out to greet him said “I read that you sing and dance between clients, and I now I see it is true.” This was something I wrote on a blog that is not linked from my therapy practice site.

This does lead me to believe it has happened to more than just this one client, and that it will happen more and more. The analytic “blank slate” will be harder and harder to come by (not something I rely on, but something I know many like). And the “resonance niche” as I’ve come to put it – that people will choose you to be their therapist based on small facts (you are from Boston, you were a nurse, you play rugby) or just your general personality (how you come across in a web video) will come more and more into play.


For those of us who enter the Internet age with some maturity and discretion, it will be fine. I feel bad for those counselors who are 18 now and posting pictures of themselves drunk, stoned and/or naked. Or maybe it will give them “street cred”.



My best to you, Peter

Interesting Annual Trend in Counseling Searches

So the baby is *still* sleeping, and thus I am wandering around the Internet looking for new information to use (and to share, too).

Found an interesting trend I hadn't realized was there. If you look at each year, you see a huge crater in searches for "counseling" in November and December. This makes intuitive sense - people are too busy with holidays, vacations, shopping & family to delve into their own psyches. I don't think I expected it to be so sharp and so regular though.

The lesson from this is, of course, don't be counting on big additions to your client ranks during November and December. One oddity in the stats is that in 2008, and only in 2008, there was a large spike in marriage counseling searches in late December. The economy? That would be my guess.

More on trends later! Best, Peter

2 New Negative Keywords on a Sunday Night

Hi folks,

I haven't logged into my Statcounter account in a little while, but I did tonight, and as always there was some interesting information.

While I do not share my negative keyword file (it's a secret sauce thing, ya know?) I'll share a new addition to it from tonight - ftm.

I found a search for an ftm counselor in seattle. My ad appeared. They clicked. Guess what? I am not a female-to-male transexual, nor am I likely the appropriate counselor for that person.

And thus is born two new negative keywords (mtf is the other).

Happy Sunday! Peter