My Predictions for Therapist Web Marketing in 2011

I’ve been a webmaster since the term was coined (1996 @ Citizens Utilities in Stamford CT). I lived through the dot-com/dot-bomb era (ah, the mess that was ShopLocal.com), and doing PPC and SEO for therapists since 2005. The rate of change in 2010 in terms of search engines and overall web marketing, was astounding, and I expect that to continue in 2011.

Marketing for our particular business continues to be tricky, due to the ethical constraints of being a psychotherapist. We can’t (ethically) solicit for online reviews or testimonials from clients. We are even hamstrung in responding *to* poor reviews on Yelp, etc. (been there, and it hurts!). Heck, even having our office as a Facebook Place to be checked into is probably not something we should do. That said, here are some trends I see for 2011:


Google Stays #1, But Something Lurks in the Shadows: Google is still where to be at, folks. Some in the search engine community say the actual percentage of searches that goes on at Google is over 80%, not the 70% that is usually reported. The Bing/Yahoo combination hasn’t made much of a dent yet. Adwords continues to pour in money. (By the way, Adwords will continue to work for therapists, but get more and more expensive, complex and difficult – to me the ROI is really beginning to turn for SEO over Adwords in many cases). Google is taking on Yelp with its new HotPot offering. They pull off huge changes every month or so (Google Instant, the Local results integration that took place around Halloween, etc).

What Lurks in the Shadows is Facebook: Just imagine this – if instead of leaving Facebook to do your searches, you did them *from* your Facebook page. You’ve just entered Google’s worst nightmare. Of course, it wouldn’t be Google search. Likely Microsoft/Bing/Yahoo. This could be a game-changer. I’ve been wondering when Facebook would really change things for therapists (right now, Fan Pages, and FB ads are nice, but really not a big driver of therapy clients). This might be it. Watch Facebook in 2011, folks.

The Therapist Directory Wars Continue: For so long, PsychologyToday and AAMFT’s TherapistLocator.net had the directory business mainly to themselves. Not so anymore. Hungry upstarts have started eating their lunches. The most aggressive, and most impressive to me is GoodTherapy.org. They’ve rocketed to #2, and are much more innovative than PT, offering CEU’s, marketing webinars, media relations, audio and video, and lots more. I also see innovation in niche-related directories (for various communities or therapy approaches) which can provide good ROI. Directories continue to provide an easy, passive way of marketing your practice. They are not usually barn-burners as far as call volume, but usually more than pay for themselves.

Video – Get off the sidelines in 2011, folks! There are more and more inexpensive ways of creating videos (including some where it’s just your voice over images, like Jing, which I use extensively for Your Google Guy). Flip HD cameras can make some beautiful images. Just like headshots became more and more expected, video will be too. People will choose someone they get to see and get a feel of over a therapist who they only can measure by their written words.

Dynamic Website Technology Takes Over: More and more therapists will be moving their websites to platforms like WordPress and Joomla, or increasingly sophisticated templates on their ISPs. This both with be for practical reasons (the ability to update content without paying/waiting for a web designer) as well the very beautiful visual design aspects, and the ability to integrate social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc). If it’s time to update your site in 2011, I suggest looking at WordPress.

Reputation Mgmt/SMO: You’ll hear the acronym SMO a lot in 2011, it stands for “Social Media Optimization”. Pretty much SEO for Social Media. With review sites like Yelp and InsiderPages having a bigger influence, and with Twitter and Facebook the two dominant players in social media, it makes sense to pay attention to how other therapists in your markets are using these mediums. It also makes sense to check out what is being said about *you* - this is the idea of Reputation Management. Setting a Google Alerts to watch for your name is a good place to start.

Mobile: Smartphones are here to stay, folks (and iPads and other tablets). More and more people are doing more and more of their web-surfing from them. But at the same time, the browsers and screens are improving so much, that customizing a site for these devices is *not* something you need to be concerned with. So just do what you need to do for Local, and the carryover should be enough.

Local: I did a workshop here in Seattle a couple of months ago. One slide just said “LOCAL! LOCAL! LOCAL!” and for 2011 I’d just add a couple more exclamation points. The changes Google made in fall of 2010 (basically combining the map and non-map listings for searches they deem to be for local businesses) made it MUCH harder to rank in a city in which you do *not* have an office. This trend will continue in 2011.

Bing/Yahoo: See my Facebook comments. Otherwise, not much on my radar. I was initially excited by the combination, but have found running ads on their networks to be difficult and underwhelming. How do you beat Google? I just don't see it.

Twitter? OK, I Relent: So I have pooh-poohed Twitter for a long time. I still do from the standpoint of it being a place where your clients live – I still don’t believe that! But what is now obvious is that Twitter is weighing more and more heavily on SEO. If you write blog entries, or articles, or otherwise have news, you should be posting it on Twitter, for the search engines to find.

More Use of Paid SEO Consultants: 2010 was the year where I could see other SEO firms work showing up in the local search results for therapists (though many using tactics I think are unethical, like posting multiple fake reviews). I can only see this continuing and increasing in 2011. It’s a complex, ever-changing world out there on the Internet. I’ve always thought most therapists didn’t want to have to be marketing experts OR high-tech experts – they just want to do good therapy work with as many clients as they’d like. The smart and hungry will be hiring out – expect the rankings in your area to be very, very dynamic in 2011.

All the best, Peter

So this is how the PT Phone # thing works....

Well, folks, the PT thing works.

Today, I saw someone had called and left a message. I was busy with something so I let it go to voicemail. A couple minutes later I get an email from PsychologyToday. It goes like this:

Hi Peter Hannah,

At 11:21 AM PDT you received a missed phone call. This caller found you on PsychologyToday.com.

Call to (206) 799-6566
Call from (206) xxx-xxxx/Seattle WA
(Note - The actual incoming number was listed here - nice for security.)
Date: August 9, 2010
Call Duration: 00:00:00 (missed call)

To view a record of this call, please log into your profile at
https://secure.sussexdirectories.com/rms-sec/mem_sign.php?u=phannah
and click on the Contact History tab.


FAQs:-

WHY AM I GETTING THIS CALL CONFIRMATION?

Psychology Today has recently introduced call tracking and call security
for your profile. People who find you on Psychology Today see a unique
local phone number for you that, when they call it, automatically
connects to your private number.

WHY DO I BENEFIT?

1: It's a simple way to tell who found your profile on the Therapy
Directory.

2: You get a record of the people who have called you (Check 'Contact
History' when you log in).

3: Spam phone calls from telemarketers are filtered out - about 99% such
calls can be screened.

To opt out of receiving these call confirmation emails, log into your
account and click the option in 'Contact History'.


---
The folks at PsychologyToday.com
---


*Don't reply to this email*

Pretty nice tracking, I have to say. I wouldn't have pegged this caller as coming from PT otherwise. Nice job, PT.

Psychology Today Directory's New Call Feature

Hi, if you're listed in the PT directory (I still am, though rather ambivalently), you have probably seen this email (here's the heart of it):

The phone number on your profile is replaced by a unique local number
that connects seamlessly to your existing line. Each time you receive a
phone call from a client who found your details in the Therapy
Directory, we'll send you an email that tells you who called and when.
The details are stored in your account member area.

This is an interesting move. I can guess some of the motivations of it. I've often brainstormed how I would run a different kind of therapist directory - one that ONLY charged per lead generated or per client who successfully comes in. This is in many ways a great idea, but the main problem is TRACKING where the lead comes from, that it comes from a certain directory.

I'd guess that 5 years ago, a majority of PT therapists did not have websites, so people would mainly be going off the PT listing, and using the PT form to contact the therapist. (You'll notice the stats they email you list searches, views of your profile, and emails to you.)

Now, I would guess that most potential clients who actually use PT go off to the therapist's website, from the link in the profile, before contacting the therapist directly. This can hide the true source of the referral.

From hearing other therapists complain that PT doesn't drive as much traffic as it used to, I think this is a way to prove their worth to the therapists in the directory. I once did some "napkin math" about the directory - $29.95/month x 10,000 members (guesstimate) = $300,000/month = $3,600,000 a year. The directory may make more $ than the magazine does! So, they have a pretty darn vested interest in keeping it up to date.

I'll be interested in hearing people's experiences with the new call feature (oh yes, you can opt out of it, too).

Best, Peter

Google Demographics Info on Psychology Today

Hi everyone,

I went to a killer Adwords class last week - and one of the sections was on a new Adwords tool called AdPlanner. It has all sorts of demographics data on major websites.

Since I know a lot of us advertise on PsychologyToday.com - I thought I'd let you see what Google has to say about their visitors. Please note this is Google's data - not mine - and is all based on U.S. data.

They estimate 240,000 unique visitors a month come to PT, and accumulate 1.3 million page views.

And I've pasted the other info below - enjoy! Best, Peter