The Role of Domain Names in Search Engines
Deciding on a domain name can be a difficult decision if you don’t know much about the role domain names play in the search engines.
Ideally you will want your domain name to reflect the name of your practice and one of your best keywords for your website. Search engines give a higher priority to domain names that are relevant to the content of your website.
The domain name is also the first thing the search engine spiders see when searching for websites.
You may have noticed that some people use hyphens between the words in their domain names. This makes it easier for the search engines to decipher the words within the domain and index the site. One drawback to this, however, is that if you want people to remember the name of your site, they may forget about the hyphens.
Having Quality Content on Your Website
If you are using your website as part of your promotion strategy to market your practice, you will want to make sure that you have high quality content on your site. Research shows that you only have a few seconds to capture the attention of visitors to your website before they click away to another site. Good content is therefore crucial to keeping people at your site as well as keep them coming back to your site.
So, what is high quality content?
First, you will want your copy (text) to clearly explain who your services are for and the benefits one can receive by utilizing them. In fact, well-written copy is the most important aspect of any website. If you don’t know how to write effective copy for the web, I would recommend you either learn some basic copy writing skills or get someone who does know to help you.
It is also important that you have content that is interesting and valuable to your visitors–articles, reports, resources–anything that is useful to them. This will not only keep people at your site longer and keep them coming back, it will set you up as an expert in your field which will increase your credibility.
Amount of content is also a significant factor in enticing your visitors to come back to your website. In addition, the more content you have, the better your website will perform in the major search engines (i.e. have a higher ranking in search results).
Writing Articles To Market your Practice on the Internet
Writing articles for the Internet is one of the best ways for you, as a counselor or healing professional, to market your practice online. It can increase your ranking in the search engines (by increasing the number of links leading back to your site), helps build credibility (by setting you up as an expert in your field), increases your exposure, and provides valuable information to your clients and potential clients.
But, "What do I write about?" you might ask.
Anything that your target market wants to know. For example, a client of mine who specializes in marriage and family therapy recently completed an article on ten tips for getting your relationship back on track. The key is to write about a topic that is valuable to your clients and potential clients.
Your articles don’t have to be long or too sophisticated. Typically articles can be anywhere from 500-1500 words. They should be written simply and without jargon as you want the average reader to understand them.
Your articles can be posted on your own website, or you can ask other related websites if they would be interested in posting your articles. There are also numerous directories on the web that publish articles on almost any topic that you can imagine. To check out a directory that publishes articles go to Ezinearticles.com
An excellent resource that tells you almost everything you would want to know about how to write and submit articles for marketing your practice online can be found at, "Article Submission Sites."
Marketing Resource: Boost Business with Your own Ezine
One of the best resources on the web for creating, publishing and promoting an ezine (electronic newsletter) is. "Boost Business with Your Own E-zine" by Alexandria Brown, aka, "The Ezine Queen." I used this e-book (electronic book) to develop my own ezine and have found it to be invaluable.
"Boost Business with Your Own E-zine" is chalk full of 250+ pages of information plus another 32+ pages of resources. This ebook covers every aspect of developing an ezine that you need to know and more. Topics include: planning your ezine, frequency of publishing, writing quality content, formatting issues, managing your list of subscribers, getting subscribers, promoting your ezine, sample templates, etc.
Using an ezine to is one of the best ways to market your practice on the Internet. Most of my clients have never thought of developing an ezine before I suggest they consider using
one to add to their marketing strategies. Developing an ezine can feel overwhelming for most counsellor and healing professional types unfamiliar with marketing, However, an ezine doesn’t have to be a lot of work and it can really help you get more clients, not to mention adding value for your existing clients.
If you are thinking about developing an ezine (and if you haven’t, I suggest you do) Alexandria’s ebook is an excellent resource. Check it out here.
Marketing Resource: InfoGuru Products
One of my favorite marketing resources is Robert Middleton’s Action Plan marketing website.
I recommend his InfoGuru Marketing Manual for any therapist, coach, counsellor or other healing professional marketing a practice.
The InfoGuru manual is an easy to read, comprehensive marketing guide addressing the fundamental aspects of marketing your practice. The 23 chapters include positioning yourself in your market, developing a target market, packaging your services verbally and in writing, creating websites that attract clients, generating referrals, networking, marketing through speaking and writing, writing effective copy (text), how to keep in touch with clients and prospective clients, ezines and email marketing, direct mail marketing, how to price your services and more.
The InfoGuru manual includes hands-on action plans, audio tutorials, articles, marketing discussion group, and many additional bonuses.
Robert also has numerous other marketing products including Cd’s and streaming audios from many of the teleclasses he has done over the last several years. I have participated in many of these classes and own a lot of the products Robert sells on his website. All are of excellent quality and are presented without hype and with tons of integrity. They are ideal for helping and healing professionals who are often have trouble with more aggressive styles of marketing.
You have a choice of purchasing the online version of the manual, or
for an additional cost you can also get the hard copy version sent to
you.
Robert’s InfoGuru Marketing Manual is the resource I recommend to my clients most often. If you asked me for only one book that would best help you market your practice, this would be it.
Visit Robert’s website and you can begin by getting a lot of the free stuff he offers including an excellent newsletter, articles on marketing, and a marketing plan workbook.
