How Niching Helps SEO (And When It Doesn’t)
If you talk to any private practice business coach, the first thing they’ll probably tell you is to nail your niche.
For the most part, I agree! In marketing, if you’re targeting everyone, you’re speaking to no one.
There are significant SEO benefits to niching down, but there are some downsides to be aware of.
In this post, I’ll break down 1) why you should niche for SEO purposes and 2) when niching hinders more than helps you on Google.
Let’s dive in!
Why you should niche for SEO
The argument for niching on Google is a strong one.
Google loves niche subject matter experts
When you start doing SEO, you’re more likely to rank on Google if you focus on one specialty. If you decide to target all of your areas of expertise at once, Google will take longer to “figure out” your website.
SEO gets technical and complicated, but essentially, SEO is a bridge between Google and the real world.
In the real world, you’re a subject matter expert–you have a graduate degree, thousands of clinical hours, and you specialize in working with specific populations. The issue is that Google has no idea. SEO acts as a translator–people like me (or you if you’re learning how to do SEO!) communicate to Google in its language that in the real world, you’re a specialist.
In turn, you build a relationship with Google by earning its trust. Trust between you and Google is central to ranking on page one, and by honing in on one specific niche, it makes the “translation” process much clearer to Google.
Essentially, niching helps Google more clearly understand and quickly trust your website.
It’s easier to rank for niche keywords
General keywords like “therapist near me” are way more difficult to rank for than keywords like “anxiety therapy Dallas.”
Why?
Everyone wants to rank for “therapist near me,” but not everyone wants to rank for “anxiety therapy Dallas.” Because the competition is lower for more niche keywords like “anxiety therapy Dallas,” you can make progress on Google more quickly.
Rank for one topic, rank for more
Let’s say that your speciality is grief. If you’re ranking on page for one piece of content about grief, Google will more quickly rank additional pieces of content that you create on grief.
You’ve already proven yourself within that topic, so Google trusts you more and will bump your content up higher and faster.
Speaking of topics, if you’re niched, it makes the topic ideation and selection process much simpler. You can simply ask ChatGPT for potential blog topics in your niche!
You might be too niched
There is such a thing as being too niched for Google.
Having helped hundreds of therapists find keywords for their websites, I can tell you this: your niche may not be searched by people on Google because they either…
Don’t know that it exists, or
They don’t know that a specialist like you is out there to help them.
And that’s okay! There are plenty of other ways to bring super niche clients to your website, but it might not be by using keywords like “therapist for 40-something lawyers who are also busy moms.”
In that case, it’s best to zoom out and get clear on your ideal clients’ presenting issues. In the marketing world, we call these pain points. What do your clients complain about in therapy? What sorts of things brought them to therapy in the first place?
Although it’s not the most direct route to signing clients from Google, you can try targeting these pain points in blog posts. Note that your blog posts will bring in a nationwide audience, so not all blog readers are eligible to become therapy clients.
You could also create specialty pages for specific disorders, like depression or anxiety. Since depression, anxiety, trauma, and others are common disorders present across many niches, you can bring in your niche clients by simply casting a wider net.
Want more information on keyword research? Read my blog post on mistakes you may be making with keywords.
You may be limiting yourself
Some of my clients start their practices targeting one niche but then change their mind and focus on another.
That’s totally okay, but when we shift our audiences entirely, it does require additional marketing. This can cost you money, time, and stress.
When picking a niche, be careful not to box yourself in. Don’t choose domain names or business names dedicated to one specific niche or location–be general enough to give yourself the flexibility that you might need later. This is especially important for therapists with big dreams of opening group practices–your employees may not share the same niche!
It’s okay to have multiple niches!
… but not right away.
SEO is a great way to target all sorts of different people on your website, but in the beginning, I encourage you to focus on one niche to build trust with Google. After Google trusts you, ranking for keywords outside of your first niche will be way easier.
