Should hypnotherapists worry about SEO?

by Katin Imes

A number of members have asked me about SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, for their web sites lately. There is a lot of confusion and hubub around this topic, and I want to supply some big-picture about it that will hopefully calm concerns about it.

SEO "experts" will make it sounds like being listed at the top of Google is your number one business goal (PS - it isn't). "SEO has made fortunes and broken fortunes," they'll say. "You can't get new customers if they can't find you," they'll say. They'll say that they have a "secret bag of tricks" they use to get your site listed at the top of the search results. And they'll use their bag of tricks on your site for the low, low price of only... whatever.

While there is a grain of truth in all these soundbites, and the technical aspects of SEO are a fascinating puzzle and challenge for some people, the average hypnotherapist with a web site shouldn't be too concerned about spending money on SEO.

My advice to hypnotherapists is: don't worry about SEO, and certainly don't pay someone to "boost your site rankings" through SEO.

(I do want to mention that if your web site HTML is three or four years old, you do want to bring it up to current standards. But I don't classify using HTML properly as "SEO"; I classify it simply as good and normal web practices. Don't hire an SEO "expert" to bring your HTML up to standards; hire a web master.)

I want to emphasize some key factors about search engines and the bigger picture:

1. Clean, quality and on-topic content is what search engines want to see, and it is what they try to show in search results.

Search engines have a job to do: return quality, relevant results to their users. These companies are focused on constantly improving those results. If you want to rank highly in those results, then just create content that is useful, clear and clean.

• Stay on topic. Don't write about things that your site isn't about. Don't mention celebrity names or news headlines, for example, just to try to get some search engine popularity or try to lure in some "hits".
• Deliver real value and real information. Sales copy, ad-matrix sites and off-topic texts are now more and more being recognized by search engines and dropped to lower rankings (unless the search includes the word "buy"). People want quality informational results about their searches, not sales copy, pages of ads and rambling.
• Keep your site HTML clean. Make sure the HTML for your web site conforms to normal and recent standards. This is automatic for most template systems, site generators and Content Management Systems these days.
• Title your posts well. Don't use link-bait or grabby headlines; use real, honest and representative titles.

2. Localization is now huge with search engines, and very relevant to hypnotherapists.

Search results will now contain local providers first, so be sure you have your business registered with Google and Yahoo. If you aren't yet, get started with these:

• Visit the Google Local Business Center to get set up with your business listing.
• Create your Yahoo! Local Business Listing

And you might find other free places to register your business locally with other search engines. This is all free; I don't recommend paying for services that will "do all the registrations for you."

3. The search engines are getting better at returning quality search results - and penalizing SEO gamers, scammers, spammers and empty sales copy pages - everyday.

Did you know that Google updates their algorithms several times a day? There is whole hoard of really smart people working really hard to fine tune those search results. It just isn't in any of your business interests to try to trick these guys. With their vast data pool, huge resources and single focus, they will figure out even the best SEO trickery in the end.

While there may be bumps and turbulence along the way as search engine quality improves and scammers and SEO-gamers try everything they can, the high quality content will always average out better and win in the long run.

Keep your site on the level and your content value good and topical, and reap the rewards decades into the future. Trying to game, fix, rig, influence or bend the search results in your favor using whatever "trick of the month" method will just penalize you now, next week, next month, and into the future.

So give up the idea of rocketing your site to the top of the search results with tricks, tweaks, embedded codes, link-chaining, and anything else that isn't simple, good quality writing. Just do your thing, do it well, keep your HTML up to current standards, and you'll be fine... and you'll save all the money and worry over the flurry of "SEO".

4. Don't bother with link exchanges

I do get asked about link exchange programs. These are now outdated. Once again, search engines are getting really smart about recognizing two sites linking to each other for the sake of a link exchange, and then eliminating that from the search results ranking formula.

If quality web sites link to your content for real reasons - because of interest, quality and relevance - and they quote you, talk about you, etc. - those links count for something. If a large media site like CNN links to you, that counts for something. Link exchanges programs now count for so little, they are no longer worth the effort.

Did you know that if a web site is using "black-hat" SEO tricks and it also links to your web site, your Google ranking will go down? Many people doing blind or mass-email "link exchange programs" are also pulling every SEO trick in the books on their site. Don't exchange links just for the sake of exchanging links. Don't participate in mass link exchange programs.

So what should you do to get highly ranked in search results?

• Write quality, relevant information on your site that delivers value to the reader.
• Use clean, honest and representative titles for pages, posts and sections.
• Write about things that people want to know about - and that you do know about. Write about things that are interesting, useful, unique and worthwhile.
• Stay on topic. If your site is about hypnotherapy, be sure every page and post is about hypnotherapy in some aspect.
• Link to other sites and pages that are also genuinely useful and relevant.
• Keep your web site's HTML to current standards. Old HTML or mis-formed HTML can look like trickery or just appear out-of-date to search engines. Clean, plain, standard, common HTML is best. Don't try to be tricky with your HTML tags.

The rest takes care of itself. Other sites will link to you because of your quality content. Your posts and pages will become the subjects of other people's links, tweets, and recommendations. Search engines will index and rank you to match the right search term, and will present you to local searchers. And you'll never get dinged for trying to game the system (Oh yes, Google keeps full history and old site copies of suspect and SEO-abusing sites. You don't want your site in that pile.)

Just be the unique, quality business person that you are, and produce honest, high-quality value for your readers and clients, and you will be rewarded in the search engine results for years to come.