SEO Shalyn

SEO Shalyn Helping therapy practices build thriving
businesses through ethical SEO & Google visibility.

10+ years of doing Local SEO for practices and small businesses. These are the SEO rules that actually work.1. Google Bu...
08/30/2026

10+ years of doing Local SEO for practices and small businesses.

These are the SEO rules that actually work.

1. Google Business Profile first. Build the rest of your local strategy around it.

2. Nail 3 to 4 hyper-local service pages, not just one vague homepage.

3. Audit your NAP data down to the unit number. Inconsistent citations ruin you.

4. Unclaimed profiles and outdated directory listings are where traffic hides. One duplicate listing can sink rank.

5. You cannot out-rank bad technical SEO. You’ll just waste your dough.

6. Optimize for mobile UX before launching ads, not only after.

7. Aim for 20 to 30 active local backlinks. Local sponsorships, chambers, and regional partners get you there fast.

8. Fix your site speed before you blame the algorithm.

9. Track calls and map clicks. Don’t just look at organic search impressions.

10. One quiet week never ruined a strategy. "I'll redesign the whole site" ruins months.

11. Fix the on-page foundation before you build links. Clean architecture is what makes link equity actually work.

12. A rank drop during a Google update is a phase, not a business failure.

13. Local link building and review velocity are where rankings become permanent.

14. Never judge ranking progress off a single search from your personal phone.

15. Use a monthly average position from local rank tracking tools. Daily ranking swings are noise.

16. Build core service templates, not one-off custom pages. Standardize the structure and scaling will get simple.

17. Hyper-local city landing pages count. So do embedded Google Maps.

18. Ranking for the same high-intent service keyphrase across 5 nearby suburbs is a strategy, not keyword cannibalization.

19. On your website, optimize for the primary location keyword first, then build secondary service modifiers around it.

20. Ad spend isn't the fix. A broken landing page form is. Fix conversion design before buying clicks.

21. Hit core NAP consistency and Google Business Profile optimization first. Schema and citations can adjust around them.

Save this one.

You’ll want it the next time someone tells you to just put "best business near me" 50 times in your footer.

You've probably been told by a marketing generalist you need to get more Google reviews. This is very standard SEO advic...
08/24/2026

You've probably been told by a marketing generalist you need to get more Google reviews.

This is very standard SEO advice (and yes, for most businesses - it's true!)

This is straight up BAD ADVICE for therapy practices in BC.

Therapy practices are different.

The professional standards around testimonials, therapeutic power dynamics, privacy and confidentiality mean the usual "just ask for more reviews" advice is wrong.

So, what can you do instead?

The average solo practice has 30 Google review (and clinics average 157).

How can you compete you might be asking?

Well, by strengthening everything else:

-> By updating and fully completing everything else on your Google Profile.
-> Having crystal clear location + specialty signals
-> A website that make it's super obvious who you help.
-> Professional + directory presence
-> An easy path from Google to an inquiry or booking.

And if a client leaves a review voluntarily?

Even responding publicly needs careful consideration, you don't want to inadvertently confirm a therapeutic relationship.

This is why generic SEO advice doesn't work for most therapy practices.

You have to build a search presence that works within the ethical and privacy obligations of your governing body.

AI can't build trust for you. That requires:YOUR voiceYOUR expertiseYOUR specialitiesYOUR beautiful human essenceHumans ...
08/18/2026

AI can't build trust for you.

That requires:

YOUR voice
YOUR expertise
YOUR specialities
YOUR beautiful human essence

Humans connect with humans, especially when it comes to high trust professions like therapy.

If everything you write sounds AI-flavoured beige, you'll lose the very thing that will actually help your practice stand out = YOU.

08/17/2026

3 reasons your therapy practice is INVISIBLE on Google Maps

1. Your Google Business Profile exists but it’s bare

Your practice claimed it in 2020 and updated it with the basics (hours, website, phone number, address) but you haven’t touched it since.

2. Your practice website is confusing

Google (and humans) need to know the basics super quick. Where you’re located, the services you offer and how to book with you. Don’t make them think.

3. Your easier to find on directories

Directories do matter but if you have an established practice and most of your clients come from directories while you have very little visibility on Google Maps, you’re missing out on clients that want to book you today.

08/13/2026

If a brand new therapist came to me and asked how they could market their practice with 0$ budget I'd tell them this

1. Claim and update your Google Business Profile/Google Maps presence weekly.

This is the most important FREE tool for therapy practices.

Lots of practices have it, but most NEVER touch it again after setting it up.

When someone searches for a therapist on Google or AI search you want your practice to show up, having a complete Google Business Profile and updating it weekly is the easiest way of accomplishing that.

2. Make your specialties and services VERY clear.

Even practices with good websites could improve the language (ahem "KEYWORDS") and phrases they use on their service pages.

Using terms a prospective client would actually use like, "adhd counselling for focus" or "couples counsellor in Vancouver" will improve the chances of Google connecting your online presence with the specialty + practitioner + service + location.

Building clear pathways around the work the practice actually wants to be found for is a win-win.

3. Make the booking (or consultation) process ridiculously easy.

Practices that have clear booking links (yes Jane is trusted!) and don't rely on a contact form that requires you to write a short novel about your life (and will get back to you in 5 business days) will get more inquiries.

Making it really simple (in like 3 clicks) will be helpful for your practice AND for someone looking for therapy.

BONUS advice would be getting on directories of course. This builds your authority and gives a potential client trust in who you are.

08/12/2026

does your practice have a waitlist?

08/06/2026

it’s been awhile

08/06/2026

If you’re a therapist, you need a Google Business Profile. It’s how you show up on Google Maps

If I was a therapist marketing my own private practice, here are 3 things I would absolutely NEVER do:1. Advertise with ...
08/04/2026

If I was a therapist marketing my own private practice, here are 3 things I would absolutely NEVER do:

1. Advertise with generic, AI-generated "slop" posters.

Sorry, to break your heart - but they are AWFUL for your trust and authority. Since they are sooo easy to produce (a couple prompts in ChatGPT and voila!) everyone is making them. Since everyone is making these hard to read, weirdly rendered AI graphics - you'll just look like everyone else. When you look like everyone else, you'll get lost in the sea of unoriginal. Please don't do this.

2. Depend on daily social media to fill my calendar.

Don't get me wrong, social media definitely has its place for brand awareness, connection and trust building (when done right!) but it shouldn't consume the majority of your marketing time. People don't scroll 'gram or TikerTok to find a therapist. They go search for one (Google, Bing, Psychology Today or AI search) They are high-intent, so you have to meet them where they are actively looking, not where they are passively scrolling.

3. Skip optimizing my Google Business Profile weekly.

If you have a physical office, your local map pack (aka showing up in Google Maps) is your most valuable piece of digital real estate. When someone Googles "ADHD therapist for adults in Vancouver" Google Maps is going to be the first thing they see (because generally someone wants a therapist that is local). Claiming your profile, completing it FULLY, adding some photos and then updating it weekly is THE HIGHEST-ROI marketing moves you can do.

So, if you're a therapist and you're experiencing the classic summer cancellations/slowdowns - trade your generic daily quote posts on Instagram for updating your Google Business Profile weekly instead.

If your practice isn't showing up on Google Maps, you're missing out on people looking for a therapist right this very m...
07/31/2026

If your practice isn't showing up on Google Maps, you're missing out on people looking for a therapist right this very moment

Here's the tea

Beatrice has been thinking about talking to a therapist about her debilitating PTSD for weeks. After yet another stressful day at work, she finally decides it's time to reach out for support.

She opens Google and types:

"Therapist for PTSD near me."

Badabingbadaboom, Google shows her a map with a handful of local practices.

She clicks on a few profiles, reads some reviews, visits a couple of websites, and books a consultation.

Guess what though

She never makes it to page two of Google.

She never scrolls through dozens of websites.

And she can't contact a practice she never sees.

If your practice isn't appearing where people are searching, someone else's practice is scooping up that opportunity instead.

Your website helps potential clients decide if you're the right fit.

Google Maps helps them find you in the first place.

Can you find your own practice when you search for the services you offer?

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