Keyword Mapping for Therapists: A Practical SEO Guide
In this post you will get to know how to do keyword mapping for your local private practice therapy website.
What is Keyword Mapping?
Keyword mapping is the process of assigning right keywords to the suitable pages. It is like creating a blueprint to assign keywords on appropriate pages. If there is no appropriate page for that topic, with the help of keyword mapping you can create a new page and assign the relevant keywords to that page.
In very simple form, keyword mapping is like a filesystem, where right information is listed in the right folder/page.
Why to do Keyword Mapping?
Keyword mapping is very crucial part of SEO for Therapists. It serves as a very critical element for the overall SEO strategy for the counseling website. The main purposes of doing keyword mapping are:
Site architecture and strategy
Keyword mapping is done to build the site architecture and content strategy. As you know right keywords are assigned to appropriate pages in keyword mapping. The same process helps in developing the website architecture and content plan for pages.
When you have a clear picture of keywords in front of you, you can decide which pages are already there and which terms will be assigned to which page.
Keyword mapping also helps to avoid same keyword being targeted on different pages which leads to keyword cannibalization.
By doing this you build you whole counseling website site architecture using the keyword mapping process.
Keyword Cannibalization
When you identify the terms that are appropriate for a page, you get a clear idea on which terms are irrelevant for the page, which terms are on more than one page causing keyword cannibalization.
When the same keywords and queries will be on multiple pages, it confuse the search engines to understand the context of the page, leading to less rankings and business.
By removing keyword cannibalization you make sure that Google and other search engines doesn’t get confused selecting the right page for those terms.
When right terms will be placed on the appropriate pages, Google and other search engines will not have to struggle in identifying the topic and context of the page, giving your pages more rankings for relevant terms in their search results.
Building Intent based Topical Authority
As you know the main objective of doing keyword mapping is assigning right keywords to appropriate website pages. When you do this task strategically, you make sure that correct terms, their variations, long-tail queries, questions, etc. are placed on a simple rather than scattered on multiple pages individually.
Google and other search engines look at the page to evaluate the topic of the page. If the page talks about multiple topics at the same time, it can confuse the search engines to understand the right context and intent of the page, costing you lower rankings and less business from search engines.
Keyword mapping solve this issue of understanding the context and helps build topical authority around a subject.
Keyword mapping also helps in creating pages with right intent. If the intent of the page is local and you are optimizing it for informational terms, then the incoming user will not relate to the page and bounce back. This issue is completely solved with the help of keyword mapping.
Internal Linking
As you already learnt that keyword mapping helps build the structure of the website and internal linking among website URLs is also part of a good therapy website On-page structure.
Keyword mapping helps in deciding the internal linking strategy for the webpages. When you do keyword mapping, you get the idea about which page URL will be linked from which pages.
This also helps in deciding the anchor texts of hyperlinks while internal linking as you already have the keywords with you to target and optimize.
How to do Keyword Mapping for a Therapy Website?
Now you have got a good idea about keyword mapping and also read about its benefits. Now, let’s see how to actually do keyword mapping process for your therapy website.
Step 1 – Create Spreadsheet
To do keyword mapping for your counseling website the first thing you will need to do is create an Excel or Google sheet with 4 columns – main topic, sub-topic, sub-topic keywords, URL of the page.
These will be the main base for keyword mapping.
Step 2 – Keyword Research
If you are just starting out with a new local private practice website, then you will need to do a comprehensive keyword research for local counseling keywords and prepare keyword clusters around those topics.
This will help you in identifying all the terms related to your private practice and identify main topics from these terms.
And if you already have a local therapy website built, then you can take help from keyword research tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, etc. to find keyword gaps and terms on which other local counselors are ranking but your website is not.
One pro tip I want to give you is to use your Google Search Console keyword data to find more un-tapped queries. In search console go to performance > pages. Arrange pages from highest impressions to lowest. Then start with highest impression page. Check for which terms it is ranking. Are the terms relevant to that page or not. Follow the process on other pages similarly.
One more important benefit of researching relevant intent based terms will be that you would be able to find sub-topics of your main topics which you can also list according to keyword difficulty.
For example you have your local practice website on trauma therapy Houston, TX. This is your main topic of the website.
Your sub-topics can be:
1- Trauma therapy for children
2 – Trauma therapy for Adults
3 – Trauma therapy for couples
These topics are very vast and can include many sub-topics each. For example: In these topics one sub-topic can be type of therapy you offer to each group type such as:
In Trauma therapy for children you offer EMDR, etc.
In trauma therapy for adults you offer CBT, EMDR, etc.
And in trauma therapy for couples you offer group therapy, individual therapy, etc.
More of these type of terms you will find when comprehensive keyword research will be done.
Step 3 – Define Main Topic and Sub-Topics
Next in the step, you have to note down the topics in their respective columns of the sheet which you have already identified while doing keyword research.
In our case Trauma Therapy Houston, TX is our main topic and trauma therapy for children, trauma therapy for adults, and trauma therapy for couples are our sub-topics.
If you are having a hard time selecting the main topic and sub-topics then you can take help from ChatGPT for keyword research and mapping.
Step 4 – Assign Keywords to topics
After that you will need to assign the keywords associated with each topic in the column next to the sub-topics column.
In the column next to each topic, list all associated keywords and search queries. This is where your keyword research will do its work. For “trauma therapy for children Houston, TX,” you might include:
- Child trauma counseling Houston
- Pediatric trauma therapy Houston TX
- Therapist for traumatized children Houston
- Childhood PTSD treatment Houston
- Trauma therapy for kids near me
and so on.
Also, in our case, we are also assigning sub-topics based on the type of therapy provided.
- Trauma Therapy for Children: EMDR, play therapy, art therapy, trauma-focused CBT
- Trauma Therapy for Adults: CBT, EMDR, somatic experiencing, prolonged exposure therapy
- Trauma Therapy for Couples: emotionally focused therapy, EMDR for couples, trauma-informed relationship counseling
These terms will also be added to the column.
Step 5 – Assign URLs to Main Topics
After you have selected and grouped the keywords under the appropriate topic columns, the next step is to assign URL’s to the respective topics.
If there is already published pages for your main sub-topics then assign their respective URL’s next to the right topic column.
If there is no page targeting those queries then you will need to create a new page for those terms. It’s all up-to you to decide if you need more pages or the terms can be naturally included in the already published pages.
Step 6 – Remove Irrelevant Terms
After you have added keywords to appropriate topics and sub-topics, its time to remove irrelevant terms from the pages.
This will keep the context of the page natural and doesn’t confuse the search engines.
In our example we will assign the keywords related to trauma therapy for children in the trauma therapy for children page, trauma therapy for adults related terms and queries in the trauma therapy for adults page, and so on.
Step 7 – Create Missing Pages
As I mentioned above that you may need to add more pages to the keywords which you find necessary to create. This is the next step in the keyword mapping process. Although we have segregated the terms in relevant pages but still there remains room to create targeted paged to strengthen topical authority of the pages.
Create new pages for any keyword clusters that don’t have an already published appropriate page. Each new page should:
- Target a specific keyword cluster
- Address a particular user intent
- Provide comprehensive, valuable information
- Include relevant calls-to-action for booking consultations
Step 8 – Develop internal linking strategy
After you are done creating all the pages the next step is interlinking relevant pages with each other using keyword rich anchor text.
This will help search engines to understand what the linked URL is about and also pass the link juice of backlinks from homepage to other pages, helping improve the page authority of pages.
After all these steps you conclude your counseling website’s keyword mapping.
Best Practices for Therapy Website Keyword Mapping
As a therapist there are few best practices that you should keep in mind while doing keyword mapping for your counselling website. These are:
Focus on Search Intent
The first thing that you should look at while preparing keyword map is focus on search intent of the user. This is the most important thing while assigning terms and building pages.
Someone searching “trauma therapy near me” wants to find a local therapist, while someone searching “what is trauma therapy” seeks educational information. Create different pages for different intents.
Target Long-Tail terms
Always try to target long-tail queries within the page content. If you think that the said long-tail term can’t fit into the page and needs its own separate dedicated service/informational page, then don’t hesitate to create one.
Use Location Modifiers Strategically
For therapy practices, location is critical. Include city, neighborhood, and “near me” variations in your keyword clusters, but always make sure to use them naturally within content rather than forcing them into every sentence.
Common Keyword Mapping Mistakes to Avoid
There are few extra things that you can keep in mind while preparing a keyword map for your counseling website. These are the mistakes that many therapists make while preparing content strategy around those mapped terms.
Targeting the Same Keywords on Multiple Pages: This is what keyword mapping is all about. Make sure that same terms are not on multiple therapy pages. As I mentioned above, this will confuse the search engines in deciding the right page for those queries. Each keyword cluster should have one primary target page.
Creating Too Many Similar Pages: Don’t create separate pages for “anxiety therapy Houston,” “anxiety counseling Houston,” and “Houston anxiety treatment” if they target the same intent. All of these terms are similar and Google understands them well. So, consolidate similar topics.
Ignoring Long-Tail Keywords: This I already covered in the best practices section also. While “therapy Houston” has high search volume, long-tail phrases like “online therapy for postpartum anxiety Houston” are easier to rank for and attract more qualified leads. Make sure you add these terms naturally within the page content.
Neglecting Local SEO: For therapy practices, local keywords and location-specific pages are essential. Don’t focus solely on non-location-based terms. If you are creating a page on anxiety therapy for your clinic in Houston, TX, then always add location to your keywords. For example- anxiety therapy Houston, TX, Therapist for anxiety in Houston, TX.
Forgetting About Supporting Content: Beyond service pages, create blog posts, FAQs, and resource pages that target informational keywords and support your main service pages. When doing keyword mapping you will find many informational terms which can be converted into informational style blog posts or FAQs.
Final thoughts
Keyword mapping is a very important step in therapists SEO campaign. It is the first thing that should be done after keyword research to prepare the website structure and content strategy for your local counseling website.
Keyword mapping helps remove guesses and provide clear plan of action for the website.
It also not only helps improving the topical authority of the pages but also helps remove keyword cannibalization.
Using keyword mapping, you can make sure that the right page ranks for right therapy terms. Keyword mapping also makes sure that correct group of keyword cluster is placed on the correct page.
