April 19, 2025 • 11 mins
Thinking about adding a blog to your therapy website? In today’s Ask Allison, I’m diving into the benefits of blogging—especially when it comes to boosting your SEO—and sharing practical tips to make keeping up with your blog feel a lot less overwhelming. Prefer video? This episode is also available to stream on our YouTube channel!
Sponsored by TherapyNotes®: Use promo code Abundant for 2 months free
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to Ask Allison.
Y'all ask the questions about having a
fun and thriving practice and I answer them.
We have a worksheet for you today so
you can bring this answer into your life.
You can access that at abundancepracticebuilding.com slash
links, where you'll also be able to ask
any questions you have for Ask Allison.
If you want more support, we've got some
free trainings in there too.
(00:28):
If you can't get enough Ask Allison, check
out our YouTube channel for our entire Ask
Allison library.
Welcome back to Ask Allison.
Here is today's question.
Should I have a blog?
Short and sweet.
Before I answer that, I would like to
thank TherapyNotes for sponsoring Ask Allison.
I've talked about them for years.
Know their features by heart at this point.
(00:49):
You may too, but I really want to
talk about what actually sets them apart and
that is that they genuinely care about your
experience.
It's not just about troubleshooting, they actively implement
user-suggested features.
Everyone at TherapyNotes believes in the product and
they want you to love it too.
Plus they're independently owned, which means no venture
capital and no pressure to prioritize their investors
(01:10):
over their customers.
This independence allows them to keep their prices
fair, to focus on innovation and to prioritize
their customers' experience.
With over 100,000 therapists already on board,
they have proven that you don't have to
compromise success for quality.
If you're ready to see for yourself, I
want you to try TherapyNotes for free for
two months.
You can use the code ABUNDANT at therapynotes
.com.
(01:31):
All right, first things first, let's talk about
why you might want to have a blog
for your therapy practice.
A lot of therapists hesitate when it comes
to blogging.
They think it's a huge time investment or
they just don't see the point, but the
truth is a blog can be one of
the best ways to make your website more
visible and to give potential clients a taste
of your personality and your approach.
So the very first reason to have a
(01:53):
blog would be to boost your search engine
optimization, SEO, basically getting on Google.
The first and most important reason, in my
opinion, is SEO.
I really want you to question blogging if
you're not doing SEO.
We'll get into why it might still be
a good idea, but SEO and blogging is
(02:13):
like peanut butter and jelly.
It just goes together.
So this is how you get your website
to show up when somebody Googles something that
you do, right?
A blog is an SEO powerhouse, and the
more content you publish on your website, the
more Google has to work with when it
comes to showing your site and search results.
So if you have a page that just
lifts your services, you can only say couples
(02:34):
therapy, couples therapy so many times without sounding
weird and robotic.
But with a blog, you can naturally work
those key phrases into your posts.
Like when I see couples in my office
in Sacramento, so it can feel a lot
smoother because blogs are more conversational.
It also helps you target your ideal clients
with the words they're actually searching for.
Now, just having a blog is not going
(02:56):
to make you have SEO on your website.
It might increase visibility some, but you're not
going to get on the first page of
Google.
So know that if you are choosing blogging,
you're probably also choosing SEO as a marketing
strategy that takes a different skill set.
Another good reason to have a blog is
that it can showcase your approach and your
values.
So your blog is your chance to show
(03:16):
potential clients who you are and what you
stand for.
Maybe you've got a unique approach or you
specialize in a niche area of therapy, and
your blog gives you a platform to explain
that.
For example, let's say you write a blog
post titled five ways to save your marriage
after infidelity.
Potential clients who read that will get a
feel for how you handle these tough situations
like infidelity.
(03:38):
They're going to understand that you're committed to
helping your clients work through difficult problems rather
than just throwing in the towel with these
kinds of traumatic situations.
So if that's what they're looking for, then
they're going to find you.
They're going to read that and they're going
to choose you.
You can also attract ideal clients.
So imagine that you're one of several therapists
a potential client is considering.
(04:00):
Let's say they're given three names and therapist
A, therapist B, and you are all on
this list.
If you and therapist A both have blogs,
but therapist B doesn't, therapist B is probably
out of the running just because they have
more data points about you and therapist A.
So by having a blog, you give clients
the opportunity to read your content, to get
a sense of your vibe and your expertise
(04:21):
and how you approach therapy, how you approach
their problems.
That means that they can make an informed
decision.
So if they choose therapist A, that's okay
because you're looking for your ideal clients, not
just anybody who walks through the So let's
say therapist A is like how to get
rid of your ex when he cheats on
(04:41):
you.
And you're like, how to work through the
relationship with infidelity.
The person looking for either of you is
going to find you.
And that gives you the opportunity to explain
in more detail what it is you're helping
most of your clients with.
So let's talk about how to get a
blog done.
You might be thinking like, this sounds great,
but I don't have time to write blogs.
I don't know where to start.
I haven't written since grad school.
(05:03):
I've got you covered.
Let's break down the process into like little
bite-sized bits of information.
So first, I want you to start with
a list of topics.
A big part of writing a blog is
deciding what to write about.
And the wonderful thing is that you don't
have to sit there staring at a blank
screen, trying to come up with brilliant ideas
every time you sit down to create, to
write.
If you've already created a list, it can
(05:23):
be like in your notes app, in your
phone, every time, let's say you finish a
session and you're like, Oh, something that that
client said is something most of my clients
say at some point to write a blog
post about that.
If you have a list of topics that
matter to your clients, it's the most important
thing.
Please, please, please make sure it matters.
Then you can just look at that list
when it's your blog writing time and see
(05:45):
which one feels the most fun to write
about.
Think about what your clients ask you over
and over what they say over and over.
What do you talk with them about in
your sessions?
What do you wish they knew about therapy?
These can all be great blog topics.
Next is to make your content valuable.
This seems obvious, but it's worth saying don't
write a blog post just for the sake
(06:07):
of writing.
Every single post you publish should provide real
value to your ideal niched clients.
So whether you're sharing tips, you're offering insight,
you're answering common questions, make sure that that
content is useful to the people who are
reading it.
If you're just throwing something together to check
it off your to-do list, your readers
are going to notice it's going to hurt
your credibility.
The more valuable, the more helpful your content,
(06:27):
the more trust you'll build with your audience.
You need a niche for this.
If you're writing about depression one day and
relationships another day and anxiety another day and
eating disorders another day, you don't seem competent
with any of them.
So make sure that you are writing about
the nuances that aren't going to be big
headlines on, you know, like puff post blogs.
(06:51):
So the third is I want you to
write like your talk.
When you're writing a blog, don't make it
sound like a blog post is one of
the biggest mistakes that therapists make.
You want your blog to sound like you're
having a conversation with your ideal client.
If you read any of my blog posts,
you watch any of my videos, you probably
know that I like, I talk like this,
it's casual, it's conversational, it's real.
And that's how I want my content to
(07:11):
feel.
You want your potential clients to read your
blog and feel like they're getting to know
you a little bit better, not reading a
really stiff academic article.
Write how you would talk to your therapy
clients in session.
That way it's a fair representation.
Fourth is to be consistent, but there are
ways to do that without it being super
stressful.
So I know consistency is difficult.
(07:32):
Life is busy.
It's easy to push this kind of thing
on the back burner, but consistency is the
actual key to making this make any sense
at all.
It doesn't mean you have to publish a
new post every single week, though that's a
really great pace if you can do it.
It just means you need to decide how
often you're going to post and stick to
it.
I wouldn't do any less than once a
month.
The important thing is just to be super
consistent.
And the way that I make that easier
(07:53):
is that I batch every writing thing I
do at all, whether it's a blog, whether
it's Ask Allison's, whether it's social media posts.
So instead of writing a blog every single
week for that week, I set aside one
or two days to write several posts at
once and then schedule them to publish automatically.
And that way it's a lot less stressful
than having to write on a really tight
(08:13):
deadline every week.
Number five, don't overthink it.
This is a biggie.
I know many of you are perfectionists, but
try not to overthink it.
Your blog does not have to be a
masterpiece.
Just get your thoughts down on paper.
You can always come back and revise it
later.
The important thing is to get started.
As long as the content is valuable, your
clients won't care if your post isn't 100
(08:34):
% perfect.
It's okay to have a couple typos.
It's all about progress, not perfection.
Number six is to expect to feel vulnerable
at first.
When I first started sharing my thoughts and
ideas online, I felt really vulnerable.
It was scary to hit publish.
What if nobody likes what I had to
say?
What if people judged me?
What if nobody liked it?
And some people probably didn't like it.
(08:56):
Some people probably judged me, but that's okay.
You have to get comfortable with the fact
that you are putting yourself out there and
not everybody will resonate with your style or
your message.
You are looking for the people who do
resonate with you, not trying to please everybody.
So be kind to yourself and embrace that
vulnerability.
Seven, don't rely on AI.
You can use AI to help edit or
(09:17):
to bulk up your post.
If you're using this with SEO, you want
it to be at least 800 words.
Sometimes we can write 500 and we just
can't go beyond that.
You can go to AI and say, please
use my tone and expand upon this blog
posts until it's 800 words.
You can do that and then edit it
heavily.
Please edit it because we can all tell
(09:39):
when we're reading AI, if it's not edited,
it just sounds awful.
And people won't read the whole thing because
it's sterile or it's cheesy.
Now, if you want to kick it up
a notch, you could also consider adding video
content to your blog, a vlog.
I know the video is really scary for
a lot of people, but it's such a
fantastic way to build trust with your audience.
(09:59):
Video allows potential clients to see you, to
hear your voice, to get a much deeper
understanding of who you are beyond just the
words that you wrote.
You don't need anything fancy.
Your smartphone is more than enough.
If you're not comfortable in front of the
camera, that's okay.
You can start small and practice and get
more comfortable over time.
We have trainings in the Abundance Party for
both blogging and vlogging far more in depth
(10:20):
than this can do.
If you need help getting clients in the
door and you want to build a thriving,
sustainable practice, then message me the word party
and I will send you a link.
Now we have a free worksheet today.
If you send me the word sheets, I
will send you some blog brainstorm topics for
your practice.
(10:41):
In 30 minutes, you can have 50 blog
posts ideas.
And I will link to the previous worksheets
as well with that link.
So any of our free worksheets, you'll have
access to all of them.
All right.
I hope you have a great day and
I will talk with If you're ready for
a much easier practice, TherapyNotes is the way
(11:01):
to go.
Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo
code ABUNDANT for two months free.
I hope that helped.
If you have questions for Ask Allison, or
you want to get your hands on the
worksheet for this episode, go to abundancepracticebuilding.com
slash links.
If you're listening, you probably need some support
(11:23):
building your practice.
If you're a super newbie, grab our free
checklist using the link in the show notes.
I'd love for you to follow, rate, and
review, but I really want you to share
this episode with a therapist friend.
Let's help all our colleagues build what they
want.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to Ask Allison.
Y'all ask the questions about having a
fun and thriving practice and I answer them.
We have a worksheet for you today so
you can bring this answer into your life.
You can access that at abundancepracticebuilding.com slash
links, where you'll also be able to ask
any questions you have for Ask Allison.
If you want more support, we've got some
free trainings in there too.
(00:28):
If you can't get enough Ask Allison, check
out our YouTube channel for our entire Ask
Allison library.
Welcome back to Ask Allison.
Here is today's question.
Should I have a blog?
Short and sweet.
Before I answer that, I would like to
thank TherapyNotes for sponsoring Ask Allison.
I've talked about them for years.
Know their features by heart at this point.
(00:49):
You may too, but I really want to
talk about what actually sets them apart and
that is that they genuinely care about your
experience.
It's not just about troubleshooting, they actively implement
user-suggested features.
Everyone at TherapyNotes believes in the product and
they want you to love it too.
Plus they're independently owned, which means no venture
capital and no pressure to prioritize their investors
(01:10):
over their customers.
This independence allows them to keep their prices
fair, to focus on innovation and to prioritize
their customers' experience.
With over 100,000 therapists already on board,
they have proven that you don't have to
compromise success for quality.
If you're ready to see for yourself, I
want you to try TherapyNotes for free for
two months.
You can use the code ABUNDANT at therapynotes
.com.
(01:31):
All right, first things first, let's talk about
why you might want to have a blog
for your therapy practice.
A lot of therapists hesitate when it comes
to blogging.
They think it's a huge time investment or
they just don't see the point, but the
truth is a blog can be one of
the best ways to make your website more
visible and to give potential clients a taste
of your personality and your approach.
So the very first reason to have a
(01:53):
blog would be to boost your search engine
optimization, SEO, basically getting on Google.
The first and most important reason, in my
opinion, is SEO.
I really want you to question blogging if
you're not doing SEO.
We'll get into why it might still be
a good idea, but SEO and blogging is
(02:13):
like peanut butter and jelly.
It just goes together.
So this is how you get your website
to show up when somebody Googles something that
you do, right?
A blog is an SEO powerhouse, and the
more content you publish on your website, the
more Google has to work with when it
comes to showing your site and search results.
So if you have a page that just
lifts your services, you can only say couples
(02:34):
therapy, couples therapy so many times without sounding
weird and robotic.
But with a blog, you can naturally work
those key phrases into your posts.
Like when I see couples in my office
in Sacramento, so it can feel a lot
smoother because blogs are more conversational.
It also helps you target your ideal clients
with the words they're actually searching for.
Now, just having a blog is not going
(02:56):
to make you have SEO on your website.
It might increase visibility some, but you're not
going to get on the first page of
Google.
So know that if you are choosing blogging,
you're probably also choosing SEO as a marketing
strategy that takes a different skill set.
Another good reason to have a blog is
that it can showcase your approach and your
values.
So your blog is your chance to show
(03:16):
potential clients who you are and what you
stand for.
Maybe you've got a unique approach or you
specialize in a niche area of therapy, and
your blog gives you a platform to explain
that.
For example, let's say you write a blog
post titled five ways to save your marriage
after infidelity.
Potential clients who read that will get a
feel for how you handle these tough situations
like infidelity.
(03:38):
They're going to understand that you're committed to
helping your clients work through difficult problems rather
than just throwing in the towel with these
kinds of traumatic situations.
So if that's what they're looking for, then
they're going to find you.
They're going to read that and they're going
to choose you.
You can also attract ideal clients.
So imagine that you're one of several therapists
a potential client is considering.
(04:00):
Let's say they're given three names and therapist
A, therapist B, and you are all on
this list.
If you and therapist A both have blogs,
but therapist B doesn't, therapist B is probably
out of the running just because they have
more data points about you and therapist A.
So by having a blog, you give clients
the opportunity to read your content, to get
a sense of your vibe and your expertise
(04:21):
and how you approach therapy, how you approach
their problems.
That means that they can make an informed
decision.
So if they choose therapist A, that's okay
because you're looking for your ideal clients, not
just anybody who walks through the So let's
say therapist A is like how to get
rid of your ex when he cheats on
(04:41):
you.
And you're like, how to work through the
relationship with infidelity.
The person looking for either of you is
going to find you.
And that gives you the opportunity to explain
in more detail what it is you're helping
most of your clients with.
So let's talk about how to get a
blog done.
You might be thinking like, this sounds great,
but I don't have time to write blogs.
I don't know where to start.
I haven't written since grad school.
(05:03):
I've got you covered.
Let's break down the process into like little
bite-sized bits of information.
So first, I want you to start with
a list of topics.
A big part of writing a blog is
deciding what to write about.
And the wonderful thing is that you don't
have to sit there staring at a blank
screen, trying to come up with brilliant ideas
every time you sit down to create, to
write.
If you've already created a list, it can
(05:23):
be like in your notes app, in your
phone, every time, let's say you finish a
session and you're like, Oh, something that that
client said is something most of my clients
say at some point to write a blog
post about that.
If you have a list of topics that
matter to your clients, it's the most important
thing.
Please, please, please make sure it matters.
Then you can just look at that list
when it's your blog writing time and see
(05:45):
which one feels the most fun to write
about.
Think about what your clients ask you over
and over what they say over and over.
What do you talk with them about in
your sessions?
What do you wish they knew about therapy?
These can all be great blog topics.
Next is to make your content valuable.
This seems obvious, but it's worth saying don't
write a blog post just for the sake
(06:07):
of writing.
Every single post you publish should provide real
value to your ideal niched clients.
So whether you're sharing tips, you're offering insight,
you're answering common questions, make sure that that
content is useful to the people who are
reading it.
If you're just throwing something together to check
it off your to-do list, your readers
are going to notice it's going to hurt
your credibility.
The more valuable, the more helpful your content,
(06:27):
the more trust you'll build with your audience.
You need a niche for this.
If you're writing about depression one day and
relationships another day and anxiety another day and
eating disorders another day, you don't seem competent
with any of them.
So make sure that you are writing about
the nuances that aren't going to be big
headlines on, you know, like puff post blogs.
(06:51):
So the third is I want you to
write like your talk.
When you're writing a blog, don't make it
sound like a blog post is one of
the biggest mistakes that therapists make.
You want your blog to sound like you're
having a conversation with your ideal client.
If you read any of my blog posts,
you watch any of my videos, you probably
know that I like, I talk like this,
it's casual, it's conversational, it's real.
And that's how I want my content to
(07:11):
feel.
You want your potential clients to read your
blog and feel like they're getting to know
you a little bit better, not reading a
really stiff academic article.
Write how you would talk to your therapy
clients in session.
That way it's a fair representation.
Fourth is to be consistent, but there are
ways to do that without it being super
stressful.
So I know consistency is difficult.
(07:32):
Life is busy.
It's easy to push this kind of thing
on the back burner, but consistency is the
actual key to making this make any sense
at all.
It doesn't mean you have to publish a
new post every single week, though that's a
really great pace if you can do it.
It just means you need to decide how
often you're going to post and stick to
it.
I wouldn't do any less than once a
month.
The important thing is just to be super
consistent.
And the way that I make that easier
(07:53):
is that I batch every writing thing I
do at all, whether it's a blog, whether
it's Ask Allison's, whether it's social media posts.
So instead of writing a blog every single
week for that week, I set aside one
or two days to write several posts at
once and then schedule them to publish automatically.
And that way it's a lot less stressful
than having to write on a really tight
(08:13):
deadline every week.
Number five, don't overthink it.
This is a biggie.
I know many of you are perfectionists, but
try not to overthink it.
Your blog does not have to be a
masterpiece.
Just get your thoughts down on paper.
You can always come back and revise it
later.
The important thing is to get started.
As long as the content is valuable, your
clients won't care if your post isn't 100
(08:34):
% perfect.
It's okay to have a couple typos.
It's all about progress, not perfection.
Number six is to expect to feel vulnerable
at first.
When I first started sharing my thoughts and
ideas online, I felt really vulnerable.
It was scary to hit publish.
What if nobody likes what I had to
say?
What if people judged me?
What if nobody liked it?
And some people probably didn't like it.
(08:56):
Some people probably judged me, but that's okay.
You have to get comfortable with the fact
that you are putting yourself out there and
not everybody will resonate with your style or
your message.
You are looking for the people who do
resonate with you, not trying to please everybody.
So be kind to yourself and embrace that
vulnerability.
Seven, don't rely on AI.
You can use AI to help edit or
(09:17):
to bulk up your post.
If you're using this with SEO, you want
it to be at least 800 words.
Sometimes we can write 500 and we just
can't go beyond that.
You can go to AI and say, please
use my tone and expand upon this blog
posts until it's 800 words.
You can do that and then edit it
heavily.
Please edit it because we can all tell
(09:39):
when we're reading AI, if it's not edited,
it just sounds awful.
And people won't read the whole thing because
it's sterile or it's cheesy.
Now, if you want to kick it up
a notch, you could also consider adding video
content to your blog, a vlog.
I know the video is really scary for
a lot of people, but it's such a
fantastic way to build trust with your audience.
(09:59):
Video allows potential clients to see you, to
hear your voice, to get a much deeper
understanding of who you are beyond just the
words that you wrote.
You don't need anything fancy.
Your smartphone is more than enough.
If you're not comfortable in front of the
camera, that's okay.
You can start small and practice and get
more comfortable over time.
We have trainings in the Abundance Party for
both blogging and vlogging far more in depth
(10:20):
than this can do.
If you need help getting clients in the
door and you want to build a thriving,
sustainable practice, then message me the word party
and I will send you a link.
Now we have a free worksheet today.
If you send me the word sheets, I
will send you some blog brainstorm topics for
your practice.
(10:41):
In 30 minutes, you can have 50 blog
posts ideas.
And I will link to the previous worksheets
as well with that link.
So any of our free worksheets, you'll have
access to all of them.
All right.
I hope you have a great day and
I will talk with If you're ready for
a much easier practice, TherapyNotes is the way
(11:01):
to go.
Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo
code ABUNDANT for two months free.
I hope that helped.
If you have questions for Ask Allison, or
you want to get your hands on the
worksheet for this episode, go to abundancepracticebuilding.com
slash links.
If you're listening, you probably need some support
(11:23):
building your practice.
If you're a super newbie, grab our free
checklist using the link in the show notes.
I'd love for you to follow, rate, and
review, but I really want you to share
this episode with a therapist friend.
Let's help all our colleagues build what they
want.
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