119 How to Utilize Ethical SEO for Your Counseling Practice

Unlock the secret to ethically boosting your online presence with expert guidance from Dr. Kate Walker and Jennifer Marie Fairchild. This episode is your roadmap to mastering SEO strategies tailored for counselors, ensuring that you can ethically grow your practice without compromising your professional integrity. Discover practical tactics to enhance your website's visibility using tools like Google Search Console and learn how to attract the right clients by harnessing the power of relevant keywords.

Join us as we reveal the importance of ethical advertising in counseling, as outlined by the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council and the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics. Dr. Walker and Jennifer Fairchild delve into the complexities of state regulations, comparing mandates from Texas and New Hampshire, and discuss how to maintain transparency and verifiability in your public communications. Explore strategies to ensure HIPAA compliance and the responsible use of client testimonials to maintain an ethical online presence.

Whether you're an LPC associate navigating the digital landscape or an experienced counselor refining your online strategy, this episode is packed with insights on balancing ethical standards with effective marketing practices. We explore the nuances of social media use, the ethical considerations of client interaction, and how to optimize your content for search engines while keeping accessibility at the forefront. Tune in to elevate your counseling services and reach greater heights of success in your practice.

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hey, I'm Dr Kate Walker, and welcome to this
recording of a presentation thatJennifer Marie and I will be
giving at the TCA conference inDallas, texas, in 2024.
I am Kate Walker, I'm a PhD,I'm an LPC supervisor and an
LMFT supervisor in Texas.
And Jennifer, tell them alittle about you, hi.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
I am Jennifer Marie Fairchild.
I am a PhD candidate at TexasTech University.
I am also a clinical mentalhealth counselor candidate in
New Hampshire and I'm supervisedby Sarah DuPont.
She's a licensed independentclinical social worker and I'm
an LPC associate here in Texas,supervised by Kate.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Now we will get into all of that in a second, because
I know everybody's wheels kindof turn a little bit when they
hear credentials and they should, so hopefully we will answer
all of your questions, eventhough we can't interact in real
time.
So I'm going to take a secondand put my glasses on and share
the screen so you can see whatall of this looks like, because

(01:19):
this has so much to do withadvertising, right, and how we
represent ourselves.
So here's what Jennifer'scredential looks like and here's
what my credential looks like,and, just in case you forgot,
what we look like when we're notin a room with a light shining

(01:41):
on our head room, with a lightshining on her head.
So take a look at that.
And, jennifer, tell us a littlebit about how you list your
credential, because I think thisis a great way to start off a
presentation about SEO whetheryou know what SEO is or not yet,
and I promise we'll get to that.
So talk to us about that.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
So my credential obviously starts with my
professional identity, my name,and it's funny.
When I started the PhD processa professor said I really hope
you like your name If you'd liketo get married, if you would
like to get divorced, you needto do all of that now because
this name sticks with you.
So, like it or not, that's whatI will forever use.

(02:23):
The MA just stands for thehighest level of degree I've
obtained, which is a master ofarts and counseling.
So you can see I'm sort of duallicensed in two states.
Not sort of I am dual licensed.
New Hampshire calls theircounselors something different.
They have licensed independentclinical social workers.

(02:43):
They have LMFTs and then theirversion of LPC is a clinical, a
CDMHC, a clinical mental healthcounselor.
As of right now I'm incandidacy status, which means
I'm basically an LPC associate.
They have a very similarprocess to getting your
supervisor status.
You do 3,000 clinical hoursunder supervision, one hour

(03:11):
weekly.
So it's a very, very similarprocess and I have to see
clients that are in NewHampshire.
I am not in New Hampshire buttheir board realizes that we are
an age of technology and we cansee people virtually.
So that's how I came about thatI work at an IOP out of Utah
and see clients that way, andthen recently started my journey

(03:34):
as an LPC associate here inTexas as well Excellent.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
And we're taking this step by step because there is
so much confusion right now.
And if you're watching thispresentation, you're interested
in advertising, you'reinterested in what this looks
like to the public, and that'sgreat.
You should be.
So you notice that with hercredential for the Texas
credential it has supervised byand my name Well, that's because

(04:02):
that's a Texas rule, so NewHampshire does not have that
rule that she must put hersupervised by in the same type,
size and font right.
It simply says you need to listyour proper degree and your
proper credential.
Now we will talk a little bitin the coming slides about being

(04:25):
clear about your state, likewhich state these credentials
represent and, yeah, you'll findout more about that.
So, thank you and let's keepgoing.
So the agenda I literally justcopied and pasted from what
should be in your program and wewill talk about exactly what it

(04:46):
says here.
The first part we'll talk aboutthe ethical implications of SEO
.
Part two we're going to talkabout effective SEO tailored to
counseling practice marketingthat maintain ethical integrity
Not sure why there's a linethere, probably spacing, I don't
know and how to enhance youronline visibility responsibly.

(05:08):
And then, finally, we'll talkabout how to evaluate the
alignment of your SEO strategywith ethical principles and
counseling in order to meet yourbusiness goals.
Right, because that's, at theend of the day, what we all want
to do.
Right?
You wouldn't be online, youwouldn't be concerned with
marketing, if you didn't havesome goals in mind, and we will

(05:30):
talk about that.
But wait, there's more.
See what I did there.
Okay, the sham.
Wow, anybody remember that?
I don't know.
So, yes, we will talk aboutcommon questions from newbies to
private practice.
So those folks who are new toprivate practice, and since I am

(05:51):
a supervisor, since I teach the40 hour training to become a
supervisor in Texas, I want totalk to you supervisors and
associates out there so that weget that perspective as well,
because LPC associates areallowed to own their own
business in Texas undersupervision.
Well, supervisors have had lotsof questions about, okay, what

(06:15):
can I do?
What am I supposed to do?
And likewise, lpc associateswant to know what can my
supervisor do?
What are they allowed to do?
So, for all of you techies outthere who are like, oh my gosh,
this is the presentation I'vebeen waiting for.
Yeah, this is not going to gointo coding at all.
This is not about hidden text,where people hide text, that are

(06:40):
keyword optimized in the samecolor as the background.
It's not about keyword stuffing, it's not about cloaking, it's
not about you know, any of thatsort of back office type of
stuff.
That would be sneaky.
So if that's going to be a dealbreaker for you, I apologize.

(07:02):
This is going to stick tostrategies that are practical
for counselors, that make surethat you stay ethical, but keep
in mind you probably want to beprofitable.
All right, now, what would youlike us to cover today?
So if we were live, that wouldbe my question and I would say,
okay, take two minutes and writedown three questions.

(07:24):
What do you want to make surethat we answer today?
Because you know what's thepoint of sitting in a
presentation if you don't getwhat you came for.
Now we don't have that luxurybecause I'm recording this in
August and you're watching this,I guess, after October.
I'm not sure when you're goingto be watching this.
Hopefully it's still in 2024.

(07:44):
Because if you're watching thisin 2030, all of this
information will be outdated.
But I'm going to talk about whyI don't want you to email me
soon, but we much prefer thatyou tag.
So if you tag me in theFacebook group Texas Counselors

(08:05):
Creating Badass Businesses, youtag.
So if you tag me in theFacebook group Texas counselors
creating badass businesses or onInstagram at Kate Walker
training, we much prefer that,and there's a reason for that,
and we'll get to that before theend of this.
So part one glasses ethicalimplications of SEO practices

(08:26):
and counseling practice,marketing, discerning between
strategies that prioritizeintegrity and those that may
compromise professionalstandards.
Now we've got to start with adefinition of ethics.
I mean, we all know what ethicsare, at least that we have a
conceptual, we have an idea ofwhat they are.

(08:47):
Right Ethics, virtues, sins,you know, aspirations, whatever
you want to call those.
But Jennifer's going to talkabout bioethics bioethics as
opposed to just plain old ethics.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
So in our first box we can see, when we begin
thinking about bioethics, theseare going to be the ethical
implications of our biologicalresearch and applications.
And what this does is itcombines various disciplines
such as medicine, philosophy,law, sociology and theology in
order to kind of conceptualizethat basic framework.

(09:26):
Two promotional messages sayand show the truth and do not
create unjustified expectations,which we are all hopefully very
familiar with, the ACA Code ofEthics and the Texas
Administrative Code, and bothactually address this.
And then three, the servicesand advertisements should be
provided exactly as they arepresented and marketing

(09:48):
communication should be moreconsistent with reality, because
the target public of theseadvertisements encompass people
who are sick and in the desireto get well.
They are very vulnerable andthey will buy any service that
seems to comply with theirdesire to improve their health
state, even if that particularservice is not good or

(10:09):
sustainable for their illness.
And that always reminds me ofthe snake oil salesman you know
back in the 1800s.
So that's basically what that'stalking about.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
Go ahead.
No, no, no, that's all.
Oh, go ahead.
No, no, no, that's all.
So, even though it's bioethicsand this is obviously taken from
a journal geared toward medicalresearch we can't deny that our
population is similar, right?
Folks who are looking for helpare vulnerable, just like

(10:43):
someone seeking help from amedical professional, and so
when we look at ourresponsibility, it reminds me of
our responsibility withprotected health information.
I remember I went to apresentation on HIPAA and how we
self-audit every year, and thepresenter explained OK, you know

(11:04):
, here's why you guys, mentalhealth professionals, are held
to an even higher standard.
It's because mental healthrecords are more valuable on the
dark web than medical records,and that just blew my mind,
right?
So, even though we have thesestandards of care and Jennifer's
going to talk about these in asecond you know we have law, we

(11:26):
have rule, we have codes, wehave best practices.
Just always remember ourpopulation needs protection, in
the same way that someone who isgoing to, like Jennifer said
the snake oil salesman right, wewant to make sure that we are
not that and that we arecommunicating clearly, and I

(11:48):
know nobody would do that, right?
So we're also talking aboutwhen you do stuff on accident,
right?
Nobody's saying that anybodyhas nefarious motivations here.
We just all want to make surethat we're doing the best we
possibly can to serve the publicand protect the public.
So let's do a littleintroduction first.

(12:10):
I knew I was about to skip this.
So what is SEO, search EngineOptimization?
Well, it's basically, if yourwebsite is optimized, your site
will rank, it will show up inrelevant searches and potential

(12:32):
clients will find you.
Okay, what does that mean?
That means, if your site isranking, you need to be able to
check your rankings.
If it means it will show up inrelevant searches, that means
you need to check page views andsomething called CTR or a click

(12:54):
through ratio.
And finally, number three youwant these folks who are
clicking and searching toactually be potential clients,
right?
So I'm going to give you anexample, all right, so what am I
looking at?
Is it a heart scan or, you know, some kind of a medical thing?

(13:14):
Absolutely not.
This is called Google SearchConsole.
So Google Search Console isgoing to help us understand
those three things I mentionedbefore.
Now I'm going to stop the share, just because I know you're
like, oh crap, what were thethree things she mentioned
before and I'm going to go backand I'm going to show you.

(13:35):
Here are the three things wewant to make sure our site will
rank.
Take a picture of this, becauseI'm about to take it to a
different screen.
It'll show up in relevantsearches.
Potential clients will find you.
So we're going to checkrankings, page views and CTR.
All right, you got it.
You got a picture of it.
All right, here I go.

(13:57):
So Google Search Console I'musing Kate Walker Training as my
example.
When you go to it the firsttime, it actually usually lands
you here on.
This kind of that means nothingto me, absolutely nothing.
So I'm going to go to searchresults and I'm going to
highlight some things.
So I'm going to unclick thatand I'm going to put these two

(14:23):
up.
So three things.
So total impressions that meanshow many times my website
appears in front of your face.
Click through ratio means thenumber of these people who
actually click in an averageposition, which is also what
we're referring to as rank.
So again, this doesn't mean awhole lot to me, because my

(14:45):
website has a lot of stuff goingon.
So this is almost just likesomebody looking at somebody's
entire life and saying, oh well,that's their entire 57 years,
right?
Okay, that doesn't really meana whole lot.
So I'm going to go down here topages and what pages is going to
do.
It's going to tell me how mypages are ranking.

(15:09):
So this is my main page,katewalkertrainingcom, and we
can look over here and see theclick through ratio.
Wow, it's not 4.2% anymore,it's actually higher.
That's good because that meanspeople who are looking for this
site or who come upon my siteare actually people who want to

(15:30):
click.
Yay, awesome, 19.5.
I wish that would go way up,right, but I'm going to explain
kind of what happens with thatsometimes.
So other pages I've got, youknow, we could go through all of
these.
These are pages on my websiteand I can see how they are doing
.
That means the impressionsRemember, that's how many times

(15:52):
it shows up in front of yourface.
Click-through ratio, the higherthat CTR means.
That means the right potentialcustomer or client found that
and they act and we know thatbecause they clicked.
And then the position over here.
That's the ranking.
Now, another thing I can checkhere are queries.

(16:13):
I want to know what people aretyping in and I'll talk more
about this with you.
So query if they actually putin kate walker training boom,
they're gonna me and theclick-through ratio is super
high.
That means you know, five outof 10 people looking for Kate
Walker Training actually meantto do that and my rank is high

(16:34):
for that search term.
Yay, there are some other searchterms that I want to rank for,
and when I say rank for thatjust means rank high for right
In the Google search.
I want to be number one.
Yay, I'm number one.
That means the right people,that when I say right people, I
mean potential customers, thepeople who actually want my

(16:55):
services.
They're finding me.
And that click through ratioYay, it's high and I'm number
one.
So all of this informationgives me the answer to those
three things.
Let's go back to that.
If my website is optimized, itwill rank and that just means

(17:18):
rank high.
I just left off the word high,so I checked the rankings.
It will show up in relevantsearches.
So that means people who aresearching for the thing I'm
selling will find me.
So I looked at my page viewsand the click-through ratio and
making sure that, again, thosepotential clients will find me.

(17:40):
So this is something I it's kindof funny because people are
like well, what do you mean?
Like the, the right kind ofclient, or your ranking, or
something like that?
I'm going to show you something.
We're going to go just back tothe Google machine, okay, so we
are now in something called anincognito window, and I know it

(18:01):
looks scary, it looks like thedark web, but in theory your
incognito window doesn't.
I know it looks scary, it lookslike the dark web, but in
theory your incognito windowdoesn't have any cookies in it.
It doesn't have your habitsbuilt in.
So you should get a pretty goodkind of pure search.
So I'm going to put in KateWalker and you're going to see
what I mean by a relevant search.
So somebody who's searching forKate Walker is going to maybe be

(18:24):
looking for the graphic artistwho writes graphic novels.
Maybe they're looking for Iguess it's called Siberia.
Anyway, they look really cool.
There's a coach, there's abusiness coach named Kate Walker
and she actually got the dotcom.
Oh wait, no, that's her.
So there's actually another one.

(18:45):
I guess there's a lot of us outthere kind of running our own
businesses.
I know there's a romance writerthis is not my Wikipedia and
there I am, so in my incognitowindow, and I'm actually kind of
my heart feels pretty good.
I'm appearing one, two, three,four.
I'm appearing one, two, three,four, not bad.
So that would be like ifsomebody Googled Kate Walker and

(19:10):
this showed up in their face.
So let's say we're going toclick on Kate Dash Walker.
Now let's do this one because Ithink her artwork is cool.
So if that was what they wereactually looking for, then the
impression number remember thatimpression means okay, that
means I showed up in their face,but they weren't really looking

(19:31):
for me.
They were looking for this KateWalker.
So it's important to know.
You want to make sure you havethe data that show that they're
actually looking for you,they're finding you.
It's like ordering from a menu,right?
If I'm going to go to Starbucksand order a venti no fat, no

(19:54):
whip, oat, milk, gingerbread,latte and they give me some kind
of a peppermint mocha, like I'mgoing to know the difference,
right, I'm going to understand,hey, this wasn't what I asked
for.
Google is the same way.
If they hand you the wrongresults, you're not going to
click, you're not going to stayon the site and, believe me,
there are metrics out there thatcan help you understand how

(20:18):
long a person stays on your site, how many seconds they linger
over different parts of yoursite.
You wouldn't believe all of thedata.
Well, yeah, you probably would.
You'd believe it.
So let me jump back to ourPowerPoint.
So we're going to.
We just Googled Kate Walker.

(20:38):
Now we're going to just Googlesomething related to counseling,
and what I'm going to add hereis I've got a tool called Uber
suggest Okay, and I'll explainit, I promise.
So here we go.
I'm just going to put incounseling Boom.

(20:58):
So the first things first.
I'm going to get, and this iswhere I am right now.
I'm in Michigan, so that's whythat's showing up here.
But over here you could see andI'm sure most of you are
focusing on the left-hand sideof the screen Google knows where
I am, so it's giving me resultsnear me.
It thinks I need therapy.

(21:19):
It doesn't.
Let's see, yeah, it pretty muchthinks I need therapy.
Oh wait, no, it says I mighthave a student and I'm looking
for the counseling office.
It doesn't know what I'mlooking for right now.
It doesn't know if I want toknow the definition of
counseling or if I am the parentof a high school junior who
just moved to town.
So I'm going to show you a toolover here that I have.

(21:42):
I don't recommend anything.
You use whatever you like.
This is just an example.
This is called Uber Suggest andwhat it's going to show us is
let me move this out of the waythe volume, that's just the
number of searches, how manytimes people look for counseling

(22:05):
.
That's huge.
Right, and you'll have toforgive me, I don't know for
Ubersuggest if this is today, ifthis is for this region.
So for the purposes of thispresentation, I'm just trying to
show you it is super high.
Now I'm going to draw yourattention to SD and PD.

(22:26):
This is an SEO difficulty.
Just think of it this way Ifyou're searching, if this number
is high, that means if you'retrying to rank high for just
putting counseling out there, 73is a super high number.
That means it's going to be avery competitive word.

(22:48):
And PV means if you were payingfor it, well, that's not very
high, something like counselingnear me.
That's a little bit higher.
So all of these things mean, asI talk, more about SEO and how
to do this, I want you to keepin mind we're going to make sure
that we talk about search termsthat are meaningful and that

(23:12):
will actually help you, becauselook what happens when I put in
grief counseling.
Okay, now with grief counseling,I go down here to my search
tool.
The volume is less, but it'sstill very competitive.

(23:34):
The number's high.
Grief counseling near me,that's always high, and I'm
going to tell you why that'simportant.
In a little bit, children'sgrief counseling, that's ranking
even higher.
If we just look at volume,right, we see everybody.
Lots of people are searchingfor grief counseling.
More people are searching forgrief counseling near me.

(23:54):
So if I am you and I am likeokay, kate's talking about
optimizing my website, she'ssaying that if I optimize my
website then more clients willfind me and that meets my goal
of having more clients, makingmore money, making a bigger
impact in my community.
Well then, I want the searchterms that everybody is looking

(24:18):
for.
Like, yes, I was going to doindividual counseling, but now
I'm going to do grief counseling.
Well, that's when we startgetting into the ethics of
search engine optimization.
So I'm going to turn it over toJennifer to talk about where
the ethics and the rules come in.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
So I know that rules and laws and ethics are
everybody's favorite topic.
It's ours.
We love it yes, I actually do,but some people they can be a
little lackluster.
So typically if we werepresenting this live I would
definitely not read theseverbatim, just because, in the

(25:03):
interest of you know, keepingeverybody awake and alert,
reading slides, I know, is notalways the most effective.
However, for closed captioningpurposes, I want to make sure
any of our users that areutilizing those services can get
the full benefit.
I will be reading, so bear withme.

(25:23):
All right, claims and names andthe stuff you sell.
So the Texas AdministrativeCode, lpc rule is they go into a
good job of really addressingand identifying this.
681.41, our general ethicalrequirements.
Section A states that alicensee must not make any false

(25:44):
.
A states that a licensee mustnot make any false, misleading,
deceptive, fraudulent orexaggerated claim or statement
about the licensee's services,including, but not limited to,
the effectiveness of services,the licensee's qualifications,
capabilities, background,training, experience, education,

(26:04):
professional affiliations, fees, products or publications, or
the practice or field ofcounseling.
So that kind of takes us backto that very first slide.
I am going into my second yearas a PhD student in the Texas
Tech University CounselorEducation and Supervision
provision program.
I do not list any PhDqualifications or credentials on

(26:30):
my license or when I present myname, because I don't have the
PhD.
So that's kind of one of thoselike I don't want to mislead
clients.
Our general public is notreally.
They're not well-versed in thespecific jargon that we use.
That's why we write LPCassociate, not LPCA.

(26:51):
They don't know what the Astands for and they just
automatically assume you saidyou're a counselor, that means
you can fix me and we don't wantthe public thinking that.
So that's why that LPC rule isthere.
681.49 deals with ouradvertising and our
announcements.
Specifically, section A saysinformation used by a licensee

(27:14):
in any advertisement orannouncement must not contain
information which is false,inaccurate, misleading,
incomplete, out of context,deceptive or not readily
verifiable.
The advertising includes, butis not limited to, any
announcement of services,letterhead, business cards,
commercial products and billingstatements.
Section B false, misleading ordeceptive advertising or

(27:39):
advertising that is not readilysubject to verification includes
advertising that makes anymisrepresentation of fact or
admits a fact necessary to makethe statement.
Misleading.
Makes any representation likelyto create an unjustified
expectation about the results ofa mental health care service or
procedure.

(27:59):
Don't put on there that you canguarantee that you can rid your
client of their depression oranxiety.
Don't put information on there.
Like I have a very long name,it's Jennifer Marie Fairchild.
Your client should be able togo to the BHEC website and
search you by your name and findyour license and verify that
your license.

(28:20):
And if they're not able to dothat, then how are you
addressing yourself If you knowmy name is Jennifer Marie?
If I put Shelly on all of myadvertisements, it would be
difficult to find me and verifymy license, and that's what BHEC
does not want us to do.
68147 states that an assumed ortrade name used by a licensee

(28:43):
must not be false, deceptive ormisleading, as those terms are
described in section 681 49b ofthis title, which relates back
to advertising and announcements.
And we make the joke.
But it has happened.
I have seen licensees and theyhave a legal name, mike Jones,

(29:04):
and all of their advertisements,because they go by a different
name, has all of thatinformation and it's not
intentionally misleading, but itis deceptive and it is not
accurate and it's not.
You're not able to easily findthat.
681.38, conflicts, boundaries,dual relationships and
termination of relationships.
Section A a licensee must notengage in activities for the

(29:27):
licensee's personal gain at theexpense of a client.
And section B a licensee maypromote the licensee's personal
or business activities to aclient if such activities,
services or products are tofacilitate the counseling
process or help achieve theclient's counseling goals.
Prior to engaging in any suchactivities, services or product

(29:47):
sales with the client, thelicensee must first inform the
client of the licensee'spersonal and or business
interests therein.
A licensee must not exert undueinfluence in promoting such
activities, services or products.
Aca Code of Ethics.
So the fun thing about this isright now the ACA Code of Ethics
.
This year is 10 years old.

(30:08):
We are 10 years in, we're duefor review and we love the ACA
Code of Ethics.
I wasn't saying we don't love it, oh yeah, no, I was just saying
these things are going to beaddressed and modified and
changed and added to andreworded in a year, so that's
why it's always so important tostay apprised of all of this

(30:31):
stuff and when they change andto know the years that these are
reviewed.
So C2 basically talks aboutprofessional competence.
Specifically, c.2.a is theboundaries of competence and
that addresses counselors shouldpractice only within the
boundaries of competence andthat addresses counselors should
practice only within theboundaries of their competence

(30:52):
based on their education,training, experience and state
their credentials andappropriate professional
experience.
I should not state that I amcertified in EMDR training if I
am not an EMDR trained counselor.
We have to stay within thebounds of exactly what education

(31:13):
, what experience and what ourlicensing credentials are.
Whereas multiculturalcounseling competency is
required across all counselingspecialties, counselors gain
knowledge, personal awareness,sensitivity, dispositions and
skills pertinent to being aculturally competent counselor
and working with diverse clientpopulations, and that's a big

(31:33):
component of the ACA Code ofEthics is that multicultural
counseling competency.
Component C.2.B addresses newspecialty areas of practice.
Counselors practice inspecialty areas new to them only
after appropriate education,training and supervised
experience.
While developing skills in anew specialty area, counselors

(31:55):
take steps to ensure theircompetence of their work and to
protect others from possibleharm.
So if you're in this new10-week counseling specialty
program, wait till you'reappropriately trained before you
start advertising that hey, Iam DBT certified.
C.3, advertising and solicitingclients.

(32:17):
Section A talks about accurateadvertising.
When advertising or otherwiserepresenting their services to
the public, counselors identifytheir credentials in an accurate
manner that is not false,misleading, deceptive or
fraudulent.
So we're really trying to drivethat point home.
I think email signatures are agreat example of this.

(32:38):
We forget to type it all outand this is very specific to
everybody.
But, like with associates, youwrite LPC, associate, not LPCA
or whatever you know abbreviatedform, because that can be very
misleading and the public justdoesn't know our alphabet soup

(33:01):
Jumping back real quick with ourLPC rules.
681.45 is talking aboutdisclosure of our personal
health information.
A licensee must not discloseany communication, record or
identity of a client except asprovided in the Texas Health and
Safety Code, chapter 611, orany other state or federal
statutes or rules.

(33:21):
That just really is specific tocompromising or disclosing our
client's records.
681.41 are general ethicalrequirements.
A licensee must not evaluateany individual's mental,
emotional or behavioralcondition unless the licensee

(33:42):
has personally interviewed theindividual or the licensee
discloses in the evaluation thelicensee has not personally
interviewed the individual.
It's hard to separate ourselvesfrom our education and once we
become counselors, we becomecounselors and it can be very
easy to start evaluating others,and we should not do so unless

(34:08):
they are our clients, because weall have family members.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
We would like to evaluate right, but no we should
not, no, so you may be thinkingwith a couple of these anyway.
Okay, what does this have to dowith seo?
Well, let me review.
Remember, seo is like orderingfrom Starbucks, but it's also

(34:31):
like fishing, right, and ifyou're a fisher person and you
know how to pick a lure and thisis the lure you have to have in
the month of August in centralMichigan and it's going to catch
a walleye or whatever right,you're very precise about what
you're using to attract yourideal fish.

(34:52):
So sorry, I'm labelingpotential clients as fish.
It's a good metaphor, though.
So when we talk about searchengine optimization and these
rules and ACA codes of ethics,we're going to make it make
sense for you here.
So, strategies that mightcompromise the rules and ethics

(35:14):
that Jennifer was just talkingabout.
So remember what I told you.
With search engine optimization, it's about content.
It's about what I'm putting onmy website, what I'm putting on
the page, and I'll get moredetailed in that in just a
minute.
So you can imagine I don'treally do this yet, but it sure

(35:34):
shows up high in that ubersuggest, and when I Google it,
it's showing up number one.
Remember how grief counselingshowed up higher than counseling
, or it was more specific, itwas a little bit easier to the
competition wasn't quite as high.
So, even if you have not beentrained in grief counseling, you
might think, oh, but I couldput that on my website and I

(35:58):
could get more of thoseimpressions.
I could show up in moresearches.
So, ethical no-no.
When we look back at our ACACode of Ethics and our LPC rules
.
Now you may have wondered whyJennifer was talking about the
privacy rules.
Right, because you know it'slike well, kate, they're just on

(36:20):
the other side of the screen.
We don't really know them,we're not taking pictures of
them.
Well, how many of us have formson our website that collect
information?
So, okay, they are a potentialclient, correct.
But what happens when theybecome an actual client?
So, when and if you decide tocollect information on that

(36:45):
website and you're thinking,okay, is that a HIPAA compliant
form?
Is my website encrypted enough?
I mean, there are severalthings that you can do to make
something and I'm going to doair quotes, hipaa compliant
right, besides a businessassociate agreement right.
Just understanding encryptionand data breaches and those

(37:06):
types of things, butunderstanding that collecting
information that you don't knowwhat you're going to do with it,
or you don't know where it'sbeing stored.
That can be a problem.
And remember, search engineoptimization.
I'm putting myself out there,I'm attracting people.
Oh good, they came to mywebsite.
Now they're interacting with mywebsite.
Uh-oh, Now I've got all thisinformation.

(37:28):
What am I going to do with it?
The next one about the quiz.
Right, so a quiz is kind of afunny thing.
It's actually kind of a a coolmarketing tool and it's it can
be wonderful for search engineoptimization.
And you may have seen thesethings like um, you know, how do
I know if I'm the right fit formy extrovert husband, or how do

(37:50):
I know if my introverted selfcan get the right job?
You know something that's goingto be like five questions and
then I get the answer.
Well, that may be great for SEOand pumping you up in those
search engine ranks, right.
But I mean, how is thispotential client going to know

(38:10):
that the result isn't adiagnosis?
Well, obviously you've got totake some extra steps, don't you
Like?
This is not a formal evaluation.
This is for entertainmentpurposes only.
This is for marketing purposesonly.
So, taking that extra step ifyou choose to use a quiz which
I'm not discouraging, none ofthis, keep in mind, none of this

(38:32):
is advice.
It's simply giving you ways tokind of just be careful and make
sure you're tightening up allof these elements.
And then, finally I had to putthis in here about testimonials,
because if you hire a marketingmanager and you ask them to
help you with your SEO, they'regoing to say, well, you got to

(38:54):
get some testimonials.
Well, the problem with that ismulti-layered, right?
And if we go back to the ruleJennifer talked about earlier,
anything for my gain at theexpense of the client and you
might say, well, it's not anexpense if they give their
permission, okay, well, theygive their permission today, can
they rescind it?

(39:14):
What if they rescind or takeaway their permission?
Right, do you take thetestimonial down?
And then, in order to get goodtestimonials, is that going to
change how you do therapy?
Are you going to challenge less?
Are you going to change yourtheory?
Are you going?
I mean, it's a power dynamicwhen you request something that

(39:36):
helps you from your client, sofinding another way besides
testimonials is probably a goodidea.
All right, so, jennifer, youfound these questions right.
These are questions thatJennifer is an LPC associate and
a CMHC candidate.
You're out there on theinterwebs and you hear things

(40:00):
and you know things, so talkabout these questions a little
bit.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
So the first question is can LPC associates have a
web presence and where that kindof formulated itself is.
We have this uniquerelationship with social media
and the internet and puttingourselves out there, and what

(40:30):
does that look like?
Can an LPC associate have awebsite?
As a clinical supervisor, Isthat something you're okay with
and, if so, like what is theoversight?
So yeah, can I have a website,Kate?

Speaker 1 (40:40):
Why?
Absolutely Absolutely.
You can have a website and Ihave a website.
Absolutely, and this is one ofthe reasons.
You know, jennifer, I you knowwhen we, when we think about the
ACA code of ethics in the LPCrules, you'll see lots of
references to paper.
But really, what's beingchanged, right?

(41:11):
What we anticipate as beingaddressed in future codes of
ethics revisions?
You know, they got to starttalking about website copy.
They got to start talking aboutthe words on your website.
So, yes, lpc associates, if youcan own a business, you can
have a website and there's noother way to optimize and show
up.
I mean, I don't want you to goback and use door hangers and
business cards again.

(41:32):
Please don't, please, don't,kill trees.
So, yes, you can have a website, a web presence, right.
So web presence might be aFacebook page or the Psychology
Today profile.
Yes, you can absolutely be onthe interwebs Awesome.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
So, as a clinical supervisor, how much oversight
do you have over my web presence?

Speaker 1 (42:03):
So everybody remember all of those rules under
clinical stuff and as asupervisor, I share
responsibility with you forclinical stuff.
So remember a second ago when Isaid business cards, flyers,
kind of we don't have that asmuch anymore your website copy

(42:25):
I'm going to look at it becauseevery word on that website
psychology today, facebook,social media that is you,
representing you, and I have tomake sure along with you, right,
because we're a team that we gothrough and we make sure every
single word that you're using tooptimize and get found by

(42:49):
Google complies and meets ourethics and rules.
So if you write it and it'sabout you, then as a supervisor,
I get to oversee that.

Speaker 2 (43:02):
Awesome, all right, should you state your state.
We love this one.
It's a big deal because I meanyou think about me.
I am pursuing licensure in twodifferent states and if I put on
my documentation just clinicalmental health counselor
candidate or just LPC associate,the question is is how does

(43:24):
anybody know where that is?
Nobody.
There's no way to know ifthat's in New Hampshire or Texas
or Virginia or Hawaii orwherever else.
So should I list the state sothat it's not misleading as to
where I'm able to practice?

Speaker 1 (43:41):
there's no code of ethics about that, and so this
we'll talk about this on ournext slide Best practices right,
best practices are going toinform where the rules and the
codes of ethics maybe, you knowhas a big gaping hole.
And with the coming of thecompact, with the advent of the

(44:02):
interwebs, with this idea thatwe are seeing people licensed
all over the world to think thatyour credential could somehow
be misleading, you know, yeah,you know, if I'm just going to
move to Hawaii and say I'm anLPC, I don't know what Hawaii's
mental health credential is, butif I'm not being specific and

(44:24):
I'm using that to market andremember anytime and this is my
soapbox, I feel anytime I put myname out there, I am a brand, I
am marketing myself, and so ifit is false or misleading, then
I me, I need to takeresponsibility for that.
So my answer to this isunequivocally for that.

(44:50):
So my answer to this isunequivocally, absolutely yes.
Is it in the rules?
Is it in the code?

Speaker 2 (44:54):
of ethics?
Not yet, but I think it'simplied there.
Awesome.
So the the big biggie that we Ihear a lot is um.
My boss says I can see clientswhere they are licensed because
I am operating under theirlicense.
But can I?

Speaker 1 (45:13):
You know, I would really hate for a surgeon to
call me up on the phone and askme to assist in open heart
surgery and say I was good to gobecause I was under their
license.
So, associates, let me justempower you right now.
Sometimes your supervisor canbe wrong and you will find wrong

(45:35):
supervisors, just like you findwrong everybody's, and it's
okay to question.
So the problem here is yeah,that's wrong.
That is just wrong information.
No one can operate underanother person's license.
Now, having said that, thereare contracts, so you may work

(45:58):
at a hospital or you may work atan agency whose contract allows
you to perform services withpeople in other states or in
other areas, but it's becauseyou met another criteria.
Perhaps your bachelor's degreeis in a certain area, or the
contract says because you havethis certain set of skills or

(46:20):
this certain set of training, weallow this, but we can't call
that counseling.
In fact, texas says thatspecifically as of August 2024,
that if you do counsel someoneoutside of the state of Texas,
we don't even call thatcounseling, like we, that's,
that's up to the other state.
So your supervisor would sayokay, no, no, it's totally okay

(46:45):
for you to practice in Nevada,but they haven't checked with
Nevada.
Well, I would check with Nevada, so please don't fear to
question your supervisor.
All right?
So at the end of this portion,this is really what Jennifer and
I want to just shove down yourthroat.

(47:09):
We are in an era wheretechnology is here, it's moving
and it is what it is, and itaffects advertising, marketing,
and we hear so much about whatwe're supposed to be doing that
rules and laws and codes don'tspeak to.
So what is your ethicaldecision-making model?

(47:32):
If you don't have an ethicaldecision-making model or process
or procedure, then pause thisrecording and go Google right
now.
Ethical decision-making model.
And if you want to make it easyon yourself, put in the word
PDF and that way you candownload it and you can put it
on your phone and you have itwith you all the time.
And if you're to make it easyon yourself, put in the word PDF
and that way you can downloadit and you can put it on your
phone and you have it with youall the time.
And if you're a supervisor,teach that to your associates,

(47:54):
because none of these answersare cut and dried and black and
white.
You're going to always have touse your skills, your intuition,
references, colleagues,consultations, all the things so
that you're making the bestdecisions.
Okay, so part two we're going totalk about effective seo

(48:15):
techniques tailored tocounseling practice, marketing
that maintain ethical integrityand enhance online visibility
visibility classes responsibly.
So how do we do that?
Well, it's a I mentioned beforeyour website copy and blogs.
Are there other ways?

(48:35):
Of course there are other ways,but we're talking about
remember, we're fishing I don'tknow what metaphor.
Let's stick with the fishing,right.
So we're fishing, we arewanting folks to be attracted to
our website, and so how do wedo that?
Well, we have to be the thingthey're searching for, but we

(48:56):
don't want to be everythingthey're searching for, right?
We want to make sure that, ifthey're looking for grief
counselor near me, that mywebsite copy mentions that I'm a
grief counselor and I reside inLampasas, texas.
So, as I mentioned, I'm notgoing to talk about all that

(49:17):
kind of technical stuff likekeyword stuffing and putting
keywords in the same font color.
I don't even think you can dothat stuff.
Google's gotten so smart.
I don't even think you can dothat stuff.
Google's gotten so smart.
I'm going to talk about the twothings website copy and blogs.
So let me stop the share and goto my favorite website.

(49:45):
Now, this is my businesswebsite.
It is not my clinical website.
It is not my clinical website.
So what I'm going to show youhere you can do with your
clinical website.
It's taken a few minutes to loadand, just because my point,
what I want you to take awayhere is an understanding of what
is website copy.

(50:06):
So if you see a word, that iswebsite copy, and right now
Google is crawling, the littlerobots are crawling my page and
they're reading all of the wordsand they're categorizing it,
categorizing them.

(50:27):
So picture these virtual filedrawers.
So how many times do I say gradschool?
How many times do I saycounseling?
How many times do I say LPCassociate?
How many times do I say hi, I'mKate?
So that's what it's reading andit's going through every single
page on my website, looking atthe words.

(50:47):
So search engine optimizationstarts with the words on my
website and you could stop there.
So with your website, you couldsimply say, okay, it's my
website, I'm going to have somefabulous copy and Google's going
to search it and people willfind me.
So what are the three thingsmaybe that I need to include?
Well, your name, because evenif you have a website name like

(51:13):
you love, right?
Or a business name and I knowyou guys do because you take my
course and you guys have themost fabulous email addresses,
you know it's likemywonderfulcounselingcom or
hopeabidesforevercom I mean, Ilove these names and I know you
guys thought of these names anddreamed of these names and
they're wonderful.
But when people search for you,they're gonna get your name

(51:37):
from the person in the lunchroomat work who said, hey, I heard
Joan Smith is a really goodcounselor and I know you were
looking for one, so they'regonna go Joan Smith, counselor.
So if you're going to includeanything besides your business
name, please include your name.
Include that you're a counselorand put your location.

(51:59):
You remember earlier, if youwant to rewind and go back, one
of the things that showed upvery high in my little tool,
right, it said counseling, butwhat was even higher was
counseling near me, or maybe itwasn't higher, but it had a.
It was.
It was better.
I'll just put it that way.
So, counseling near me, so,grief, counselor near me.

(52:24):
If they're looking for JackSmith, it's Jack Smith counselor
.
Land Passes Texas Right now.
They are going to absolutelyfind you, jack Smith, counselor
in Land Passes, texas.
So if you can include thosewords, then Google will find
those words, and that makesGoogle happy, which, because

(52:48):
Google wants to do a good job,it wants to return a good search
result.
Right, it doesn't want toreturn, you know, jack Smith
from White Stripes.
We love him, but he's not acounselor, as far as I know, in
Land Passage, texas.
So we want to make sure theyfind the right Jack Smith in the
right location.
So how do we do that?
Even more and better?

(53:10):
Right, we add blogs.
So for me, if we go to actuallyI call it a podcast because I
have a podcast, but it's a blogand Google is going to search it
because it's got so many words,so many words for Google to

(53:33):
search.
So Google goes in and it's like, ah, look at all the words and
it's going to read the words andcatalog every single word in,
you know, because it wants to beready to go.
It's like I'm going to switchmetaphors again it's like the
back of Starbucks, right, thatbarista has that back area all

(53:55):
cataloged.
So when I want my oat milklatte with two pumps of vanilla,
they know exactly where to goto get that.
That's Google.
That's what Google wants to do.
So if you think about what youneed to do, just you know easily
today to start optimizing yourwebsite whoops, that won't help

(54:15):
us.
Let me try that again yourwebsite and your blog.
Now, it doesn't matter how youdo this.

(54:37):
You can create it, you can hiresomebody to create it who is a
specialist at SEO, but it's gotto start with you, right?
I mean, you're the only one whoknows what you do, and if you
read through and listen to whatwe were saying earlier about the
ethics, then you know what youenjoy doing, what you like to do
, the kind of client you enjoy.

(54:58):
So start creating copy based onthat.
If you hire someone to createthat copy for you who says they
are an SEO expert and they'regoing to try to guess what you
love, well, you could turn out acopy that attracts a client
that isn't a great fit for you.
Now, I do have an example here,and we will come back to that if

(55:21):
we have time.
I just don't want to be pressedfor time here.
But I do have an example of howI use my blog and how I decide
which blogs to promote, right?
So it's interesting to me.
So all right.
So ideas for blogs.

(55:42):
People are like I don't knowwhat to write.
I, you know well here.
Do this, make a guide, yourguide to navigating grief how to
handle relatives who mean wellduring the holidays, after grief
happens.
What is grief Behind the scenes, when you're putting on a happy

(56:05):
face at work?
And here's what's really goingon inside, right?
So you can take a topic ofgrief counseling and break it
into so many things that peoplesearch for.
So remember earlier, well,let's do that real quick.
We'll stop the share and we'llgo to back to the Google machine

(56:30):
and we'll just do a littleexploring here so I could put in
how to navigate grief duringthe holidays.
Okay, now, remember, I'm inMichigan and Google knows, knows
that.

(56:51):
So we're going to go down here.
Of course, we're going to haveai first, because ai, and then
we're going to have these topics, which this is a really good
way to know what you want towrite, because google kind of
says look, this is what peopleare looking for, these are the
things that are hitting, theseare the things that.

(57:12):
So we're going to go ahead andgive you a little Reader's
Digest version of the headingsthat people are searching for,
and government entities willalways come up first.
Government entities andeducational institutions.
So we knew that.
Big companies, yep, here we go.
Universities, we knew that.

(57:32):
Big company, big company.
Okay, kate, when are we goingto get to the agencies?
Well, Washington Post choosing.
Oh wait, choosingtherapycom.
That sounds like a person.
Oh wait, choosingtherapycom.
That sounds like a person.

(57:54):
So look at this, let's click onit, and we see that this person,
right, hart Haraguchi,m-a-l-m-h-c-a, wrote an article
and I just clicked on it.
Now, if this person has linksin their article that go back to
their website, guess what I'mgoing to do?
I'm going to click on the links.
I'm going to go back to theirwebsite.

(58:15):
So this is how copy works tooptimize your website.
Even if your copy gets pickedup by someone else, you can have
a link that goes back to yourwebsite, search engine optimized
.
All right, let's go back to ourpowerpoint.
So that was the blog, right,how to's, guides, what is behind

(58:38):
the scenes, and then yourwebsite copy.
So this is really just yourwebsite.
This is what you are puttingdown, the words.
So think of, even if you don'twant to do a think of, even if
you don't want to do a blog,totally okay.
If you don't want to do a blog,you want to make sure there's
accurate data about you in theabout me section.
So, and don't make it so ivorytower about your education.

(59:04):
Think in terms of the person onthe other side of the screen
who's typing in looking for help.
What do you think they needfrom you?
So, the about me section, yourservice descriptions.
If you offer individual therapy,well, what is individual
therapy?
Well, if you offer couplecounseling, family counseling,

(59:26):
what is that?
If you have decided tospecialize grief test, anxiety,
sports performance right, youwant to make sure that you get
very accurate descriptions.
Now, what do I mean by accurate?
Go, google it, right.

(59:46):
Go Google sports performance,psychology counseling click and
see what comes up.
Google will tell you.
Google's not a mystery.
It's going to tell you exactlythe terms that people are
searching for.
So use those terms when youdescribe your product or your

(01:00:07):
copy on your website.
And, of course, please put yourlocation, please put where you
do business, even if you'revirtual.
So this is what people don'tunderstand.
Google doesn't really, as ofthis recording, google doesn't
really get virtual counselingyet.
So, saying that you're virtual,you know you'll have to do some

(01:00:34):
research on that.
Google loves locations, it lovesto show maps, it loves to show
pictures of your office.
It's very much about Google, myBusiness.
So if you are able to have somekind of a location of record,
you might have a little bit ofadvantage than if you are simply

(01:00:56):
virtual only.
And I'm talking to me, I'mvirtual only and my office of
record is located in Lampasas,texas.
So it works.
Actually, my SEO operates sothat I get my ideal client first
, then I guess it's based on mylocation.
I'll get a couple of inquiriesbased on my location in Central

(01:01:20):
Texas, but most of my clients,the inquiries, the potential
clients, are searching becauseof the copy I put on my website.
That has to do with my set, myspecialties.
Okay, Jennifer questions.

Speaker 2 (01:01:39):
Yes, Okay.
So one of the things I'venoticed is, uh, LPC associates
uh love to do based on you knowperiod, but a lot of it has to
do with, like, their site andmarketing and all of that stuff,
and a lot of LPC associateswould like to use psychology
today.

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
It's such great ranks , I mean, and we pay for that
right, so they better have agood rank.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
Yes, and a lot of times you know you'll get
referral codes and you'll getlike six months of free
psychology today, which isawesome when you're, you know,
newly licensed and you're tryingto build a client list and you
don't have a lot of money.
That six months free is great.
So psychology today.
We turn to that.

(01:02:24):
How do we advertise ourselveson psychology today?
And what does that look like?
Because Psychology Todaydoesn't go.
You're in Texas.
Let me tailor your page onPsychology Today based on you,
because that wouldn't beprofitable for them.
So they kind of just generalizeit.
How do we do that?

Speaker 1 (01:02:44):
Yeah.
So you kind of get my feelingon any kind of a national
directory.
It's just going to betroublesome.
But Psychology Today is such awell-established directory and
they do such a fabulous job withtheir filters.
You know, I'm looking forsomeone in Rockwall, texas,

(01:03:05):
works with kids and takes Aetna,and you know I mean you can
find all that.
So I don't have anything bad tosay about that national
directory, except they do notmake it easy for LPC associates
to abide by the LPC rule thatstates you must list your
supervisor's name.

(01:03:26):
Pc rule that states you mustlist your supervisor's name.
So you know, my advice here isyou know, yes, you get your
psychology today listing, butsit with your supervisor and
craft a way to make sure thatit's clear Because, remember,
we're just, we're trying toavoid deception.

(01:03:47):
It's not about being perfect.
You know you want to do yourvery, very, very, very best and
so you've got copy.
Psychology Today has plenty ofspace for you to write down,
supervised by.
It has plenty of space for youto spell out, associate and
don't just put LPCA Right.
So use the tools that you have.

(01:04:09):
You'll get business.
I promise you'll get business.
Just do your best.
In fact, this you know, august2024,.
This was just discussed in oursupervisor Facebook page, the
Texas Supervisor Coalition.
You know it comes up again andagain because psychology today
doesn't make it easy, but wejust got to do our best, all

(01:04:35):
right.
Good question, all right?
So let's put it all together.
How are we going to evaluatethe alignment of our SEO
strategies right?
How we use our blog, how we useour website, how we make sure
Google finds the words thatdescribe us with ethical
principles in counselingpractice, marketing and your

(01:04:56):
business goals?
So what are your goals right Inthis?
You might say no, well,obviously I want to have lots of
clients.
Okay, well, think about that.
When you have lots of clients,let's imagine that you have,
let's just say, 20 direct hoursper week in your private

(01:05:19):
practice.
That's 20 people.
And let's say they stick withyou for a month.
That's 20 people for the monthwith you for a month.
That's 20 people for the month.
Now let's imagine 10% or more,so 20 people.
Let's say two of them terminate.
Let's say two of them quitshowing up, so that's four

(01:05:42):
people.
So 24 people.
So if you are Walmart and you'retrying to market to 7 billion
people, or you're Jane Smith andyou're trying to market to 24
people for the month, and thenyou extrapolate that for the

(01:06:02):
year.
So let's double it, triple it,let's say 100 people.
You're trying to reach 100people for the year.
Right, that's teeny right.
And so imagine, let's say, yourconversion rate.
All that means is a potentialclient turns into an actual

(01:06:22):
client is 10%, and I'm not goodat math, but that still means
you are looking at trying toreach less than 20,000 people,
less than 100,000 people.
So when you think of all of thepeople in your area or your
region or your state, right, andthis is why the counseling

(01:06:46):
compact, I know it's excitingbecause we think, oh, I can go
market myself in Massachusettsor Nevada or Florida.
Texas has a lot of people in ity'all.
And if you're able to optimizeyour website in order to get 100
people out of 100,000 people,that's pretty amazing and it's a
great.

(01:07:07):
It should make everybody kindof just to have a big sigh of
relief because you don't have tohave a lot of clients.
You don't have to have 8million people walking through
your door.
Also, you want to think aboutcash or insurance, because the
strategies will be different.
I saw a question once in Texascounselors creating bad-ass

(01:07:31):
businesses.
If I take insurance, is it okayto market to businesses who
offer that insurance to theiremployees?
Absolutely, think about puttingthat in your copy right.
If you work in a town, you knowJack's Widgets and Jack's
Widgets gives everybody Aetnafor their medical insurance.
Well, jack's Widgets, aetna.

(01:07:52):
I'd put that in a bunch of mycopy right, write blogs about it
.
So, making sure that you're,you know, highlighting what
people who work for Jack'sWidgets deal with.
Maybe they're shift workers,maybe they work with heavy
machinery, maybe there's hightech, right, so you can put a
lot of things in there thatwould attract folks working for

(01:08:15):
Jack's Widgets who will take theinsurance or who use the
insurance that you'recredentialed with.
Growing or staying a one-manshow, you know it is possible
that you're amazing andeverybody needs counseling
because they do, and so you dothis amazing campaign and you

(01:08:36):
blow up, right.
I mean you are just gettinginundated with calls.
Well, if you're trying to juststay a one man show, that's
going to be overwhelming.
So think about that growth,because it will happen, because
you are awesome and we do needgreat counselors.
Do you want to add extraservices?
Do you want to I don't knowbecome a supervisor.

(01:08:57):
We need supervisors.
So if you're adding supervision, then your website copy it
could get kind of confusing,right?
That's when you start thinking,well, do I need another website
?
Because if I optimize thiswebsite over here, can you see
my hand For counseling?
And then I say, oh, I also wantto be a supervisor, but I'm

(01:09:17):
trying to optimize that too.
But now it's like I've got twowebsites and Google's crawling
and Google's kind of confusedbecause it's not really sure if
you're a counselor or you're asupervisor.
Sometimes it's just easier tokeep it simple, but you've got
to think about those goals asyou're planning your website and

(01:09:38):
, let's face it, it's super easyto do.
You want a new website, youwant a new domain name.
I mean, what is it?
$10 a year or something likethat?
These aren't high stakesfinancial decisions.
You can do this.
Think about what you like to do.
So if you are going to create ablog, I hope you like writing
blogs.

(01:09:58):
I hope you like beingconsistent.
If you are going to havesomething on your website where
people can enter theirinformation and get a download
from you, get your newsletter wecall that an opt-in, by the way
, I hope you like answeringemails.
If you decide to have apresence on social media.
By the way, google does notcrawl social media.

(01:10:22):
Social media does notnecessarily optimize your
website, but I will talk in asecond about how it can help.
Well, do you like keeping upwith social media?
Because if you're going to beon social media as a business, I
mean, I don't know how manytimes I get some kind of comment
like hi, I want to be yourfriend.

(01:10:44):
Will you please answer mydirect message and I'm like
delete.
Will you please answer mydirect message and I'm like
delete, delete, delete, right.
So if I'm not constantlykeeping up with my social media
and yes, I have to haveboundaries, of course you know
it can get out of control, butyou have to decide if that's
number one, if that's where yourclients are, and two, if you

(01:11:11):
like using it.
Don't do a newsletter if youhate newsletters.
The funnel.
This is why we do what we doFishing net, fishing pole,
little bitty fishing net, right.
So we send out this signal toGoogle that we have this amazing
copy that our search engine is.
I'm sorry, our website is readyto be crawled.

(01:11:39):
So a potential client finds you.
Then they click on a thing,they check out your blog.
They opt in because yourwebsite has all the right ways
that this person can interactwith you.
They book a consultation andthey actually get to talk to you
and they decide if they want togo to a first session or you
know what.
It's not a good fit, but you'reso amazing that I'm going to go
tell all my family and friendsabout you because you have these

(01:12:02):
amazing website resources.
You have blogs, you havedownloads, you have videos I can
watch, you have a course I cantake.
So search engine optimizationstarts here.
It says, hey, google, I'm whatthey're looking for.
But it's up to you then todecide how interactive you want
to get.
And if you forget, why clickback two slides and look at your

(01:12:27):
goals, because this is whatyour potential client or let's
call them a raving fan right?
If someone's not going to beyour client, we want them to be
a fan who tells the world abouthow awesome you are.
They're going to opt into yournewsletter.
They're going to download yourfree guide.
They're going to watch yourhow-to video.
They're going to read your blog.

(01:12:47):
They're going to purchase yourresource guide.
They're going to watch yourhow-to video.
They're going to read your blog, they're going to purchase your
resource.
And here's where social mediacan help.
If you have the ability toshare, which most websites, you
have a little widget.
You can put that in your blog.
You can share.
That the reader can share yourcontent on their social media.

(01:13:07):
So now you have something.
It was optimized, google lovedit, they found you and now it's
going to get shared, becausepeople love to be helpful.
They want to find good contentand share it with their
neighbors, their friends andtheir family.
So if you have optimized now,you'll get this additional bonus

(01:13:27):
of folks wanting to share yourstuff, which means more eyes,
and not just eyes, the righteyes, the people who need your
services, and hopefully we'llfind you.

(01:13:48):
Now here's say, they come toyour website, they click and
they read your blog.
Well, if they are looking forclient services.
But you've decided to addsupervision and that blog was
really about supervision thatcan get confusing.
So as you get into this and youstart thinking, okay, I wanna
do all the things, you'll needopt-ins for each different kind

(01:14:12):
of client, and I know I'mgetting a little bit more
advanced here and it's hard tokeep it all straight, but you
can always go to TexasCounselors Creating Badass
Businesses, and you can tag meand ask questions there of me or
any of the folks in there.
There are lots of folks inthere who know more about this
stuff than I do.

(01:14:35):
Now, the other thing to consideris do you have a system?
I teach this all the time.
So you've optimized, peoplefind you, they've contacted you,
but then they don't hear fromyou for a week, or their email
never gets answered, or they seta consultation with you and you
miss it right.
So as you start thinking, okay,I'm going to do these things,

(01:14:58):
I'm going to optimize my website, so I'm in the search rankings,
I'm being ethical about it, I'mbeing open and clear and
transparent well, you haveanother ethical obligation.
If you let hurting people kindof just sit in the net I mean,
what happens to a fish when youjust let it sit in the net?
Right, that's not kind.

(01:15:19):
So we want to make sure, as youget these things together, go
slowly, do one thing at a time.
I'll give you a real basicsuggestion.
Many, many, many of you have aphone number and an email on
your website.
What if you just had one way ofcontacting you, right?

(01:15:42):
So if it's just texting.
If it's just voicemail, juststick with that for a while and
then, when you get a system inplace, add email.
Then, when you get a system inplace, add an opt-in.
That goes someplace else.
But we don't want to let hurtingpeople hang out there thinking,
okay, they said they were gonnacontact me.

(01:16:03):
I love their website copy.
They look like they reallyunderstand me.
I watch their video.
This person, they're the onefor me.
I watch their video, thisperson, they're the one for me.
And then they never hear fromyou.
All right, jennifer, we've gotmore questions.
Before we close, what you got?

Speaker 2 (01:16:19):
So there's always this big back and forth
discussion about LPC associatesand social media.
The.
You know we've established thatthey can have it right, but
what does that look like?
And I've seen everything from.
My supervisor just wants toknow what my social media

(01:16:40):
accounts are so they can beapprised of the things I'm
posting all the way to.
I've seen a couple supervisorswanting access to their
associates' social mediaaccounts and that would include
private accounts and passwordsand that's kind of scary for an
LPC associate.
Do I need to give my supervisorfull access to my social media

(01:17:04):
accounts and include thepassword so they can log in and
have control of it?

Speaker 1 (01:17:11):
accounts and include the password so they can log in
and have control of it.
So your supervisor can askanything they want, because they
are the gatekeeper and withoutthem you cannot practice.
So this is a great conversationfor starting out, especially if
you know that independent I'msorry.
If you know that owning yourown practice is your goal, like

(01:17:31):
you need a supervisor who'sgoing to help you launch your
private practice.
Ask them up front how they wantto deal with this very issue.
Show them this presentationright.
Help them understand you wantto work with them.
So the answer is complicatedbecause of course, they can ask.
If you don't feel comfortable,don't do it.

(01:17:54):
Right, that is absolutelywithin your right.
If somebody wants the passwordto my stuff, I'm saying no.
If it's not related to business, if it's my private account,
I'm saying no.
I mean you should never know bymy marketing or my counseling

(01:18:15):
or my teaching how I vote and ifI go to church.
So those types of things.
You know.
If my supervisor is wanting tokind of oversee that, if they
don't like the way I vote orthey don't like where I go to
church or they don't like thepeople I hang out with or what I
call myself or how I identify.
We got bigger problems right.

(01:18:37):
So, um, I would want to knowfrom the get-go in the interview
hey, supervisor, will you bewanting to see my private
account?
And if they say yes, then yousay why.
You know, have that opendialogue and it may be a deal
breaker and walk away.
There are other qualifiedsupervisors out there and I'm

(01:19:01):
sorry, but if anybody wantspasswords, I'm saying no.

Speaker 2 (01:19:04):
So that's a little scary, yeah, I think.
I think we forget, asassociates, that the interview
process between associate andsupervisor is a two week wait.
Yes, well said, absolutely, andwe are interviewing them to see
if they're a fit, just as muchas they're interviewing us.

Speaker 1 (01:19:22):
So absolutely, and we have an opt in for that, btw.
Ok, and we have an opt-in forthat, btw.

Speaker 2 (01:19:27):
Okay.
So my next question is let'ssay I have a supervisor that's
like all for it and it saysabsolutely you can create a
social media page for yourcounseling services.
Should that be just forinformation only, or should I
set it up to where clients cancontact me if it is a purely
business social media account?

Speaker 1 (01:19:50):
So lots of things came up with this and you and I,
before we even recorded this,we talked about this.
Number one social media isn'tHIPAA compliant, right?
There's no way to secure thatinformation at all and we cannot
control if our clients commenton our stuff and yes, I'm not

(01:20:14):
going to.
You know the intricacies offriending and finding and
following and you know all that,right.
The point is, your client mayfind you and comment.
Now, that is their protectedhealth information.
That's totally up to them to dowith what they will.
Your job is to make sure youneither confirm nor deny they

(01:20:40):
are seeing you for services.
Now, that includes if theymessage you, if they DM you, all
of those things.
You are risking their protectedhealth information being
compromised when you answer them, when you and I know they're
extenuating circumstances.

(01:21:01):
Go see your ethicaldecision-making model, but just
know that.
Number one, that's the danger.
The other side of it is youremember what I said earlier
social media does not helpoptimize your website, right?
The way social media helps youis if people share your content.
So, having a way just so thatpeople can share but not

(01:21:24):
necessarily comment, yay,perfect, right, so they can
share, share, share and thatstuff gets out there.
Personally, when I share onsocial media, I'm sharing a blog
, so that's my content I wantpeople to share, so please share
.
I'm also using Instagram todirect people back to my website

(01:21:49):
with a specific link, so wecall that a call to action.
So again, it's not aconversation, it's simply hey,
here's what I'm doing, here'show it relates to you.
Want to know more?
Click here.
And then they go and they findmy opt-in.
So you go back to your goalsfor social media.

(01:22:10):
Then you can start deciding howyou want to use social media.
But I am absolutely againstusing social media as a
communication device.
It should be for justadvertising only displays,
pamphlet, however, you want tothink about that.
So here we are bottom line, andI'm going to read this out loud

(01:22:34):
for our closed captioning.
Making exaggerated claims orguarantees, desperate promises
of miracle cures, ourunrealistic results erode trust
and violate ethical issues inhealthcare marketing.
Stick to evidence-based claimsand focus on the genuine
benefits you offer.
Exploit vulnerabilities.

(01:22:55):
Preying on patients and for us,clients anxieties or fears is
unethical and ineffective.
Avoid sensationalizing healthissues or using manipulative
tactics to drive conversationsor increase your SEO rank.
Engage in unfair comparisons.
Focus on showcasing your ownstrengths instead of denigrating

(01:23:18):
competitors.
Ethical issues in marketingfrequently arise from negative
comparisons that misleadconsumers.
Neglect accessibility.
Ensure your marketing materialsare accessible to everyone,
regardless of disability ortechnological limitations.
Consider offering alternativeformats like audio recordings or
transcripts for written content, and disregard professional

(01:23:42):
codes of conduct conduct.
Many health care professionshave established ethical codes.
Like us, we do.
Familiarize yourself withrelevant codes and ensure your
marketing activities comply withthem.
And I got that here.
If you would like to downloadthat, all right.
Thank you so much for watching.

(01:24:02):
I'm Kate Walker.
I own Kate Walker Training.
We deliver and teach the40-hour training to become a
supervisor in Texas, completelyonline.
And Jennifer.

Speaker 2 (01:24:13):
I am Jennifer Marie Fairchild.
I am an LBC associate in Texas.
Clinical mental healthcounselor candidate in New
Hampshire.

Speaker 1 (01:24:20):
Thank y'all and if you have any questions, you know
where to tag us.
You.