E-E-A-T for Counsellors: What It Actually Means, with Theo Ruby

Transcript of episode 249: E-E-A-T for Counsellors: What It Actually Means, with Theo Ruby
If you prefer to read or want to skim through what we've talked about, here’s the full transcript below.

[00:00:00] Jane: If you are a counselor or therapist with a website, or you've been trying to write blogs to help people to find you, there's something important happening behind the scenes that affects whether or not any of that actually gets seen. Now, Google holds mental health content to a much higher standard than most other industries because of the impact that your work can have on somebody's life.

So your website and your blogs are being looked at more closely, you know, through things like trust and experience and credibility. Now, that might sound a little bit daunting, but actually this is really good news because it means that your training, your experience, and the way you already understand your clients isn't just useful in your work.

It's exactly what helps you to stand out online too. So today I am delighted to be joined by Theo Ruby, who works specifically with people in the wellness industries, especially counselors and psychotherapists, by helping them with their websites, with their content, and to be honest, all of the more technical things.

And together we are going to make sense of what this means for your website, your blogs, and how you can start using this to your advantage. So if you want your website to do more for your practice, then this is definitely worth a listen.

Hi, and welcome to the Grow Your Private Practice Show. I'm Jane Travis and I help counselors and therapists to get found by the right clients through simple doable marketing, especially through blogging and your website words. So if you need a little help with that, well you are in the right place.

Hello, hello, hello and welcome back and if it's your first time here. It is really great to have you here and I hope that you're having a good day so far, and today we're talking about something that, to be honest, might feel a little bit daunting at first glance, but is in fact really great news for private practice owners.

Because when it comes to your website and when it comes to the blogs that you write, it's not just about what you write, it's about how that content is seen and who gets to see it. So I'm absolutely delighted that the lovely Theo rubies here with me, and he works specifically with counselors and therapists, predominantly helping them with their websites, but also their content, and really all of those technical bits that, you know, most of us would probably prefer to avoid or I do anyway.

And what we're gonna be talking about are things like EE 80. YMYL. We're gonna have a look at what they mean, what they mean in practice, and why they matter so much for therapists, but more importantly, how this can actually work in your favor. So the experience and knowledge that you already have helps you to get found by the right people.

I hope you enjoy this one. Theo, I am so delighted to have you here again. You've been with us before. I've spoken to you loads of times privately. You are the person that I send people to when they need help with the tech side of their website. So I'm absolutely delighted that you're here today.

And what we're gonna do is we're gonna have a look at these two new acronyms. That we should all take notice of, , EEAT and YMYL if I've got those right. So what I'd like to do is pick your brain and maybe you can tell us what these are and why it is that we should really prick up our ears about them.

[00:03:51] Theo: Thank you for having me again. It's a pleasure to be back with you and I appreciate everything we've done over the past few years. so in essence, EEAT is the Google's quality framework, and it's the way that Google kind of looks at your content and says, are you reputable? Do you show your trust? And is it worth them sharing it with, potential clients?

It's not. I mean, at the end of the day, it's about writing good quality content that she speaks to the client rather than just kind of regurgitating or using ai. And in, I mean, in essence, it's just as long as what you write is true to you and it's written well, then that's, you are ticking most of the boxes.

We can go into more detail, but then YMYL is like an extension of that, and it's basically saying therapists, because people are putting their money into something that affects their mental health. Google actually puts you on kind of a pedestal and you, it checks you more and it's even more important for you to show your experience.

And your trust in what you write and ensure that you're actually giving useful articles and you're not kind of leading people down the wrong path. 

[00:04:52] Jane: Mm-hmm. I sometimes get a little bit intimidated by things like this when it's an acronym and it's a new thing.

I think, oh my God, it's really serious. Am I gonna get told off if I don't do it? And it sounds too techy, why should we be leaning in towards this? 

[00:05:11] Theo: Because effectively it's gonna help, the entire marketing piece. So if you write good quality content that sounds like you. It's always, if you put the client first, it's gonna save you time on things like paying for ads and building up your practice.

So for me, the importance of Y and YL is really about giving you the opportunity to stand out. It's always about putting the client first. You don't have to read load loads of books on it.

You don't have to overthink it too much. On my website, I've got a simple guide you can follow, and it gives you a checklist of things you can do to make sure that what you write resonates with a client.what I would say is always think about what makes your piece of content unique. You are not just copying from Wikipedia, you're not taking it from ai.

Please never take anything straight from ai. it's you weaving in your years of experience what you've learned and then things in your practice that have you found to be useful. 

[00:06:04] Jane: Yeah, 

[00:06:05] Theo: so it's not just, insomnia can be treated by X. It's through my 10 years as a therapist, I've found these techniques can work for some of my clients.

[00:06:14] Jane: So what we're talking about isn't actually that we need to make a big change. It's that we need to double down on the sort of things that we kind of know we should be doing anyway, which is letting people know that we know what we're talking about. It's something that we've got some training in, we've got some experience in, and that's the sort of thing now that Google's saying, right, well, I can see that you are trustworthy, therefore I'm happy to send people to your website.

[00:06:42] Theo: Exactly, and it goes, in the website you should include like your membership bodies, your use of experience where you trained, just so it makes it, it's obvious that you are credible. And then that would then feed into the content you create as well for the blogs and for the pages.if you look at, say, a, a wellness article, so something you might just google a bit of a generic article and then you look at something that a counselor's written specific to someone's need.

The, the tone's a bit different. The detail's different. It's more something they can take away and keep rather than just, uh, like a , Wikipedia article. 

[00:07:18] Jane: Mm-hmm. So it start, I mean, I, I, as you know, I help people to write blogs and one of the things I'm always trying to do is help people to write blogs that are going to.

Connect to share a little bit of their personality. So this is just going, it's kind of doing that, but sort of slightly adding a little bit extra about, yes, connecting with people, but also letting people know and letting Google know that yes, you are a qualified counselor, you've been doing this for years, and that's gen.

That's just by doing those things, that's gonna help them to get found by more people. 

[00:07:56] Theo: Exactly, and it, it feeds into the entire website. So you wanna make sure that the website's set up correctly, that you've got all of the correct links. And obviously if someone else mentioned you to have those, it's called an authoritative link, but like, a link from a directory or a third party that shows your trust.

So if you're working with GP practices, insurance companies, anything like that, it just shows that you're credible. It shows that other people put their trust in you. 

[00:08:20] Jane: Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:21] Theo: and it's some people they get featured in, magazines, newspapers, for example. All of those things feed into it and they just build out a bigger picture of you.

but it's, it's really just consciously thinking. Is this relevant? Is it useful? And do I incredible? 

[00:08:38] Jane: Mm-hmm. It's kind of something that I've been sort of talking about for years. 'cause many, many, many years ago, we're talking probably 20 years ago, I can remember being really aware that if, if I went onto Google to search for something that I would expect a counselor to answer, there were so few counselors on there creating blogs and writing and.

I think that this is kind of highlighting the fact that as counselors, we do have all of this knowledge and we do have all of this experience and we have a voice and we, we should be out there letting people know that we, we know what we're doing, we know we can help you, and it's finding a way of doing that that is something that doesn't make us feel really horribly salesy or spammy.

[00:09:28] Theo: And I think it takes time. Like I work with a lot of people starting in private practice and they always say, oh, like, could I create the content for them? And I, I work with them to create like a, a skeleton, like a guide, and then it's about them putting in their own flare, their own personality into it, so that that little bit of energy makes a huge difference.

And it's just, it comes across really much more natural, much more approachable if you do it that way. 

[00:09:54] Jane: Yeah. To me, I feel quite excited about it because when I work with, with therapists and I want to help them to get found by more people, this is some of the things that they can start doing naturally in the marketing that they do on their website, on their blogs.

Is is gonna help that. So rather than it being something that's a bit intimidating mm-hmm. it's something that, and you've got a fantastic guide, we're gonna link to it, but you've got a guide that goes through all of this with all sorts of ideas of things you can try and, you know, it's a really comprehensive guide that, like I say, I'm gonna share in the show notes.

So definitely grab that and have a look at it. And it's a really easy to understand guide. 

[00:10:39] Theo: Thank you. No, I appreciate it and welcome for anyone to have it. the other thing as well to mention, so if you are thinking about, say, client words, so a client might not know the terminology, so again, on the website and the blogs, you should really simplify, any jargon, any new techniques.

Just really break it down for them as well. And it, that also shows that you are making it accessible. That's included in the guide. Oh, is for free for anyone and thank you for sharing it. 

[00:11:07] Jane: No problem, no problem. I've certainly found it really helpful. So if anybody is listening this to this and thinking, well, to be honest, that's kind of freaking me out.

It sounds like a lot. What would you say to somebody to sort of help them to see that this could be probably easier than they think it might be? 

[00:11:28] Theo: So there's two things I normally do. One is go onto Google a new browser. Just search for therapist in the same profession as you, , same niche. Look at the ones in the top, top few listings, and then you'll, you'll understand how they're writing to make it work.

I know I said don't use ai, but you can also use AI for planning and you can say to it. Here's my content. Tell me how I can improve it for Google, EEAT, it's really well known and it will just give you the steps, it'll give you the critique, but again, it's, it's about using it as a strategic partner, but not using it to actually write the content.

[00:12:06] Jane: Yeah, and I think that's the thing, isn't it? I mean, I use, I use chat GPT or AI like all the time for lots of things, but I don't say. Write me a blog about X. You know, I, I write it. Sometimes I'll, I'll write it and then I'll get them to, you know, I might say, what else could I add? But being able to say to ai, can you make this compatible with, what is it?

E, E, what is it? E-A-E-A-T. Yeah. So by saying to it, please make this blog post compatible with that. That's one of the ways it can really just help you and give you some more ideas to improve it. 

[00:12:42] Theo: Yeah, just a thing on that, rather than saying, improve it for me, say to it, ask me the questions you need to make it EAT.

[00:12:50] Jane: Yeah. 

[00:12:51] Theo: And then it takes a couple more minutes, but you fill out those questions showing your own, your own knowledge, your own expertise. 

[00:12:57] Jane: That's 

[00:12:57] Theo: great. So it's your input that does it. 

[00:12:59] Jane: Yeah. So you say, can you tell me what I, what I need to add to this to make it better? Give me the questions exactly. And ask the questions, which helps you to see what you need to add.

[00:13:09] Theo: And that's the biggest thing with AI is that two step approach. Yeah, so for me it's a quick side bit, but I'd always personally use Claude and then I say to it, create me a prompt for X and it creates its own prompt. And then I say to it, ask me the questions you that you need to make this article.

Perfect. So it is never hallucinating. It's never generating its own content. 

[00:13:31] Jane: Yeah. 

[00:13:31] Theo: It's pulling everything from you. 

[00:13:32] Jane: Yeah. 

[00:13:33] Theo: And the output's so different. It's massively different. 

[00:13:36] Jane: It's amazing, isn't it? How we've gone from having to have a a, a prompt where we ask a particular prompt to get an answer to. Now we just, we just speak to it and ask it a question and, you know, ask it for feedback.

I just find it's just improved so much. But we have to remember that it's just a tool. We are the people, you know, whoever's writing the blog is the person who knows the most. And I think, you know, it's, we shouldn't rely on. GPT or Claude or any of the ais, it's it's a tool that can help us, but it can also, I guess when it comes to something like this, it can also trip us up because, I mean, can Google tell when it's been written by AI or when it's like a little bit thin?

[00:14:21] Theo: Yeah, I was just gonna come to that. So basically it can pick up duplicate content from another site, and also if it's AI generated, there's a certain way that it writes, like the grammar, the repetitiveness and stuff. So the, the therapists that are just using AI are actually gonna get marked down, and if you take the time to improve it, you have more opportunity to go up.

So it's really, yeah, if you'd use it entirely, then it's becoming more of a weakness.

[00:14:45] Jane: So can you give me an example maybe of like a simple example of something that would change a blog from. Just being a blog to something that kind of brings this in. What, what would be the sorts of things that you'd say? 

[00:15:01] Theo: So for, for example, in Insomnia, if it was, a guide or like a, a blog on ways to help with insomnia, rather than just pulling whatever's on Wikipedia, WebMD, those kind of things.

If you write and you say, I've trained for, and I've got this certification. I've worked for the past eight years helping people to overcome this challenge, and here's three things that I've found have helped my clients the most. So you're giving practical real life examples without giving any personal information.

You're showing your credibility, you're showing that it's something that's unique to you. And then also it might be worth saying, like a disclaimer somewhere saying it's not medical advice. If you have real health issues to go and seek support. 

[00:15:43] Jane: Yeah, 

[00:15:43] Theo: you are saying like, I can help you, but it's like if you really need help, you can go somewhere else.

[00:15:48] Jane: Yeah. 

[00:15:49] Theo: Given that kind of well-rounded answer. 

[00:15:51] Jane: Yeah. Well, it's letting people know that this is just a blog and you know, if you really need help, you probably should reach out. So what, so if I was writing a blog about insomnia, then I might say something then like, Would I say something like, I've always been really interested in issues around sleep, how it affects us, and as such I've done, you know, X amount of training and I've been working with clients to do with their sleep patterns for X number of years, and as such, I've found that these are, this is three, these are three things, or these are some things that people have found really useful.

Is that the kind of way you'd put it? 

[00:16:33] Theo: Exactly. And if there is lived experience, if you can mention that It does, it is a really big signal for Google. Yeah. So it's not just, you are reading about the topic, it's you've, you've lived with insomnia, you've lived with binge eating, for example. 

[00:16:45] Jane: Yeah. 

[00:16:46] Theo: and it's about, yeah, working out what you're comfortable including and then making that kind of resonate with the, the reader.

something actually that's really important, I think you mentioned it in a previous blog, but if you have say a page on insomnia, it's about creating what you call a cluster. So three or four different blogs around that topic can do masses for your website. So it's not just everything in its individual strand, it's thinking about the wider picture.

[00:17:14] Jane: So if you, if you are somebody that specializes in insomnia or whatever you specialize in, write several different blogs from a slightly different angle, looking at it in a different way. And then I guess you can kind of do some internal linking so they link together and Google sees that as something that's more powerful than just, you know, occasionally blogs on that subject.

[00:17:38] Theo: Exactly, and I've only met a few therapists that do that well. So if you can, you really have that kind of, that edge, that ability to be found. 

[00:17:45] Jane: Yeah. 

[00:17:45] Theo: for me, so if I have a topic on, SEA for therapists, I'll write three to four. They're all relate, but they're all unique.and then as you said, inter interlink them, reference them and also from your service page, mention them.

So it's all, it's, you are building up your own resource for your clients. Yeah, 

[00:18:04] Jane: but it's not just for Google. Obviously we've got the Google gods out there that we want to appease and say, please, please, you know, show my stuff to everybody. But it's not just about appeasing the Google gods. It's also the fact that by writing this.

This is a way that you are connecting with your clients. This is a way of saying, look, I know what I'm talking about without saying I'm an expert. 'cause I know it feels really, it feels horrible. It feels a bit icky to say, Hey, I'm an expert. And you don't have to say you're an expert. You can, but you can let the fact that you've got experience and you've got this interest.

All of this knowledge speaks for itself. So it's great for Google and it's great for getting found in that way, but then it's great for your potential clients who land on your pages because it's saying, look, I know what I'm talking about. I'm interested in it, and maybe I've had some personal experience of it, which really all of that is a fantastic thing to do anyway. You know, I think, I mean, that's kind of something that I've always talked about trying to do that, but this kind of gives you a real proper reason to do it. 

[00:19:12] Theo: Yeah, and I think finding your voice is really powerful. So I always try and encourage people to create video as well if they can.

So thinking about if someone's going to the site and there's a video of you talking on the topic, you can't, you can't fake that. Even with AI and stuff, you can't recreate a solid video of you talking about the topic. Then having the blogs, having the page, you're showing your client that you really know what you're talking about.

[00:19:36] Jane: Yeah. 

[00:19:37] Theo: and it's just, it, it's gonna benefit you, benefit you in so many ways. Yeah. Not just SEO but also them building up trust them coming back to you, them recommending you. It really makes it stand out. 

[00:19:48] Jane: Yeah. And then your website is rather than being just like an online pamphlet or something, it then becomes like a proper, really good, strong, powerful shop window.

So when anybody lands on it, they're like, wow, this person's really knows their stuff. 

[00:20:06] Theo: And that, I mean, the good thing about it is it last few years, it's not something that's just for the short term. If you do something now, it might benefit you in say, 10 years time. So there's a, there's a blog that I wrote, I think it was eight years ago, on how to grow in private practice.

and now I'm still getting leads. I'm actually getting more traffic to my site from that than I'm from my homepage. So every page counts. Every post really can make a difference. 

[00:20:29] Jane: Yeah, it's phenomenal, isn't it? It's the same with me. I look back at my figures and I do, I do a podcast and a blog every week, and obviously they're the ones that probably get seen most, but people, when they look at that blog or podcast, they then go and listen to or or read other ones.

And so. You know, I've been doing well. I'm on episode 247 I think, and, but people are still listening to and reading stuff that goes right back, you know, years. And that's the power, isn't it? You don't, it's not like social media where you put something out there and then it kind of disappears. You write something and it's not something that's like transient.

It sort of sticks there. And if you've got these new rules to kind of think, right, okay, I need to. Do these rules 'cause it's gonna help me. it means that those things that go out are just gonna keep working really hard for you in the background long term. 

[00:21:25] Theo: Mm-hmm. And I think also in terms of your blogs, we mentioned before, but it's not really the quantity idea.

Obviously if you can create a blog a month, that'd be amazing, but if you don't, if you're busy, it's about going back and just refining and adding to previous ones. So if you've already written, say, three blogs on insomnia. You can just go back and add in, maybe a reference or like an experience that you've had and that will do nearly as much for your site as creating a fresh one.

[00:21:51] Jane: Yeah, I mean, I don't recommend people blog every week that I do it because I quite like it. But, I always recommend one a month. That's absolutely fine. But that's a great idea. So anybody that does have blogs, I suppose one simple thing they might do if they, you know, if they check your guide out and think, right, I'm gonna do that.

It could be go back into previous, blogs that you've done and just tweak them to add some of these things. 

[00:22:17] Theo: Yeah. And that also, when you update a blog, it sends a signal to Google and the search engines that you are, you're current, you are actively trying to improve, what you're offering. And also it gives a bit more content, a bit more detail.

Yeah. So yeah, it is literally like turning on a switch and just saying, I'm here.and the other thing is. I would probably suggest looking at if you can your Google search console for what people are typing in to find you. it's quite easy if you have search console set up, it will tell you the questions they're asking.

'cause sometimes what they say in person and what they write online is a little bit different. So they might, it is normally a challenge or a question, and then you can feature your blogs around those. 

[00:22:57] Jane: Yeah, really good advice. And I know, I mean, I talk about SEO of course I do because I do blogging, but I, I wouldn't say I'm an expert at SEO.

You are, you are very, you are far more knowledgeable than me, and I know that you've got loads of really good blogs yourself that can help people. So again, I'll put all Theo's, details in the show notes. Theo, I am aware of the time. I know we're a bit short on time today. but I did want to talk about the fact that you and I are gonna be putting on a free event, aren't we?

[00:23:27] Theo: Yeah. So 14th of May 11:00 AM really looking forward to it, and I think it'd be a chance to have a q and a session. Anyone who's available can come and ask questions about their website, their own content plans, and we can probably go for a couple of demos as well. 

[00:23:40] Jane: Mm-hmm. 

[00:23:41] Theo: I think the main thing really is.

It's not a raw, it should just be something that you build into the way that you write. And it should, like if you do it a few times, it's. It should just become second nature and that's what we're hopefully trying to get across in the session. Yeah, 

[00:23:54] Jane: absolutely. So we're gonna do this thing, it's called How to Make Your Website Stand Out.

It's more q and a really, isn't it? It's not about us particularly teaching or training. So if there's anything that's come up about your website, about blogging, about these new, new changes come along, it's very casual, you know, it's not being recorded, and you can just chat to us and then, Yeah, just ask you questions.

I personally love doing that sort of thing and I know you do too, don't you? 

[00:24:22] Theo: Exactly. And I think what I'll probably do is leave an an email, so if anyone's got any questions in the meantime, they can email it in and we can start with those as well. Yes, that's And also brilliant. I just try and get back to them.

[00:24:31] Jane: Yeah. 

[00:24:32] Theo: but yeah, no, thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity and hopefully well whoever listens to this, hopefully you can, embed it in your next blog. 

[00:24:39] Jane: Perfect. Perfect. And any questions, Theo and I are here to help you. So Theo, thank you so much. Thank you so much. It's been lovely talking to you as always, and I'm really looking forward to getting with you on, is it the 11th?

I can't remember now. Is it the 11th or the 14th? 

[00:24:55] Theo: 14th of May. 11th. 

[00:24:56] Jane: 14th, yeah. Looking forward to it. Thanks so much. Bye. 

[00:25:00] Theo: Thank you. Take care. 

[00:25:02] Jane: So a really massive thank you to Theo for taking time out of his busy life to share this information with us in such an easy to understand way. And as I said, he's got a comprehensive blog post that walks you through all of this with practical actions you can take. I'm gonna share that in the show notes along with other details of Theo, who he is, how he works, and the details of our event, how to make your website stand out. Now, this is an event that Theo and I are putting on.

It's a free event. It's very. It's a very, very, casual event. I guess it's on the 14th of May. It's gonna be at 11 till 12 UK time, and you can come along with all of your questions about websites and creating blogs and producing content, and of course. Questions about what we've covered today. As I say, it's totally free.

You'll be very welcome. And yeah, I really hope that you can come and join us. And if you have any questions that you want to share with us beforehand, then please either contact myself or Theo and that gives us a chance to make sure that we include that. 

Thank you so much for finding time to be here with us today. I really hope that this has helped you to see that you don't need to become more technical and you don't need to start from scratch. You just need to make a better use of what's already there.

[00:26:23] Speaker: So I really hope that you found this useful and you're gonna go off and you're gonna try this out. Thank you so much for listening and make sure that you hit follow so you don't miss out the next one.

Okay, I'll see you soon. Take care.