New Orleans Internet Marketing

The Family & Marriage Counseling Directory was started in 2003 as a project that would take advantage of Google’s brand new program (at the time) called “Adsense.” While at the same time, filling a gap in mental health resources on the web.

Need
The Family & Marriage Counseling Directory was designed specifically to fill a need that existed on the internet at the time. “Marriage Counseling” was, and still is, the top keyword phrase that search engine users type in when they are looking for help with their relationships, and the site was started with the intent to make natural search results the goal. At the time there were no other directories of therapists showing up on the first page of results for “Marriage Counseling.”

Target Audience
The target audience for this project was internet searchers looking for help in their relationships. Due to budget limitations, all money was invested into search engine optimization - to improve the “natural” search results.

Methods
Performed keyword research in order to determine which search phrases were the most popular for people looking for counseling professionals, then came up with a name for the site, and url that incorporated those names in a way that gave precedence to the more popular combination. (Hence “Family & Marriage Counseling,” not “Marriage and Family Counseling”).

Since SEO was top priority, all tried and true methods for search engine optimization (at the time) were incorporated into the site. The domain name used keywords separated by dashes, the site title was in large text, top left on all of the pages, keyword density was around 5%, there was a lot of text on the homepage, and of course, keywords were used in the title tags of the pages. The only non-typical SEO decision was to opt for the homepage title to only use the name of the site rather than 10 - 14 keywords. This was done in hopes of getting a higher click-through rate in the natural results because: 1. The keywords were in the name of the site, and 2. The name was well-targeted to the search audience. At the time, duplicate content wasn’t a major issue and useful articles from around the web were copied and published on the site, while of course, giving credit and links back to their origin. The interior pages were all formatted similar to the homepage, and the original directory listings were all placed for free.

Off page factors were easy to come by at first. Since there really weren’t other sites like this in its niche, many mental health web sites linked to us free of charge, and many without even giving reciprocal links. Individualized link requests were sent out to many high ranking sites and organizations, paying particular attention to .edu domains. A DMOZ listing happened within 3 months, and many other directory listings were bought in the beginning, including Yahoo! (Directory listings are still frequently purchased).

Results
The site was quickly indexed and rose to the top of the search results for “Marriage Counseling” and “Family Counseling” within 3 months. Although results have occasionally fluctuated over time, The Family & Marriage Counseling Directory has always remained one of the top ranked sites for its keywords. The site has also become a respected authority site in its niche, receiving natural links from other sites; and therapists frequently submit articles for publication on it.

Many other keyword phrases have been successfully targeted since 2003. The site also ranks well for “relationship counseling,” ”couples counseling,” ”family therapists,” and more. The interior pages also rank well for their localities.

There are currently more than 300 paid advertisers in the directory, and many have given great testimonials about the amount of referrals they get from the site. The site links directly to the therapists’ web sites, not only bringing them traffic, but also helping their relevance in the search results.

The site remains competitive by improving content, adding new services, paid advertising, as well as ongoing natural link promotion.