How do I Start a Counselling Blog?

Counselling Blog Ideas

Are you a counsellor / therapist looking to start your own counselling blog? If yes, you may be wondering where on earth you begin!

There is a lot of information out there, and it can feel pretty overwhelming, especially when you start to think about SEO, Google analytics and all of the other factors involved with blogging.

But don't let that put you off! If you're brand new to it, and just want to add to your content, share your insights and expertise, there's no need to overcomplicate it in the beginning.

But, for those who do want to grow a blog in its own right, I would recommend that you pay attention to these things, learn about SEO, and how to structure your blog right from the off.

*Affiliate Disclosure: Some links in this post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something via the link, I may receive a small commission. This doesn't affect the price you pay.

If you have any questions, reach out for a chat [email protected] or check out my other blogs

Why a Counselling Blog is a Good Idea

If you're someone who loves to write and connect with others, blogging can be a great way to link your professional work with your passion.

Standing out in the counselling field can be challenging, especially in those early days, so having other ways to reach people is always a good idea.

For many, the idea of sharing on social media every day isn't something that lights them up. I find it tough keep motivation with social media due to the time it takes, the seemingly little reward, and a general feeling of discomfort at being on social media for too long.

Social media is also short form, and when you want to share deeper insights, it can be much harder to convey your message without it feeling like you're just giving lip service to the topic.

A blog however, enables you to delve into topics in much more depth. You can explore different aspects, share experiences, expertise and support at a higher level.

Therapy / counselling blogs are a great way to showcase your knowledge and expertise, and really zone in on your niche.

Blogs do take longer to gain traction, but once they do it can lead to some brilliant growth, and often readers will go on to explore the rest of your website and offers.

Another bonus in comparison to social media, is that things can go south quite quickly. You hear stories of people's accounts getting hacked, pages being shut down without reason, and this level of uncertainty can be unsettling.

Blogs are generally a lot safer, especially if you're with a good host and pay attention to security in your website.

Plus, if you also sell courses, digital products etc., blogging can help with bringing traffic directly to your site. This potentially increasing opportunities to turn readers into paying clients.

Deciding on Your Approach to Blogging

Before you begin looking at hosting, setting up your blog, and writing your first post, let's get clear on what the intention is for your counselling blog.

Knowing this will help you get things set up correctly from the very beginning. A counselling blog is a brilliant asset to your website, whether it's more professional, or something you have to share your knowledge in more depth.

Accompanying Blog

I've called it an accompanying blog, because this is how it felt when I first dipped my toes into blogging through my counselling site.

You may wish to add a blog to your therapy website, but you don't intend to heap too much focus on it. You want to use it to share extended thoughts and expertise as a way to support others, and attract clients.

If this is your intention, I do still recommend setting it up well, because if in the future you do decide you want to focus on growing your blog, the foundations are already in place.

Some basic tips include:

Domain Name:

Choose a url (domain) that is both relevant to your work and business, but is also easy to understand. I use Namecheap for all of my domains (I may be a domain collector…).

They have some good information on what makes a good domain name. Double check that the name you want isn't trademarked – it can help you avoid potential issues further down the road.

Website host:

If you already have a counselling website, then this is all in place. However, if you are just starting out and want to build your website and counselling blog together, it's good to compare your options. I initially used Wix due to the ease of creating a website from scratch with little experience.

Since then however I moved to Smart Growth System. This is an all-in-one system that hosts multiple websites, online courses, memberships, sales pages, automations and email marketing. It's extremely cost effective and saves me time and energy.

*If you choose SGS using my link & the discount code AFFILIATE30 you will receive 30% off your annual / monthly costs as long as you remain with them! It's easy to use which is great for beginners, and they also provide done-for-you services at a reasonable price.

Niche:

You may already have a good idea of what you want to include in your blog. You may want to talk about mental health and wellbeing generally, or if you have a speciality, you may choose to focus mainly on this.

If your counselling blog will be accompanying your practice, then you can have a little more freedom with this as growth isn't as much of a focus. However, be mindful to not introduce multiple topic areas that aren't related to your work.

Consistency:

How often you post isn't as important for an accompanying counselling blog. However, it's still a good idea to be as consistent as you can. Some will aim for one or two posts per month, while others may aim to post weekly.

Being consistent with your posts means that you could save time with your other content creation across social media and email marketing. You can repurpose your blog posts into smaller soundbites for your daily posts, and use the topic as a theme in your weekly email for example. Anything that saves me time and energy is of course a huge bonus!

Serious / Professional Blog

If you want to make your counselling blog a primary focus in your business, your approach to it is going to be a lot different to an accompanying blog.

Domain & Host:

As above, but pay more attention to the name that you choose. You may also choose to host your blog on a different site with direct links to your counselling page. I do this with my blog and website because I wanted to give my blog the best chance of success.

When you also host courses, memberships and hold lots of other information on your website, it can slow the speed down, which Google doesn't like! I personally use SGS for my counselling and coaching work, courses and programmes, then I use WordPress for my blog.

The host I have chosen was highly recommended for bloggers – BigScoots. I have loved being with them. I encountered so many issues with previous hosts, but it has been excellent with BigScoots and I finally feel confident with my wordpress site.

BigScoots are one of the best for blogging sites out there. The customer support is the best I've experienced, especially for a big company. Tickets (problems or queries) are answered extremely quickly, and they communicate with you throughout the process of sorting things out. Very reassuring and I cannot recommend them enough.

Niche:

As per accompanying blogs, it's a good idea to be clear on your niche before you get going. While it's okay to write what you feel and when you want to, if you want to invest proper time and effort into your counselling blog, your niche is where it all begins.

Some may find niching down scary. It feels like you're potentially cutting off hundreds of potential clients or readers. I felt like this when I first opened my counselling practice. It took a long time to truly understand why it's important in terms of growth.

SEO:

Google: There have been a lot of changes to how Google pushes out your content recently since the Helpful Content Update. It has impacted a lot of bloggers, so understanding the changes and the requirements is a good first step.

Images: The images you use can impact the speed of your site as well as how Google will rank you in the search engine. Ensure that your images are relevant to the content. Add Alt text and optimize to minimise the impact the image will have on the speed of the site. There are plenty of plugins for wordpress you can use to help with site speed.

Keywords: You need to really know your topic and those who you are talking to in your blog posts. You need to know what people are searching for if you want your posts to rank on the first page of Google search. Spend some time using the Google search engine to work out what sort of things people are asking. Google Trends is free, but there are others you can pay for.

Below is an example of suggestions that come up. I typed in “How to be productive” and these are some of the keywords that show up as suggestions. This is a great hack to find longtail keywords, and will help you to boost your reach.

There are plugins and apps you can use to help with keyword research and improving SEO. Some of the ones recommended include:

Squirrly – This is a brilliant SEO tool that supports with boosting your search engine traffic.

RightBlogger – A favourite of mine. This AI tool is one of the best and most intuitive AI tools I've used. It's very good and not only helps with writing, but also with SEO and keyword research.

Recommended Training

There is only one coach / training that I recommend for setting up your counselling blog – Sadie Smilie. She is a very experienced blogger, and a very effective mentor / coach. Her free training is called Blogging Foundations and is where I learned everything!

For it to be free is unreal – it is easily worth $500+ Even if you're not planning to focus 100% on blogging, I would still recommend signing up for this course because of the step-by-step guidance it provides.

Tools, Resources & Support

Each post I add my favourite tools and resources, so here are some more just for you!

Sunsama – A brilliant task management that is perfect for busy and neurodiverse minds who easily find themselves overwhelmed and distracted. grab a free 2 week trial and free month!

Thought-Shifting Mini Journal – CBT-Based Thought Shifting Activities + mini journal with prompts

Canva Pro – Upgrade your content design with Canva Pro. Explore the enhanced features available in Pro. Grab your free trial here.

Etsy – Are you ready to create your own online store? Etsy is a brilliant shopping platform that's used by millions. Setting up your store is simple, and when you sign up with this link we both get 40 free listings!

Pinterest Guide – If you're looking to get into Pinterest, I highly recommend Amy's free guide and Pinterest course. It's up-to-date for 2024 & she also has a brilliant course for only $67 that's updated frequently. (I have a 50% discount on the course using this link SEO and the code RANK)

Task Batching – I created this task batching / brain dump workbook to help you get to grips with batching tasks. You can also read the post here for further info!

Final Thoughts

Adding a counselling blog to your website is a great idea, especially if you love writing and want to share your message with a much wider audience.

If you're looking to make blogging a big part of your overall business growth strategy, it is worth taking some time to learn how to do it properly. This will save you lots of time, energy and stress if you need to go back and make a tonne of changes.

There are so many elements to blogging, but please don't let it put you off the idea of having your own counselling blog. If you take the time to get the basics in order, it will make it easier for you if you do decide to approach it more professionally down the line.

If you want to get off of the social media hamster wheel, blogging, and platforms like Pinterest and Youtube are great options.

I have loved having a blog within my business. I initially began one on my old counselling website, but now I have this one and although it's a lot of work – I love it!

if you have any questions about growing your counselling blog or your counselling business in general, please get in touch and we can arrange a quick call!

If this post helped or you enjoyed reading it, please share one of the images below as it really helps my blog – Thank You!

Meet Lynsey

Hey there! I'm Lynsey, a coach, counsellor, and mentor for low energy, introverted or low confident female coaches & small business owners. With over 5 years’ experience of running businesses, and over a decade as a tutor and trainer, I've learned the value of effective time management that energises you through working with your energy.

I've lived with chronic illness – ME/CFS since 2011 and since then I re-trained as a counsellor, and achieved a distinction for my MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice; all while running 4 businesses! I want that for you as well & it is possible with the right support and pathway to success.

Improving your mindset, finding acceptance and developing a solution-focused approach to achieving your goals is my passion. Blending mental health support where needed, as well as a supportive space and methods to manage your work more effectively.

If you'd like to know more about working with me, you can email [email protected] or find me on socials (links in the menu)

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