Stop Overthinking SEO: Quality Content Wins Every Time

I need to tell you something that might save you hours of frustration: you're probably making SEO way more complicated than it needs to be.

I see it all the time. People get completely caught up in the technical details—keyword research, meta tags, optimal word counts, title formats. And look, I'm not saying those things don't matter. They do. But here's what I've learned from running two very different businesses: they're not what makes the biggest difference.

What Google Actually Wants

Let's step back for a second and think about what Google is really trying to do. When someone searches "how to fix a refrigerator," Google's entire goal is to put the best, most helpful information about fixing refrigerators in front of that person. That's it.

Google isn't sitting there thinking, "Well, this article has exactly 1,847 words and the meta description is perfectly optimized, so let's show this one." They're asking, "Which piece of content actually answers this person's question best?"

And that's the shift I want you to make in how you think about SEO.

The Content Quality Question

So if quality content is what matters most, the natural next question is: how do we actually create high-quality content?

There are really two approaches here, and you can and should use both:

First, create content about the work you are passionate about. Make videos, write articles, answer questions that matter to you. For example, if you work with millennials in the tech space, start by making content for this audience. There's a niche audience out there for just about everything. If you consistently put out content about something specific, those people will eventually find you.

Second, do some market research. What are people actually searching for? If you're a therapist who works with millennials in the business world, you could absolutely just start creating content for that audience. But you might also want to check if people in that category are actually searching for help—and what specifically they're looking for.

Let me give you the refrigerator example again. If literally no one is searching for how to fix refrigerators, you probably don't want to spend all your time making videos about it. But if people are searching for it? That's your green light.

How This Applies to Your Practice

Now, most of us can't just pivot and change what we do. If you're a therapist, you're licensed to provide therapy. If you work with anxiety, that's your focus. You're not suddenly going to start making content about sidewalk paving.

But here's what you can do: look at what people are searching for related to your work. If you focus on anxiety, what questions are people asking about anxiety? What are they trying to understand? Then start creating content that answers those questions.

And here's the thing—there's actually a gap in content here. Not many therapists are creating high quality content that answers these questions through video. When you do this, when you show up and genuinely answer what people are asking, that's when trust starts to build. That's when people look at your practice, connect with your brand, and eventually reach out to schedule a call.

My Real-World Example

Let me share something from my own experience. I run two businesses—one consulting business for therapy practices and one clinical practice.

For the clinical practice, I spent a lot of time on technical SEO. I worked on the pages, got the word counts right, did the keyword research, focused on detailed optimization.

For the consulting business? I focused almost entirely on making YouTube videos and putting out high-quality content consistently. Just answering questions in video format, over and over again.

Guess which one gets more traffic?

The consulting business—by a lot. Not because I nailed all the meta tags and titles. Because I've been consistently putting out content that answers people's questions. Over time, Google figured out, "Oh, this person has helpful answers for this specific group of people," and started showing my content in search results.

The Simple Truth

Here's what I want you to take away from this: focus on making high-quality content first. Really focus on that. The technical stuff is critical, but secondary.

You can have the most technically perfect webpage in the world, but if the content isn't good, it won't matter. Quality is what Google is looking for. Quality is what your audience needs.

And honestly? I think this should be relieving. All those technical details can feel so overwhelming. But if you shift your focus to just creating genuinely helpful content—answering questions well, showing up consistently—you're doing the most important work.

The technical pieces matter, yes. But they're not where you should be spending the majority of your energy. Put out high-quality content that helps people, do it consistently, and trust that the rest will follow.

That's the approach that's worked for me, and I believe it'll work for you too.

If you want help with SEO or anything related to private practice marketing and growth, reach out to me today to schedule a free call