This week I had the opportunity of hosting the first FREE Masterclass in a series of 3 that we are hosting. The next opportunity to learn from us is October 21! In this first masterclass, we chatted all about the shift with Google Search, my top recommendations and what you can do to make your online nutrition business a success.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it’s the method of finding a strategy that works for your website to get prioritized on Google Search. Ask yourself this: how many times times have you searched something on Google and scrolled on Page 4 of results?
No, because you normally only skim page one and then move about to your next search!
It’s important that once you have a website, you have a strategy in place to grow it ethically. You cannot blog about random things and expect your website to magically appear on page one of Google Search and in front of people you actually care about. There’s time, research and effort that must be done in order fir your website to grow. So, let’s dive into this topic as relation to how Google is operating as of August 2023.
Before diving into the tips, you know I like to give some background. Search engine optimization should be a high priority for your nutrition business because it’s a way for you to grow in the long-term. While yes, blogging will require a lot of time, effort and research in the beginning, blogposts can perform for years.
When people are looking for information or services related to nutrition, they usually turn to search engines like Google. SEO helps your nutrition business appear higher in search engine results, increasing the likelihood that potential customers will find and visit your website.
As mentioned above, you need an SEO strategy to ensure your efforts aren’t wasted when it comes to blogging. Effective SEO strategies can attract highly relevant traffic to your website. This means that people who are actively searching for nutrition-related information, products, or services will be directed to your site. These are the individuals most likely to convert into customers, making your marketing efforts more efficient.
Websites that rank higher in search results are often perceived as more credible and trustworthy by users. If your nutrition business appears on the first page of search results, potential customers are more likely to view you as an authority in the field, which can positively impact their decision to engage with your services.
While SEO efforts might require an upfront investment, they can lead to long-term benefits. Unlike paid advertising, where you pay per click or impression, the traffic generated through SEO is organic and doesn’t incur direct costs for each visitor. This can make SEO a cost-effective marketing strategy in the long run.
We’ll talk more about this in a bit, but if your nutrition business has a physical location, local SEO is essential. Many people search for services near them, and Google’s algorithms prioritize showing local results for such queries. Optimizing for local SEO can help your nutrition business appear in the “Local Pack” of results, which is highly valuable for attracting nearby customers.
In July 2023, Google made a big move from Universal Analytics to GA4. You can check out that blogpost for all the details, but here’s the rundown:
Previously, Google was measuring your websites’ data via a sessions-based tool. Basically, if someone hopped on your website that counted as one user. Now that I look back, this really didn’t provide much insight now that GA4 is in the world. GA4 is events-based, so now when someone hops onto your website, they are counted as a user but also recorded for what they do. There are many events that are recorded in GA4 such as clicking, scrolling, engaging, or viewing.
Insert: artificial intelligence. So, all the while that Google is prepping for a migration of its latest tool, it was also trying to understand how they wanted to prioritize artificially generated content.
Google and it’s Search Engine team were unsure how they wanted to move forward with ranking contents (or even differentiating contents) that were generated with AI technology. I mean, should a robot’s brain be seen more than a real human? Who knows! What we do know is that in March 2023, many of our dietitian websites were seeing a small but steady decline in analytics.
Many SEO tools like SEMrush or Ubersuggest also saw a high volatility at the same time – essentially, our clients were ranking for new keywords and not being seen for keywords they were ranking high on previously. It was truthfully such a weird time!
With the Google Shift now being behind us, we can now focus on the actionable things we can do to improve your SEO strategy for your online nutrition business. These are all suggestions that we as a design agency for dietitians have researched and found worked for our current SEO management clients.
It’s recommended that even more emphasis be placed on researching your user’s intent on Google Search. With that in mind, here’s what you’ll need to do:
The Core Web Vitals Assessment has been around for ages. As of late, Google is prioritizing websites that actually pass this assessment in Google Search. Normally, if you’ve hired a professional designer or developer, your website will pass this assessment. This assessment gives you insight on the more technical pieces of your website such as load time, accessibility and interactivity – all things very important to a thriving website.
There is something very important to know about the Core Web Vitals Assessment. We’ve found that many Squarespace websites do not pass this assessment. After reaching out to the Squarespace development team, we’ve learned that this is due to the make up of the Squarespace platform. Talk to Squarespace to receive steps on how to accurately test your website speed.
As we mentioned above, local SEO can help your website appear if you have a physical location or address. But, you don’t necessarily have to have a physical address for local SEO to work for you – consider tagging a geographical location such as North Carolina, and that could be helpful! Here’s where to start:
Many of our clients are listed on HealthProfs.com. This is an amazing way to get your name out on the internet and introduce backlinks to your website. However, it’s a smart idea to list yourself in order to benefit your SEO strategy. Consider listing your name, credentials, phone number, address and/or website so that when someone searches your name your Google My Business profile and website will appear on Google Search.
As for any health professional, conveying your expertise is one of the most important things you can do in your career. For dietitians, this means explaining to your audience how you differ from a nutritionist or wellness coach. Although you may know, never consider your audience does.
Often our clients choose to include this verbiage in a “Frequently Asked Questions” page or by listing out their credentials on their about page. It’s also important to incorporate your expertise in your content strategy by:
Now that you are aware of the Google Shift, know that it’s okay if your dietitian website is seeing a decline in analytics. It’s not too late to take advantage of your SEO strategy. We’ve made a free resource just to help you!
This checklist is an in-depth guide to kickstart your SEO strategy for your nutrition business. It’s interactive so you can literally “check” things off as you go! We highly recommend this to all businesses!
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