Client: Therapy Austin
Industry: Private Pay Mental Health & Therapy
Location: Austin, Texas
Locations Served:
- Central Austin
- Therapy Austin North
- Slaughter Lane
- Highland
Duration: Ongoing (Primary growth phase: last 6+ months)
Role: SEO Consultant (Strategy, Content Architecture & Local SEO) at TecHouse
Overview
Therapy Austin is a private-pay therapy practice serving multiple neighborhoods across Austin, TX. The practice offers specialized services including couples therapy, family therapy, and teen therapy across four physical locations.
When I took over the project, Therapy Austin had strong brand equity locally, but its organic visibility was fragmented, service pages were underperforming, and high-intent keywords were either not ranking or incorrectly mapped to the homepage. The primary objective was to rebuild the SEO foundation around service intent, location relevance, and long-term scalability in a competitive Austin therapy market.
Initial Challenges
At the start of the engagement, several structural and content-related issues were limiting organic growth and conversions.
| Category | Problem Identified |
| Service Page Rankings | Core services like Couples Therapy and Family Therapy were not ranking; the homepage was incorrectly ranking instead |
| Keyword Cannibalization | Service intent keywords were spread across blogs and the homepage |
| Content Quality | 40 blog posts existed, but only 4 provided real value to users |
| Competitive Pressure | Strong competitors such as Just Mind dominated couples therapy SERPs |
| Teen Therapy Visibility | “Teen Therapy Austin” was ranking between positions 14–18 |
| Local SEO | Google Business Profiles lacked full optimization and service-area alignment |
The site was receiving impressions, but search intent mismatch and weak internal architecture prevented meaningful growth.
SEO Objectives
To correct these issues, I defined the following objectives:
- Rebuild service pages to properly target high-intent therapy keywords
- Shift rankings from homepage → dedicated service pages
- Improve rankings for competitive services like Couples Therapy Austin
- Move Teen Therapy Austin into top positions
- Eliminate low-quality content and focus on authority-driven content
- Strengthen local visibility across all four Austin locations
- Optimize Google Business Profiles for expanded local reach
SEO Strategy
The strategy focused on intent correction, content consolidation, and authority building, rather than publishing more content blindly.
1. Content Pruning & Quality Reset
- Audited all existing blog content
- Removed ~36 low-value blog posts that:
- Did not match search intent
- Had no organic traction
- Created internal competition
- Retained and improved only 4 high-quality, user-focused articles
This immediately reduced index bloat and improved topical clarity.
2. Service Page Re-Architecture
Therapy Austin had three core revenue-driving services:
- Couples Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Teen Therapy
Each service was rebuilt as a primary SEO pillar, with clear intent, structured sections, and internal linking support.
Teen Therapy Austin (Major Win)
- Initial ranking: Positions 14–18
- After optimization:
- Content rewrite
- Intent alignment
- Internal linking improvements
- Current ranking: #2
- Sustained position: Top 2 for the last 3 months
3. Couples Therapy Content Cluster (Competitive SERP)
Couples Therapy was one of the most competitive services in Austin, with strong competitors like Just Mind dominating the SERPs.
Instead of relying on a single page, I built a content cluster using a structured content map, including:
- A fully optimized Couples Therapy service page
- Supporting blog content addressing:
- Relationship issues
- Communication challenges
- Pre-marital and conflict-focused queries
Current status:
- Only 3 supporting blogs published so far
- Service page moved into Top 5 Google results
- Homepage no longer ranks for this query — the correct service page now owns the keyword
4. Local SEO & GBP Overhaul
Local visibility was critical for a private-pay practice.
Actions taken:
- Fully optimized all Google Business Profiles
- Expanded service areas, including neighborhoods across the river
- Strengthened NAP consistency
- Created and aligned location-specific pages for:
- Central Austin
- North Austin
- Slaughter Lane
- Highland
- Improved internal linking between service and location pages
This ensured Google clearly understood who Therapy Austin serves and where.
Performance Summary (GSC Data)
For the measured period, the site achieved:
- Total Clicks: 13.5K
- Total Impressions: 1.18M
- CTR: 1.1%
- Average Position: 29.4
While average position reflects early-stage keyword expansion, high-intent service keywords showed strong upward momentum, especially for Teen Therapy and Couples Therapy.
Key SEO Actions Implemented
| Area | Action Taken | Impact |
| Content Pruning | Removed low-quality blogs | Reduced cannibalization & improved focus |
| Service SEO | Rebuilt Couples, Family & Teen Therapy pages | Corrected intent targeting |
| Content Clusters | Built Couples Therapy topic cluster | Top 5 SERP improvement |
| Local SEO | GBP optimization & service-area expansion | Stronger local presence |
| Internal Linking | Service → location → blog alignment | Improved crawl paths |
Key Insights
- Intent alignment beats content volume: Removing content was more impactful than adding more.
- Homepage rankings are a red flag: Proper service pages now own transactional keywords.
- Clusters win competitive SERPs: Couples Therapy growth validated the cluster-first approach.
- Local SEO matters even for private pay: Neighborhood relevance improved visibility and trust.
- Sustained rankings matter more than spikes: Teen Therapy’s #2 position has held for months.
Outcome Summary
The SEO campaign significantly improved Therapy Austin’s service visibility. Teen Therapy Austin moved from positions 14–18 to a sustained #2 ranking, while Couples Therapy secured a Top 5 spot with the optimized service page, replacing the homepage that previously ranked. Pruning low-value blogs created a more focused, authoritative, and user-friendly website.
Local SEO improvements, including Google Business Profile optimization and expanded service-area targeting, strengthened visibility across all four locations. Combined with service page rebuilds and content clusters, these efforts established a scalable SEO foundation to support ongoing growth and higher-quality leads.