Want more clients finding your midwife or doula business on Google? I’ve got you covered with my top SEO tips!
When you rank well on Google, there is so much opportunity for potential clients to be able to easily find you—without you needing to spend tons of time on social media. And with the crazy hours you may have to work, you can work on your SEO any time of the day, unlike social media when you have to be posting at certain times to really be seen by your audience.
So if you want to save time on social media and have clients coming to you, keep reading my top SEO tips for midwives and doulas!
Top 7 SEO Tips for Midwives and Doulas
What Is SEO?
Before we get into some SEO strategies – what actually is SEO? For any midwives and doulas new to SEO, I wanted to provide a quick overview before getting into the tips.
SEO stands for search engine optimization, and in very basic terms it is the process of making your website easier for search engines (like Google) to find and understand your website. So this means your website will rank higher when people on the internet search for particular keywords, and you’ll get more traffic to your site – and more traffic means more eyes on your site and more potential clients!
If you’re you specialize in home births, for example, you’ll want your website to be ranking for search terms like “home birth midwife,” as well as other related terms. And working on optimizing your website is how you can start ranking for more keywords.
So keep reading for my top 9 tips on SEO for midwives and doulas to really optimize your website and get those inquiries rolling in. (And if all of these tips sound too overwhelming and you don’t have time to do it yourself, I do offer SEO services to help you rank higher on Google!)
1. Find the Right Keywords
Keywords are a foundational piece of SEO. They help search engines understand what your content is about and what you should rank for. Start by researching keywords that resonate with your coaching services (like in the example in the intro) and align with what your ideal client is searching for. Keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Keysearch, or Ubersuggest can help you with the keyword research process and find keywords that have a good monthly search volume without being too competitive.
If you work with clients in a specific city or area, make sure you use that for your keywords to help Google understand where you’re located so you’ll rank for searches in your local area.
For example, if you specialize in helping parents after the birth, consider keywords like “postpartum doula in [your location].” Once you find good keywords to target, strategically use these keywords in your website content, including blog posts, service pages, title tags, and meta descriptions. Aim for 1-5% keyword density in your overall content so you don’t keyword stuff and look spammy to Google.
2. Don’t Keyword Stuff
Don’t overuse your keywords. Keyword stuffing, or excessively incorporating keywords into your content, can actually hurt you in the long run. If your content reads unnaturally due to excessive keyword usage, it may actually hurt your rankings in Google. Just use your keywords 1-5% of all the text.
Focus on creating high-quality, informative content that naturally incorporates relevant keywords. Your primary goal should be to provide value to your audience rather than trying to please search engine algorithms. Connecting with your audience is the best way to convert them to clients!
3. Write Informative Website Copy
Maybe my top SEO tip for midwives and doulas is to write informative copy for both Google and potential clients. The more information you have on your website, the more Google will understand what your website is about and what you should be ranking for. And the more information you can give potential clients, the more you’re able to create a connection with them and see if you’re the right fit for them.
Now don’t go crazy and add 10,000 words to your home page with every detail about working with you because no one wants to read an essay! But make sure things are clear and answer any initial questions readers might have had before landing on your site.
This can include things like if you’re able to do home births, which hospitals and/or birthing centers you work at, why you’re passionate about your work, if you have any types of births you specialize in (water births, home births, birthing centers, etc.), and whatever else you think would be important to know. Testimonials are always a great thing to add to help build potential clients’ trust in you, too.
4. Create Multiple Service Pages
Going along with the different things you specialize in, I recommend creating different pages for the different types of services you offer. This will help you target more keywords and help website visitors find information much easier on your site!
If you just have one page with information on five different services you offer, it’s going to be harder for that page to rank keywords for all the different services, and visitors will have to hunt on the page to find the service they need. You always want to make things as easy as possible for potential clients!
So for midwives and doulas, you could have separate pages for your birth services (and you could have separate pages for different types of birth services), postpartum services, and any prenatal consultations or classes that you offer. If you’re a midwife practice and/or a birthing center, you could have separate pages for prenatal care, information on birth services, any hospitals you partner with, postpartum care, and any classes you offer.
5. Optimize Your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are the titles and snippets that appear on search engine results, and they’re an often-overlooked SEO strategy for coaches. Title tags are a ranking factor, and while they may not directly impact rankings, meta descriptions can significantly improve click-through rates. If you don’t fill them in, Google can fill them in with whatever they like, and I’ve seen them write some pure gibberish for many sites! And that can really harm your traffic if people don’t understand what is on your website page or blog post from the meta description.
Keep title tags under 60 characters and meta descriptions under 160 characters, and make sure you naturally incorporate your keywords to reinforce to Google what that page should rank for.
6. Write Helpful Blog Posts
Preparing to give birth is such a vulnerable time, and writing helpful, informative blog posts can help put your clients’ minds at ease. Blogging is a great way for midwives and doulas showcase expertise, connect with potential clients, and rank higher on Google. Well-researched, insightful, and relevant content helps you target a variety of keywords so you can reach people who are searching for your services and content in different ways.
If blogging sounds overwhelming or boring, then you don’t need to start from scratch! I bet you’re already creating content on social media, podcasts, or YouTube that you can easily repurpose. Just take the content or transcripts and rewrite them to read like an informational blog post (which can be done much quicker now with the use of AI).
If you are starting from scratch or just need some additional ideas, think about all the questions your clients frequently ask (I’m sure there are lots!). Take one of the questions and answer it in depth in a blog post. The longer the content, the better chance it has to rank well (but don’t fill it with fluff just to make it longer).
If you need help making your sure blog posts will rank on Google, check out my blog post How to Optimize Blog Posts for SEO in 9 Steps.
7. Be active on Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) can be such a beneficial SEO tool for local businesses like midwives and doulas. It can help you get seen by more clients in your area who are searching on Google Maps, show off your glowing client reviews (again, building that trust can be so helpful!), give potential clients a screenshot of who you are and what you offer, allows people to quickly ask questions, and so much more. I recommend adding an update and/or a few photos each month to show Google that you’re active on your profile.
And all the information that you put on your page for potential clients will also be seen by Google, which can help them understand more about what your business should rank for!
Have I convinced you to focus on SEO for your midwife or doula business yet? 😉 SEO is an ongoing strategy, so don’t worry about getting everything done at once! But getting started sooner rather than later can help you see results more quickly.
If you need help getting your site optimized, check out my SEO services and see how I can help you rank higher on Google!