There is one main factor that will determine your success as a life coach in 2023, and that’s search engine optimization (SEO). When it comes to SEO for life coaches 2023 is the year to put all your focus there.
2023 is a critical year for life coaches to focus on SEO because the coaching industry is becoming increasingly competitive, more and more people are searching for coaching services online.
With the pandemic causing a shift towards remote work and virtual services, the demand for online coaching has surged (and it’s going to tripple), making it more important than ever to have a strong online presence.
Additionally, search engines like Google are constantly updating their algorithms, making it crucial to follow the latest SEO strategies to ensure that your coaching business stays visible and competitive in the online marketplace.
Therefore, SEO for life coaches in 2023 is the key for growing and sustaining a successful coaching business in the modern world.
In this article, we’ll provide a complete SEO guide for life coaches for 2023, including everything you need to know to grow a successful coaching business.
SEO for Life Coaches 2023:
What is SEO for life coaches?
SEO is the practice of optimizing your website to rank higher in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords.
SEO for life coaches refers to the practice of optimizing a life coach’s website and online content to increase its visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).
This involves using relevant keywords, creating quality content, improving website architecture and user experience, building backlinks, and followin the latest search engine algorithm updates and trends.
Why SEO is Important for Life Coaches?
SEO for life coaches is essential. It helps you attract potential clients to your website.
Over 4 billion people use Google daily. Millions of them search for coaches or help with their problems. In other words, Google is THE BIGGEST reoccuring river of potential clients for your business.
When someone is looking for a life coach, the first thing they do is they search on Google. They will write something like “Find Life Coach” or “Life Coach near me”.
Some people go more specific, they write “How to get rid of anxiety”, “Mindset life coach”, or “Coaching for depresison”.
Whatever they type on google, the search engine calculates the best possible results for them and their needs, and gives them the ideal search results.
Ok, that’s all good, but how many mindset coaches are there? Millions.
So how can google decide to put YOU among the first searches instead of the other million coaches?
That’s where SEO for coaches comes in!
SEO for coaches is the art of showing among the first searche results on Google (and other search engines) for the things that your ideal clients are searching.
As a life coach you need to be visible to potential clients. That’s the bottom line.
You need a great online presence to make it easier for your potential clients to find you.
In order to do that, SEO should be your main priority.
By implementing effective SEO strategies, life coaches can attract more potential clients to their coaching services and gain a competitive advantage in the online marketplace.
The 4 Types of SEO for Life Coaches:
Before we start with SEO we need to know the 4 main types of SEO for life coaches: On page, Off page, Local and Technical SEO.
So let’s quickly explain each of them…
On page SEO for life coaches is the optimization of the content and the HTML on your website itself.
Off page SEO for life coaches is the optimization of factors outside of your website like backlinks, social media, online coaching directories.
Local SEO for life coaches is the optimization of your life coaching website to rank higher in local search results.
Technical SEO for life coaches refers to the process of optimizing your coaching website’s technical elements like architecture, website speed, mobile responsiveness, website security, and other technical factors that can affect the website’s ranking and user experience.
In this article we will focus more on the first 3 types of SEO for life coaches and we will assume your website is already structured the right way. (If you are unsure if your website has good Technical SEO please contact us at [email protected] so we can schedule a free analysis of your coaching website)
Before we start, we need to do keyword research.
This is the foundation. If you mess up here, the whole structure will be growing on top of the wrong foundations.
Why is Keyword Research Important for Life Coaches?
The first step in any SEO campaign is keyword research.
Keyword research involves identifying the keywords and phrases that your potential clients are using to search for the coaching services that you can provide.
Think of it like this, if you are a mindset coach you will want to rank for keywords related to mindset coaching. You don’t want to rank just for anything.
If you are a mindset coach and you sell an ebook about “How to Reframe Your Thinking for Success” why would you waste time creating content about “5 best foods to eat in the morning”?
Yes, you can relate the foods with health, and then health with having better thoughts, and in the end pitching your book…
But that’s too far-fetched!
Do you think people interested in morning nutrition are REALLY that interested in buying a book on reframing their thinking?
Not as interested as people who actively search for improving their mindset.
And these people do not search for “what to eat in the morning” they search for “how to improve your mindset” on Google.
How to Do Good Keyword Research for Life Coaches?
Before you know what keywords to use in your SEO strategy, you need to clearly define two things:
- What exactly is your service or product that you are offering?
- Who is your ideal client?
This will help you identify your main keywords.
Let’s say your service is mindset coaching and your ideal clients are busy online entreprenuers who want to improve their productivity.
From these answers you can derive few important keywords for your business:
- Mindset coaching;
- Mindset coaching for entrepreneurs;
- Mindset coaching for productivity;
From here you can find related keywords by being a “little detective”.
How to find related keywords for coaches?
Make a word or excel file where you will write all your related keywords. Add 3 additional collumns: Search rate, Search intent, and Difficulty for ranking.
I will explain each of them but first let me tell you the process of identifying great keywords and related keyword phrases for your specific niche.
Write on Google your main keyword. Do not click search yet, just write the phrase. Google gives a dropdown list of related searches.
See the related searches around your main keyword. These are all related keyword phrases that you can add in your list.
Write these keywords.
Now, search each of the topics and see what it shows you for the first 10 results.
This is your competition.
Look at what type of content they are creating around your topics, the keywords they are using…
That’s a goldmine. Find related keywords and add them to your list.
Then, go to Ubersuggest or some other Keyword Research Tool and search your topics, look at the related keywords.
Write them on your list too.
Now put yourself in your readers’ shoes…
Who is your ideal client? What are they actually looking for when they are searching on Google? Do they look for a quick help or more in-depth explanation? Do they want to purchase something, a book, a product? Are they looking for a service?
That will give you a list of ideas you can use to do the same process of searching on Google like you did with your main keyword.
You can also use ChatGPT to give you a list of related keywords around your main topic (but I am not really sure about the results it will give you considering it is limited to searching the internet and it’s not up to date)
Ok. You have a big list of related keywords now.
So let’s start analyzing each of them…
How to analyze and identify target keywords?
Who better to ask how many people search for each of your keywords than Google itself?
Go on Google Keyword Planner and write each of the keywords on your list.
The results will give you how many people search that exact keyword phrase monthly and what is the competition.
Bold all the keywords that are high in monthly searches and low in competition. This means that there is a high demand for that particular topic but not many people create content and rank on google around those keywords, so it’s easier for you to rank.
You can use a tool like Ubersuggest Chrome Extension to quickly check when you search on Google for those keywords the domain authority (DA) of the websites that rank first for those keywords. The lower the DA the easier it is for you to rank above htem.
The search intent collumn is about one question: what is the intent of the users that search for that keyword, do they want to inform, do they want to make a purchase, do they want to find a location…
You can find the intent by putting yourself in the “searcher’s shoes” or by looking at the content created by your competition for those keywords and their search results.
For example, if someone is searching “hire mindset coach” their search intent is to purchase. If someone is searching “how to improve my mindset” their search intent is informational and educational.
The search intent will show you the type of content you should create for those keywords.
Go through all of the keywords on your excel file and, as we said, bold the ones that are ideal: high search volume and low difficulty.
Those are your Target Keywords.
Once you’ve identified all your target keywords, you can optimize your on page SEO and website’s content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for those specific keywords.
On Page SEO for Life Coaches:
On page SEO refers to the optimization of the content and HTML source code of your website’s individual pages.
For this you need a Content Strategy.
On your excel sheet, write 2 to 3 article ideas for each of your target keywords.
By creating content taylored around your target keywords you will increase your chances for ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for those specific keywords.
You can do this by optimizing meta tags, header tags, content optimization, and internal linking:
Meta Tags
Meta tags are snippets of HTML code that provide information about your website to search engines.
The two most important meta tags are the title tag and the meta description tag.
The title tag is the main heading of your page and should include your target keyword.
The meta description tag is a brief description of your page’s content and should also include your target keyword.
So for example, if you are writing an article around the keyword phrase of “minset coaching for productivity” your title should include this exact keyword phrase. It should be something like:
“Mindset Coaching for Productivity: 5 Easy Tricks to Do More In Less Time”
Or,
“Complete Guide to Mindset Coaching for Productivity”
As you can see, both titles contain the exact keyword phrase.
Make sure to include this keyword phrase in your URL and meta description too.
For this specific example, you can write something like this for your meta description:
“Do you want to accomplish more in less time? We share all the tricks in this comprehensive guide to mindset coaching for productivity.”
Having the exact keyword phrase you are trying to rank for in your URL, title and meta tag tells Google that indeed your article is about this exact keyword phrase when the search engine calculates who should be shown among the top searches for this query.
If you want to supercharge the SEO of your article, make sure to include the exact keyword phrase within the first paragraph too.
Header Tags
Header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) are used to structure the content on your page.
The H1 tag should include your target keyword and should be used for the main heading of your page. For best practice use only one H1 tag in your content.
H2 and H3 tags should be used for subheadings and should also include your target keywords. You can use as many as you like H2 and H3 tags.
In our example, the H1 could be added after a brief introduction of the topic of the article. It can look something like this:
“[Introduction] Not many people know the immense benefits of getting mindset coaching for productivity.
As a mindset coach, I’ve helped hundreds of clients fix their busy schedules and increase their productivity. In other words, accomplish more in less time.
It’s all about the mindset…
… [Introduction]
[H1] Mindset Coaching for Productivity: A Comprehensive Guide [H1]”
Content Optimization
Content optimization involves optimizing the content on your page to include your target keywords.
However, it’s important to avoid keyword stuffing, which can lead to penalties from search engines.
Instead, focus on creating high quality, informative content that includes your target keywords naturally.
As a rule of thumb, the percentage of how much you should include your exact keyword phrase inside your article is approximately 1 to 2% or up to two times per 100 words used.
Instead of calculating and obsessing, focus on delivering real value around your exact keyword phrase and 99% of the time your content will be optimized. However, it’s always good to know the numbers behind it so you can calibrate your writing.
Internal Linking
Internal linking refers to linking to other pages on your website from within your content.
The more content you create the bigger your list of options to choose from. You will have an article for almost every topic surrounding your niche.
This is called topical authority. Being the place to go if someone is looking for information about a certain topic.
Internal linking can help search engines understand the structure of your website and can also help distribute link equity throughout your site.
When linking to other pages on your website, use anchor text that includes your target keywords.
For example, in the sentence “As a mindset coach, I’ve helped hundreds of clients fix their busy schedules and increase their productivity. In other words, accomplish more in less time.” you can link to another article called “9 Secrets How to Accomplish More In Less Time” by using the anchor text that says “accomplish more in less time”.
This will give your other text “9 Secrets How to Accomplish More In Less Time” more SEO juice for the keyword phrase “accomplish more in less time”.
And it tells Google that on your website there is content for that exact keyword phrase too.
Incorporating all of these fundamentals in your content strategy will increase your website’s visibility, attract more traffic and lead to more leads and clients for your coaching business.
Off Page SEO for Life Coaches:
Off page SEO for life coaches refers to the process of optimizing a life coach’s online reputation and authority through external factors that are not directly on their website.
This includes tactics such as building high quality backlinks from reputable websites, social media marketing, influencer marketing, guest blogging, and online reviews.
Off page SEO signals demonstrate to search engines that the coach’s website is trustworthy, credible, and relevant, ultimately helping to improve the website’s ranking and visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Let’s get back to the main question, “how Google decides to put YOU among the first searches instead of the other million coaches?”
You have content about mindset coaching and thousand of other coaches have content about mindset coaching too.
What decides who will be among the first searches on Google?
Something called Domain Authority (DA).
We mentioned DA before when we spoke about looking for easy to compete with keywords, remember?
A website’s DA determines how authoritative, reputable and thrustworthy a website is.
How to build authoritativeness in Google’s eyes?
Have backlinks (links that are leading to your pages) from other reputable websites.
Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to your website.
Backlinks are important because they signal to search engines that other websites consider your content to be valuable and relevant.
Each backlink you get is like a vote that tells Google that the website linking to you is trusting your credibility over all the other websites for that particular topic.
But there is a difference from backlink to backlink.
So as a life coach, getting a link from an unknown website that was created yesterday is not as good as getting a backlink from TonyRobins.com for example. In fact, it can damage your reputation.
The higher the DA of the pages in the first positions of the keywords you try to rank for, the more high quality backlinks you will need to rank higher than them.
That’s why we said to look for websites with low DA for your keyword research. It’s much easier.
How to get backlinks from reputable pages with high DA?
Value. Huge amounts of value.
When you create content that not just solves the main issues of your readers but also offers more than they ever asked for, reputable websites will be willing to link to that.
Think about it. A website with high DA about Life Coaching, like Life Coach Code for example, creates an article about the most effective techniques to improve your mindset. There is a section in the content about productivity.
We would love to link to your article “Complete Guide to Mindset Coaching for Productivity” if it truly offers high value for our readers. It’s win win for both of us.
So the first “technique” to build high quality backlinks as a life coach is to create high quality articles.
Then, you can reach out to other websites in your niche and ask if they would be willing to link to your content.
You can use Hunter.io to find their email and you can write something like this for our previous example:
“Dear [Website Owner/Editor],
I hope this email finds you well. My name is [Your Name], and I am a life coach specializing in mindset coaching for productivity. I recently published a high-quality article on my website that I believe would be of interest to your readers.
The article, titled “[Title of Your Article],” provides actionable tips and strategies for improving productivity through mindset coaching. I believe it would be a valuable resource for your audience, and I would be honored if you could share it with them by linking to it from your website.
I understand that you likely receive many requests for link placements, and I want to assure you that I am not looking for a quick backlink. I have read and enjoyed the content on your website and believe that my article would be a great addition to the resources you offer.
If you are interested in reading my article and considering a link placement, please let me know, and I will be happy to provide you with the link and any additional information you may need.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
[Your Name]”
Feel free to use this template (tweaking it according to your needs of course).
Social Media
Social media can be a great way to show credibility and reputation.
There is a difference when someone sees 100 followers and 100,000 followers. We are biased to trust and like content if the account has more followers.
However, when it comes to SEO and your journey to rank high on Google as a coach, social media contributes in a different way.
Google appreciates visits outside of its platform.
So, if you bring people to your articles outside of Google and organic search, Google sees that as a great sign to send you more traffic.
I know, it’s a vicious spiral, but once you are riding upward it’s the best thing ever.
Social media is an excellent way to promote your coaching business and attract potential clients to your website outside of Google.
To optimize your social media profiles for SEO, make sure to include your target keywords in your profiles and posts.
Online Directories
Online directories are websites that list businesses in a particular niche or location.
They can be an excellent way to attract potential clients to your website.
There are many directories for coaches that you can ask to join like:
- Life Coach Code Directory (we offer authorship where you can publish content on our website and backlink to your articles and content to improve your SEO) Apply here to join.
- International Coach Federation (ICF) Directory
- Life Coach Spotter
- Thumbtack
- Psychology Today Directory
- Coach Finder
- BetterHelp
These directories can help life coaches increase their online visibility and attract potential clients to their website.
By creating a profile on these directories and optimizing it with relevant keywords and information about their coaching services, coaches can improve their chances of being found by people looking for a life coach.
Additionally, being listed on reputable directories can help coaches establish credibility and authority in their niche, which can further enhance their online reputation and attract more clients.
To optimize your online directory listings for SEO, make sure to include your target keywords in your business description and category.
By implementing all of these effective off page SEO strategies, life coaches can improve their online presence and attract more potential clients to their coaching services.
Local SEO for Life Coaches:
Local SEO for life coaches focuses on optimizing your online presence for local search results.
If your business operates locally, for example only in New York, you want people from New York to see your content.
You really have no use of your content being served to someone in Europe who wonders what is mindset coaching when they search on Google.
Your whole keyword and content strategy should be focused locally.
By targeting potential clients in your local area, you can attract more qualified leads to your website and increase your chances of converting them into paying clients.
The strategy and principles for Local SEO are basically the same as we spoke before but with a little twist to target local clients.
Here is what you should do:
1. Optimize Google My Business.
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence on Google, including Google Maps and search results.
As a life coach, you should claim and verify your GMB listing and optimize it by providing accurate and complete information about your coaching services, including your name, address, phone number, website URL, hours of operation, and photos.
You should also encourage clients to leave reviews on your GMB listing, as this can improve your local search rankings.
2. Use Local Keywords.
Local keywords are phrases that include the name of your city or region and the services you offer, such as “life coach in Los Angeles” or “mindset coaching in New York.”
By including local keywords in your website content, blog posts, and social media profiles, you can improve your chances of being found by people searching for life coaches in your area.
3. Create Local Content.
Creating content that is relevant to your local community can also improve your local SEO.
For example, you could write blog posts or create videos about local events, attractions, or issues related to personal development or wellness.
If you’re looking for an effective way to engage your audience, consider incorporating an online video editor into your content creation process.
This tool can help you produce high quality videos that resonate with your local audience, making it easier to attract local followers and establish yourself as a trusted authority in your area.
4. Build Local Backlinks.
To improve your local SEO, you should try to get backlinks from other local websites, such as local business directories, community organizations, or news outlets.
You can also reach out to other local businesses or bloggers and offer to exchange links or collaborate on content.
If you incorporate all of these tactics for your local SEO your coaching website will have a higher chance to rank higher in local search results.
FAQs About SEO for Coaches for 2023:
What are the best SEO keywords for life coaching?
The best SEO keywords for life coaching will depend on your specific niche and target audience. However, some popular keywords include “life coaching,” “personal development,” “career coaching,” “relationship coaching,” and “mindset coaching.” Conducting thorough keyword research can help you identify the most effective keywords for your coaching business.
How can I market myself as a life coach?
To market yourself as a life coach, start by creating a strong online presence through your website and social media platforms. You can also offer free coaching sessions, create valuable content like blog posts and videos, attend networking events, and collaborate with other professionals in your industry.
Is there a market for life coaches?
Yes, there is a growing market for life coaches as more people seek to improve their personal and professional lives. According to the International Coach Federation, the coaching industry is estimated to be worth over $2 billion annually.
How do life coaches attract clients?
Life coaches can attract clients through a variety of methods, including creating valuable content, offering free coaching sessions, networking with other professionals, optimizing their website for SEO, and leveraging social media platforms to connect with potential clients.
Where do life coaches find clients?
Life coaches can find clients through a variety of channels, including their website, social media platforms, referral networks, professional organizations, and online coaching directories.
Is life coaching in high demand?
Yes, life coaching is in high demand as more individuals seek guidance and support in their personal and professional lives. The demand for life coaching is expected to continue growing in the coming years, making it an attractive and lucrative career path for many aspiring coaches.
What you should remember?
In conclusion, SEO plays a critical role in helping life coaches grow their business and reach their ideal clients in 2023.
By conducting thorough keyword research, optimizing their website’s on site and off site SEO, and implementing local SEO strategies (if applicable to their business strategy), coaches can increase their visibility in search engine results and ultimately drive more traffic to their website.
As technology continues to evolve, it’s important for coaches to stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and techniques and adapt their strategies accordingly.
By putting in the time and effort to optimize their online presence, coaches can position themselves as trusted experts in their field and attract more clients to their coaching business.
One of the easy ways you can improve your authority as a coach RIGHT NOW, is by becoming a published coach on Life Coach Code or by getting your own interview published on our platform. Apply through this form so we can see if you are a great fit.
