Do you know who's talking about you and your practice on the web? If not, you should. My favorite way to to track who's talking is through Google alerts. Google alerts sends me an email whenever they come across "Julie Hanks" or "Wasatch Family Therapy" on the web. It's a quick and easy to see what information your name is being associated with, where you're being mentioned, who's quoting you, and more.
If nothing pops up about you and your practice on the web via Google Alerts over several months, that's helpful information too. If Google can't find you, then it's likely that you're potential clients can't find you either. To learn more about Google searches read my article Does Google Love Your Therapy Practice?.
Click here to set up your Google Alert. You can set up your alert to filter different sources like blogs, news, video, discussions, or everything on the web, how often you'd like to be alerted, and how many results you'd like to receive. When you're name pops up on the web, you'll be alerted via email. You'll also find out what other people who share your name are up to on the web, which is amusing, and sometimes annoying.
I found out last week, through a Google alert that I had been named the #1 online influencer making a difference for depression by Sharecare, an website founded by Dr. Oz and Jeff Arnold, founder of Web MD. That's information that I'm glad I didn't miss!
Here's the Google alert email I received last week:
So take a few minutes today to set up Google Alert. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Please post links to what you find below! I'd love to see where other private practitioners are popping up on the web.
As healers, we genuinely like to do our work. Guiding clients through the therapy process and seeing them make progress is why we do what we do. But if you're in private practice, you know there's a lot going on in the back end and that it's crucial to run an efficient and organized business.