When patients need your services, most of them are going to go to Google to find you. But if you’re not visible online, those patients are most likely going to choose your competitors who are.
So how do you ensure that you’re visible? How do you make sure your practice ranks well in Google search results?
You use search engine optimization. Let’s see how this works for pediatric private practices.
What Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the subject of ranking your website and your Google Business Profile as high as possible on Google. Correctly done, SEO can make the difference between a flood of people finding out about you, or really being invisible on the web.
Today, Google is the phone book. If people go to a new city or they’re looking for a business around them, they don’t pull out any kind of phone book to find it. They might look at Yelp or something similar for a moment; but by and large, the majority of people are just going to jump on Google. So, showing up well on Google is absolutely critical because it’s basically your listing in the phone book.
What Is Local SEO?
When we’re talking about SEO, we’re really talking about two different topics. We’re talking about ranking your website well, and we’re talking about ranking your Google Business Profile well. They’re two different things, and they have two different results.
In order to understand this, you really have to understand the different parts of the Google search results.
Components of Google Search Results
When you type something into Google, what is Google showing you in response? There are three different parts of Google search results you have to know in order to understand this:
1. Sponsored listings
If I typed in “dry cleaner near me,” I’m going to see sponsored listings at the very top. Those sponsored listings on Google are called Google ads, and they pay to show up first in search results.
2. Map listings
Below the sponsored results, you’re typically going to see a map. That map shows pins of the different businesses nearby, and in the case of pediatric private practices, they would show the different locations of pediatric practices.
3. Organic listings
When you go below the map, you’re going to see what we call organic listings. These are just the different websites that Google is saying should rank number one, or number two, or number three.
The difference between the map listings and the organic listings is that the map listings rank your Google Business Profile, whereas the organic listings rank your website. Those are very different.
What Is a Google Business Profile?
Your listing on Google is called your Google Business Profile. When you perform a search in a city, Google’s going to show you all the different businesses around you that fit what you’re searching for. Making sure that your profile shows up at the top is the subject of local SEO.
Now, that map isn’t actually ranking your website. When you click on that link, the thing that comes up is your Google Business Profile. Then people can call your number, or they can get directions without ever leaving Google. That type of SEO is critical because that’s how most people find things these days.
Ensure Your Practice Website Ranks Well
You also want to make sure your website ranks really well, because if Google users scroll down the search results and they go below the map, that’s another opportunity for you to be seen.
And your organic listings have your actual website listed that you can then click on, and it’ll take you to your practice’s homepage.
Making sure both your website and Google Business Profile rank well is critical so that you can have maximum visibility in your area.
What Makes a Google Business Profile Rank Well?
There are key points that make a Google profile rank well:
1. Your business category
You want to make sure you have the correct business category. A lot of times a pediatric practice will categorize themselves as a “medical clinic,” and what they should be saying is “speech pathologist,” “occupational therapist,” etc. You can pick a primary, secondary, and third business category on your Google Business Profile. Make sure you pick the right ones.
2. Your name, address, and phone number
You want your NAP information consistent across the web. This means name, address, and phone number. You want to have the exact same phone number, name, and address phrased in the same way across every single profile and directory on the web.
If you don’t, what ends up happening is that Google thinks you’re kind of “scammy.” They’re not going to rank you as highly if the NAP information doesn’t match.
3. How many reviews you have
You want to make sure you have a lot of reviews. Google actually looks at your reviews, and it will decide who to rank higher, in part, based on how many reviews your practice has.
You want to have a system that sends out a request for a review on discharge (or at the appropriate point in your process) that encourages people to go to Google and leave a positive review.
At the same time, you want your staff to be reaching out. It’s okay to incentivize your staff to get them to have parents leave a review when they leave the office. That’s good for general social proof for your community, and it helps you rank on Google.
4. Frequently asked questions for your practice
You can have an FAQ that asks and answers certain questions for people so they can see what you offer. “Do you do this? Yes, you do.” “Do you not do this? No, you don’t.” This also gives a lot of great opportunities for you to include the correct keywords for Google to use in ranking your profile for different topics.
5. How often you post updates
You want to publish ongoing posts to your Google Business Profile. You should probably post every two or three days. Your Google Business Profile has a place where you can post updates about your practice on Google.
6. Additional Google Business Profile ranking factors
There’s a number of other things that matter in ranking your Google profile:
- Do you have great images?
- Do you have a video?
- Do you have an awesome company description that really tells all about who you are?
- Do you display your products and services?
- Do you have an appointment link in there?
- Do you describe what kind of insurance you take?
7. Your proximity to the search engine users
The most important of all the different factors is proximity. How close are you to the person’s search? And that’s one thing that’s probably the hardest to control because, if the person’s farther away from your practice, someone else is going to show up better in the search rank.
However, a Google profile that’s optimized better might show up higher in the searches (even higher than one that’s closer) because they’ve done a better job at optimizing.
Plus, people who are searching and see your profile will think, “Oh, wow. This practice has these great pictures. There’re some videos on here. I see the description, I see the great reviews, and then I see these posts. This thing is alive, and this is happening.” Those are all factors that Google uses to decide who to rank.
What Makes a Website Rank Well?
Finally, there’s what we call onsite SEO. This is doing the right things to your website to make sure your website itself ranks well, not just your Google Business Profile. This is something I talked about in a different video regarding how to make a great website.
In short, there are certain technical things you do to a website. You have to make it load fast, know what keywords you’re using, have enough text about the right topics, etc. These technical points make your website rank better than others.
Reach Out to Uplift for Expert Advice
As a pediatric private practice, keep in mind you’re doing two things simultaneously in SEO: (1) you’re ranking your Google Business Profile well in Google maps, and (2) you’re ranking your website well in the organic listings. Each of these has a different set of actions that you do, but they do tie together.
This is a big topic, and there’s a lot more to know about SEO. But those are the fundamentals that any pediatric private practice needs to know. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.
