With more than 92% of search engine market share, it’s clear to say that Google is king when it comes to online search traffic. Creating a Google My Business profile is a great way to attract new customers to your business through search and maps.
Google My Business (GMB) is a business listing from Google. It allows you to provide photos and information of your practice including location, operating hours and the treatments/services you offer. Creating a profile is free and a great way to increase your visibility on Google’s services such as Search and Maps.
Whether you’re looking for website traffic or foot traffic, Google is the ultimate search referrer. A business profile helps ensure that people find your dental practice when looking for a dentist or particular dental treatments that you offer in their local area.
Your business listing shows searchers where and how to visit your practice – it’s also a great way to improve your local SEO. In particular, a listing for a local dental practice is more likely to appear for users in nearby locations using Google Maps.
Your business profile allows you to control and update your contact information, business hours and other essential details as and when. You can post updates to share that you’ve expanded your service, temporarily closed or fully reopened (an especially useful feature during emergencies like Covid-19).
Google My Business profiles have strong local SEO, so the information you share will rank above third-party sites that may have out-of-date details.
Reviews are a great way to build trust and credibility.
Google’s star rating and space for detailed reviews allows patients to share as much or as little information about their experience with your dental practice as they like. All of this information helps potential customers decide which business to visit.
It can be scary to think about reviews coming in on such a public platform, especially since you can’t pick and choose which Google My Business reviews to share. (Although you can respond to all reviews, as we’ll explain later.) But don’t panic, Google finds that a combination of positive and negative reviews is more trustworthy than page after page of glowing recommendations.
Google determines local search ranking based on three factors:
Here are some steps you can take to maximise your score for all three factors.
Customers are more than twice as likely to consider your business as reputable if you have a complete Google My Business profile. They’re also 70% more likely to actually visit your location.
Verified business locations are more likely to show in local search results across Google products, like Maps and Search. Including a verified location also helps improve your score for the distance ranking factor.
Your Google Business Profile includes a logo and cover photo. Use images consistent with those on your social profiles to make it easier for people to recognise your brand. You can also add images and videos to showcase your location, treatments, and dental team.
Using the right keywords will improve relevance. Our Dental Marketing and SEO team at Dental Design can help you uncover the terms people use to search for your business. Incorporating them in a natural way can help your listing appear in search. However, it’s important to avoid keyword stuffing or using irrelevant keywords – this can hurt your search rankings.
People trust people, more than they trust businesses. A good review can be the deciding factor for a prospective patient. The best time to ask for a review is after a patient has finished a treatment. Our EasyReview platform takes the stress away from online reviews with an innovative, automated process.
Though you cannot turn off reviews for your Google My Business profile, you can flag and report inappropriate reviews. You can (and we recommend you do) respond to reviews – both positive and negative. In fact, businesses that respond to reviews are considered 1.7x more trustworthy than those who don’t.
For more information on optimising your Google My Business listing, get in touch with a Dental SEO team.