Google's search algorithms are constantly changing and shifting, and it's a full-time job keeping track of the latest in the field of online marketing. Over the last few years, Google has focused a lot of energy on local search. Their objective is to make it easy for people to find locally relevant results for their search. For instance, if someone types in, "Sacramento chiropractor," Google displays a map with the nearest chiropractic offices in Sacramento.
Because of this focus on local results, you need to have your site appear on Google Maps!
We've helped a lot of chiropractors boost their Google Places for Business listings with our VIP Marketing Service, and in this article, we'll review all of the different components of getting on Google Maps.
- Linking to Google+. Google is now running all of their local listings through Google+, so you'll need to make sure that you have a Google+ account for your practice AND that you have it associated with your website. You'll also need to verify your listing with Google so they know that it's legitimate.
- Reviews. Google wants to display businesses that people like, so if your clinic has more reviews than other chiropractic clinics, you'll be more likely to rank higher in the maps. Warning: don't fake reviews! The people at Google are smart and they can detect fake reviews. You want to solicit real, legitimate reviews from happy patients.
- Add Categories and Keywords. On your Google Places for Business listing, make sure that you add all of the services that you offer, including keywords for the types of patients you're looking to attract.
- Keep Your Site Active. If you don't update your site frequently with blog posts or articles, Google will start demoting in the search rankings. Keep your site fresh with relevant content targeted to specific keywords and phrases.
- Backlinks. Google gives more credibility to websites that have real links from other sites. We've had a lot of success with our Chiropractic Viral Posts in getting solid backlinks for our clients. Another warning: don't buy backlinks for your chiropractic site. It's the quickest way to damage your site's ranking!
- Citations. This is one of the most important factors, and one that's often overlooked. When Google is trying to determine which sites to show in the Google Maps, it looks at how many external sources verify your businesses location. The more directories that verify your business, the more credibility your site has. One of the key components of our VIP Marketing Service is our robust Chiropractic Citation Builder that gets your site ranked with all of the major directories.
As you can see, there are a lot of different factors involved in how Google ranks businesses in the Google Maps. The benefits to your practice of being easy to find in the maps is well worth the cost of getting this done right.
If you would like some help with getting better placement for your practice, email us or give us a call at (800) 295-3346. We provide a free consultation that will look at your current marketing approach and provide real solutions to help you get new patients.
For more information about marketing your practice, check out our Complete Guide to Chiropractic Marketing.
