You've probably heard by now that Google My Business (GMB) controls how your practice appears online, both on Google Search and on Google Maps. You can log in to respond to Google Reviews, set your Holiday Hours, along with a number of other rich features. It is the most useful component of SEO apart from your website.
The GMB dashboard also contains a tab called Insights - This is the #1 place to monitor your off-page web performance. By 'off-page' we mean the patient's experience with your brand on Google search before they even visit your website.
Below are the most important features for chiropractors. The default date range is set to 1 month, but you can change any section to 1 week or 1 quarter.
How customers find your listing
The pie chart in this section displays the Total Searches that brought up your business listing. Green shows Direct traffic, or patients who searched for your business by name. Blue shows Discovery traffic, the more general search results for queries like 'chiropractor near me'. A healthy business listing will show higher discovery traffic, which indicates the potential for new patients to find your office.
If you see over 25% Direct, you probably aren't getting the exposure you need.
You may also see a yellow sliver for Branded traffic. That's similar to direct, but typically applies to practices with more than one location.
Search queries
These are the exact search phrases patients used that pulled up your Google listing. The queries are ranked by search volume, so you'll tend to see 'chiropractor near me' near the top if you have good local visibility. The only other platform that gives you such precise information into patient search habits is Google Ads, the paid advertising service. Everything in Google My Business is currently free.
Customer actions
The customer actions section logs how many website visits, driving directions, and mobile clicks-to-calls took place in the last week, month, or quarter. If these numbers are low, it indicates poor visibility in local search.
According to a recent study of 45,000 business listings by BrightLocal, customer actions increased significantly from 2017 to 2018, and we can expect the same trend to continue as Google adds new features.
Photos
Probably the most overlooked aspect of a successful business profile. Photos drive customer engagement, and give patients a window into your office. This can help you set your office apart from the competition, if they lack the personal touch.
Google also loves to see new photos! Posting regularly increases the odds Google will consider your listing relevant to a patient's search. We recently published a whole blog post on this very subject that you can read here - Google My Business Images Increase Traffic
Still have questions? Contact us for a complimentary check to see if your business listing is 100% complete and up to date. You need to monitor this periodically to make sure you're eligible to show up when patients need you most.
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