As Google is the single most-used search engine in the world, and likely the first place someone will check when looking for a dentist, it’s crucial that your practice looks its best on Google My Business. Google likes to change things up frequently, so it’s a good idea to check in periodically to make sure you’re doing all you can to get Google to recommend your practice to potential new patients.
What’s happening with Google My Business?
Reviews
Google has been working on some new features, some more notable for dentists than others. Reviews are changing to highlight words in the reviews that Google considers important. Remember, reviews are more than just a 1- to a 5-star rating for your practice; what your patients say about their experience is important! Mentioning the services they’ve had can make a big difference. Google keeps track of these important terms, and in some cases, patients mentioning a service in a review could be the difference between your practice showing up on Google Maps or not—even if you’re the only office offering that service. (We’ve seen this with clients offering sleep apnea treatments.)
Products Section
There are many things you can do to make your practice stand out on the “Knowledge Panel” that shows up when someone searches for you. A recent one is the Products section that can highlight some of your offerings. Photos, icons, or graphics can be added to these items to make them really pop and get the viewer’s attention. We recommend filling this section out with the services you’d most like to be found for.
Services
And, while we’re talking about services:
- Do you know what services your practice is offering?
- Which services are listed on your website?
- Which services are featured on your GMB listing?
You might be familiar with what your practice offers, but it’s important that Google knows as well, and Google prefers to be confident about their information. Going forward, they will be comparing the services mentioned on your website with those on your Google My Business listing. They may even remove services on your GMB that they feel aren’t properly represented on your website.
What does this mean for you?
If getting found by potential patients looking for specific services is important to you (and it should be), now is a good time to check whether or not your website is covering everything you have to offer (and isn’t listing something you don’t).
If you haven’t looked at your website in a while, you might be surprised that something has been overlooked. Or, your website might still feature something that you’ve phased out doing some time ago.
Since Google is changing things up, we’re recommending that everyone take a little time out of their busy schedules to review services and make sure their website information is up-to-date.
We’re here to help!
We’ll be getting in touch with our clients to go over everything we currently know about their services, make any necessary corrections, find out what they want to focus on, and help make sure their information is online and helping patients find them.
If you’re not currently a Creativedge Marketing client, now’s a great time to consider becoming one! Whether you need help with your Google My Business listing, your website, online reputation, or just need more new patients, we know how to help your practice grow! Get in touch with us, today!
Author: Kathy Jiamboi
Owner of Creativedge Marketing, where growth-oriented dentists find dental practice marketing strategies and advice to take their practice to a new and higher level.