At SocialClimb, we monitor and apply cutting-edge tech trends to medical marketing. Our research shows that the most important way to acquire new medical clients is to claim and optimize your Google My Business page, then use your GMB page to build your reputation and broadcast it using targeted ads and other GMB features.
Below, we explain why Google My Business pages are so critical to your success in today’s competitive medical market and how to use GMB pages to your best benefit in the future.
Google My Business pages can make or break your medical marketing
Consumer behavior and digital technology influence each other rapidly, as smarter search engine technology adapts to people’s search behaviors and people’s behaviors adapt to new technologies. People now expect to see GMB pages for most businesses and service providers, and Google search engines rely on GMB business profiles to determine good search results.
If you do not have a GMB page, potential medical clients may never find you online at all. But a smart GMB page shares your reputation and displays all the important decision-making information about your medical practice right there in the search results. Potential medical customers can choose you as a provider and take action immediately.
Foundational industry trends make GMB pages essential for practice growth:
- Artificial intelligence gets smarter all the time through data analysis and machine learning. Today’s software systems capture, integrate, and analyze more data than ever before, with machine-level speed and accuracy. These systems quickly learn and adapt based on their data analysis, yielding faster change, more accurate predictions, and more personalized options for people using these systems.
Consumers expect immediacy. They want things right here, right now. Today’s busy medical clients have changed their expectations to match what the internet usually gives them. They now expect to get reliable information instantaneously, make informed decisions fast, and then take action quickly.
- People look for and select medical services and providers online and almost always through Google. This consumer trend has been strong for many years, and medical providers need to accept that people of all ages search online, even after receiving a strong word-of-mouth recommendation. Fair or not, online search results drive consumer choice. Because Google accounts for upwards of 90% of searches, providers and practices increasingly need to have a Google My Business page to show up well online, or potential clients will likely choose someone else who looks better in online search results.
- Google My Business pages bring together these three meta-trends of artificial intelligence, consumer expectations, and Google’s dominant online search engine. In medical searches, Google’s technology is sophisticated enough to recognize when a searcher wants a local medical service or provider, then returns Local Search Results of top choices based on location, authority, and relevance. The GMB setup process helps medical providers to be found as Google gathers the information people most want to know. Google then displays this best-fit information right as people search and make decisions.
Specific Google My Business trends create added opportunities for medical practices:
- Google My Business pages now display more information to help providers create a positive first impression. GMB pages now display photos, posts, and more. Are you providing the information you want people to see? If you don’t provide a photo, then someone else’s camera–including the Google Earth drive-by street views–will create people’s first impression of your services. But when you provide a photo in GMB, it gets displayed in your Local Search business profile. Other GMB features allow similar custom branding options so you look good.
Regular, positive patient reviews are increasingly the most important way Google determines authority for Local Search results. Getting a steady stream of timely reviews is one of the most important parts of optimizing a Google My Business listing. Google not only tracks ratings to determine top medical listings to display, but Google also displays these star ratings right in Google search results.
- Engagement is becoming more important to show authority to Google search engines. Google can now better track interactions between a GMB page, its owner, and searchers. Medical GMB pages that get real interactions with real people demonstrate that the business is current, with invested owners, and interested customers. Interactive features found right in the GMB display page are called “zero click” features and include options such as call, get directions, visit website, posts, Q/A, and scheduling plug-ins. Smart medical providers will use these features and benefit.
- Google Ads allow medical practices to broadcast their brand and reputation to their best-fit clients. Linked with data analysis, targeted Google Ads can give providers visibility and prominence in nearby areas where they might not show up in regular Local Search results, but where their high-profit potential clients reside. To take advantage of Google Ads, practices and providers must have a GMB page. The best-fit information in the GMB pages will then show up for potential customers right when they are making their decisions.
Take these strategic steps now to apply the power of Google My Business to your medical practice:
For SocialClimb’s detailed advice on setting up medical GMB pages, see our articles here and here.
Claim your GMB page. The basics get you on the map: your name and medical specialty, your address, and your phone number.- Optimize your GMB page for location, relevance, and authority by filling out the fields asked for. Make sure to choose your specialties and services accurately. Link to your website if you have one. Do you have two locations? Create a page for each.
- Include the information busy people need to make good decisions quickly. Have you included your hours accurately? Did you add photos that inspire trust and confidence? Have you checked the box showing your wheelchair-friendly access? Do your reviews and Q/A sections show staff who are respectful to all patients?
- Get a steady stream of positive reviews to help GMB establish your brand and reputation. A history of regular, positive reviews moves you to the top of search results, and these same positive reviews show up in your displayed GMB profile so potential clients see you as a best-fit choice.
- Place Google Ads to broadcast your positive medical reputation. Reach a broader market of your most preferred potential patients.
- Experiment with other GMB engagement features. Many interactive GMB features would benefit medical practices. Use posts, Q/A, scheduling plug-ins, and other features to connect with potential clients and add authority to your GMB listing.
- Stay aware as new features become available through GMB pages.
Position your medical practice for current and future success
Google receives more than 1 billion health care searches every day. Google monitors search patterns and adapts its search technology and features to match current expectations. Google My Business pages collect and display this most important information to potential medical clients right at their decision-making moments.
When you create a Google My Business page for your medical practice, you access all the knowledge of the Google database to attract best-fit potential clients to your practice. If you have not already adapted to the trends above, start today to achieve greater success and position your practice for the future of medical marketing.
SocialClimb’s highly effective systems bring automated medical marketing to practices of all sizes. We integrate the latest in search technology and medical data analytics with easy-to-use software that works seamlessly with practice management systems. Thousands of medical providers across the country see big results fast using our foundational approach to reputation marketing and then applying our system for automated patient acquisition.
We’d love to help you attract the patients you need to meet your goals. Contact us for a demo today.
