Many chiropractors are leveraging the power of Google My Business to find and retain new patients. But few of them really understand what Google My Business is, how to get listed, or how to leverage this powerful platform for their practice.
In this guide, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about Google My Business listings for your chiropractic practice.
Google My Business (the GMB) is a free service that Google offers for business owners. It’s a way for businesses to tell Google about their business, and how to find them on Google Maps.
Businesses can claim a Google My Business listing and add their information to Google Search and Google Maps.
When a potential customer searches for your business on Google, they can see your listing and information about your practice, which includes things like your:
Google My Business provides a quick and easy way for potential patients to get in touch with you or simply learn more about your practice.
You’ve already built a website for your practice, and maybe you’ve also built up a social media presence. Why should you be claiming your Google My Business listing?
Here’s one good reason:
What does this mean? It means that searchers are clicking on map pack results to find more information about a business, including its contact information and location.
When potential customers search for your business on Google, they are presented with your listing. This is a great opportunity for you to provide them with information about your business and encourage them to contact you.
Simply put, your Google listing can help drive new traffic to your website or encourage potential patients to contact you to ask questions or schedule an appointment. Your listing can help bring in new patients.
Having a Google My Business listing also gives you extra credibility. When someone is searching for a chiropractor in their area, they’ll see your listing, and know that you’re a professional in the area. This can mean the difference between someone choosing to come in for an appointment or heading over to a competitor.
Now that you know what Google My Business is, let’s talk about how to get your business listed.
In order to take advantage of the benefits of Google My Business, you first have to claim your chiropractic office’s listing. There are two ways to do this:
If you want to claim your listing directly through the Google My Business platform, you’ll need to either sign into your Google Account or create one.
From here, you can enter the name of your chiropractic office, and click “Next.”
The final step is to choose a verification method. Google will want to verify that you are the owner or manager of the practice.
You can also claim your practice’s listing through Google Maps.
From here, you’ll need to choose a verification option to verify and finish claiming your listing.
Once you’ve claimed your listing, you can add details about your business, including a business photo, opening hours and service area. You can also respond to customer reviews and requests for service, and add business categories that help customers find you.
After you’ve claimed your listing, you can also edit information about your business, including the business name, address and phone number. You can also add photos, videos and other information about your business.
Claiming your practice’s Google listing is just the first step in leveraging this powerful tool. It’s also important to optimize your listing.
If you don’t provide enough information, Google may not show your business listing in the search results. When you claim your listing and fill in as many details as possible, you’re more likely to have a complete and accurate listing. Understand that Google may not always be able to verify your business information, but it’s still important to fill in as many details as possible.
When optimizing your listing, be as thorough as possible.
Google My Business has its own messaging system, which makes it easy to communicate with patients. Make sure that you set up this feature, as it allows you to receive booking requests right through the chat system.
Taking the time to thoroughly optimize your listing can help improve your rankings in the local search results. Without optimization, your listing may get buried and customers won’t be able to find you as easily.
Patient reviews are critical to your practice for two important reasons:
Optimizing your business listing isn’t the only way to improve your rankings. Patient reviews will also play an important role in determining where your practice falls in the local search results.
Since 2013, Google has used reviews to help determine which local businesses show up in search results. It’s not the only thing Google uses, but it’s a significant factor.
Reviews can make or break your business. If you have several positive reviews, then you’ll seem more credible to potential patients. If you have several negative reviews, then you’ll seem unprofessional to potential patients.
How influential are reviews?
But how do you acquire patient reviews? Just ask.
The key to getting more positive reviews is to make the process as simple as possible. Don’t make your patients jump through hoops to find your review page. Include the link in your post-appointment emails, add it to your website and find ways to incorporate it into other patient communication.
The key to getting more positive reviews is to make the process as simple as possible. Don’t make your patients jump through hoops to find your review page. Include the link in your post-appointment emails, add it to your website and find ways to incorporate it into other patient communication.
Like with any other social media account, Google My Business allows you to publish updates to your profile. These updates show that you’re an active business and care about keeping your patients informed.
Through your practice listing, you can publish posts about:
Make sure that you’re posting regularly. Posts can help send positive signals to Google, which may help improve your rankings. They can also encourage more customers to take action when visiting your profile or finding your practice’s listing.
Plus, patients can follow your practice’s profile and receive notifications whenever you post an update. This will help keep your practice at the forefront of their minds, helping drive new business through the door. Be sure to include a call to action, or CTA, in every post to encourage patients or readers to take action (i.e. contact your practice).
Although it’s one of the largest and arguably most important, Google My Business isn’t the only business directory on the web. It’s important to syndicate your listing to these other directories to help improve your rankings.
These directories include:
Google actually scrapes these directories as well as your website to verify that your practice is legitimate.
If you haven’t already, take the time to add your listing to these directories. Make sure that all of your information is the same across the board. Inconsistencies in information can hurt your rankings over the long term.
Google My Business is important for Chiropractors. It’s free, easy to set up, and could help attract new patients. Although it will take some time and effort to go through these steps, the return is worth the investment. Just make sure that you’re regularly updating your profile with new posts and whenever your contact information changes. Being active can help you improve and maintain your rankings in the local search results.
Patients are already looking for Chiropractic services in your area, and this is how they find you.
Nick is the Founder of CHIROBASIX, a marketing agency that specializes in helping Chiropractors dominate their local markets and drive new patient acquisition.
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