When a user opens their smartphone to search for a destination, Google will flag up local registered hotspots. This makes it really quick and easy for users to find directions. However, if you aren’t registered as a business with Google, you simply won’t appear on its map location – which could frustrate your clinic users and potentially lead to an increase in no-shows. Remember, your competitors are very likely to be taking steps to be listed if they aren’t already!
What do you need to do?
Online map listings are a crucial part of healthcare marketing, but luckily they are easy enough to create with a little knowledge of Google of search engines.
You’ll need to go to the Google My Business dashboard. This helps you to track and manage your clinic’s presence across the search engine’s platforms, which include Analytics, Google+ and AdWords, alongside Google Maps.
Now, you can only register your clinic in the town or location that it is physically located. You may find that your clinic already shows in the My Business directory, in which case you can claim it. However, if you are a new clinic, you’ll need to add yourself. Go to My Business, and select ‘Get on Google’. Then type in your business details, and select ‘Add Business’. It should appear as a match – click on it if so, or choose ‘add your business’ and provide your details.
You will be given some questions to answer about your clinic, and you should complete this carefully as it will affect the accuracy of your listing. Then select the relevant category at the bottom of the form – again, vital for accurate search query responses. Just type in a keyword and Google will give you relevant options to choose from.
Then, you’ll be asked to verify your business. This is the slow bit! You’ll receive a postcard to your premises with a verification PIN and further details. Just warn your reception team to look out for it so it doesn’t end up in the recycling bin! Sometimes you’ll get the option to receive this PIN via an automated phone call or by text message, and this is certainly easier and quicker.
If you do get the postcard, make sure you verify the details as quickly as possible, because you only have 30 days to do so. A lot of clinics tell us they ended up going through the process several times because the postcard went AWOL or they simply forgot to complete the process!
Get help
Not every clinic has the marketing resources or time to go through these processes in-house, so remember that we are on hand to help with healthcare marketing services as and when you need them – delivered quickly and efficiently by digital experts who understand the intricacies of your sector.
Remember, setting up your My Business page is your initial step to developing your clinic’s online optimisation for local search – crucial for being found online by prospective customers, and something we will talk about in more detail soon.
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