Creating a Google My Business profile for your dental website is a cornerstone of good SEO. there are a number of digital marketing benefits to building a business listing on the biggest search engine in the world. But you’ve got to go one step further and optimise your profile to take advantage of all its benefits. This post will highlight the steps of setting up Google my business and optimising it for your dental practice.
The Benefits Of Setting Up Google My Business
Your Google My Business profile makes it quick and easy for locals to find your dental website.
This business listing makes your practice accessible to potential patients by giving them the basic contact information required to make an appointment.
It makes it easy for patients browsing on a mobile phone to contact you right away.
The benefits of setting yourself up on the platform include:
High visibility among your competitors
If your digital storefront isn’t visible on search engine results pages (SERPS), you’ll lose potential patients to competitor dental practices. By optimising your Google business profile, you can outperform your competitors and give your dental website and contact details high visibility.
You have control over the information that is displayed to your patients
If you’ve moved locations or changed your telephone number, it’s difficult for patients to find you online – and they’ll probably call someone else.
You can build a strong reputation online
If you don’t have a Google My Business profile, you can’t respond to online reviews – whether they are positive or negative.
The Basics Of Setting Up A Google Business Profile
In order to display accurate business details, rank your website higher in local search results, and attract more patients, there are a few basics you need to get right.
Start with a Google account
Creating a Google account gives you instant access to all of Google’s features: Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Drive. Before you can create a Google My Business profile, you need to have a Google account. To do this, visit accounts.google.com and ‘Create an account’ to begin the process.
Create a Google Business Profile
A business listing is a box that appears next to Google Maps listings. It’s a free business profile that displays the basic contact information associated with your practice: your physical address, telephone number, opening hours, and dental website address. To do this, visit google.com/business and use your new Gmail address to begin.
Open a Google My Business Account
This is the business account that allows you to manage your business listing. It’s a good idea to make sure that a business listing hasn’t already been created by someone else, so do a quick search for your dental practice first. If you don’t find a listing, click on ‘Add your business to Google’. In the event that there is already a Google Business Profile, you can click the ‘Request Access’ prompt, and you can initiate the transfer of ownership.
To get started, you will need to complete all three steps: create a Google account, create your business profile, claim ownership of your profile, and then verify your ownership.
How To Create A New Google Business Profile
When you create your new business profile, you’ll need to
- Add your practice name (business name) and category
- Add your physical address. When you add your street address, you will be prompted to confirm the location on a map using a pin.
- Confirm if you offer deliveries. If this is a service you offer, you will also need to confirm the service areas you deliver to
- Insert your contact details. This is the section where you will input your telephone number and dental website address. If you have a new practice and do not have a dental website yet, you can always return later to fill this in.
- Update your operating hours so that potential patients know when to contact you. You should also update your public holiday opening hours.
- Add messaging. If you are responsive, you can select messaging so that patients can send messages directly to your profile.
- Update your business description. You can include a business description of up to 750 characters to attract patients to your practice.
- Include photos so that patients know what to expect when they visit you.
Verifying Your Google Business Profile
Google asks you to do this to confirm that your practice is operating from the location you entered. Your options to receive the verification code are
- Receiving a postcard at the business address
- Receiving the code via email
- Receiving the verification over the phone
You will be able to make changes and updates to your listing while the verification process is underway, but the profile won’t be published until verification is complete.
How To Optimise Your Google Business Profile
Optimising your business profile will ensure your details are updated, and your dental website receives high visibility online. You do this by
- Including patient Q&As
- Uploading new photos regularly
- Showcasing promotions and specials
- Requesting and responding to Google reviews
Setting your business profile up and managing it properly is time-consuming when you’re running a dental practice. Working with a digital marketing agency specialising in dental practice marketing makes it so much easier and ensures you are always one step ahead of your competitors. Contact Mediboost on 1300 163 058 for help setting up Google My Business and find out how you can boost your online presence today.
References
How to Create & Verify Your Google My Business Account
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/06/10/create-google-my-business-account
13 Google My Business Optimizations to Rank Higher in Local Search
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/06/03/google-my-business-optimization
