How to Add Google+ Local to Your Marketing Plan
When you perform a Google search for "Medical Practice", or "Medical Practice (your town name)", you will typically see three types of search results. 1. Ads 2. Traditional organic search results 3. Local (Google Maps) results 
Ads are often very effective but cost you money every time someone clicks on one. Links from the traditional organic section can send visitors to your homepage, or to any of the other pages on your site that have been indexed by Google. Local results will send people to your Google+ Local page. This was formerly known as a Google Places page, but people will now see your Places page within Google+. The back end management of the system is still done on the Google Places Dashboard. A Google+ Local page already exists for most established businesses, and can be created for brand new businesses. Each location of a business should have its own page, and each page should be claimed so that you can optimize your listing. Doing so helps increase the number of clicks on your listing, generating more calls and clicks to your website. Ultimately, your conversion ratio will improve, and more of these people will become your patients. In order to optimize your listing, the first step is to claim it. Claiming Your Listing Business owners can claim their existent business listing or create a listing if needed. To claim your listing, you need to locate or create it, and then prove that you are the owner (or authorized representative) of your practice. Most established businesses can claim their profile page by prompting Google to make an automated phone call to your business phone number. When you answer this call, you will be provided with a code. By entering this code into Google's system, you prove you own the business. Brand new businesses, and in some cases established businesses, will not be able to use this phone verification method. Instead, Google will send you a letter with your code. When you get this letter in the mail at your business address, you can log back into the Google system to verify your ownership. Use a Consistent Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP) One of the most important factors that Google uses to rank your business within local results is the number of business citations it can find for your location. This citation consists of your business Name, Address, and Phone Number, also known as The NAP. The NAP on your Google+ for Business page must exactly match the one on your website. In fact, it is vital that every detail of the NAP, down to suite number and abbreviations and punctuation, be consistent wherever it appears on the Internet. The more times this information is identically repeated, the better your Google+ for Business listing will rank. Complete and Optimize Your Listing Some of the information in your listing is required, other is optional. In general, you will want to include as much relevant information as possible, as this will increase the chances that your listing will appear in search results. The pages in the Google+ Business directory may include the following:
- Business name
- Address and phone
- Link to your website
- Short description and additional details about your practice
- Photos and video of your business
- Ratings and teviews from patients
- Google Maps directions
Why Reviews Matter Your Google+ for Business page includes the opportunity for patients to post ratings and reviews - whether or not you have claimed your listing. Google uses the number of reviews as one of their ranking factors for these search results, and people use these reviews to choose among their options. Collecting at least 5 new reviews seems to be a threshold for achieving any bump in the local results rankings, although this number likely varies based on the level of competition in your area. Also, getting consistent reviews, as opposed to many all at once, is the best approach. Once you have claimed your listing, you can post public responses to reviews. By addressing any negative reviews (everyone will get one eventually), and thanking people who write positive reviews, you help humanize your online presence. Google Local, Your Own Website, and Other Directories Practices with a single location should link their Google+ for Business page to the homepage of their website. If you have multiple locations, each one should have its own Google+ for Business listing, linked to a page on your website that is specific to that location. Once you have done all of the above, the next step is to add or optimize listings on the dozens of online yellow pages and local business directories, as well as directories of health care providers. Remember to focus on a consistent NAP, to help the search engines identify and tally your total number of listings as they "crawl" the web. To help you with this very detail oriented and deliberate process, you should use a spreadsheet to track and organize your listings. This spreadsheet will help you avoid duplicate submissions, and speed up the process of updating information should any of your practice details ever change. Building a solid Internet presence, starting with your website and Google+ Local and extending through other directories, is one of the most important and cost effective means of promoting your practice online.
Article By: Ira Pasternack Ira Pasternack is the President of WebForDoctors, a company providing sales and marketing services for Medical Practice and occupational medicine providers. Specialties include all aspects of online and search engine marketing, and comprehensive direct sales programs for occupational medicine services.]
