Hey Dentists, Six Tips You Should Be Doing with Your Google My Business Listing
I have a hunch most Dentists know what Google My Business is or know what it looks like just didn’t know it was called “Google My Business”. And for the most part, I would assume most Dental Practices have their Google My Business updated with Office Hours, a few pics of the office, and their address. Most Dentists (including my mother who is a dentist) probably had to update it when their practice was closed during the COVID Shutdowns. (in Texas dentists are allowed to re-open right now)
The one thing you may not know as a Dentist is there is A LOT more information you can add to your Google My Business and all of this is helpful for your SEO. Yeah SEO, the stuff that helps you get found online easier by potential new patients. Since Google pretty much controls the internet with search results, making sure your Google My Business is as up to date as possible makes sense to do.
The best thing about Google My Business is it is SUPER user friendly. So if you plan to make the updates in your free time go for it…and if you have a marketing freelancer or marketing services company that handles your marketing initiatives like SEO, they should be doing this already (and if they aren’t you should give them a nudge to start doing it without charging you anything additional)
So let's get to basic’s really quick, and make sure you are on the same page on what Google My Business is.
What is Google My Business?
So if you are like my mother you might know what Google My Business is, just might not know it by name. Google My Business is that “box” on the right side of your laptop and the information that pops up pretty high on your phone when you are searching for a local business like a restaurant, dental office or really any other brick and mortar store. Here is what it looks like on a laptop.
It gives potential customers basic information about your business like hours, days you are open, reviews, phone number, website, etc. The marketing world calls Google My Business a “local listing” but it is so much more.
So here are six additional things you can also do with your Google My Business right now to help you increase the presence of your dental office. It won’t help you tomorrow, but it can help you in the long haul, and yes what you are doing is totally SEO.
Reply to Your Reviews
Google really, really values customer reviews (especially 5-star reviews). As you have probably seen the most popular dentists in town with the most reviews generally get their listings served up more prominently in Google…Google looks at reviews as a way to indicate “credibility” as a dentist.
And believe me, I know getting patient reviews is HARD! And I am not telling you to ask for reviews right now, but what I am asking you to do is to reply to the reviews you already have in Google. Reply to the positive reviews….pretty much everything with 4 stars or better, where patients talked favorably about your dental practice. And you don’t have to write much, just keep it simple. “Thanks for the great review”, “Thanks for the amazing 5-star review”, etc. etc.
And if you got some “Bad” reviews now is the time to review those and see if they are justified or not. If you think you were treated unfairly you can always “Mark the Review” as Inappropriate and Google will review your complaint, and can eventually remove it.
Now as far as getting new reviews….keep trying and push all your patients to Google for reviews, sites like Yelp are kinda on the downward turn…so Google should be the place you want to push reviews anyway. In Google My Business they give you a shortened link to get more reviews from patients. Here is a screenshot of where to find the link. This can make it easy for patients to do a quick review.
Post on Google My Business like you do on Facebook and Instagram
There is this section in Google My Business where you can post content just like on Facebook and Instagram. It’s more image-based than text. My recommendation is to basically add this to your regular Instagram and Facebook posting schedule.
It shows Google you are active/alive and potential patients can see some of the stuff you are posting when they scroll down on their phone.
Also, if the images you are using for Facebook and Instagram don’t size up perfectly to Google My Business Post size, there is a crop tool to make your resizes super easy. But if you have the time to create exact GMB post sizes the dimensions are: 540 pixels (width) and 405 pixels (height)
Add your “Service Area” and “Business Category” to your Google My Business
These two categories get overlooked in a lot of Google My Business profiles, and they are super easy to complete. “Area you Serve” is basically the cities you service. And don’t go crazy here as a Dentist...put the city you are located in and maybe one other nearby city that makes logical sense. Think like a new patient “dentist near me” or “dentist in City X”
For Business Category, think like a potential patient that is searching for a dentist, don’t overthink it like “Cosmetic Dentist” or “Implant Specialist”, put here you are a “Dentist” - sometimes simple is better.
Add Your “Services” & “Products” in Your Google My Business
This is super simple to add and just takes a little time to do. There is this “Service” section in your Google My Business Profile. Here I would add all the different services you offer from “Dental Implants” to “Emergency Dentist”, to “Root Canals”, etc. and a brief explanation of each service. There is a place to include pricing too….include that information if you want to, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
If you offer any products as a Dentist perhaps some of your own branded Toothpaste or some other products, you should totally add them here too. It’s super simple to do.
Add Your Attributes and a Brief Description of Your Business
Again these are super simple things to add to your Google My Business profile and the questions they ask you are very much Yes/No Answers. Stuff like if you are a Female or Male Dentist, whether there is wheelchair parking...questions you might not be thinking about, but might be important to some potential patients
Also, make sure you have a pretty good Brief Description of your Business. Again keep it simple here and if there is a copy from your website you can totally use that if it does a good job of explaining things concisely.
Make Sure you Keep adding Pictures to your Profile
It’s not really common for patients to take pictures of their time at a dentist's office like it is for customers to post their food shots at local restaurants, or experience at a local music venue. So you want to make sure your photos are pretty up to date and you have a good variety of shots.
Here are some to include if you haven’t included already. Make sure to keep these current and add from time to time. Remember the photos are one of the first things potential patients see when they are reviewing your Google My Business listing, so make sure your dental practice looks welcoming and has good photos that represent your business as best as they can.
A few Good Exterior Office Shot
A Good Current Picture of You
Interior Office Shots
Staff Photos - I understand that staff will change time to time, but this shows that other people work in your office...it can help highlight diversity in the office (i.e. age, gender, etc)
So, there you go, Six additional things to do as a Dentist to improve your Google My Business profile. If you have any other questions or recommendations hit me up.