Additionally, according to Moz.com in their annual local Google
ranking factors study, it also changed the order of importance
for strong rankings – here are the top five for competitive markets (which DFW most definitely is):
1
2
3
4
5
Domain authority of website (having a high quality website
with relevant information)
Consistency of structured citations (have correct directory
listings)
Quality/Authority of inbound links to your website (other
websites pointing to yours)
Quality/Authority of structured citations (having high quality directory listings)
Proper category associations (are you listed under the
proper categories in online directories?)
big prediction:
Mobile Optimization
will be even MORE important
We’ve said it before (many times) and we’ll say it again (and
probably again). Mobile optimization for your site is so important to online marketing success. Up until this point, the easy
way to do that was to simply build a responsive website for your
practice – ensuring that it will look beautiful and function on
any device. That is still 100% true and we absolutely advocate
for that. However, a simple responsive site isn’t enough for
Google these days. Here is what else Google is considering when
it reviews your site:
How long a potential patient stays on your site. Let’s say a potential patient searches Google for braces, she
finds your site on her mobile device but
can’t easily find the detailed information
she is looking for and can’t quickly see how
to call for an appointment. She hastily
clicks the back arrow and chooses the next
practice listing in her Google search. It’s
as simple as that. Clearly you see how you
initially lose out on patient appointments
due to bad website content and design.
But, did you know that Google is keeping
track of this as well? That’s right. It’s
called your site’s “bounce rate” and if they
see that people aren’t staying on your site
long enough, they’ll deem your site to have
a bad “user experience” and penalize you
accordin