MARKETING
Invisible Doctor
David S . Brooks
Treatment Plan
Once you confirm your diagnosis , the treatment plan is not difficult but it requires diligence . The first step : find your practice listing on Google . If you have not already done so , immediately claim and verify your listing . Since it is the # 1 search engine for local search , a claimed and verified business listing on Google is your best bet to signal you are a trustworthy business .
Next , claim your business listing on Apple Maps , Yahoo Small Business and Bing Local , and you ’ ll sew up about 60 % of the local search volume .
You should then look to claim your professional listings on the major healthcare sites including Healthgrades , Wellness . com , DocSpot , Vitals . com and Doctor . com .
When you claim and verify your listings , take care to be sure your information is accurate and consistent . Start first with your Google My Business listing , then carefully and meticulously copy your information , verbatim , into all other listings .
No small detail is too picayune . For example , if Google says “ Ave .”, be sure your listing on Bing , Yahoo and other directories also use the same abbreviated form with a period .
Also , be sure the address on your website matches - precisely – the Google listing . Finally , be sure you link and verify your practice website to your Google My Business listing .
While not quite fatal , being invisible is a chronic condition caused by years of NAP neglect and untreated inconsistencies . Don ’ t be a victim : take steps today to clean up your local profile and invest in solutions to help suppress or eliminate the bad data that causes search invisibility .
David S . Brooks
Doctor . com
meet the author :
David Brooks is search marketing consultant to , and co-founder of HealthPlatforms , Inc ., ( parent of Doctor . com ), and co-founder of PracticeBrain , Inc . ( a company acquired by Doctor . com ).
39 TODAY ’ S PRACTICE : CHANGING THE BUSINESS OF MEDICINE