October 16th, 2017
For consumers looking to visit your business, getting listed in search engine results from Google, Yahoo and Bing are the best ways to get found. These new consumers today are not going to look your business up in the yellow pages or any other kind of physical directory, rather, they are going to find you online. A Google study has shown that 59% of consumers use Google to find a local business and 71% of those searchers actually find the information valuable and reliable. This is why your business must have the following be consistent across all media platforms, Name, Address & Phone Number, also known as NAP.
When properly listed, NAP data can bring people straight to your business which is why it is extremely important that it is listed properly. Accurate NAP data also allows your business to be listed properly on all search engine results pages. However, whenever search engines come across NAP data that is listed improperly, then search engines can actually provide consumers with directory listings that list improper information resulting in another businesses information getting mixed up with yours. A perfect example would be if you happened to change your phone number and then receive phone calls from people who knew the previous owner. That has happened to me and it can most certainly happen to a business. As mentioned in a previous article, domain authority is extremely important. However, in this particular case, the presence of your NAP as well as keywords in titles is also extremely important.
For example, on a personal injury lawyers website they have five separate locations all with the same name. However, having the same name isn’t the issue because all five separate locations are listed differently in Google because their address and phone numbers are different.
Each location is now listed in Google My Business and each location points to the main website, has the same name, but clearly different addresses and phone numbers. This allows Google to place this business in the local 3-pack whenever a relevant search is made. Also, it is important to note that some businesses need to make sure that their website has many of these crucial elements in the titles of their pages. Here you can clearly see that this doctor is using the keywords Breast Enhancement Detroit in her titles which allows the search engines to also identify that not only is this website trying to rank for that keyword but also that keyword in her local area which happens to be Detroit.
The presence of On Page Signals is incredibly important when trying to get your business to be found online. Although it only accounts for 14% of your total visibility online, it is a crucial component to your overall marketing strategy that must not be ignored.
October 8th, 2017
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September 26th, 2017
Become a Master of your business by finding the right tools to help you focus on getting organized, becoming more efficient, & increasing your level of productivity & growth.
Everyone wants to be successful, but how do we truly achieve this? You may be motivated, hard-working, determined, but what other skills are needed to be truly successful? By simply altering your daily habits you may find a new focus on what you wish to achieve and a better way to achieve them.
I’ve never met a successful entrepreneur who wasn’t always thinking about their next project or the meetings they had filled in their calendar for the week. Learning to plan and prioritize your goals each and every week is key to achieving them.
*Tip: Try setting small daily goals that will bring you closer to your major goal each and every day. Even small accomplishments will set you on a path to greater success.
What’s important to you? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve it? Are you focusing on the end result, but not on the path to get there? Find your focus and commit to your goals fully and the motivation will follow.
In order to achieve the impossible, you must dream the impossible. A great way to rid yourself of negative thoughts is to surround yourself in a positive environment and continuously feed positive creativity and thoughts into your daily routine.
*Tip: Find a short task or hobby that you can do daily in your office or at home, such as writing, painting, sketching doodles, listening to music. Block out time just for you to be creative.
It’s important to challenge yourself and to find time to be with friends, family, & co-workers. However, getting rid of all the noise and minor distractions of daily life can really help in keeping you on your path to success.
*Tip: Find 10 minutes a day to meditate and block out the stressful distractions you may face on a regular basis.
September 20th, 2017
So much of how your business will appear in the Local Pack is determined by your website and its effectiveness. In this section, we will focus on Link Signals which accounts to 17% of your website’s overall effectiveness.
Link Signals are the signals that provide search engines with an idea as to how important your website is. For example, inbound anchor text are words that are highlighted and underlines on a website that point to another website, for example, I am going to link to another website now that will explain what Anchor Text is. Search engines actually like it when other websites link to other websites because it gives the search engine algorithm an idea that those linking websites might actually be important. Another example would be the following, a local restaurant links to a magazine where they have an article displayed Example once clicked, the user is redirected to another website, but the magic doesn’t stop there. The website that is being linked to has what’s called Domain Authority. Domain authority is another way of saying how powerful a website is by search engine ranking factors. For example, if a high school newspaper in Houston wants to cover a story about their local area they can write the most amazing article about people’s lives, etc. However, if CNN wrote a shorter article that wasn’t even that much in depth, CNN’s would rank higher in search engine results simply because of CNN’s domain authority. Any website with higher domain authority will most likely always outrank a lower ranked website simply due to the fact that search engines will presume that the site with higher authority will be trusted. As you can see here, CNN has an extremely high PA (page authority) and DA (domain authority).
If someone were searching for the term “Gossip” then Google is going to provide the searcher what it believes is the best choice to provide to the user simply based upon their search query. A search engines job is to provide accurate results for its users and in this case it gave me Wikipedia at #1, New York Daily News Celebrity Gossip as #2, and Perez Hilton for #3. Who would think that a celebrity gossiper like Perez Hilton could be so close to a large reputable newspaper? There are many factors, but in this case, it can be attributed to it be a very reputable website.
So what does that mean for your local business? You need to have other websites link to your website and it is extremely important that those websites have high Page Authority and Domain Authority. If your business can get mentioned in the local newspaper and if that paper has great PA and DA, then that will help your website get boosted in the search engine rankings. Obviously it is extremely difficult to get these other websites to link to yours, but in the end the more that link to your site will increase its rankings and eventually outperform your local competitors as well.
September 13th, 2017
In this article, we’re going to focus on the local pack ranking factor, My Business Signals, which according to the SEO experts rounded up by MOZ accounts for a staggering 19% of your overall Local SEO score. Another description for My Business Signals is none other than Google My Business.
Google has mapped out practically the entire world, their idea is that by creating an overall user experience for anyone can theoretically find a business from their phone or desktop computer simply by typing in whatever they are looking for. Google also feels that when a person performs a search for a business, service or is even doing research about wherever they might travel, then that person should be able to see images of a business storefront, the interior as well as whatever else is pertinent to that customer’s query. Here is an example of a search one may do if they plan on traveling to Barcelona.
If a potential traveler to Barcelona is able to actually get an idea as to where they may want to spend an evening in Barcelona, so may a potential in your local business. The idea is that you want them to not only find you but also to know what kind of business you are which is why it is essential that your business signals are all pointing in the right direction. Here are the first steps to getting your business found in the local 3-pack.
Is your business verified or does it exist? If not, then don’t worry, just go to the following address https://business.google.com and click on create new business. When you add all of the relevant information Google will provide you with several options, one of which will be to have a postcard sent to your business with a code on it. You need that code to verify your business.
Once complete, it is essential that you get at least five exterior photos, five interior photos, five photos of your staff and add them to the page. You should also make sure that you create images that are specifically sized properly for the page. You should also add a logo to your page as well as any info in the about section, but most importantly of all, make sure that your Name, Address & Phone Number are all correct (also referred to as the N.A.P.).
It is also essential that you add the correct business classification. For example, if you are a plastic surgeon, make sure you label your business as a plastic surgeon and not just a surgeon. Or if you happen to be a dermatologist, make sure you don’t just title it as Doctor. Once done, you can click submit and you are on the road to getting your business found on Google local.
Now on to the other benefits of having your business verified with Google My Business is having your posts actually coming up on Google when people search for them.
As you can see here, this particular bar has actual events that are coming up in the search area of the business, which allows potential customers to not only view the events or the specials, but also click on the them or sign up via another website portal.
Google also rewards those who actually add pictures of their business every month. It is important because Google sees frequent posting as a relevancy that can actually assist them in making the overall user experience in tune with their own website policies.
Another fantastic area that can be crucial to your business is having the insight as to when people are actually looking for your business, but also where they can find you. Google Insights is an area in your Google My Business portal that will inform you how many direct searches occurred versus discovery searches; or whether or not they saw you on Google Search or Google Maps; or how many times that they visited your website, asked for directions or called; You will also be able to see how many photos were viewed as well as the direct quantity of your local competitors.
Google My Business is an essential component if you want your local business to rank.
August 29th, 2017
Every year a company called Moz gets together some of the top SEO’s in the country. They pool their resources and experiences all of which then is compiled into what they call the Local Pack and Local Organic ranking factors.
Each area is specific and important especially for local brick and mortar (actual physical locations where people buy goods and or services from) businesses that rely on local searches typically done on cellular telephones. If you look at the pie charts above, it can come across quite daunting, but each week we are going to cover these areas and discuss strategies processes that can actually boost your businesses overall search rankings as well as increase your business foot traffic.
If you click on Moz’s Local Search Ranking Factors link you can begin reading from there and get a head start, we however are going to focus on businesses specifically geared towards the aesthetics industry and develop some good practices and qualities that will make your business stand out.
The two pie charts above are broken down into two areas, Local Pack Rankings and Local Organic Rankings. When you think of local pack, think of the following example for Plastic Surgeons San Diego.
What can be seen are three specific businesses that are in the Local 3-pack. Businesses that appear to be on top. Various factors go into why these businesses are on top all of which factor into the pie chart above. To appear in this local 3-pack, then one must optimize their Local Search Ranking Factors.
The same can be said for the query below.
This are is called the Organic search area and as you can see Yelp is on top followed by Miller Cosmetic Surgery and several other plastic surgeons. What can be seen here is each of these businesses are located on the first page of Google indicating that their Organic Search rankings are obviously optimized and they must be doing something right. It’s at this point that a business owner must determine which or both areas they should focus on.
Our goal here at the medical business academy is to make sure that you are given the most up to date information so that you can not only maximize your business’s output, but also become the most efficient business in your local area. In the following weeks we are going to tackle each and every one of these areas and find examples and methods that you can use in your own office.
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Understanding Your Ideal Customer
August 15th, 2017
Understanding the behavior of your customers is essential to the success of any business. If you don’t know what your ideal customer likes to do – their interests, fears, inspirations – how are you supposed to satisfy them with your product or service? Furthermore, exceed their expectations by providing an exceptional experience they will never forget.
Social Media is a great place to start, especially if you already have an avid fan base. By looking at the social media profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter you can begin to identify the key traits of your potential customers. 90% of practices target the same audience, which is anyone between 35 to 60 years of age. This is ok if you have a lot of marketing dollars to spend on reaching a very diverse audience.
The key is to segment the customers that you wish to target. You can focus on key demographics such as age – separate your customers into 30’s-40’s, 40’s-50’s, and 50’s-60’s – location, or even profession.
Don’t have a lot of customers yet or a strong social media fan base? Try targeting one particular demographic. This will allow you to get a deep understanding of your ideal customers needs and wants, focus on the correct messaging, which in return will give you a higher conversion rate and more overall customers.
For more information on The Medical Business Academy and the services we offer, please visit our website: www.TheMedicalBusinessAcademy.com
July 27th, 2017
Ah, the million dollar question. What will make my office’s website stand out from the others? What will entice people to visit my page vs my competitors?
At the Medical Business Academy have come up with some excellent tips to help you maximize and utilize the space you have on the internet. I would like to start off by saying, it’s very important that your page should be user friendly, have great navigation, and load quickly. Most visitors nowadays are very impatient and fickle. If a website is hard to read, difficult to navigate and takes a lifetime to load, you can be sure they will be leaving your site and moving on to your competitor because they get frustrated. Ensure your navigation buttons are obvious and in an easy to follow format so that your visitors do not get lost on your website. Ideally, a visitor should be able to arrive on your site and not have to think extensively about where they should click next – moving from one part of the page to another should not be difficult or frustrating.
Make sure you have the most updated contact and address information that can easily be found (for example: your telephone number on the top right hand corner of the website and a contact form on the home page where you can capture all their details). Inaccurate information will turn off consumers, whether it’s a wrong number, outdated product information or simple grammatical errors which visitors will also notice. I can’t tell you how many times I personally have changed my mind about visiting a business once I realized their phone number is inaccurate or outdated, or I am unable to contact them. Most of us lead very busy lifestyles and do not have the time or patience to be sifting through multiple search engines to find out where your practice is located and how to reach you. If I cannot see the information or access it easily, I will move on.
Keeping a clean, professional, attractive design is also essential. Forget the bells and whistles and focus on the essentials. Use eye-catching colors, readable fonts, and rich images and video. Video is one of the greatest ways to communicate the personality of your brand quickly and effectively. It’s ten times more powerful to have video than text on a page. Getting people to have an emotional connection with your business either through video or images is a key factor in securing long-term clients and patients and will entice them to contact you vs your competitor.
Having the right content. This one is tricky. You want your page to be informative, but not too crowded you overwhelm and confuse the reader. Keep the content on your web pages educational but to the point. Patients are extremely informative and knowledgable now, so you want to make sure you have credibility and original content. Be clear and honest about the products/services you are offering. Think of your website as a resume: it should tell your prospective patients what you do, why you are different and why they should visit your practice for a consultation. Be sure to include any accreditations and/or certifications or awards the Physicians or practice have received. Patients get excited when they see awards affiliated with your practice! The secret to keeping your audience engaged and coming back for more comes down to creating content that’s informative, helpful, useful and fun.
Easily accessible no matter where you are. In order to provide a truly great user experience, your site needs to be compatible with multiple different operating systems and devices. Someone may have an android phone and using google to search your site on their phone, and may have a Macbook and use Safari or Firefox at home. You want your site to be mobile friendly and ipad friendly, as well as computer friendly.
Lastly, connecting to social media. Use your website to drive clients to your clinic’s Facebook fan page, Twitter account, LinkedIn company profile, and even YouTube channel if you have one. No matter how much you choose to ignore it, marketing or posting on social media is essential nowadays. In addition, having a blog on your website with great stories, case studies and tips for your readers can be very powerful to push them to call and make that appointment. If you are unable to keep your blog portion of your site regularly updated, then I actually advise against having one on your site. Not consistently updating content that gets dated, such as blog posts, could end up doing more damage than help for your brand in the long run.
No matter which tips you decide to use, remember that at the end of the day, the most important part is the full patient experience. You may have an exceptional website that will make you stand out, get lots of visitors and entice patients to call your practice; but if the patient is unable to get through on the phone, does not have a great experience in the waiting room or during the consultation, or gets turned off by the checkout process, then they may not be coming back once they walk out that door.
For more information on The Medical Business Academy and the services we offer, please visit our website: www.TheMedicalBusinessAcademy.com
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