Veterinary businesses are critical to the community, providing a needed service often in dire situations. Yet, you likely have some competition. To build your practice, it becomes critical to make sure people who need you can find you immediately. Your Google Business Profile is one way to ensure that is the case.
Being found online means that when a pet owner searches for a vet in their area, your practice shows up, making it easy for them to call you directly. Unless a person has an established relationship with a vet, they will likely go online to search for a service that meets their needs. The Google Business Profile listing for your company could be one of the most effective ways to turn these searchers into clients.
What Is a Google Business Profile for Veterinarians?
As a service-oriented, local business, your Google Business Profile is like an online directory listing. It allows Google to learn about your company, and when someone needs the services you offer, it encourages the search engine to present your veterinarian listing to those people. Your Google Business Profile provides:
- A free way to market your business directly in front of the people who are most likely to book an appointment.
- Build your marketing efforts and contribute to search engine optimization (SEO) of your website.
- Provide a fast and simple way for people who need an emergency vet or a specialized vet to call you directly without having to go to another website to get your information.
But there’s more. Take a moment to Google veterinarians within your city. Just type, for example, “Veterinarians in City Name.” When you do this, you’ll see a box of three businesses listed, each one with its name, reviews, and contact information. It’s at the top or near the top of the search results page, right where people can click and take action.
Used properly, this drives more website traffic, leads to your phone, better branding, and access to targeted customers. Google Business Profile is an essential tool for all veterinarians, no matter the size or services you offer.
The Value of Using Your Google Business Profile
Remember, there is no cost to using your Google Business Profile for veterinarians. You will go through a couple of simple steps to prove to Google that you are the business at the location you provide. From there, you gain control over the information posted in your profile. What is the direct ROI for Google Business Profile for veterinarians?
Increase Your Practice’s Visibility
While you may be working on building SEO for your website and creating a fantastic social media campaign, you also want to consider the value of a Google Business Profile. Nothing else positions your content closer to the pet owner who needs help with their pet than being in that near-top position on the search listings.
Build Reviews for Your Business
Surveys are clear – reviews drive leads to your business. Consumers want and need to know the person they are trusting with their furry family member is going to provide excellent care. Some use reviews to gauge costs, the level of friendly service, or how well a veterinarian meets their needs. Your profile makes it easy for people to read and leave reviews about your practice, encouraging others to contact you.
There Is No Cost
This is one of the most important factors to remember as you consider your SEO and other marketing strategies. Your profile does not cost anything (unless you pay a service to set it up for you, which can be worthwhile). However, your profile will provide every bit of information a potential client needs to make a decision to book an appointment.
How to Set Up Your Google Business Profile for a Veterinarian
While the process is free, there are a few steps you must take to allow Google to recognize your business and business location and ensure they are giving ownership of that profile to the right party. The good news is that this is easy to do.
You’ll find out some basic information to claim your Google Business Profile. The search engine will request verification of the location and other information about the company. Once you work through these steps, the rest of the process is very straightforward, and you can start seeing leads from it immediately.
Fill Out Your Profile Fully
Your Google Business Profile for a veterinarian needs to include the following as a starting point.
- Your practice’s name. Be sure it is exactly the same as what is on your website, LinkedIn, and other listings.
- Your exact location.
- Phone number to your practice.
Verify the accuracy of all of this information before you launch it. Then, add the following components.
Description
Your Google Business Profile description is your place to show your brand’s personality, provide compelling reasons why pet owners should call you, and offer insight into what you do to change pets’ lives. Include keywords related to the services you use and locations you serve.
Focus on these three factors:
- Be accurate and detailed about what you do.
- Include detailed information about who you are, such as your business name, main veterinarian’s name, and licensing details.
- Include your differentiator. What makes your practice different from others? Cost, availability, unique services, friendly smile, etc. could apply.
Photos and Videos
Potential clients need to see who you are and what your location has to offer. People are visual, which means they benefit from seeing where you are located, who the vets are, and perhaps even a few smiling pictures of your favorite furry patients.
Videos help show people what they can expect, building your brand and breaking down walls about what they will find at your location. Always ensure these are positive, appealing, and professional.
Customer Reviews
Your customers may openly communicate with you about how much they love your practice. However, prospective clients need to read that online so that they can form some trust with you. To achieve that, encourage your current customers to provide a positive review for you on your Google Business Profile. There are various ways to do this, such as sending an SMS text message, email, or just asking in person.
Then, engage with those reviews. Thank the people who provided them and try to interject something positive about their pet or the experience. If you get a negative review, avoid lashing out, but instead, encourage that person to contact you. Show your professionalism.
Questions and Answers
There’s an area of your profile where prospective patients may ask questions. Answer them. Be sure to include your local keywords in this area of the content as well. It’s going to help your prospective clients get more information about what you do and how you can help them.
Include Your Services and Locations Serve
Be specific about these areas. When someone is Googling “chiropractic care for a dog in Cleveland,” if that’s in your profile, it helps you to get within that three-pack of listings at the top of the page. Be sure you also define the service area by including the name of the city you are in as well as the cities around you where your clients come from. Be specific here – you definitely want your city to be listed first, but go deeper and include other locations, including nearby communities.
No Time? How Can You Maintain Your Google Business Profile Over Time?
Your Google Business Profile will help you build credibility, draw in more leads, and even help with optimizing your SEO practices. However, to do that, you must consistently manage it. Some of the tasks that require ongoing support include:
- Getting reviews to your profile (every patient that comes in is an opportunity to get a review)
- Respond to reviews online to allow you to engage with others and provide insight into your practice. Let the bad reviews help you improve your practice without disparaging the reviewer’s statements.
- Update services and locations as they change.
- Updating services based on promotions or available discounts.
- Keep photos up to date and new.
These tips will help your profile remain competitively placed in the search engine rankings. If your profile isn’t ranking just yet, or you are not able to get into that top-three position, it’s time to have an audit and find out where your opportunities are.
How Surefire Local Can Help Veterinarians with Google Business Profiles
To simplify all of the work that you need to do to set up and manage your profile, turn to Surefire Local. With our tools, you can manage the entire process more efficiently and reduce the risk that you’ll miss out on key opportunities. This will save you time while also optimizing your opportunities for leads and brand growth.
Your time is valuable, and your Google Business Profile is also incredibly valuable to growing that practice. Take a Surefire Local demo now to find out how we can help make managing and gathering data about your profile easier.