To stay competitive in an online world, your veterinary website naturally needs to quickly tell pet owners who you are, how you can help them, and why you’re the veterinary team for them. If you already have such a veterinary website, driving traffic to it is key. To help do this, here are three reasons why you should optimize your Google My Business listing (or create one):
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More Veterinary Website Traffic
Companies with a Google My Business listing (GMB) attract roughly 30% more website traffic than businesses without a GMB listing.
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More Location Traffic and Customer Conversions
Businesses with a GMB listing are 38% more likely to see online searchers walk in the front door (or arrive curbside, as the COVID case may be), and arrivals are 29% more likely to become customers.
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Better Customer Trust
Businesses with verified, up-to-date GMB listings are twice as likely to be considered trustworthy by potential customers.
What in the Name of Elizabethan Collars Is a GMB Listing?
You’ve probably seen them many times for veterinary websites. GMB listings are those panels of information that commonly come up with photos, veterinary website links, product/service offerings, and more when you Google a business. A GMB listing is a free, simple-to-use tool for any veterinary practice to manage the information that Google users find online.
- Google My Business manages your online veterinary presence across Google, including Google Search and Google Maps.
- GMB listings make it easy for pet owners to connect with your veterinary clinic by making sure they have all the information they need.
- On desktops, the listing appears to the right of organic and paid search results. On mobile, the listing typically appears at the top of the screen.
GMB Listings Enhance Your Local Veterinary Website Ranking on Google
Pet owners naturally want to discover nearby veterinary clinics. By making sure you have an up-to-date GMB listing for your veterinary clinic, you help Google understand more about your business. This makes it easier for Google to match your veterinary clinic to relevant user searches, which enhances your local veterinary website ranking and presence on Google Search and Google Maps.
GMB Listings Offer Key Insights
GMB gives you insights into how people searched for your veterinary website online and where those searches came from. You can also find information such as how many people called your practice from the number listed on local search results in Google Search and Google Maps. The more information you have about new and potential clients, the better you can tailor your overall practice marketing and communications to better engage people and keep them engaged.
7 Key Tips to Optimize Your GMB Listing
- Complete your basic information: veterinary clinic name, address, phone number, veterinary website address, hours of operation, etc. Then double-check that what you’ve entered matches what you have on your veterinary practice website.
- Choose your business category. You can choose up to 10 categories to show off the services you provide, but you can only choose one primary business category. So, choose your categories carefully. If you add or edit one of your existing categories, you may be asked to verify your business again.
- Add a value proposition to your business description. Use your business description to tell people about what sets your clinic apart from competing practices.
- Upload photos and/or videos. According to Google, businesses with images in their GMB listings receive 42% more requests for driving directions to their location from Google Maps—plus 35% more click-throughs to their websites—than businesses that don’t use images.
- Respond to all online reviews—even the negative ones. For why this is important and how to turn negatives reviews into positives, read The Benefits of Negative Reviews and Understanding Why Clients Post Negative Reviews Online.
- Share posts to promote events, offers, and website content. Like social posts, Google Posts give veterinary clinics a simple way to attract new clients, strengthen relationships with existing ones, and drive more veterinary website traffic.
- Create a short name and URL for your practice. Once you’ve verified your GMB listing, you can create a short name for your Business Profile to make it easier for customers to find you.
Verify Your GMB Listing Carefully
Once you’ve created your initial GMB listing, Google sends out a verification code by postcard that you use to verify your veterinary clinic location. Make sure to enter this code carefully. If you enter the code incorrectly more than five times, you’ll no longer be able to verify your business.
Take a Second Look at Your Veterinary Website
It’s one thing to attract more pet owners to your veterinary website with a GMB listing. It’s another thing to keep them engaged once they arrive. So, ask yourself some honest questions:
- Does my veterinary website have veterinary-approved content and resources to save time educating pet owners and improve compliance?
- Does my veterinary website have online conversion forms that empower pet owners to request appointments, refills, and more with little practice administrative effort?
- Does my veterinary website provide Pet Insurance Info, a reliable, unbiased resource that saves time answering pet owner questions.
If not, WebDVM custom veterinary websites provide all of the above, plus more to save time, improve efficiency, and strengthen and grow your veterinary business.
