So you’re searching for yourself, and you notice your competitor is showing above in the map pack. What gives? You have more reviews and everything. Why do they show up above you?

What to Focus on for Local Search

Google takes several matters into account when determining who appears in the 3-pack and other spots at the top of local searches. 

Some of these factors you can’t influence, such as the distance someone making the search is from you. But you can make a considerable impact on other factors; enough to make a real difference in your rankings.

Here are a couple:

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews!

A steady stream of reviews coming in for your practice helps Google see your practice as a place that people are regularly engaging with for their needs. While reviews across multiple listings are worth pursuing, reviews on Google’s own listing should never be ignored.

Regularly ask for reviews from happy patients. We know this can be an awkward process, which is why we have an easy-to-use platform your team can use to send requests straight to a patient’s phone or email. 

Remember that you don’t need a perfect, 5-star score. In fact, people are more likely to trust a good non-perfect score! The more important point is for reviews to come in consistently and for your staff to respond to them.

Having Accurate, Consistent Information

Do you know what your Google business listing currently says about your address, phone number, office hours, and other pertinent information?

(You should really go check it if you haven’t. We can wait.)

Is it all correct? If so, good! Now is it also correct across all the other listings out there?

Having the same (and correct!) information across a wealth of listing sites is another factor in building your local search ranking. Google crawls over these sites as well to check information and relevance. 

Some, like Facebook or Yelp, you may be familiar with. Many others you may have never heard of. But having consistent and accurate information across them all remains important nonetheless.

We have a fast and easy scan of more than 50 different listings you can make to see where your information is currently stacking up. You might be surprised at what you find.

We’ll Help Lift You Up in Local Search

We may not be local, depending on where you live, but we know how local SEO works.

If you’re not showing up strongly in local searches, you can be missing out on more potential patients. Request a consultation with us today to discuss where things currently stand and how we can work with you to improve your ranking.

Thanks for reading! Look for more from us soon.

The VMD Services Team