More than half (54%) of U.S. consumers have replaced their phone books with online searches to find a local business, according to comScore. To attract these prospective customers (or patients, in the case of healthcare providers), local businesses must build and maintain a robust online presence. An effective way to do this is to claim listings on business directories. Creating or claiming a local business listing in several different business directories can help your practice show up multiple times in search results in addition to sending traffic from the directory itself.
Business directories help prospective patients determine whether a healthcare practice could fit their needs. Listings include important business information (address, hours, industry), contact information (phone and fax number, email address, website URL), interior and exterior practice photos, driving and parking instructions, services and products offered, and more. Although some business directories require a subscription, there are many options for free online business listings.
Claiming your business listings and adding information seems like an easy task — until you realize there are dozens of business directories across the web. To make the best use of your time, focus your efforts on the following business listings or profiles.
Also See: Why It’s Important to Optimize Your Healthcare Directory Profiles
Google My Business
Google My Business is a free tool healthcare providers can use to manage their online presence across Google. Your Google My Business listing is the box that displays on the right-hand side of Google search engine results pages (SERPs). A Google My Business listing can also be seen on Google Maps.
According to Vendasta, Google My Business is the most important consumer and business review website. On average, Google My Business receives 158.03 million views per month, which equates to 34.3% of total U.S. online traffic.
According to Statista, the number of U.S. Facebook users is expected to reach 207.36 million in 2018. Vendasta ranks the social media website No. 2 on its list of Top 10 Consumer and Business Review Websites because it receives an average 85.57 million monthly U.S. visitors, accounting for 29.10% of total U.S. web traffic.
Similar to a Google+ profile, businesses only reap the rewards of a Facebook page when they regularly share quality content and interact with users who have liked their page. Use your page to share information prospective patients will find interesting, to post photos and links to your practice website, and to offer limited-time discounts on services or products.
Related: What Healthcare Practices Need to Know About Facebook Advertising
Yellow Pages (YP.com)
Prospective patients might never carry the phone books left on their stoop inside their homes, but that doesn’t mean they don’t use the Yellow Pages to search for healthcare providers. Nearly 60 million consumers search the yellowpages.com business directory each month, according to the website. Of all the business listing sites included here, a ypProfile can be the most detailed, with options to include accepted insurance, number of years in practice, practice affiliations, price range, and more.
Are you ready to drastically increase your online presence? PatientPop can help you claim and optimize about 70 business and healthcare listings across the web, including some of the business directory listings from this blog. To learn more, contact [email protected].
