Dentist Maps Optimization - Dr's Listing vs. Practice Listing

[iFuse]

Hi all,

I just got off the phone with Google and they said that they cannot merge my clients practice listing with the doctors listings b/c there is more than 1 doc that works there.

The rep said this will not cause ranking issues b/c Goog knows that they are the same practice.

My issue is that the docs listing has only 1 review but ranks way better than the practice listing that has 13 reviews.

My question is should I optimize both places listings the same with same categories, description, etc? Should I even optimize both or just the one that ranks now? For on-site optimization/citations which NAP should I use (the doc's listing has both the practice name then hyphen his name)?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Chris

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for posting.

Yes Google will no longer delete Dr listings or merge them. Except in the case of a single practitioner.

I came up with a strategy that works really well.

I've covered this in training and here at the forum and my blog several times.

<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-duplicates-merges/864-overcoming-new-google-places-duplicate-listing-problems.html">Overcoming New Google Places Duplicate Listing Problems for Dentists, Doctors, Attorneys</a>

There are about 4 posts within that one, so read them all. (It's in the dupes and merges section of the forum, where I moved this post to.)

So "minimize" the Dr listing if you want the practice listing to rank.

All my consultants that have tried it say it works well and even Google management confirmed they think this is a good solution to the problem.