Doctor vs. Practice Listings

[iFuse]

Currently we only really focus on the practice's citations/listings, is this a mistake? Should we be trying to track down all of these doc listings to ensure the NAP matches? Thanks!

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Hey Chris, it really comes down to the goal that you're trying to accomplish by going down that road. Depending on how many practitioners you're talking about you're looking at a lot of time and effort.

In general I'd mainly focus on citations for the practice itself. For solo practitioners you can create citations that are a hybrid practice/practitioner listing.

 

[iFuse]

Thanks Colin, and great to chat with you again. I think that @JoyHawkins once told me that to do a hybrid type listing it really should be just a single practitioner office and to name it something like ABC Dental - Dr. Test Testing, does that sound right?

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Yes that's correct.

 

[whitespark]

I am with Colan on this. Generally, focus on the practice listing unless it's a solo practitioner.

Though, one case where you might want to build up a presence for a practitioner is if they can rank for a specialization. Like, if the clinic focuses on "Dentist" as the primary category, and the practitioner focuses on "Orthodontist". You'd want to create a GMB listing for the practitioner, link it to their profile page on the site (and optimize that page for the term), and build out citations for the practitioner with categories set to orthodontist and the description optimized for orthodontist.

I would caution you to only do this when the practitioner is a primary owner of the practice and will likely be sticking around for life. Different practitioners come and go from practices, and technically, they should own their own listings. If the orthodontist left the practice, they would be able to appeal to Google to get control of their listing and change it to the new address and phone wherever they move to.

 

[Rich Owings]

There is also value in editing practitioner listings so they don't compete with the main listing, but I typically do that thru Maps edits and don't claim the listings.

 

[tedchan]

The volume of queries for doctors is through the roof, and most specialty specific queries land on provider listings. 70-80% Google their docs or any doc they are considering. Claim all the listings across all the players and link to the practices.

 

[JoyHawkins]

I would 100% claim them all just so you can monitor reviews, Q&A, and other user-generated content on them. I would also do it so you can help control the info on them and keep them from competing.

 

[dotgal]

I am with Colan on this. Generally, focus on the practice listing unless it's a solo practitioner.

Though, one case where you might want to build up a presence for a practitioner is if they can rank for a specialization. Like, if the clinic focuses on "Dentist" as the primary category, and the practitioner focuses on "Orthodontist". You'd want to create a GMB listing for the practitioner, link it to their profile page on the site (and optimize that page for the term), and build out citations for the practitioner with categories set to orthodontist and the description optimized for orthodontist.

I would caution you to only do this when the practitioner is a primary owner of the practice and will likely be sticking around for life. Different practitioners come and go from practices, and technically, they should own their own listings. If the orthodontist left the practice, they would be able to appeal to Google to get control of their listing and change it to the new address and phone wherever they move to.

@whitespark - Thanks Darren. This is very useful information. In the case of a doctor that's a primary owner of the practice, would you recommend NOT to have a doctor specific GMB profile? And have all the searches/visits go to the practice instead? We have a client that have many patients would search for the doctor's name to submit a review and not necessarily the practice name.

What would be your recommendation on format of GMB profile listing name? "Practice: Doctor" or "Doctor - Practice Name"?

 

[Scott Rawlins]

If they are the only practitioner and planning on staying that way for quite some time, go with Practice: Doctor Name. This will allow for that listing to show either way.

 

[dotgal]

Thanks @Scott Rawlins

 

[pwa]

As a practicing doc (psychologist) who is an out-of-network provider and thus must rely 90% of the time on organic search results for referrals, I think it is the person, the practitioner , to whom people go. Word of mouth referrals are generally, in my biz, to the person, the practitioner, not the practice or group.

Having said that, I have worked to get online visibility to both practitioner and group practice. However, my branding efforts are to the doctor, not the corporation.

So far so good. 40+ years of success, including raising five daughters off on my practice.

 

[dotgal]

@JoyHawkins @Scott Rawlins If a practice has more than one primary doctor who are all business owners, but who have different specialties, do you still recommend GMB listing should be Practice: Doctor Name?

 

[pwa]

I would have to discuss with the group pros/cons of which way to go. As a rule, docs want their own time in the spot light. Most sites feature pics and bios of each doc, especially if they each have their own specialty. However, I would try to do both as much as possible: claim the practice or business name and rank each doc as best you can

 

[JoyHawkins]

@JoyHawkins @Scott Rawlins If a practice has more than one primary doctor who are all business owners, but who have different specialties, do you still recommend GMB listing should be Practice: Doctor Name?

I would leave the practice name off. This will decrease the chance that the practitioner shows for a search for the practice.

 

[Scott Rawlins]

What Joy said.