Google’s Pigeon Update: How Does It Affect Your Practice Website?

Very recently, Google rolled out a major algorithm update for local search, which has been dubbed the "Pigeon" update by Search Engine Land, industry's leading SEO resource. Google’s previous algorithm updates were highly focused on content and backlinks. This new update is aimed at local search results and we have been seeing huge shifts in the local rankings of our clients’ websites over the past few days and hurting the practices that don’t have any Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or SEO strategies in place.

To make sure you understand how this new update impacts your practice website, we've put up this short compilation to explain the Pigeon update and how it affects your rankings and how to adapt your practice to the changes.

Shorter Map Packs

The Effect: The most obvious effect of Google Pigeon update is the shorter map packs. We used to get as much as seven search results of practices or business close us. Now, we’re getting as little as two or three, sometimes none at all. Numerous websites have encountered a drop in their traffic; this is largely due to the disappearance of some local listings.

The Fix: The quick fix is to launch a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign to cover the traffic losses. The permanent fix is to focus on building a solid presence for your practice on leading local directories. Even if your potential patients are not able to find your practice on search lists, more of them can find you through local directory sites.

Exposure through Local Carousel 

The Effect: With the Pigeon update impacting the local listing packs, Google’s local carousel results remain unaffected. However, at the moment, carousel’s interactive display only affects searches for restaurants, hotels and bars. At Solution21, we think this will expand to cover healthcare services.

The Fix: It is important to local dental and medical practices to get active on Google+ so you don’t miss out on any opportunities to attract new patients.  Make sure your practice information is current, accurate and consistent and that you’re using high-quality photos because the carousel puts heavy emphasis on your listing’s image, rating and accuracy. Also, encourage your patients to put in a few good words online about you and your services on Google+ and other social sites such as Yelp, Angie’s List, etc.

Wider Geographic Area

The Effect: Before the Pigeon update, Google map pack would show you search results of dentists or doctors that were in your immediate geographical area.  The geographic location was tight and was centered on your zip code, displaying appropriate matches in as close as possible to your location. With the new algorithm update, the geographical search area is broader, covering a much larger local area. This makes it hard for dental or medical practices to rank or get found outside their location.

The Fix: To neutralize the impact of this new update on your practice online presence, your business listings throughout the internet’s directory listings and search engines must be accurate, up-to-date and consistent. Make sure you are listed in major, influential and relevant listings in your industry.

Promote Your Practice and Services

The Effect: Pigeon update has taken into account the fact that most mobile users don’t bother typing location on their searches anymore, allowing search engines to determine their location and provide the best results. As a result, we’re now seeing Google pick up the most important results from as far as the next town because the practices or businesses have strong SEM or SEO in place. This hurts practices that don't engage in either marketing or advertising.

The Fix: To neutralize the impact of this new update on your practice online presence and make sure you continue to leverage your online presence, you must start engaging in Search Engine Marketing (SEM). To attract potential patients within your own physical location and beyond, SEM can launch strategic and targeted ads aimed at specific locations and demographics. This remains one of the most cost-effective, efficient and measurable marketing strategies to help your practice rank and compete. 

We Can Help with Our SEM Services

Overwhelmed by the impact of Google’s new update on your practice? Let us help you with our SEM services and continue to attract new patients to your practice. Please call us at 949-336-7575 or send us an email and our web specialists will contact you. You can also visit our site's SEM page to know more about your options.

7 Secrets for Growing Your Medical or Dental Practice

Growing your practice is of the utmost importance. Why be complacent with where you are? Growing your practice is a continuous effort that takes time and dedication. Here are a few secrets to growing your dental or medical practice that, if employed, will help immensely:

1. Office Automation

Automating your office makes your patient’s experience more streamlined and hassle-free. Less waiting and less confusion through the implementation of automation is a win-win for both you and your patients.

2. Embrace New Medical or Dental Technology

This is one of the most important secrets to growing your dental or medical practice. New technology is arguably the most effective way of letting potential patients know that you are keeping up with the times. Having up-to-date equipment means that you are committed to providing the highest quality service.

3. Referral Program

Referral programs incentivize recommendations for your patients. By giving rewards for recommending new patients, you are both gaining new clientele and ensuring a high retention rate for your current patient.

4. Connect with Patients Through Blogging

As with most businesses, the likelihood of you having a website is very high. However, many sites lack having a blog on their site which is proving more and more fruitful for businesses to have. Keeping your patients in the loop through blogging makes them feel like a member of the family. Making them feel involved lets them know you value their business and their opinions.

5. Personalized and Genuine Customer Service

Customer service is the most important thing provided by any business. No one wants to patronize a business where the employees don’t go the extra mile. Going above and beyond will help you set yourself apart from everyone else. Help your employees master customer service through providing them with resources like online trainings.

6. Community Involvement

Getting involved in the community is an effective way of letting people know about your practice. Sponsoring events or sports teams gets your name circulating and lets potential patients know that you care about helping others.

7. Renovate or Relocate Office

Giving your office a “face lift” can create a soothing atmosphere that gives your patients the peace of mind they desire. Optimizing your space in order to make it more friendly and welcoming to your patients will make a difference in how people see your practice.

By employing these secrets to growing your dental or medical practice, you are setting yourself up for incredible success. Taking these steps shows your potential patients that you will do anything and everything to make them happy.

Advanced SEO to Optimize Your Practice Website

To accommodate the rising number of patients searching for their physician or dentist online prior to booking an appointment, your practice needs two important things: a high-performing website and your searchability.

Using the best practices for search engine optimization (SEO) when creating content for your website is a sure-fire way to raise your organic ranking so your potential patients can find you on top of the search list— the key element in bringing in new revenue-generating patients. Optimizing your practice website is an exciting way to bring your practice into the modern world.

SEO Key Factors

Combining all the factors below will help determine how search engines rank your website among your competitors. Be sure to build on your online presence with SEO in mind.

Content- the actual words or text on your site
HTML- the programming language used to build the site
Architecture- refers to structure, while considering the way users interact with your site and the content search engines use to crawl your pages
Link Building- a comprehensive tactic that involves linking to and from reputable websites
Location- important if your practice is focused on the local market, best to incorporate your location into your content to help narrow it down

SEO Best Practices

Strategic placement of key terms throughout content- The key words/phrases you want to appear in response to searches should be used occasionally in the text on your website. Using a keyword once per 100 words is a safe rule to follow.
Keyword research and analysis- Find out exactly what terms are your potential patients looking for before creating your content. Through Google Adwords Keyword Tool, you can determine what people are search for online, including volume and geographic area.
Hyper-localize search terms- If you’re located in highly-competitive area like Boston, you need to engage in more Advanced SEO to compete for the top ranks in search results. It’s much easier to rank higher in a community-based searches, like “pediatric dentistry West Roxbury" or "cosmetic surgeon Irvine".
Keep an active blog- Discuss topics relevant to your practice through your blog, giving your more room to use varied search terms. By regularly creating content on your blog with inblund links, your practice will appear in relevant search terms.

SEO Practice to Avoid

Keyword stuffing- Avoid using excessive keywords within your text. You will actually get you penalized by Google and placed further down in search rankings.
Getting too visual- Having too many photos and graphic arts on your site may look nice, but it can slow your website down, specially if the visual elements are not optimized for web use. A slow loading time will turn off your visitors, eventually negatively affecting your site’s search rankings.Poorly-written content- Creating quality content with SEO requires skills and experience. If your potential patients visits your site and finds useless or hard to understand information, it’s highly likely for them to turn to your competitors for their medical or dental care.

Main SEO Benefits

Branding Opportunities- As anyone in marketing will tell you, branding is what sets you apart from everyone else. Advanced SEO allows you to couple this branding with increasing the visibility of your practice. By having targeted SEO content, you are making sure that your practice shows up in search results in Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines for related keywords. The higher the quality of your SEO content associated with your practice, the higher the probability your practice’s website will rank on the first page of search engines, resulting in higher visibility to potential clients.

Insight into Customers- Why optimize your dental or medical practice with SEO? To help you understand your patients. Using an SEO checklist shows you the best ways to track search results and website hits, allowing you to see what your patients are most interested in. This means that you will be able to see what people want so you can adjust your practice accordingly. SEO makes it easier to know what your patients are looking for and what they want from you.

Brings Traffic to Your Business- SEO brings traffic to your website. Having more traffic increases the likelihood of someone patronizing your practice. A good SEO allows your potential clients to see exactly what you are all about and what you most want them to understand about your practice. Having this customizable content at your fingertips can be an incredibly buoy to your practice.

Optimization, if done correctly and professionally, directs traffic to your website and to your practice or business. Having more web traffic increases the likelihood of someone visiting your practice. A good SEO allows your potential patients to see exactly what you are all about, the services you provide and what you most want them to understand about your practice. Having this customizable content at your fingertips can be an incredible plus to your practice.

Get  Professional SEO Help

We can put together a customized Advanced SEO strategies to get your prospective patients interested in your medical or dental services. Contact Solution21 SEO specialists at 949-336-7575 for more information.