Doctors in a Hospital - Setup Google Local or Google+ Profiles?

[WebTalent]

Hello -

I've been running this over for awhile - so I'm curious to see what the community says about it.

I'm working with a client who would like to brand the doctors in their hospitals. Many of them do have recognition already - and their associated locations have profiles. Google Local semi-recently said it's OK to brand Dr's names - even if they exist within a single location.

So, my question is - is it better to go the Google Local route and create the Local/+ page for them, or to go through the Google+/Google Brand Pages route and create them that way?

If each doctor were to decide, individually, to post on their page - would that be possible with the Places route (I don't think so, based on what I've seen)?

Also, if a doctor already has a personal Google+ page - would it make sense to just create the additional brand page as well through this interface?

Well either of these methods achieve optimal visibility as well as the option to post should they decide to go that route?

What it boils down to - is this is a task we can perform from the outside, or is it best handled by giving the doctors best practice for setting up their personal Google+ pages and associated Brand Pages themselves?

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

[WebTalent]

Thanks Mudbug Media - Much appreciated.

Yes, I have also found that Miriam Ellis knows her stuff with Local - she's answered several of my questions. Thanks for reaching out with that specific example.

[mudbugmedia]

Hi WebTalent,

To give further support to your own Q&A, we've found that Google Local has worked well. I've found that Miriam Ellis has some good stuff to say on several questions related to Local and doctors / practices, such as the discussion about dr. names vs practice names.

[WebTalent]

Did some more research - answered my own question (but feel free to interject if you think I'm wrong).

Google Local is still the best route to verify locations/brands - so in my case I think that's the route I'm going.

In the event a Dr. would want to setup a business page for themselves - they could do it and claim/verify the Google Local listing which already exists.

I presume Google will continue to make this process easier...