Higher Value: Google Local Listing or .edu link?
-
A client of mine is putting together a partnership with a local university to offer a certain type of medical test through several of its clinics. They are writing up the contract now and asked me if there is anything they should ask for that would benefit us in our listings.
Since we do not have an actual local footprint, my first inclination was to ask for them to help us get verified as owners of "practitioner" local listings at their business addresses (as discussed here). We would provide local numbers that would ring our call center. My thinking is that these listings and backlinks would benefit on searches similar to "medical testing in San Antonio". I have a number of concerns with this track but would love to hear from the community on why or why not this might be the way to go.
Another potential option is to ask for a link from the university's website outlining the partnership. Something along the lines of "Our labs have partnered with BIZNAME to provide medical testing in San Antonio to our valued patients." I'd obviously love the EDU links, but I'm hesitant after Overstock's penalty a few years ago to try to set something like that up.
I'm not sure which (if either) to ask for in the contract. I'm leaning toward the latter since it seems more in line with a long term strategy, and Google seems to change their treatment of the local listings pretty frequently. However, getting that high visibility real estate in the local listings is really appealing to me. What does everyone think?
-
Agreed with Miriam and Ira.
In order to obtain multiple GMB listings (since the clinic you want to sell the STD tests to will already have its own) for the same location/practice/clinic, you would need to have separate business brands operating within the same office.
Google's My Business guidelines state: “If your business location combines two or more brands, do not combine the brand names into a single page. Instead, pick one brand’s name for the page. If the brands operate independently, you may use a separate page for each brand at this location****.”
In other words, the only way you can obtain multiple GMB pages is if you have two totally different brands working under one roof (and even then you risk Google conflating the listings). Or, of course, if you have multiple practitioners at one location.
Best practice for multiple brands in the same practice location: assure each brand has its own verified suite number from the post office (if possible); each of the two brands within the practice should have their own website; each brand should have its own business category (preferably); and each brand would need to have its own business name and phone number of course.
Andrew: I actually wrote a behemoth or an article that was inspired by the Search Engine Land article you referenced in your original comment: http://www.incrediblemarketing.com/google-my-business-for-doctors
Hope this helped.
-
Sorry for the late response on this. First, I would make sure you consider Miriam's point below. If this really is simply one of many services offered at certain clinics, then it is not appropriate to have a separate listing. Instead, you'd be limited to mentioning the service in the description of the existing listing, and if relevant, adding a category to that listing.
But, if this is legitimately a separate office within a larger clinic, and has hours and/or staff that are different from the rest of the clinic, it could cross over into being its own entity.
If that is the case, or for future reference, it generally is possibly to use something like a "suite 1a". The key thing there is to make sure that the local post office will deliver to that address variation. Also, it is reasonable to use that technique for a very limited number of extra addresses, in situations where there is legitimately a different business at the same address... but I would not abuse the technique by trying to simply use one address as a mailing address for dozens of businesses.
-
Hi Andrew,
Good topic! I don't believe the scenario you are describing would actually fall under Google's guidelines for practitioners. Rather what you are describing sounds more like Google's rules for on-going classes at a location, if we view you performing a test at someone's facility as being like a class. So, this would not qualify for a listing, and to further compound this, Google does not want call centers listed as phone numbers. So, in a nutshell, I would not move forward with this idea.
The links from the .edu, however, could prove nice if done in a modest, user-friendly way.
Hope this helps!
-
Makes complete sense. If there is already a suite number (like Suite 1), do you think setting up something like "Suite 1a" would work?
-
OK, so based on that situation, I don't think Provider listings are the way to go.
But, you might consider just getting a regular listing, if the situation at the clinics allow for you to get a unique mailing address. If there is a suite number, or other way to get a unique address not used for any other listing, and this suite is inside the office/clinic where patients would go, then you could create a listing for the brand using that address.
As long as you pair that with a unique and local phone number, and as long as the patients are being sent to the correct spot, this approach should allow you to get the local listings. Of course, this would be dependent on the university or other organization being able to provide you (and allowing you to use) that unique mailing address.
Make sense?
-
Ira,
Thanks so much for the great response. In answer to your request for an example, the website with whom I work sets up STD testing for patients at clinics nationwide. We're looking to work with some additional clinics run through universities. These clinics provide a number of services, but we would be their exclusive partner online sending them patients to get tested for STDs. So while the local listings for their clinic would still be viable, we would want the local listing for that address (when someone searches for localized std testing), to serve up our business name, local phone number, and website, alongside their address. I had hoped the practitioner opportunity (or alternatively having us viewed the same way a RedBox at a Walgreens) would provide us with the option of giving our business the appearance of a brick and mortar location. Does that answer the question?
Thanks,
Andrew -
Hi Andrew,
As someone who works with many medical practices, we've found that even though Google allows for the practitioner listings, they can be more trouble than they are worth. We use them in some cases, but not by default. In your case, I'm a bit confused as to who the actual provider would be, and how that would relate to your service. Are there specific providers who only use your medical testing system? Or can you give an example of who these providers would be?
As for the linking strategy, this seems smart. Overstock's issue was that they were compensating people as part of large program for providing links. In your case, you are talking about placing a limited number of links that are accurate and relevant. As a legitimate partner, it seems perfectly reasonable that you'd have a mention and link attesting to your relationship.
Hope that helps. If you can provide more detail on your ideas for the provider pages, there may be a creative way to use those in addition to a link.
Ira
(Edited to clean up my typos.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google My Business search results for multiple listings
I am wondering how people set up their Google My Business listings to appear in the search results similar to this business, Hulme Orthodontics. I attached an image below that'll give more details. I am working with a client that has two locations similar in distance to Hulme Orthodontics, and I have tried everything and have come up with no answers as to how I can properly get Google to format the search results in this way. I assume that there is no actual way to manage this and that Google decides this on their own. However, if anyone has any insight regarding this manner, that would be much appreciated! Thank you for your help! UsEr3rK
Local Listings | | DylMar1 -
How do you do Local SEO in a small town?
Good afternoon everyone! I wanted to start a discourse on a subject that I think might benefit a few select readers. What would be your best plan-of-action to successfully propose and execute a Local-SEO campaign for a small, local business in a rural town? The type of town that has next to zero local directories, the type of business that has hardly any (if any at all) "fresh mentions" on the internet, etc. I'm interested to see how other SEOs would handle tackling this kind of campaign. Can't wait to hear what people have to say!
Local Listings | | TaylorRHawkins
Thanks!
Taylor1 -
???? "Google My Business", Search Console, Google Webmaster Tools
I added a Google+ Page for my business several years ago. Now when I click on "Search Console" within Webmaster Tools it is asking me to provide business information that I entered several years ago for Google+. Is this normal? Should I fill it out? It seems that this info is redundant with what I filled out for Google+. When I enter the name of my business (Metro Manhattan Office Space, Inc. ) in Google, a listing appears to the right, so it seems that Google already has my details. Thanks,
Local Listings | | Kingalan1
Alan vkpDA XgCcQ0 -
Google My Business - two locations but same name and phone
Hello, I manage SEO for an orthopaedic practice and I'm wondering what to do about their GMB listings. They have two locations, but I'm starting to think we shouldn't have separate GMB pages for the two locations because of the advice about other GMB questions I've been reading on this forum. I read a helpful response that said you must ensure the following if you want to create separate GMB listings: Unique name Unique address (even if only a suite / office number) Unique phone number Clearly different categories on Google My Business I can only ensure one of those - unique address. The business has the same name, phone number, and categories at both addresses. What should I do about this? I would think it's important to list both addresses so that patients can be guided to the appropriate location, but is there a way to do that with just one GMB listing? Thank you, Susannah
Local Listings | | SusannahK.Noel0 -
Transferring ownership of a listing and renaming it - what can happen?
Hi All, We have a local business with multiple store fronts. We've recently bought a competitors store front, that store front has a local Google listing. We would like to do 2 things: 1. Transfer the ownership of the listing from their accounts to ours. 2. Renaming and re-branding the listing (and of course the office) My questions is, what can happen once we do that? Transferring the ownership is a simple task as i've seen it on Googles guidelines so is renaming it (technically speaking). Will this affect the listing itself? Rankings/Verification and anything else that may come up? Thanks a lot for the answers!
Local Listings | | OrendaLtd0 -
What to do if the domain name is very different from real business name for local listings
Hey guys, any advice is very welcome , I m´ ranking locally a website in the bay area for cabinets www.cabinetsbayarea.com we picked this domain name more for SEO purposes because it has the two most important keywords that we want to rank. My issue is that the real busniess name is HEMA DESIGN CENTER, so i dont know if we should change the name in the chamber of commerce to CABiNETS BAY AREA or list the business as HEMA DESIGN CENTER, with this website www.cabinetsbayarea.comr. We only mention the real name in the About Us. CABINETS BAY AREA it is more as a deparment of the real business name HEMA DESIGN CENTER What should i do? Thanks a lot, David
Local Listings | | conexion330 -
Nitpicky NAPS Local Question
I'm about to setup all our NAPS for our Tampa office with Moz Local, and I'm curious about one small thing: suite vs ste? I have read that what matters most is consistency, but since I haven't set it up yet, if anyone had any experience with full names being written out doing better/worse than abbreviations? Thanks, Ruben
Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Are citations the way to go even if there is no Google Places listing
If there are no Google Places / Local listing for a keyword search term, for example... "web design vancouver", do building citations still help in enabling websites to move up the organic rankings?
Local Listings | | Gavo0