Can you set up a SAB for a virtual service?
-
Google's guidelines for creating a GMB profile states that the business must make "in-person contact with customers during stated hours." Does this mean that an online-only business such as a virtual urgent care clinic is allowable as a SAB? This is where customers use an app or website to have a video visit with a doctor - which is person-to-person, real contact, nut not in-person. It doesn't feel like the right kind of business to be listed locally, especially if the service area is an entire region or state. Does anyone have a source of truth on this? Thanks for the assistance!
-
Just seconding Ira's excellent response here. Without in-person contact, the business is ineligible for a GMB listing. Very good topic!
-
Ya, no new listings just for the virtual service... but you should make sure you are taking full advantage of all listings for current locations. I looked at the Multicare site at your urgent care location pages, and those could definitely be optimized better. I also did a few test searches, and from what I've seen you rank very well in cities where you are located. So based on this quick checkup, there is nothing urgent, but still some room for improvement. I don't want to hijack this thread too much, but let me know if you'd like to discuss how your local listings could be better tied into your website, along with other SEO ideas for those locations.
-
Thanks so much, Ira. Your answer does help. The business consists of out-of-state doctors, doing video-only visits with patients in our state. We contract with that business to provide a service to our local customers, which we of course want to make visible in local search. They are licensed in our state, but that's their only tie to our community. Sounds to me like a SAB is inappropriate in this case.
-
Hi Jeremy,
Interesting question. My company has been working with urgent care clinics going all the way back to 1999, and over the last 5 years or so we have developed a fair amount of experience with telemedicine. In many cases, we have an individual clinic that already has business listings, and we are just adding on a new service. But I've also worked with a national telemed company that had ties to some local practices who had listings, but they themselves did not as they didn't have a base of operations in each state/city.
In addition , I've worked with some smaller practices that are in between these extremes. These are primarily virtual clinics, but not 100%. They may see some patients in person (more of a concierge model mixed in with the urgent care), or they may just have a home base from which they network, and get a big chunk of their clients from one community where they live. In these cases, there is enough of a local tie to justify a local listing. Also, these are generally newer startups.
So in general, if you are dealing with a business that has a system with docs who are licensed in multiple states, and don't have some real presence in the localities, then listings are not appropriate. But if the doctor has a legitimate tie to and base in a particular community, then a local listing makes sense.
If you have more details about your specific situation, I may be able to give you some additional ideas.
Ira
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
-
Can I use the same interior photos for multiple stores in Google My Business?
Hi, The company I work for has many store locations across the country. Getting good/quality interior pictures has become very difficult for us. We recently good a Virtual Tour from Google for one of the locations, and they took some really good pictures. According to Google, the "Photos should represent the actual business" and "Represent the real-world business location". My question is: since our stores are VERY similar in the interior, can we use the same pictures for them while we get more pictures? Would Google penalize this? Thanks!
Local Listings | | SO-MarceloOtero0 -
Ranking for a service website that offers to a large geographic region. Micro sites, one site, google ads, etc?
Hi there I currently have a client that has a service that offers to a wide metropolitan geographic region. Currently we offer location detection when they hit the site. I'm curious what the best method going forward would be. This client is coming from a PPC initially but I've sold them on a longer term goal with organic SEO (local) . So my question is what is the best method for ground up web creation when offering a service that services multiple areas within the same metropolitan region? Bonus questions anyone using Flat CMS's?
Local Listings | | swagseo1 -
Are there any services like Moz Local for Canada?
Was wondering if there would be a way to simplify getting NAP data out there and consistent for a business in Canada like we have here in the US with Moz Local? If not, are there specific sites besides Yellow Pages Group and the government site (ic.gc.ca) to submit their information? I'm sure Yelp, Facebook, Google, Bing, Yahoo, and all the usuals...but where else?
Local Listings | | JaxMediaTeam0 -
Google Local Storefront or Google Service Area?
We have been seeing some strange things happen in Google local after the most recent update. We used to show up in the maps all the time and have made no major edits or changes to the profile. Now when we search for our services, we show up high in the organic results, and not at all in maps (local listings). We have our profile setup as a service area since we do meet with people and provide services at their location, but also have checked the option that we also serve people at our address. I am wondering if the recent update favors actual storefronts when people are searching for services. Any ideas? Technically all the actual work is provided at our location, and the service we provide at the service area locations is based upon consultations. If we switched it to an actual storefront listing could that possibly help? Our profile is fairly strong, and has reviews, long history of posts, etc. What gives Google?
Local Listings | | David-Kley1 -
Can I add multiple listings for my business for the different services I provide?
Hi there everyone. I'm a Moz Local user and I have a quick question. I'm a music teacher. Can I add multiple listings for my business for the different services I provide? For example - Saxophone lessons, Piano lessons etc...? That way I would have different listing profiles for each instrument - all pointing to a different landing page on my website? Or is this considered to be bad practice? Many thanks for your help in advance.
Local Listings | | JackMSVaughan1 -
Can we place a FB business page link instead of direct domain link in a Google My Business listing?
A client of ours asked if we could place link to their local Facebook page instead of a link to the direct domain in their Google My Business listing. Will Google allow this?
Local Listings | | RosemaryB0 -
Google keeps updating/tweaking my Local business branch addresses ? to whats different in my citations and on page. how can I stop it?
Hi All, I have a number of branches as we have separate branch pages and separate google local listings for these. I have been trying to keep them in consistent for citation purposes but google keeps trying to tweak the address in the local listings. Sometimes for example , google is trying to remove the premises number from the Road e.g 78 Doncaster Road is the actual branch address but google local business wants it as Doncaster Road, I also see Google is wanting to sometimes remove the locality name etc?.. Also If the local listing has a county ( in America - you would have State) , google is sometimes wanting to remove this add United Kingdom in Country instead ?. Is this a problem and how to deal with it as I think this is obviously impacting my local rankings?. If i approve all these changes then do I need update all my citations and page addresses all the time ? Or can I just leave the suggested "Update" or overwrite googles suggestion with what I had originally. Does anyone else have this problem ? thanks pete
Local Listings | | PeteC120 -
Transferring SEO services from one agency to another - troubles, concerns, etc.?
Hey Moz Community, I have a friend I'm asking for who has an agency and will be taking over SEO from another agency. One thing that worries me is that the agency has confirmed dozens of locations in Google Places (about 60-100) for this business. How would you transfer Google Places ownership (assuming they cooperate)? Could the previous agency delete these listings? If so, how would that affect Local SEO? For example, the location and phone number is already on the website. Isn't that good enough for all of these locations (about 100)? I hope this is clear; please let me know if not. I would be interested in hearing any other feedback about moving agencies. Thanks, Cole
Local Listings | | ColeLusby0