Google My Business is an incredible and often underutilized tool for doctors, especially Google My Business posts.
Because I’m often asked about this topic, I’m going to share how these posts work, how they benefit you as a doctor, and how you can strategically use them to increase your local visibility and attract more new patients.
What Are Google My Business Posts?
Once you have a Google My Business profile established and verified, you can begin posting content to it, almost like a social media account.
Google first kicked off this posting option back in 2016. The idea behind it was for businesses to add more substantive information to their profiles.
Google My Business posts allow doctors to highlight content front and center on their profiles without purchasing additional advertising space.
These posts also show up on your business listing both in Google Search and in Google Maps.
What Are the Best Types of Google My Business Posts for Doctors to Use?
Currently, there are four different types of Google My Business posts for doctors to choose from:
- Events
- Offers
- Product
- What’s New
In most cases, doctors will want to utilize the * What’s New* post type. This option allows you to highlight any content that you have developed. Specific health information, patient questions, and even fun posts are great options here. They will help generate more patient click-throughs to your website.
For doctors who offer patient seminars, the Events category can also be used.
How Doctors Can Create Effective Google My Business Posts
If you’re going to put in the effort to post to Google My Business, and I recommend you do, then you want to make sure you set yourself up for effective posts.
Here are a few tips I recommend:
Use High-Resolution Images or Videos
Patients are just like anyone else on the internet these days. They’re incredibly visual. So having a great image or video will help more people click on your Google My Business posts.
Don’t Have Too Much Text
Again, think of posting to Google My Business like posting to one of your social media profiles. Less text is more. Even though Google will let you use up to 1,500 characters for these posts, I suggest keeping it to 300 characters or less.
Make the Text Engaging
Boring, standard, “medical office” text won’t get the patients excited. You’ll need to pique their interests in order to get the clicks. One of the best ways I’ve found to do this is to ask an engaging question in the post.
For example, “Why does shoulder pain keep people up at night? Click below to find out.”
Utilize the “Learn More” Button
This is another reason to keep the text short or to ask a question. Keep in mind that the ultimate goal of these posts is to get the patients to click through to your personal website.
When posting on Google My Business, you’ll see an option for buttons. In my experience, the Learn more button has by far been the most effective.
Follow Google’s Rules for Posting
Google My Business is such a powerful tool, you don’t want to risk your good standing with Google. You’ll want to review the list of approved content ahead of time to make sure you keep everything above board. Most of it is basic common sense, but in today’s world of deplatforming, you can’t be too careful.
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For doctors, Google My Business posts offers one of the best free options online today to attract new patients and stand out from your competition. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity if you’re not already doing so.