Google Business is a thriving environment and your practice absolutely needs to be making use of it. I tell most of my local business clients, regardless of industry, that Google Business Profiles (aka Google My Business) is one of the best marketing investments they can make. It's free and has the potential to show up at the top of search results with little work.
We don't expect everyone to know how to navigate best practices, which is why I'm writing this article. We recently had a doctor client who has several locations and 4 partners. They wanted to know if it was ok to have a profile for each location AND each doctor - a total of 10 profiles.
The short answer is yes, it is ok and you should have a profile for each location and doctor. But not a personal profile for each doctor for each location. If you have 5 locations and 5 docs, you should have 5 location profiles and 5 doctor profiles for a total of 10 profiles.
Okay Situation: Let's say Dr. Smith works at two clinics, Clinic A and Clinic B. It's totally fine for her to have a personal Google profile, where patients can learn about her medical expertise, background, and the kind of care she provides. Simultaneously, both Clinic A and Clinic B can have their own location profiles, showcasing their services, hours, and other specifics. This way, patients get a clear picture: they learn about Dr. Smith herself on her personal profile, and they get the lowdown on each clinic's offerings through their respective location profiles. It's a win-win for clarity and information!
Okay Situation with Multiple Locations and Multiple Doctors: In a medical group that operates across different locations, such as "Clinic A," "Clinic B," and "Clinic C," it's a good approach for each doctor to maintain a single Google profile, regardless of how many clinics they work at. These individual profiles are crucial for patients to identify and connect with the doctors based on their specific needs. At the same time, each clinic location should have its own unique profile detailing their services, operating hours, and contact info. This method avoids confusion that could arise from a doctor having multiple profiles for different locations. A single profile per doctor, coupled with distinct profiles for each location, streamlines information for patients, making it easier for them to find the right doctor at the right clinic.
Not Okay Situation 1: Let's consider a scenario where Dr. Smith, despite having a presence at two clinics, creates multiple personal Google profiles, one for each location. This is a no-no. It can create a lot of confusion for patients who might stumble across multiple profiles for the same doctor, each with slightly different information or patient reviews. It's essential for Dr. Smith to maintain just one personal profile that comprehensively covers her practice, regardless of the number of locations she works at. This way, patients get a unified, consistent understanding of who she is as a medical professional, without the clutter of multiple profiles suggesting she's different doctors depending on the location.
Not Okay Situation 2: Also, it's a no-go if Dr. Smith's personal profile starts to replicate the information on the clinic's location profiles, like listing the clinic's services, hours, or general contact info. Her personal profile should be about her as a professional - her qualifications, approach to patient care, and maybe some personal philosophy about medicine. It's not the place for the nitty-gritty details about clinic operations. That's what the location profiles are for. Overlapping information just muddies the waters and confuses patients about where to find what they need.
