Hey doctors (that includes you dentists too) do you know where your patients’ first impressions are being made? It is not your telephone. It is not your waiting room. Often it isn’t even your website’s homepage.   It is time for you to realize that most of the time your patients’ first impressions are made on Google!

Please take the time to claim your Google Places listings. I am going to show you some examples of what can happen if you don’t. Keep in mind that if you do not take the time to fill out your Google Places listing Google will take what it can from your website to fill in the blanks. Unfortunately, what they find is not always a good thing. Also, Google is allowing people to edit unclaimed listings and people can purposefully hurt your listing. So don’t wait another day! You risk the chance of losing potential clients if you don’t claim and update your Google Places listing.  Don’t believe me?

Here’s what I found searching for a “Sarasota Plastic Surgeon”.

The first surgeon listed has not claimed their listing. Google filled in the blanks. What plastic surgeon, who includes breast augmentation in their services, would honestly utilize a before picture of a woman’s breasts as their main picture? I have to admit, it did get my attention! Just not for the right reason. That poor woman spent a lifetime (and a small fortune) to improve those and now you let Google use her (previous) breasts as your Google Places main image.  At least I put a small black box over her chest.

OK dentists, stop laughing at the plastic surgeons! You need to claim your Google Places listings too.

Look what I found looking for a “Dentist in Houston”

Hands?  No, not just hands, but one is missing part of a finger.  Is this dentist trying to tell me he/she is missing a finger? Was this an in office accident?  I really don’t know, nor do I care.  I just know I won’t be seeing this dentist because I don’t understand the message.

Claiming a Google Places Listing is EASY!

Got to Google.com and click on “Maps”. Search for your business and click on it. If you haven’t claimed your listing you will see links above the map; see “Business Owner?” in the image below? You should click on the business owner link and begin the process. Once you have control of your listing you can add the images you want to be displayed and not be at the mercy of Google or those that choose to edit your business and add an images that could hurt your business.

Don’t risk losing potential patients and take control of how you want your first impression to be made by taking control of your Google Places listing.

As a “marketing tool”, your website has a job to do. Should it be “fired”?

It may look pretty – but is it increasing sales and leads? 

If you’re one of the 54% of local businesses in the U.S. that have invested in a website, congratulations! 28% of consumers give more credibility to local businesses that have a website. You’ve taken the first step in “getting online” – and if you have any level of optimization or analytics your certainly ahead of the curve…

(source: www.blog.diyseo.com)

Increasing your local visibility and reaching new customers and clients is most likely one of your goals – so promoting that site via SEO, PPC and Social Media is the next natural step, but wait! Is your site built/designed to convert?

If promoted and optimized correctly, your attracting your most relevant, local ready-to-buy prospects, but what happens when these visitors get to your landing (or home) page? Do they call? Email? Sign-up? Buy?

From a content/design perspective, the most important elements to drive measurable action and conversions include:

• Clear contact information – this includes your phone number (local, not toll-free) on every page, as well as your physical address (and map/driving directions if your retail). Also, a “contact us” page is a natural place for much of this information as well; it also makes it easier for visitors to contact you. From a SEO perspective, it’s critical that this content be included and consistent with your local listings data.
• Call-to-action statement – or some type of special offer/discount to drive contacts (phone calls or emails). What’s your deal this month? Are you providing free consultations or estimates? How about printable coupons?
• Price/product information – a recent survey indicated that this is perhaps the most important factor in converting visitors into customers. Be clear in communicating your products or services…

Remember – successful local online visibility is dependent on your websites ability to communicate who you are, what you do, and where your located; but once your “found” – your site’s job really begins.

So is your site optimized for conversions? Here is SEL’s 8-point checklist:

8 Point Checklist For Your Local Business Website

If you can answer yes to the following 8 questions then you’re doing a good job. If the answer isno, then you have some work to do – but the rewards will be all yours.

1. Do you have your physical address on every page of your website?
2. Are your contact details – i.e. phone number &/0r email address – displayed near the top of your website?
3. Do you have a full list of services & prices on your site and is there a clear link to them from your homepage?
4. Do you have a special offer on your website and is it clearly visible on the homepage?
5. Was your homepage updated in the last 7 days?
6. Do you have a blog or ‘latest news’ section on your homepage?
7. Does your website look better or worse than your top search competitors? (be honest here)
8. Do you have at least 1 positive quote/testimonial from a customer on every page of your website?

Did you know that you can follow Local Search Source on Twitter?

Click here to follow us, or to set up your Twitter account!

from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Happy New Year!

Have a grand vision for your business.
Let’s face it 2011 was a tough year for anyone in business. 2012 can only get better so it’s time to envision the success your business will have in the New Year, the growth it will experience and the traction you’ll make through consistent and concerted effort in the right places. Keep that picture in your mind and solidify it on a daily basis through whatever works for you – vision boards, written statements, weekly progress sheets or constructive team meetings.

Surround yourself with positivity.
No matter what, stay positive.  Just stick to your company’s vision and think positive. Remember that problems don’t last long and having an optimistic outlook will get you through the toughest times. If you can’t muster it yourself, then turn to your support network of your best friends, mentors and advisors. Learn to let other people help you.

Plan ahead.
It is always best to have a clear plan in anything you do in life, especially in business. Better yet you should aim to have a plan A and a plan B for those times when things just aren’t working out. Flexibility and acting decisively on changes in your business landscape are key to success. Being flexible is more important than rigid plans set in stone. Life happens and you need to be able to react to make the most of it.

Read the other tips here.

From Pew Research -

People looking for information about local restaurants and other businesses say they rely on the internet, especially search engines, ahead of any other source.

Newspapers, both printed copies and the websites of newspaper companies, run second behind the internet as the source that people rely on for news and information about local businesses, including restaurants and bars.

And word of mouth, particularly among non-internet users, is also an important source of information about local businesses.

Some 55% of adults say they get news and information about local restaurants, bars, and clubs.  When they seek such information, here are the sources they say they rely on most:

• 51% turn to the internet, including:
  • search engines – 38% rely on them
  • specialty websites – 17% rely on them
  • social media – 3% rely on social networking sites or Twitter^[1]
• 31% rely on newspapers, including
  • printed copies – 26% rely on them
  • newspaper websites – 5% rely on them
• 23% rely on word of mouth
• 8% rely on local TV, either broadcasts or websites

Want to get online?

Let’s be careful out there!

I heard from a friend of mine this week – he owns a local jewelry business here in Westchester County NY. Antique jewelry, unique hand-made pieces, buys gold, etc (great stuff for the holidays, by the way). I’ve been helping him with some social media marketing, and he mentioned that he’s been receiving numerous calls from an “Internet marketing company” this month.

These automated calls were getting annoying, so he finally pushed “#1″  to speak with a Rep and be taken off the list. This is where it got entertaining…

The Rep said “sure, no problem” and then proceeded to launch into his pitch;

“I’ve got some bad news, but I believe in ripping off the band aid quickly, so I’ll cut to the chase. Your business is not optimized. You cannot be found online.  Your Google listing is not set up correctly, and you’re missing a huge opportunity. Would you like to be #1?”

     ”Uh, I am online, and I’m already in many of the top positions. Have you checked”?

Clearly this person is sitting on the opposite end of a automated predictive dialer, and no real analysis is being done. In fact, I’m sure he’s not even looking at the website. This Rep then proceeded to ask for the keywords, typed them in, saw the first position listing and without hesitation – hung up! Nice, huh?

It’s practices like this that I fear are starting to give our industry a tarnished image. I urge any business I speak with to consider the marketing companies track-record and history; disregard promises and guarantees. How many years have they been in business? Are they local? Do they have any testimonials or success stories to share?

If you’re a local business you’re no doubt getting solicited by these fly-by-night companies at an increasing rate. Unrealistic claims and guarantees are being thrown at an alarming rate, so please – read these important warnings and hey – “let’s be careful out there“!