Why Google Maps is more important to your dental marketing than Google+
Posted on 8/16/2017 by Wendy Admin
Remember when Google+ was the hottest ticket in town? Well, times have changed and with the change, Google is updating how Google+ interacts with their various products.
When Google+ first came out, it was integrated into all of Google's various products. It served as your user account with Google and creating an account with Google automatically created a Google+ profile.
That profile was your Google hub. You could create your business page and listing on Google via Google+. It was also where your business reviews and posts lived. In those days, having a Google+ page with reviews contributed to your overall Google search engine ranking and the reviews as well as your posts could rank higher on the search engine results page. In simple terms, the more integrated and complete your Google+ profile, the more traffic you could expect to see from Google's search engine.
The Wind Down
In September 2015, Google realized Google+ wasn't going to take off in the direction they'd planned so they started removing Google+ from its various services. They changed the Google+ interface, removed personalized Google+ results from search, and showed less and less data from other services in Google+.
The final strike was divorcing Google+ from Google Business.
Now Google+ shows no reviews, no images posted in Google Business or any other information posted there.
Although sometimes Google+ results do still appear in search, they often don't rank well and provide little to no value for patient conversion.
What This Means For Dental Marketing
Because of these changes, we're strongly suggesting our doctors link their G+ icons on their websites to the Google Maps business listing that includes valuable information on the practice such as hours, reviews, and (of course) location.
If you need help with this transition or have questions for our SEO team, please send an email to info@weomedia.com.
As a side note, Google reviews are still very valuable and hard to get unless you're actively working to gather them. WEO Media has a service that makes it easier to get reviews from your patients. Learn more about our Online Review Generation Service.
Dental Marketing Blog | Marketing for Dentists | WEO Media WEO Media is a national dental marketing company providing dentists with a full range of services including custom websites, SEO, PPC, social media, videos, online reputation management, branding, and much more. WEO Media, 125 S. 1st Ave, P.O. Box 249, Hillsboro, OR 97123 • 888-788-4670 • weomedia.com • 10/12/2024 • Related Phrases: Dental marketing, websites for dentists, SEO for dentists, social media for dentists, online reputation for dentists