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A media ghost town or a potential boomtown?
A media ghost town or a potential boomtown?
Posted on: Thursday 2nd February 2012
Is your practice on board with Google Plus Pages yet? If not, grab your stake... Perhaps you are thinking: “Not another social platform to manage! My team barely has time to keep up with Facebook”. Or you may be thinking: “Why set up shop there, Google Plus (Google+) is a social media ghost town”. If this sounds like you, this article is a must read.
It’s no question that Google is still the king of search. Although Facebook has passed Google with the amount of time people spend on the site per visit, Google still leads the pack when it comes to search. This means that Google+ pages have great potential to become search powerhouses for your practice. The added significance of this is that Google pages will become another valuable piece of what I like to call “online real estate” for you. In the past I’ve touted how important multiple pieces of online real estate are, and so does Google ...
In Google’s new ebook, Zero Moment of Truth, they make a few key points about the shift of the consumer search:
1. What was once a message is now a conversation. Shoppers today find and share their own information about products, in their own way, on their own time (This means that instead of your potential patient finding you in the Yellow pages, they’re much more likely to find you because they searched “dentist London” in the Google search bar of their smartphone or laptop.)
2.Word of mouth is stronger than ever. For the first time in human history, word of mouth is a digitally archived medium.(This day in age, an ad in the Sunday paper probably won’t yield a slew of new patients. What will? A great review on an online review site or a Facebook post by one of your patients singing your praises?)
I recommend you read up on the entire ebook, Zero Moment of Truth. Visit www.zeromomentoftruth.com. Once on the site, you’ll find video, the ebook download, and learn how online research and purchase/decision making has changed.
What is all this coming down to?
Simply this… The world of online search continues to evolve. If having your practice found on Google matters to you, then Google+ pages should matter to you. Will Google reach Facebook’s popularity as a social platform? In my opinion, no—at least not at this point. Too many people have made Facebook their social “home” filled with friends, photos, and memories. And, in some cases, baby boomers got dragged, kicking and screaming, to Facebook—so they aren’t going anywhere. With that said, having a Google+ business page for your practice is still another valuable piece of online real estate that can improve your search results and build your practice brand. If you have ever invested money for search engine optimisation, then joining Google+ pages is a no brainer, and could potentially return similar benefits - getting found on Google.
So how do you set up a business profile on Google+?
It’s easy! Just follow these simple steps below and your practice will be online ready to engage.
1) First things first, you do need to have a Google account (gmail). If you do, simply log in. If you don’t, creating one is simple. Visit https://plus.google.com
2) Once you’re logged in, go to the Google+ Business Page and click the blue "Create Your Google+ Page" button
3) On the next page, choose a business category and add your practice name, web address, what kind of business you are. Then click “Create”
4) Upload a business photo and add a tagline that sums up your practice on the next page and then you’re all set! Your practice now has a Google+ Business Page!
At this time don’t worry yourself about implementing a posting schedule to match your practices’ Facebook efforts. In the coming weeks or months we should know more about how plus page updates will play a part in Google’s grand search plan. From there, we’ll be able to better strategise the most beneficial post content and frequency for your page.
So are Google+ pages the latest “must have” social marketing tool for your dental practice? From a networking and “social” standpoint, at least at this point, it is a bit of a ghost town. However from a search standpoint, being found on the number one search engine in the US and the UK, it could be a hugely powerful potential boomtown, a benefit you could reap with the initial investment of thirty minutes of your time to get set up and familiarise yourself enough. Will your practice stake a claim on Google+ Pages? If search and being found matters to you, I hope to see you there!
Posted on: Thursday 2nd February 2012
Is your practice on board with Google Plus Pages yet? If not, grab your stake... Perhaps you are thinking: “Not another social platform to manage! My team barely has time to keep up with Facebook”. Or you may be thinking: “Why set up shop there, Google Plus (Google+) is a social media ghost town”. If this sounds like you, this article is a must read.
It’s no question that Google is still the king of search. Although Facebook has passed Google with the amount of time people spend on the site per visit, Google still leads the pack when it comes to search. This means that Google+ pages have great potential to become search powerhouses for your practice. The added significance of this is that Google pages will become another valuable piece of what I like to call “online real estate” for you. In the past I’ve touted how important multiple pieces of online real estate are, and so does Google ...
In Google’s new ebook, Zero Moment of Truth, they make a few key points about the shift of the consumer search:
1. What was once a message is now a conversation. Shoppers today find and share their own information about products, in their own way, on their own time (This means that instead of your potential patient finding you in the Yellow pages, they’re much more likely to find you because they searched “dentist London” in the Google search bar of their smartphone or laptop.)
2.Word of mouth is stronger than ever. For the first time in human history, word of mouth is a digitally archived medium.(This day in age, an ad in the Sunday paper probably won’t yield a slew of new patients. What will? A great review on an online review site or a Facebook post by one of your patients singing your praises?)
I recommend you read up on the entire ebook, Zero Moment of Truth. Visit www.zeromomentoftruth.com. Once on the site, you’ll find video, the ebook download, and learn how online research and purchase/decision making has changed.
What is all this coming down to?
Simply this… The world of online search continues to evolve. If having your practice found on Google matters to you, then Google+ pages should matter to you. Will Google reach Facebook’s popularity as a social platform? In my opinion, no—at least not at this point. Too many people have made Facebook their social “home” filled with friends, photos, and memories. And, in some cases, baby boomers got dragged, kicking and screaming, to Facebook—so they aren’t going anywhere. With that said, having a Google+ business page for your practice is still another valuable piece of online real estate that can improve your search results and build your practice brand. If you have ever invested money for search engine optimisation, then joining Google+ pages is a no brainer, and could potentially return similar benefits - getting found on Google.
So how do you set up a business profile on Google+?
It’s easy! Just follow these simple steps below and your practice will be online ready to engage.
1) First things first, you do need to have a Google account (gmail). If you do, simply log in. If you don’t, creating one is simple. Visit https://plus.google.com
2) Once you’re logged in, go to the Google+ Business Page and click the blue "Create Your Google+ Page" button
3) On the next page, choose a business category and add your practice name, web address, what kind of business you are. Then click “Create”
4) Upload a business photo and add a tagline that sums up your practice on the next page and then you’re all set! Your practice now has a Google+ Business Page!
At this time don’t worry yourself about implementing a posting schedule to match your practices’ Facebook efforts. In the coming weeks or months we should know more about how plus page updates will play a part in Google’s grand search plan. From there, we’ll be able to better strategise the most beneficial post content and frequency for your page.
So are Google+ pages the latest “must have” social marketing tool for your dental practice? From a networking and “social” standpoint, at least at this point, it is a bit of a ghost town. However from a search standpoint, being found on the number one search engine in the US and the UK, it could be a hugely powerful potential boomtown, a benefit you could reap with the initial investment of thirty minutes of your time to get set up and familiarise yourself enough. Will your practice stake a claim on Google+ Pages? If search and being found matters to you, I hope to see you there!
