diagnosing local search for healthcare · for most healthcare organizations, this spells trouble....

Diagnosing Local Search for

HEALTHCARE

Social + Local + Mobile www.localsearchdrs.com

How Local SEO Affects Healthcare Revenue, Customer

Service and Efficiency

LocalSearchDrs.com

How Local Search Affects Healthcare Revenue, Customer Service and Efficiency |

LocalSearchDrs.com, A BusinessCreator, Inc. Service // 610-437-8822// www.localsearchdrs

The health industry (doctors, dentists and health services) is one of

the top 5 local search categories on the Internet1. Yet most healthcare

organizations fail when it comes to local search optimization.

Half of all local listings on online directories have errors on them,

leading to several major operational issues 2:

1. Lost Revenue: Organizations that cannot be discovered online will

miss out on new patients searching for their services.

2. Poor Customer Service: Patients have to dial multiple phone

numbers before they ever reach the correct department or office.

3. Staff Inefficiencies: Medical personnel are wasting valuable time

by fielding inaccurate phone calls and other inquiries caused by

inconsistent online listings.

Another recent survey showed 49% of businesses had never updated

their online listings3. For many healthcare organizations, this presents

a major challenge as well as an unrealized opportunity.

$280 Billion Lost or Found: How Local Search Affects Healthcare Revenue

When you break it down into dollars and cents, healthcare

organizations that ignore local search as a viable revenue source are

missing out on a large opportunity.

In the US there are over 5,000 hospitals that bring in $809 billion

dollars in revenue from over 135 million patients each year. This

number excludes the nearly 129.8 million emergency room visits; let’s

assume that these patients have some choice in the care they receive.

This averages out to nearly $3,000 per patient per year. 4

70%Of appointments start

with search engines.

90%Of patients have no

healthcare brand in

mind when they begin

their online search.

$3,000The average amount

each patient spends on

hospitals per year.

$280bThe amount of

healthcare revenue

influenced by local

search each year.

Healthcare Search By The Numbers

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A recent Google study showed that 77% of

patients used online search when exploring

healthcare options and 90% of those people

started their search without any particular

hospital in mind. This means that 93.5 million

patients begin their healthcare research

without a specific hospital choice, which

represents over $280 billion of revenue

affected by local search.

The first step is to conduct an audit on how local search affects your business to determine the

magnitude of the issue and opportunity for improvement. »Run A Free SEO Report

17% Customer Satisfaction With Healthcare Services’ Online Presence

Healthcare organizations that show outdated, incomplete or incorrect contact information on their

local search results are destined to receive lower customer satisfaction rankings from new and existing

patients. The more phone numbers a patient has to dial to reach their goal, the less likely they will

complete it, let alone share the experience positively. This exact scenario played out with a LocalVox

customer that owned multiple hospitals.

This client’s hospitals had incorrect contact information listed

across major online directories. In one scenario, phone calls

meant for the main lobby were going directly to the office of a

staff Cardiologist. This was happening throughout the chain of

hospitals and patients were becoming highly agitated with the

experience.

The industry as a whole doesn’t fare much better. A survey from

HealthX showed that only 17% of customers were fully satisfied

with their customer service experience online 5 – less than half

Copyright 2012, Google

“Nearly 93.5 million patients begin their healthcare research

without a specific hospital choice, which represents over $280

billion of revenue affected by local search.”

Search Influences Decisions More Than Referrals

http://www.needmoresales.com

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the rate of satisfaction of other channels like phone

or in-person . Providing patients with incorrect

contact information is undoubtedly a major factor.

Staff Inefficiencies Cost Tens of Thousands of Dollars

On the other side of poor customer service is time

wasted by valuable employees. Every phone call

they have to field that does not lead to productive

activities is inefficient. In our client example from

the previous page, their staff was fielding about 100

erroneous calls a day, which equaled about 2 hours

per day.

The average healthcare administrative employee

earns roughly $39,000 per year6. If they waste two

hours per day sorting through unnecessary inquiries

about contact information or hours, incorrect phone

calls, transfers and emails, there is a soft cost of over

$10,000 per year. When you multiply this out across

departments in your organization, local search has a

meaningful impact on your bottom line.

The Challenge for Healthcare Organizations: Local Search Fragmentation Creates Confusion and Increased Costs

The local search landscape is extremely confusing. Dozens of major local search directories currently

command significant consumer market share, with countless other niche directories in the healthcare

industry adding to complexities. And what many healthcare organizations don’t realize is that the

directories you have never heard of power the ones you use every day.

Client Case Study

LocalSearchDrs. recently worked with a

large hospital chain in the NYC area that

was fed up with how their local search

results were affecting their bottom line.

In a matter of weeks, LocalVox claimed,

optimized and fixed hundreds of local

directories including Google+ Local, Yelp,

and CitySearch for 39 of the hospitals

locations.

» 1350% Increase in new #1 maps listings

» 131% Increase in new #1 organic search listings

» 53% Increase in total search visibility

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A typical local search is dominated by:

Google+ Local

Google Maps

Local Directories

Research by Optimizely shows that 83% of

all clicks happen above the fold. Like many

local searches, only one result above the

fold is for an actual dentist’s website.

Google+ Local Is The Dominant Force

The biggest player in the game is Google. With their Venice update in early 2012, Google put local

search at the forefront of their rankings algorithm. 83% of local searches include maps and business

listings from their own directory called Google+ Local. When users search for a term like “doctor” or

“hospital”, Google+ Local results show at the top of the page.

The bottom line is that your Google+ Local ranking is now the most important search factor for success.

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Local Directories Are 50% of the Local Search Market and Can Not Be Ignored

50% of local searches do not occur in search engines but in apps and directories like Yelp, CitySearch,

Yahoo and others like Manta which has 28.8m unique users per month. It’s imperative that healthcare

organizations create, claim or fix accounts on dozens of other major sites and services as well.

Compounding the problem, these directories each feed into one another and errors in one could cause

several others to display incorrectly.

Why Over Half of Local Listings Have Errors

For most healthcare organizations, this spells trouble. Different addresses, phone numbers, doctor

names, new and removed departments, and other common changes confuse Google+ Local and often

result in duplicate listings. This is perfectly illustrated in the client case study we highlighted on page 4.

Healthcare organizations need to sort through, claim, optimize, and verify each of their online

listings and remove erroneous and

duplicate listings. When you take into

consideration that there are 100+ local

online directories that exist, as well as

dozens of niche offerings, you can see

where many healthcare organizations

are faltering.

The graphic to the left showcases how

confusing the local search landscape

really is.

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Do a search for your own organization. Is the information completely accurate? Or are your patients

finding inconsistent or incorrect information across the web?

Google’s Solution to Organizational Search Structure: The Parent-Child Framework

Fortunately, Google recently made a change to

the way they list organizations with multiple

departments or locations that lie under a single

business entity. Historically, a hospital or group

of doctors would only be able to optimize their

Google+ Local profile for a single headquarters

address. Now, Google allows healthcare

organizations to create new Google+ Local

profiles for each department, group and/or

doctor with unique locations attached to the

same address

This new guideline change includes individual

doctors located across town or within the

one location, different groups across multiple

buildings, or even departments within one

building to name a few, all with central

ownership. This allows each doctor, department, or specialty can be found much more easily online.

Google updated their guidelines to allow healthcare organizations to completely fill out all of their

information for all departments, wings, and doctors.

Check the health of your online presence with our free local SEO tool.Visit www.localvox.com/free-report to see how you rank on 100+ online directories and local search engines.+

The Parent-Child framework allows individual doctors,

departments or wings to have separate Google+ Local

pages, but still remain connected to the parent company.

http://www.localvox.com/free-report

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However, the guidelines are very strict on what you can and cannot do under the framework:

1. Doctors can have multiple listings if they work at different locations

2. Doctors cannot create multiple listings for different specializations

3. Departments can be listed on their own if they fit certain criteria

a. They are public facing

b. They have their own unique phone numbers

c. If applicable, their own customer entrances

This creates a new opportunity for healthcare organizations to clean up their local search data and

improve new appointments, customer service and administrative efficiency.

Driving Meaningful Organizational Results: Should You Build or Buy?

As with any organizational imperative, once the need for local search optimization is identified and

prioritized, the question becomes whether you address internally or work with a 3rd party.

Building Internally

The first method is to build your assets on your own. This requires a significant investment in manpower,

know-how and time to get everything right.

The challenge is in:

» Creating in-house organizational expertise in a field that is rapidly evolving. Getting the best results

requires research and technique and Google made over 20 algorithm changes in the last year.

» Coordinating the claiming process with multiple offices is difficult given that verification with many

directories like Google includes sending a postcard to the listed address within 2-3 weeks. If the

postcard is lost or misplaced, you have to begin again. Claiming multiple directories typically takes

tens of hours per location.

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» Managing the submission process after claiming as some directories and list vendors take weeks or

months to propagate.

» Removing erroneous or duplicate listings is a separate process and is expedited if you have a direct line

into the local directory support organization.

» Creating a metrics and reporting infrastructure for management to see the ROI of local search efforts

to justify investment.

Buying

The second method is to enlist the help of a local search expert. This mitigates project risk, increases the

time to benefit and overall ROI.

Here’s how LocalSearchDrs. mitigates the challenges above:

Organizational Challenge The LocalVox Approach

Creating in-house expertiseLocalSearchDrs. has a staff of local search

experts. Local search is fundamentally

different than traditional SEO and requires

different strategies and tactics.

LocalSearchDrs. is an industry recognized

leader in local search.

Coordinating the claiming process LocalSearchDrs. handles all of the

coordination during claiming. If a postcard is

lost, LocalSearchDrs. has a direct line into

Google Support to expedite the process and

remove the need to resend the postcard.

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Organizational Challenge The LocalVox Approach

Managing the submission process LocalSearchDrs. has direct API access to

update most directories including Yahoo,

Yelp, CitySearch, FourSquare and more.

Removing erroneous or duplicate listings LocalSearchDrs. has a direct line into Google’s

Local Search Data team to correct erroneous

listings, especially priority items like

healthcare.

Creating reporting to justify ROI LocalSearchDrs. provides monthly reports on

rankings, directories optimized and overall

impressions, reads and customer interactions

to justify the ROI of local search.

Remember: The Most Important Step You Can Take Is Getting Started Today

Whether you have a single practice with multiple doctors or run a large hospital, local search

optimization can have a big impact on your top and bottom line with justifiable ROI. The first step is

to understand where your organization is listed and ranking online. A simple audit of both internal

stakeholders and local directory research can provide a clear picture of what needs to be done and the

organizational ROI.

The next step is deciding how to proceed with a build vs. buy analysis. Whether you start with all of your

locations and departments or just the key ones, the time to act is now. Every day that erroneous and

unclaimed listings languish leads to lost revenue, increased cost and lowered customer satisfaction.

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SearchCast makes local search simple, scalable, and affordable.

See how LocalSearchDrs. can help your organization dominate local search.

Talk to Us

LocalSearchDrs. is a fast and effective way for

healthcare organizations to improve their

discoverability when patients need them most.

Our revolutionary online platform helps you

significantly improve your efficiency and build

your brand in specialized practices.

We can help:

» Make sure people are able to access the right

information and find the right departments and

facilities quickly and without frustration

» Ensure you rank for the searches you care about

to increase awareness and drive more traffic

through your doors

For more information, visit www.localsearchdrs.com

http://www.localvox.com/contact/



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September 2012. The Digital Journey to Wellness: Hospital Selection. Google. Retrieved July 11,

2013, from http://www.google.com/think/research-studies/the-digital-journey-to-wellness-hospital-

selection.html

Fox, S. July 1, 2013. Highlights of the Pew Internet Project’s research related to health and health

care. Pew Internet. Retrieved July 11, 2013, from http://www.pewinternet.org/Commentary/2011/

November/Pew-Internet-Health.aspx

May 30, 2013. Hospital Utilization (in non-Federal short-stay hospitals). CDC. Retrieved July 11, 2013,

from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/hospital.htm

May 30, 2013. Health Expenditures. CDC. Retrieved July 11, 2013, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

fastats/hexpense.htm

US Census Bureau. April 11, 2012. Health Care Industry Statistics. Statistic Brain. Retrieved July 11,

2013, from http://www.statisticbrain.com/health-care-industry-statistics/

Citations

diagnosing local search for healthcare · for most healthcare organizations, this spells trouble....

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