Discover what physician rating site is now appearing in the most important Google search results for your practice.
As my subscribers are well-aware, Google has put a huge focus on local search results in its search engine rankings.
This is especially true for small businesses. Even if you type in a generic search term, Google will show you a local business if it’s relevant.
For example, I’ve out-ranked my national orthopaedic society on Google by showing up ahead of them in a local search result box when someone in my town types in “orthopedic surgeon“.
How patient reviews and ratings show up in Google
Earlier this year, Google changed the way customer reviews are displayed. They even made it more difficult for patients and customers to leave reviews – requiring them to sign up for Google Plus in the process.
While Google Plus reviews are probably the best ones to get in terms of boosting search rankings for your practice, there are other review sites that are easier for patients to use.
Other reviews from other websites like vitals.com do show up next to Google search results for your practice, but this week is the first time I’ve seen avvo.com results here.
Avvo.com results now showing up in search results
Here is a screenshot of a recent search I did for my keywords:
hand surgeon arkansas
When you mouse over my listing (the only Google-friendly local search result associated with a map on the right of the page), you see there are links to other non-Google search results.
Vitals.com and healthgrades have been there before, but now avvo.com is showing up.
Why this is important for your practice
Avvo.com’s interface is patient-friendly. Patients can log in and leave a review and keep it quick and anonymous if they want.
Since Google makes people sign up for Google Plus to leave a review, doctors need outside review sites that are reliable and Google-friendly.
Avvo.com is now a site on that list.
It’s a place I send patients to often and get great results.
You can check out my avvo.com listing here.
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