Best Practices for Practitioner Listings on Google My Business (GMB)

A common question we get in Local SEO is how businesses that have practitioner listings should approach Google My Business. There is a lot of confusion around how to deal with these and if they help or hurt the business' ranking on Google. 

What is a Practitioner Listing?

A practitioner or professional listing is a listing on Google Maps that is for a person instead of a place. Businesses that have public-facing professionals that are known and searched by name would have these. Examples of industries that commonly have these would include doctors, dentists, lawyers, realtors, insurance agents, and financial planners.  Often people will search Google for the name of their doctor or lawyer instead of the name of the practice or firm.

Top Questions Practitioners (or Practices) Have Regarding Their Listings:

 

What Are the Rules Around Practitioner Listings?

• Practitioner listings are not considered duplicates and Google will not remove them or merge them.


• If a review was left on a practitioner listing, Google often will similarly refuse to migrate it over to the practice listing.


• The only exception is if a business only has 1 practitioner (1 dentist, 1 doctor etc). In this case, Google will actually merge the 2 listings. They specify that for solo-practitioners you should only have 1 listing that is formatted [brand/company]: [practitioner name] 

Should I Merge my Listings if I'm a Solo Practitioner?

The answer here is it really depends. If your business is in a really large city, I would probably vote to do it since you will reap the benefit of all the reviews being on one listing (so instead of 1 listing with 5 reviews, another with 10, you now have one with 15). However, if you're in a small town you will probably get more visibility and exposure if you keep the listings separated since it's possible to get 2 listings to both rank in the 3-pack for non-competitive terms.  As far as I can tell, Google has no automatic system that looks for these listings and automatically merges them so unless someone reports them as duplicates they should remain separated. 

Last year in the fall, I believe Google changed the way they did merges internally. Since late 2015 we no longer see a massive ranking bump in listings that get merged for solo practitioners the way we used to before. I had a chiropractor I worked with earlier last year who had a massive spike in ranking when his listings were combined. This used to be common when Google merged listings but the way they are doing it recently doesn't appear to pass ranking juice from the duplicate to the main listing. I have a theory that it's because they started using 302 redirects to help prevent data issues. 

Keep in mind that it's possible that some directories won't allow you to merge the 2 listings so it might hurt citation consistency. Yelp, for example, has told me that they don't automatically merge listings for a solo practitioner but if requested, they will consolidate the 2 listings (and merge the reviews) but they use a format that is the opposite of what Google uses. So while Google lists it as “ABC Law Firm: Bob Smith”, Yelp will list it as “Bob Smith – ABC Law Firm”.  I don't think this is a huge issue considering Google's ability to normalize data.

Should I Verify Listings for all my Practitioners?

My rule of thumb is that if Google doesn't have a listing currently for a practitioner at your office, don't bother creating one for him/her if your goal is to make the practice listing rank highest.  Usually more listings just creates more competition for yourself.  As well, verifying your practitioner's listings could be problematic if they decide to leave your office and work elsewhere. According to Google, they would own the listing, not you. 

I usually would suggest verifying the listing you want to rank and having that listing point to the homepage. I would then leave the website off the additional listings (or point it to an inner page on the site like the doctor's profile page). 

On the flip side, verifying the practitioner listings will allow you to monitor and respond to reviews. However, if you're not actively trying to get reviews on them, hopefully you won't get many. 

Another good strategy is working on having multiple listings rank if you have practitioners that specialize in different things.  Let's say you have a chiropractor who also has a massage therapist at his office.  The massage therapist's listing could link to a page on the site that ranks high for massage therapy and the chiropractor could rank to the page that ranks highest organically for chiropractic terms. This is a great way to make the pages accomplish more overall instead of competing.  Another example would be a law firm. You could have the main listing for the law firm optimized for things like “law firm” and then have 1 lawyer who specializes in personal injury law and another lawyer who specializes in criminal law.  This would allow you to take advantage of the organic ranking for several different keywords. 

Keep in mind that if your goal is to have 3 of your listings all rank for the exact same keyword on Google, thus monopolizing the entire 3-pack, this is an unrealistic strategy. Google has filters that keep the same website from appearing too many times in the results and unless you're in a really niche industry or market, it's almost impossible to accomplish this.

 

What Should I do if my Practitioner Listing Outranks the Practice Listing?

I would say it depends on which listing it is and what the ultimate goal is. If it's the practitioner listing for the owner, who would clearly not be likely to leave the practice, I would go with what Google prefers and focus on the practitioner listing. If the listing is for an employee who could, at some point, leave the practice, you should consider what is more important: ranking faster or having more long-term security. I had a law firm hire me recently who had 2 lawyers. We worked on all 3 profiles: the 2 listings for the lawyers and the 1 listing for the firm.  Several months in, the one lawyer left the practice and started her own firm. The remaining lawyer was annoyed that her listing continued to rank well (and even outrank his in certain occasions) and the hard truth was that her profile was strong because we had worked on it.  So when she worked for them, it helped them, but when she left, the strength of the page left with her.  It's always important to consider this.   For businesses in this boat, I would suggest editing the practitioner listing to try and minimize it (remove all but 1 category, link to an inner page on the site instead of the homepage).  Then I would work on trying to boost the ranking of the practice listing by asking for reviews and making sure that listing is the only one that links to the homepage of the website.  Although it's often faster and easier to work with the existing practitioner listing that is currently ranking highest, it is possible (with time) to get Google to accept the practice listing as the strongest. The downside to this strategy is that it takes longer and requires more work.  Keep in mind, the age of the listing (how long it's existed) is a huge ranking factor that I wouldn't ignore. If the practitioner listing has been around much longer and has much more history, it will make this harder to do.  This is why we always generally don't answer this question for businesses without doing a thorough audit.

One of my Practitioners no Longer Works Here, What Should I do With Their Listing?

One of the most annoying issues is when a practitioner leaves an office. Technically, the person owns their listing, not the practice/company and removing the listing entirely is not an option. Google often suggests that you mark the page as closed, but this is a terrible idea since any patients or customers would think the business is closed when searching for their practitioner by name. 

Instead, this is what you should do: 

1. If the listing is verified via GMB you need to first get it unverified (if possible). If you don't have access to where it is verified, this is the worst-case scenario since Google might refuse to give you access since they see the individual as the true owner (not their employer).

2. Once the listing is unverified, you can have the listing marked as moved to the main practice listing (the practice listing must be verified). 

If the practitioner was verified by the former employee and you have no access to it, you have the option of either leaving it alone or reaching out to them to update it to list their new employment information. Neither of these options are ideal which is part of the reason why I don't generally suggest verifying practitioner listings.

 

How Should I Build Citations for a Practitioner?

I would always focus heavily on niche citations for any industry that has practitioners. So if you're a lawyer, make sure you're listed in Avvo or if you're a dentist make sure you're listed correctly on HealthGrades. There are tons of social media sites and directories that allow more robust features for individuals as opposed to businesses and this is something you can easily take advantage of with practitioners.  For example, LinkenIn allows individuals to list several links on their profile page to different sites and even allows them to customize the anchor text. This isn't something a listing for a business on LinkedIn is able to do. 

Do you have a question about practitioner listings that I didn't address? Please let me know in the comments!

Fantastic Copywriting Examples: 13 Companies With Truly Creative Copywriters

You all know the Old Spice guy, right?

The years-old "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign was memorable for many reasons, but one of them was that it gave Old Spice a voice -- voice that came through in every video, commercial, tagline, Facebook update, tweet ... you name it.

And do you know who is behind all of that marketing collateral?

Copywriters. The ability to find the exact right words to tell your company's story isn't an easy feat, and it's even harder to do so consistently.

So when we come across companies that are doing it successfully, we think their copywriters deserve a pat on the back (and a raise?). Take a look at some of the companies we think have stellar copywriting, and if you're looking, maybe get some inspiration for your own brand, too.

13 Brands That Are Skilled at Writing Copy 

1) UrbanDaddy

UrbanDaddy has mastered the art of getting me to open emails. And when I click into them, they don't disappoint. 

This is the copy from an email they sent me with the subject line, "Fun.":

There are a couple things in this email that caught my eye.

First of all, there's no long preamble. The writers get straight to the point -- a wise choice for something as simple as a rubber band gun lest the reader feel cheated reading sentence after sentence for something so common.

Secondly, take a look at the purposeful sentence structure. This copywriter eschews conventional grammar rules by combining run-on sentences and traditional product promotion copy in sentences like:

Lock and load with Elastic Precision, a Kansas City-based workshop that manufactures high-powered weaponry except not at all because they actually just shoot rubber bands, now available online."

Keep reading, and you see a conversational tone that mildly mocks the silliness of the product, but also loops the reader in on something kinda fun.

And then, of course, they close with badgers. And how can you go wrong with badgers?

Best of all, UrbanDaddy's unique tone is found in every single piece of copy they publish -- from emails, to homepage copy, even to their editorial policy:

This company clearly knows its audience, which jokes to crack, and has kept it consistent across all their assets.

2) Moosejaw

Not many brands are brave enough to touch the actual products they're selling with unconventional copy ... but Moosejaw isn't afraid to have a little fun. 

The outdoor apparel outlet store uses humor as a way to sell their products without being overly forward about it. By appealing to people's emotions, they're more engaging and memorable.

Here are a few examples:

Same goes for the call-to-action buttons that show up when you hover your mouse over a product photo -- like this one, which reads, "Look This Cool."

Does their brand voice carry over to the product descriptions, you ask? See for yourself:

If you think the brilliant copy stops at their homepage, think again. They extend it to their return policy, too. Here, they do a great job of not sacrificing clarity for humor. Their copywriters successfully made people laugh while still being helpful.

3) First Round Capital

While a sign of great copywriting is making people smile, another is making people feel understood. The copywriters at First Round do a phenomenal job at letting the value of their offerings for their customers sell themselves.

For example, they hold over 80 events every year connecting their community together. Instead of just explaining that they have events and then listing them out, they begin that section of their website with a simple statement that hits close to home with many entrepreneurs: "Starting a company is lonely."

Using words like "imperfect," "safety net," and "vulnerable" encourages readers to let their guards down and feel understood by the brand and their community.

Plus, you've gotta love that last line about stick-on name tags. Those things get stuck in my hair.

4) Trello

Do you know what Trello is? If the answer is no, then behold the copywriting on their website. Their product description -- like most of the copy on their site -- is crystal clear:

And then check out how clear this explainer content is:

Some of the use case clarity can be attributed to how smart the product is, but I think copywriters deserve some credit for communicating it clearly, too. They call it like it is, which ultimately makes it really easy to grasp.

And I couldn't write about the copywriting talent at Trello without including the microcopy on their log in page:

  

Each time you refresh the login page, you see a different, equally clever example email belonging to a fictional character, like Ender from Ender's Game and Dana Scully from The X-Files -- a great example of nostalgia marketing. This is a small detail, but nonetheless a reminder that there are real humans behind the website and product's design. Delightful microcopy like this kinda feels like I just shared a private joke with someone at the company.

5) Velocity Partners

No post from me about excellent copywriting would be complete without mentioning the folks at Velocity Partners. A B2B marketing agency out of the U.K., we've featured co-founder Doug Kessler's SlideShares (like this one on why marketers need to rise above the deluge of "crappy" content) time and again on this blog because he's the master of word economy.

What is "word economy"? It's taking care that every word you use is the right word. It means getting your point across concisely and not dwelling on the details when you don't have to. In a world of shortening attention spans, this is the ultimate goal when communicating your message.

And since we're talking about word economy, I'll shut up and let you check out one of Kessler's SlideShares for yourself:

The Search for Meaning in B2B Marketing from
Velocity Partners

Whereas SlideShares are typically mostly visual, Kessler's is heavily focused on copy: The design stays constant, and only the text changes. But the copy is engaging and compelling enough for him to pull that off. Why? Because he uses simple words so his readers understand what he's trying to say without any effort. He writes like he speaks, and it reads like a story, making it easy to flip through in SlideShare form.

The copy on Velocity Partners' homepage stood out to me, too. Check out, for example, how humble they are when introducing their case studies:

I also like how casual and honest they kept their email subscription call-to-action. The header is especially eye-catching -- and it plays off of the popular SlideShare about crappy content we mentioned earlier.

In fact, Velocity Partners' Harendra Kapur recently wrote a blog post on what goes in to great B2B writing -- starting with this disclaimer, of course.

6) Intrepid Travel

The copywriters at Intrepid Travel, a Melbourne-based adventure travel company, are on this list because they understand where the intersection of interesting and informational lies.

I love seeing copy that is totally and utterly functional -- that delivers critical information, but is so pleasant to read that you actually keep reading. Quite a feat on the internet these days.

Take a look at their company description, package names, and package descriptions below for some examples of this fantastically functional copywriting in action:

Of course, they do benefit from quite a lovely subject matter, but still -- hats off you to, Intrepid Travel.

7) Cultivated Wit

The copywriters over at the "comedy company" Cultivated Wit do a great job of embracing their own brand of quirk throughout their site. They already have one of the best "About" pages in the game, but their delightful copy is spread throughout their site -- sometimes in the most unexpected of places.

For example, take a look at the copy around contact information at the very bottom of their homepage:

This section of the homepage is an afterthought at best for most companies. But for these folks, it was an opportunity to have a little fun.

They also have two, unique email subscription calls-to-action on different pages of their website. They're very different, but both equally funny and delightful. Here's one from the homepage:

And one from the "About" page:

8) Cards Against Humanity

You may or may not be familiar with Cards Against Humanity, the self-declared "party game for horrible people." It's a card game -- one that's simultaneously entertaining and inappropriate. The copywriting on the cards themselves are guaranteed to make you laugh.

The brand voice is very distinctive, and can seem a little abrasive, and even a little offensive. But that's their whole shtick: They're not trying to appeal to everyone, and that's perfectly okay. What they do do a great job of doing is appealing to their target audience.

One look at their FAQ page and you'll see what I mean:

Here's a sneak peek into some of the answers to these questions. You'll see they make fun of both themselves and the reader -- which is exactly what the card game is about.

9) R/GA

With the exception or UrbanDaddy, I've been focusing a lot on site copy so far, so I wanted to check out some examples of excellent social media copywriting.

I know you all like to see some more B2B examples in here, too, so I surfaced one of the best examples of the holy grail: Twitter copy, from a B2B company, that's funny. Behold, some recent highlights from the R/GA Twitter account:

HOW CAN I RELAX WITH ALL THESE WEEDS pic.twitter.com/T1x78HnPhr

- R/GA (@RGA)
May 24, 2016

Your extended family going all caps with the Facebook posts like, hey we're all just people here and I've got some OPINIONS

- R/GA (@RGA)
May 24, 2016

Imagine living in a time when horrible music wasn't pumped into every square inch of public/commercial space.

- R/GA (@RGA)
May 19, 2016

Just saw a list of top tech talent referred to as "poachables," which sounds delicious. Like sophisticated Lunchables.

- R/GA (@RGA)
May 16, 2016

If only audience segments knew how they were referred to in strategy decks.

- R/GA (@RGA)
May 11, 2016

10) innocent

Check out U.K.-based drink makers innocent, and you'll see a language, style, and tone that matches their philosophy, product, and even their branding and design. It's all just clean, straightforward, and simple. And believe it or not, simple is a really, really hard thing to nail in copywriting.

This stands out best on their "Things We Make" page. (Isn't that page name even beautifully simple?)

This same straightforward-but-charming copywriting philosophy extends to their site navigation:

Their meta description is pretty awesome, too:

And my personal favorite:

11) GymIt

I've always loved the copy at GymIt. In fact, I check their site and social profiles all the time to see if they've freshened anything up. Luckily, they're no one-trick pony. They continue to keep their site fresh with captivating copy.

Here are some of my favorites, all of which hit on the pain points of gym-goers that they try to solve -- and actually do solve with their customer-friendly policies.

I can vouch for that one. I know how much of a hassle it is to move far away from your gym -- and how refreshing it must be to be able to walk in and just ... quit.

All of this rolls up to their philosophy, espoused eloquently on their "About" page, that gyms should just be about working out:

Talk about having an understanding of their core audience. The copy both in its value proposition and across its marketing materials reflects a deep understanding of their customers.

And how did their copywriters choose to make sure everyone knew what this new gym franchise was about if they didn't read that "About" page? This tagline:

Doesn't get much clearer than that.

12) ModCloth

ModCloth is a brand that has always had an excellent grasp of their buyer persona, and it comes through in their pun-filled copywriting. All of their products are silly plays on words -- check out this screen grab of some of their new arrivals, for example:

Dive into their product description copy, and it's equally joyous, evocative, and clever -- just like their customers. Often, it'll also tell the story of what you'll do while wearing their items:

After reading their descriptions, one can imagine what their life would be like if they owned this product. That's Copywriting 101, but so few brands can actually pull it off like the folks at ModCloth do.

13) Ann Handley

When it comes to building up your own personal brand, it can be easy to get a little too self-promotional. That's where the copywriting on your site can make a big difference.

On Ann Handley's personal website, she added bits of microcopy that shows that, despite her many accomplishments (like being a best-selling author and award-winning speaker), she still doesn't take herself too seriously.

Check out her email subscription call-to-action, for example:

What other brands have great copywriters? Share with us in the comments.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in July 2012 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

 

10 Free Apps Worth Checking Out on the Google App Marketplace

In today's world, everything needs to be faster, easier, and free to get our attention. I sometimes wonder how anyone got anything done in the days before the internet.

While on one hand it's a little scary to realise how much we depend on digital apps to run a business, on the other hand, it also makes our lives a whole lot easier. 

Just take a scroll through Google's Apps Marketplace. You'll find everything from reporting tools, to accounting software, to business card creators. And as of this week, you can even find HubSpot CRM there. 

While we were busy admiring our new listing, we decided to round up a few of the most helpful free tools we also came across. Check them out below.

(Note: While some of the apps on this list do offer paid options with more advanced features, each of them has a free option available.)

The Top 10 Free Apps on the Google App Marketplace

1) Kami

• What is it? A cloud-based all-in-one document viewer and markup tool.


• What does it do? Kami allows you to view, annotate, share, and collaborate on your files on Chrome.


• How can you use it? This tool is particularly useful for folks that frequently collaborate with team members or partners on content or the creation of formal documents such as co-marketing agreements, as it makes it easy to communicate edits.

[Find it on the Google App Marketplace] 

2) Mindomo

• What is it? A mind mapping and concept building tool.


• What does it do? Mindomo allows you to visually outline complex concepts, tasks, ideas, and other related information in a structured form.


• How can I use it? When it comes to planning out a marketing campaign, you need to think about content assets, promotional channels, budget allocation, and coordination of a hundred different things to get it to launch. This tool can help to organise your ideas and ensure a smooth transition from concept to campaign.

[Find it on the Google App Marketplace]

3) Weekdone Weekly Reporting

• What is it? A simple and fast reporting tool for teams.


• What does it do? It quickly generates team reports for managers to review.


• How can I use it? Sometimes it can be hard for managers to spend time with every employee to discuss how things are going. With this free tool you simply fill in your progress, plans, and problems in minutes and it will send an automatic email report to your manager.

[Find it on the Google App Marketplace]

4) SurveyLegend

• What is it? A free survey tool.


• What does it do? SurveyLegend allows you to create mobile-ready online surveys and forms on your tablet or PC.


• How can I use it? Whether you want to ask for customer feedback, perform buyer persona research, or collect data for a cool piece of content you're working on, surveys are a part of a marketer's life. This app allows you to create engaging surveys without installing software and offers real-time results.

[Find it on the Google App Marketplace]

5) LucidPress

• What is it? A free design tool.


• What does it do? The tool allows you to easily create brochures, newsletters, magazines, reports, and more without any design programs or skills.


• How can I use it? Now you can create stunning visual content for print, mobile, or web without relying on your designer or freelancer. 

[Find it on the Google Apps Marketplace]

6) Save Emails (Google Sheets Add-on)

• What is it? A tool that stores email content.


• What does it do? This free tool downloads email messages and file attachments from Gmail and automatically saves them to Google Drive as searchable pdf files.


• How can I use it? You can use the add-on to easily backup important emails, video files, large images, Microsoft Office documents, travel receipts, and other emails from Gmail to your Google Drive.

[Find it on the Google Apps Marketplace] 

7) Zipbooks

• What is it? A free accounting software.


• What does it do? It looks after things like time tracking, online invoicing, project management, and auto-billing so you can stay more organised.


• How can I use it? With this tool, you can become more efficient in your project management with clients, freelancers, or agencies. It should also help you with budget allocation and keeping tabs on important information to send to your finance department. 

[Find it on the Google Apps Marketplace]

8) HubSpot CRM  

• What is it? A free customer relationship management system.


• What does it do? HubSpot CRM keeps track of all of your contacts (prospects, customers, and past customers) and their interactions with your company across the buyer's journey.


• How can I use it? This free CRM makes it really easy to add, nurture, and track customers along the buyer's journey. It provides a deals dashboard, call recording, and email templates. It also integrates with the HubSpot Marketing Platform for valuable sales and marketing alignment.

[Find it on the Google Apps Marketplace]

9) GQueues

• What is it? A task management tool.


• What does it do? GQueues is a collaborative online task manager for Google and Google Apps users.


• How can I use it? With just a couple of clicks, your emails, web pages, and anything else of interest are added to your task list. Your tasks then appear in your Google Calendar and in your task list on the right-hand side of your calendar.

[Find it on the Google Apps Marketplace]

10) LogoMix

• What is it? An app to create business cards.


• What does it do? This app enables you to design and print new business cards quickly and easily.


• How can I use it? With just a few clicks you can design some slick, on-brand business cards without needing to bother your designer. Although this app is not 100% free, your first batch of business cards is, and they are a very low price after that to get more printed.

[Find it on the Google Apps Marketplace]

What app are you most excited to try out? Share your thoughts below.