When someone searches for physio or a chiropractor nearby, Google shows a short list of clinics with a map before any website. That list is built from Google Business Profiles. You don’t control the ranking, but you do control what’s on your profile, and a complete, accurate profile gives you the best chance.
Here is what to check, roughly in the order a patient sees it.
The basics
- Name. Your real clinic name, exactly as it appears on your sign. Adding keywords to the name breaks Google’s guidelines and can get a profile suspended.
- Primary category. The closest match to what you mainly do, such as Physical therapist or Chiropractor. Add secondary categories only for services you really offer.
- Address and service area. Make sure the pin on the map sits on your door, not the middle of the building or the street.
- Hours. Your real opening hours, with holiday hours set ahead of time. Wrong hours are among the most common complaints in clinic reviews.
- Phone number. One that a person answers during your hours.
What helps a patient choose
- Booking link. A link to your online booking page, so people can book outside office hours. (How to add one)
- Website link. Pointed at your homepage, or at a page for that location if you have more than one.
- Services. List the conditions and treatments you see most, in the words patients use: back pain, sports injuries, concussion, pelvic health.
- Photos. Your entrance from the street, reception, a treatment room and the team at work. Real photos beat stock images, and a patient who recognises your door arrives less anxious.
- Description. Two or three plain sentences about who you help and how. Skip the superlatives.
Keeping it alive
- Reviews. Ask every happy patient, at the moment they tell you you’ve helped. Reply to every review, good or bad, briefly and without sharing any health information.
- Updates. A short post once a month (a new practitioner, extended hours, a seasonal tip) shows Google and patients that the clinic is active.
How long this takes
Most of this list is twenty minutes of work, once. Hours, photos and reviews need a few minutes a month after that.
If you’d rather have someone check it for you, we’ll go through your profile and website and send you a short list of what to fix. Claim your marketing audit and we’ll get started.