By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Google’s Upcoming Changes: How it Will Hurt the Growth of Private Practices
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Google’s Upcoming Changes: How it Will Hurt the Growth of Private Practices
BusinessNews

Google’s Upcoming Changes: How it Will Hurt the Growth of Private Practices

T. Schneider
T. Schneider
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

When consumers are looking for a local business—whether that is a doctor’s office, an auto shop, or a restaurant—they usually turn to an online search engine. In fact, 92 percent of Internet users searched online for local businesses in 2014, and between 2011 and 2015, Google searches including the phrase “near me” increased by a factor of 34.

Additionally, 77 percent of patients use a search engine to find a physician before they schedule an appointment. As any business’s website falls lower on Google’s results page, however, the amount of traffic the receive goes down drastically. The website in the first position receives a third (32.5 percent) of the traffic, followed by 17.6 percent for the second website and 11.4 percent for the third. What all of this demonstrates for private practices, then, is just how important it is for them to rank high on that results page.

Fortunately for private practices and other local businesses, Google has presented a “local pack” at the top of their results since early 2009. At that time, the local pack consisted of 10 results in the user’s geographic area. That number dropped to seven in October of the same year, then to just three in August 2015.

Since April, Google started rolling out a testing program to decrease that number again, from three local results to just two, replacing the third entry with a paid advertisement.

More Read

Clinical trial data
Clinical Trials Software Firm Gets Funding to Help with Health Data Digitization
8 Healthcare Provider Pain Points
Invest to Build a High-Performing Healthcare Marketing Team (Part 4)
The Billion Dollar Healthcare IT Opportunity That the US Government Wasted
Do All of Us Really Have to Change?

What does this mean for private practices?

One of the most important goals for private practices that are trying to grow is simply getting their names out to the public. Not only do they have to compete with large, multi-office clinics that are better able to afford paid advertisements and dedicated SEO efforts, but they have to compete with each other. After this change, that competition will be even more fierce as they vie for one of two slots rather than one of three.

What can private practices do to avoid negative consequences of the change

Fortunately, private practices can work to maximize their site’s ranking. PatientPop lists several steps they can take to optimize their sites and rank at the top:

1. Keep business listings tidy and accurate

Google’s algorithm, Pigeon, is very particular about its business listings. Multiple listings for a single business, misleading URLs, and keyword stuffing— loading the listing with popular but unrelated keywords in order to drive traffic—all send up red flags for the algorithm, which could cause the listing to be pulled.

2. Make sure the company’s website is optimized for mobile access

Google sets sites apart for being “mobile friendly,” which can increase its results. Considering the fact that Google announced in 2015 that more searches are now done on mobile devices than computers, this is a large demographic that clinics should take advantage of. A few simple changes practices can make to optimize their websites for mobile devices include resizing website text and images to simplify the process of viewing them on a mobile device without an inordinate amount of scrolling or zooming.

3. Make sure local profiles are up to date Google prioritizes review sites like Yelp and HealthGrades, so private practices should keep their pages on such sites updated. Links, contact information, and business information should all be accurate. Not only does this help to drive traffic, but it builds confidence in the practice. If a clinic’s information on these pages is clearly out of date, it can lead patients to believe the clinic is no longer operational or simply does not pay attention to detail. Meanwhile, accurate links and other information can drive traffic to the main site.

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

dental care
Importance of Good Dental Care for Health and Confidence
Dental health Specialties
October 2, 2025
AI in Healthcare
AI in Healthcare: Technology is Transforming the Global Landscape
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
October 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Swimwear for Health and Safety
News
September 30, 2025
sports concussions
Concussion In Sports: How Common They Are And What You Need To Know
Infographics
September 28, 2025

You Might also Like

Where Have All the Independent Hospitals Gone? In Cleveland, Into the Mouths of the Big Guys

July 2, 2013
Hospital Administration

Was Granny Sent Home from the Hospital Too Soon?

December 14, 2015

What is ePrescribing?

April 5, 2012

Personalized Prevention, Part III: Applying the Model to Obesity

April 3, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?