Understanding the Google Search Engine
Google continues to make improvements in their search algorithm. With another core update release earlier this week, dental websites either saw improvements in their organic search rankings or a ranking drop that will no doubt give owners butterflies in their stomach.
The Google Search Engine normally has 3 main areas whenever you are searching for a particular product or service.
The top 1/3 of the page is normally where display ads are shown for different companies. These are either local or national companies that are paying Google to have their ads displayed. Whenever someone clicks on one of these ads, that company directly pays Google. This is called pay-per-click advertising, and it allows Google to make billions of dollars every year.
Let's say I am searching for a dentist in New York city. A popular search term I could type into the Google search engine would be "dentist nyc." Let's type that in and see what results we get:
This picture is showing the top portion of the search results which is the Ads section. As you can see, next to each of the three websites domain, there is an icon that says Ad. These local companies are paying Google directly to have their websites displayed in the Ads section.
Again, the way Google gets paid is that every time someone clicks on their Ad in the search engine, that particular dental company gets charged. A logical question you may ask is: "When someone clicks on the Ad, where does the Ad take them?"
The Ad normally forwards a searcher to the dentist's website, or a separate page that is dedicated to that particular topic. In our case example, "dentist nyc", a page could be created that is separate from the company's website. This is called a landing page, and digital marketing agencies make various landing pages for different products and services that you provide the public. Your digital marketing agency can make a landing page for all sorts of services including dental implants, Invisalign, dentures, braces, etc. They will usually consult with you to see what types of services you are interested in serving the public with, and then dedicate your Ad campaign with those services.
The Map Listing is the second portion of the page, and it is normally displayed under the Ads section. The map listings area is also known as the "map pack", and it is prime Google Real Estate for digital marketing agencies who represent local companies. The maps section is highly local, meaning that it will show companies that provide a service you are looking for in a geographic radius where the searcher is conducting the search.
An individual searching dentist from one area of town will get a completely different results than another searcher that is searching for a dentist in another area within the same city.
However, there are exceptions to this rule. Let's say that instead of searching for "dentist" or "dentist near me" you search for a dentist in a particular city. In this case, the Map Listings will display dentists that are located in that city, and not dentists that are within your geographical radius.
Let's take a real-world example. I currently live on the west side of Houston. If I go to the Google Search Engine and type "dentist", let's see what map listings get displayed.
If I am logged into Google, google will identify my location and find me dentists that are near my search location. My location is that blue dot with the arrow pointing to it. As you can see, three dentists that are close to me are listed in the map listings.
Now, let's change the search to "Houston Dentist", and see what kind of results we get from this search query.
The search results completely changed because instead of just looking for any dentist, I told Google I want a dentist in Houston. Google will change the coordinates, usually to the middle of the city, and display the most popular dentists in that area. Now you can really see how dynamic and powerful the map listings can be.
The final portion of the search page usually takes up most of the real estate of the page, and it's called the Organic Search Listings. When you hear the term SEO, it's digital marketers that are fighting for the top ranking slots in this portion of the search page. The organic listings that are shown for a particular search query are different than the results you obtain in the map listings.
Google has previously announced that the core algorithms that display the results in Organic and Map listings are similar but not the same. Website content is the number one factor in who ranks the best in the organic section of the search page. There are many other variables that determines organic search rankings, and below are some of these main factors:
- Website Content (great and detailed information)
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Backlinks (other websites linking to your website)
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Page Speed (How fast your website loads when someone clicks on it)
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Making sure your website is mobile friendly
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Technical coding factors
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Click Through Rate (How often people are clicking to get to your website)
- User Experience (How long do they stay on your website to read the content and watch your videos)
Other factors exist as well, but if you focus on the above factors, you can see significant improvements in your websites ranking across the web. Let's look back at our example of "dentist nyc", and see what organic results show up.
If you look at the first three listings, they are citations from Expertise.com, Zocdoc, and Yelp. These sites have a lot of trust and authority with Google and a lot of times they will show up on the top of the organic listings. The local dentists that follow have done a remarkable job building their website with great content, and other factors that have helped them reach page 1 of this particular search term. This is considered "Prime Google Real Estate", and it's what every local business wants out of their digital marketing campaign.
Your digital marketing campaign is critical to your company's success. Make sure your marketing team is putting in the effort to improve your website on a daily basis to help you grow your business. In the digital age, you can't afford to fall behind.
JASMINE NADERI, DDS, is one of Houston's Top Cosmetic Dentists, and a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. She is an expert in Implant Dentistry, and has ran her own digital marketing campaign since 2018. Visit https://bestdentistinhouston.com or call (281) 762-0637 to learn more about Dr. Jasmine.