EPISODE 362: Search Engine Optimization Updates with Darcy Sullivan

Hey, chiropractors. We're ready for another Modern Chiropractic Marketing Show with Dr. Kevin Christie, where we discuss the latest in marketing strategies, contact marketing, direct response marketing, and business development with some of the leading experts in the industry.

[00:00:00] Welcome to another episode of Modern Chiropractic Mastery. Today, I have Darcy Sullivan joining us again. Usually we have around a few times a year to keep you updated on all things search engine optimization. And it's always changing. There's always good, uh, nuances that we got to figure out and talk about.

And so we like to have, Darcy on at least a few times a year to, to keep you updated on that. And we have a lot of good new information that you need to stay on top of. And so I, I brought her on to have some good conversation around that. And, and as always, uh, she does not disappoint. And so we provide you with a lot of good new information.

We touch on a little bit of things that are. foundational that you need to keep track of. And then we also just, uh, kind of give some ideas on what's, what's down the corner, maybe, uh, ahead of us that we got to think about as well. But, uh, you know, I, I [00:01:00] just feel like when you get this search game, right, it really gets that flywheel effect going, which we've talked about.

And that's that momentum of the turn, a slow turn, a slow turn, a slow turn. Momentum builds. And then that flywheel just turns by itself. And it churns out 10, 12, 15, 20 new, uh, Google organic and or paid combo, uh, patients for your practice when you do this, right? And, uh, Darcy's one of the top experts in this and knows the, uh, chiropractic profession well.

So without further ado, here is my interview with Darcy Sullivan.

Dr. Kevin Christie: All right. We have Darcy Sullivan back on our show, usually a few times a year to try to give us some updates on Google search on search engine optimization. It's kind of become synonymous like Kleenex and tissue paper. Right? So, uh, uh, welcome back to the show, Darcy.

Darcy Sullivan: Thanks. I'm excited to be here today.[00:02:00]

Dr. Kevin Christie: Perfect. So, um, you know, there's always something going on. You and I are always touching base on whether it's, uh, you know, my website or search or, uh, some of our mutual clients or our MCM clients. We're always working together on things. And, uh, we've, we felt it was time to have you back on to touch on some things.

Uh, one of the things I just want to get right out of the gates, which was new to me that you brought up was about. The business hours. And when someone is actually searching for say their chiropractor, tell us a little bit about that.

Darcy Sullivan: Okay. So that's going to directly relate to your Google business profile listing.

So when it comes to SEO, you know, we have the Google maps, your Google business profile listing search. Section on Google, and then we have the organic section and specifically what you're referring to is the openness factor. And I think it's kind of hard for sometimes chiropractors to wrap their mind around this.

So, I give the [00:03:00] example of if I have a flat tire, and I'm on the side of the road, and I search tire repair near me. I want somebody that's open right then and there. So Google has taken that into account when it comes to the rankings specifically in the Google Business Profile, Google Maps section. So sometimes you have to sit there and say, okay, well, If our competition is open a half an hour later, and that's time when people are searching, or if we're closed in the middle of the day for lunch and we have that noted, does it make more sense to be open but not answering phone calls at that time?

You don't want to fake things out and list that you're open 24 7 if you're not because that will absolutely backfire. But you do want to take into [00:04:00] consideration the time in which people are searching for your services and how that aligns with the hours you're open and the hours that your competition's open.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah. You know, that makes a lot of sense. You know, obviously we don't want to lie about our, our hours. Um, but yeah, if you're there or the phones are being answered, I think that's one thing to consider is that there are, um, let's just give an example. Chiropractic practice might be open from nine to 12 and two to six with a two hour lunch in the middle.

Um, but you have someone there answering phones during lunch, I guess, theoretically you could. Uh, list those as, as hours and then the phone's being answered. You're able to service that obviously being in a, you know, most healthcare practitioners are an appointment based business. So it's not like they would be expecting you to be able to see that person five minutes from now, right?

Like if they, whereas if it [00:05:00] was. You know, Dunkin Donuts, they want to be able to say, yeah, it's 5 a. m. Uh, I should be able to go at 5 0 1 a. m. and get getting a coffee, right? So I guess if that would make sense, right?

Darcy Sullivan: Yeah, absolutely. And again, we're not trying to trick the system, but it is something that you absolutely do want to consider.

And this went into play where people started noticing this around mid December. So if you're looking at your. Your analytics and you're like, Hey, we used to get more traffic to our Google business profile listing, or maybe that led to more traffic to your website. And, and things seem to be on a slight decline.

This is a way for us to go through and say, could this be a factor as to why?

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, that makes sense. And I think, um, you know, I've been evolving my thoughts in general, uh, about availability for, for practices. Cause I, [00:06:00] you know, I talked to a lot of chiropractors and a lot of them. Are having profit margin issues, revenue issues, volume issues.

They, they need to be busier. They need to do that, but then, um, they don't make it very conducive to their patients. And I've fallen into this and I've, uh, a few, about a month ago, we had our mastermind meeting and our East group and Brett Winchester was our. And he talked about like he, he fits a lot of people in that there really isn't time to fit them in.

And, but he, he tries to remove as many barriers as, as possible in a busy practice that he has. Um, and I started finding myself realizing that too. It's like, you know, what, if, if I want to be able to go from X amount of office visits in a week to, you You know, X plus whatever, um, I may have to look at that and not make it so, um, geared, I guess, doctor centered.

A lot of chiropractors hours are, are pretty doctor centered versus patient [00:07:00] centered. And so that's something to think about as well. And this could be one of those things that, that makes sense for a practice. Absolutely. All right. Um, want to kind of move on from that, but I think that's definitely important and something to take into consideration for sure.

Uh, what, what are you seeing? There's always kinds of algorithm changes every year. What do we have new, uh, that we haven't talked about yet?

Darcy Sullivan: Well, you know, Google does hundreds of algorithm changes a year, and some of them are big. Some of them are small. Um, and then there's differences between them doing changes to the Google business profile, Google Maps listing and overall overall.

They're search listings. And when it comes to Google Maps, those are usually smaller and quicker changes with that. We've seen a number of things, um, including making somebody makes a suggestion or [00:08:00] Google assumes that there's a suggested change for your business. So you can't just set up your Google business profile listing and never visit again.

You have to go back and make sure. If Google is suggesting an edit that you either accept it or you modify the listing, whether it's an attribute associated with your business, the name of your business, the address. There's a lot of variables there. And also Google's getting really tight with its algorithm when it comes to the reviews.

Uh,

Dr. Kevin Christie: what, what's going on there?

Darcy Sullivan: Well, we've seen a lot of reviews that they're really trying to harp and get rid of all the fake reviews, which leads to also non fake, you know, real reviews being removed. And this can be if somebody doesn't leave a description, maybe they just leave. The star rating, and they don't mention [00:09:00] anything, or if they feel as though that the people that are leaving the reviews are fake, or it's an account that isn't in use, there's all kinds of variables there.

So, really, the goal when it comes to your reviews is to try to collect even more of them just to give you that safe space. Yeah, and I'll

Dr. Kevin Christie: say like, yeah, we all knew this, but Google reviews are so important for a practice. Now that I've been really dive back into patient care for the last year, so many of my patients that have found us on Google, which has been a pretty good amount lately.

Um, that's like one of the first things they mentioned, like, oh, you had great reviews, you know, and, and it's just such a big deal. Um, I think especially for chiro, I mean for a lot of people, obviously, but chiropractors in particular, I think it's really important because a lot of patients are concerned about seeing chiropractors and so they are reading the reviews if they find you online.

Darcy Sullivan: Yeah, absolutely. We're also seeing [00:10:00] specific again to the Google business profile, Google map section. When you select your category, you know, you should select chiropractor, but if you also offer physical therapy or massage therapy, If you select an additional category, again, keeping chiropractors your main, but if you select an additional one, that's going to give you more visibility as well.

So that isn't for everyone, but it is for some of your

Dr. Kevin Christie: listeners. Yeah, no, it is. And there's other ones, right? So we have a lot of chiropractors on this that, um, they run like a clinic gym hybrid model. So for personal training, I'm assuming, or something of that sort would be one that could be a secondary, uh, category.

There's some that have acupuncture, so that could be one and there's, you know, definitely massage therapy. And then, yeah, some do have physical therapy. Uh, do not, I would not click on the physical therapy thing. If you do not have a [00:11:00] physical therapist, that, you know, physical therapy doesn't mean you are a chiropractor doing rehab.

Uh, that is a, uh, and I think almost, I would say every state, but definitely at least in Florida and most states, uh, we cannot say we do physical therapy unless we actually have a licensed physical therapist. So just want to make sure my audience knew that. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Anything else on the Google business profile aspect?

There's always something I'm trying to keep up with as well, because it's just this whole living, breathing thing that people have to continually improve and things change. Is there anything else I missed on there?

Darcy Sullivan: Yeah, there used to be a feature that some, some chiropractors took advantage of, some didn't.

It was called like, it was a website that was made by the Google business profile listing and it wasn't that popular. But it's being turned off in March, so if you did have that, it's going away.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Okay. So I didn't even know about it, [00:12:00] so I don't think it was too, too popular, but yeah, it makes sense. And then, uh, where are we at on mobile these days?

Darcy Sullivan: I mean, mobile is obviously continuing to grow. So for your actual website, we highly recommend that you make sure that your phone number is clickable. Um, we call it click to call. We've all been there, right? Where we're looking for a phone number and we can actually just. Click on the phone number to call somebody.

We want to make sure that we're operating with ease for everybody using mobile, which means your website absolutely has to be. mobile friendly or responsive to make sure that people when they get to your website, it's going to load quickly because the attention span of everybody is shrinking and shrinking.

Dr. Kevin Christie: That's for sure. Um, and then, uh, moving on from that part was kind of similar and it's just a question I have. Uh, I, I have two universities near my practice and I've had a few college [00:13:00] kids come in as new patients and, and they had. Uh, had mentioned they found me on Apple maps, uh, you know, and that's why I find a lot of things when I'm in different cities.

Uh, what's the story with Apple maps? Is that basically Google search? Like, where are we at on that? What's the thoughts on Apple maps?

Darcy Sullivan: So basically anybody who has a phone is going to be using Apple Maps or most of them that have an iPhone will at some point use it. So what I say to do is go through and optimize your Google business profile listing and then do a good old copy and paste of all of the key information.

To other sources, which would be Yelp, which would be your being business listing and which would be your apple business. Um, your ABC apple business connect card, which is your apple maps listing. And then something to note. There is [00:14:00] even though a lot of chiropractors. Do not like Yelp for obvious reasons.

Uh, Yelp reviews are going to be pulled in to those other locations, like the Apple maps, like your Bing listings. So even though we don't love it, it's important to still make sure that your listings on all of those are optimized and that you do have some good reviews throughout.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, I've always recommended that they build out their Yelp, uh, not necessarily buy ads or anything like that, but to your point, it does have search engine, um, ramifications if you don't.

Darcy Sullivan: Yeah, yeah, it's it's I know it can be a little annoying to have to keep up with all of these things, but it's it's important. It's important to meet people the way that they're searching.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, you don't it makes a difference. You know, if I get 4 or 5. Apple map or Yelp referrals. Like that's, that's real money in a [00:15:00] particular year or month or whatever.

So you want to try to have that total web presence and this will help do that. Can, can we move on from say the, the Google search part or the, the mobile aspect and go onto the website? Or is there anything else that I'm missing? That's new, uh, in the world of search.

Darcy Sullivan: Uh, we can move on to chatting about websites for sure.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah. And, and the one thing I wanted to talk about was the keywords you had mentioned before recorded something about zero volume keywords versus long tail keywords.

Darcy Sullivan: So keywords are the keywords and phrases, obviously, that somebody types in to search to find your business. And I think a lot of chiropractors stop with just their name of city and chiropractor thinking that's all they should focus on.

But when you, when you extend, which we call a long tail, when you extend a keyword, like, take it from. Chiropractor St. Louis to sports chiropractor St. Louis. [00:16:00] You're, you're still including that chiropractor in name of city, but you're also expanding it, which makes it more giving you the edge. And then zero volume keywords are really like more niched down keywords that there's less search volume of less people are searching for them.

But usually they're like. The bottom of the funnel, people that are like ready to make a decision, looking for something very specific that your clinic offers. And so by doing some keyword research and using these keywords on your website, it's going to help you. Rank for a larger number of keywords and also help people find you and it be the right people.

So, you know, we've seen some, some crazy chiropractor websites where they're got like city pages that. Specifically are built out to address that city [00:17:00] and not even highlight chiropractic care. It'll just be like a page about St. Louis. And you're like, well, you're getting some traffic from this, but it's not really the right keyword phrase.

And these people are leaving as soon as they get there because they weren't expecting a chiropractor's website. It's a little confusing. Yeah, that's

Dr. Kevin Christie: where you're going to measure your, or monitor your bounce rate and things like that. Uh, but if I had you correct, if, if you did say sports chiropractor St.

Louis and they typed in chiropractor St. Louis, you would still potentially catch that, right? Right.

Darcy Sullivan: But what we're doing is it's really like, it's niching you down. So same for like prenatal, right? You know, that's a targeted audience. Are you still going to rank for chiropractor? If you're focusing on prenatal chiropractor, yes, but you know, the person searching for you, once they see that niched down, uh, offering, if, if that's what they're looking for, they'd be more likely to book an appointment with you than a, than a general [00:18:00] chiropractor.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Okay, perfect. Yeah, that makes sense. That makes, that makes sense. So yeah, the keyword thing, obviously still, still important. Uh, tell us about some of the other stuff on the website, as far as, uh, you know, written copy, like the length of it, organization.

Darcy Sullivan: So I think one of the biggest things that you have to remember is when somebody lands on your website, that as soon as they get there, they need to know that you're a chiropractor and that you offer services in a specific area.

Location wise. So when I, when you arrive at a website, it can say something like helping you live pain free. But that means that you then have to scroll to see that you're a chiropractor in a specific city. So we really want to make sure that we take advantage of that, like hero section, the section that's under the main menu on our homepage and really identify who you are and the areas that you serve, because somebody is going to leave if they get to your [00:19:00] website and they're like, Oh, well, they're going to help me live pain free, but I'm looking for a chiropractor.

So. We just kind of want to highlight that. And, um, and another thing with that hero section is keep in mind your audience. Like I talked to a lot of chiropractors that are dealing with people who are coming to see them and they might have headaches or migraines. And if you've got like a crazy video or crazy color going on, when somebody lands on your website, They're going to feel overwhelmed and they're not going to feel good and our whole, you know, your whole goal is to get somebody to feel better.

And that starts with the experience that they have on your website.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, no, no doubt about it. You want that to compel them. And if the website's got to feel kind of welcoming, just like your office does.

Darcy Sullivan: Yes, absolutely. And I know that a lot of people are using video these days, which is amazing, but we do want to make sure that we use video [00:20:00] the right way, where we understand the fact that somebody might not push play.

So if it's a blog post, you need to provide context and content that surrounds. The video and not just. How about video?

Dr. Kevin Christie: No, that makes sense. For sure. I want to go back a little bit. And sometimes I use the podcast to kind of work through some of my own thoughts that I'm, I don't have a lot of clarity on yet, but you talked about people might be in pain to get your website, but they need to know what you do, if they're, if they're seeking a certain person and that's where I get a little, try to figure out, cause we have a large audience of our, uh, chiropractors that are, um, you know, they, they promote a lot about.

Restoring movement and, and, uh, or they are very rehab based, which is all great things. And then there's a lot that will shy away from, um, using the word chiropractor or chiropractic a lot. And you'll [00:21:00] go to their website and you may not. Um, see that too much, you might have to scroll quite a bit to realize that the person is a chiropractor and, and, and I don't have a thought on that other than I wonder, I just wonder what that would do for someone's, um, process, like when they're searching for someone, they're typically as much as, you know, as, as a function based chiropractors, as we are, we may not want to think that, Pain is the big reason why people are coming to see us.

We would love for them to want to find us for function and movement. But the, the vast majority of them are having some kind of pain or sports injury or injury in general, let's call it. And so they're searching and a lot of them are searching for a chiropractor or a sports chiropractor or chiropractic.

And if you don't have any on there, there, there could be quite a few people. That, that you're missing out on, on the other end of that spectrum. There's a lot of the chiropractors that are okay [00:22:00] with that. I don't want to be lumped into all the other chiropractors because, uh, this particular ilk of chiropractor does something differently.

I just wonder what the ramifications are from a search engine optimization from a website compelling someone to take action, a bounce rate, things of that nature. I don't know if you have any thoughts on it. That's just kind of me working through my own thoughts on it.

Darcy Sullivan: I do. So when we work with chiropractors, if we're going to do a website design or an SEO project, what we do is we say, okay, we get that that every chiropractor is unique and that you're the way that you address and heal pain is going to be different than the way that another chiropractor would.

And you have your wording. On what you're going to do, we want to incorporate that wording, but we also want to on your website, incorporate the words that the [00:23:00] searchers using. So, you know, what is it that they're saying that they need when they contact you? Are they looking for a chiropractor? And then they realize, wow, you offer so much more than that.

Are they looking for something specific that needs to be addressed? Because there's a way to create content that both matches what somebody is searching for and your branding positioning so that, so that it's congruent. And again, you're not, you're attracting the right audience. And even if that means that when somebody comes to your website, they disqualify themselves before they contact you because You go into detail about how you're not, how, what your service is like compared to chiropractic care, you know, so there's definitely ways to do

Dr. Kevin Christie: that.

Yeah. And, you know, when I went, this was 15 years ago and I [00:24:00] named my practice health fit chiropractic and sports recovery early on, it was, uh, chiropractic and sports medicine. I had a big, big battle with myself and I wanted to name it. Both fit chiropractic, no, sorry, health fit, uh, performance. Then I wanted to name it health fit sports medicine.

That was a little bit too orthopedic. Um, and I, and I realized like, if I didn't, this was just my thoughts on it. If I didn't put chiropractic in it, um, they may, they may lump me into. Uh, orthopedics and sports medicine. And, um, the reality of it was, was a lot, two things. One was a lot of people are searching for chiropractors and I didn't want to miss them.

I didn't want them to, uh, to, to not come across what we do. Cause we do chiropractic. And then two was, I didn't like, there's a lot of people that are searching for what we do. They're looking for a [00:25:00] conservative. Holistic way of getting better and so a lot of them will search chiropractic and a lot of those patients will be In line with what you want to do if it's movement based or function based and things of that nature rehab And those are great patient population.

They're just searching out chiropractic because they know it's a little more conservative And they don't necessarily want the other avenues and they don't know what else to search. Right? Like people in the general lay public never are going to, I mean, super rare, unless they've been to already a movement or function based chiropractor, they're not going to type in movement, doctor, Boca Raton or mobility specialist or function special, like there's not really words for that.

They're, they're going to probably. Yeah. Type in, um, something like chiropractic or physical therapy or, you know, but, and so that was my thought process. And in the naming of it was, [00:26:00] I didn't want to exclude the people that were looking for chiropractors and, and I didn't want to, uh, miss out on all those people that are looking for more conservative holistic measures, but there's nothing, there's nothing for them to search essentially.

Right.

Darcy Sullivan: It depends on their level of education about what they're looking for. Yeah. You might get

Dr. Kevin Christie: some

Darcy Sullivan: really limited.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah. You get some, but they obviously with search engine is like, you need a lot of people finding you and you hope some of them are going to call in and come in. Right. Absolutely. I know that was a little tangent, but it's something I'm working through in my own thoughts and with other chiropractors we work with, like, how do we stay true to who they are as a provider?

I think usually the key is that, yeah, like most of them are going to come in for pain and your messaging is going to be around that and also function and movement. But then when they do get in your practice, that's your opportunity to really. Show them [00:27:00] what you do. That's different and why you're unique.

And then obviously taking them from pain to to function, uh, is things you'll do once they get in. But pain is going to drive them to your practice.

Darcy Sullivan: Absolutely. And I think that also there can be times when. When a chiropractor knows that they want to have a long standing relationship with their patient, but the patient doesn't necessarily want to see text on a website that makes them feel like they're going to be obligated to work, you know, through the three stages and be a lifetime person who's going to come to your clinic.

They just want to know I'm in pain. You're going to make me feel better fast.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yep. And then once you get them in and you build rapport and you talk to them and they realize, I go, this is, this is great. I want to make this part of my, uh, health and, and lifestyle. Then, then that's when you have the ability to, to do that.

So awesome. Uh, okay. And then, you know, this is [00:28:00] something that I've thought about a lot. Cause I Google search all the time and those passages are really, And I tend to fall into reading that first. Are you seeing many chiropractors fall into that passage aspect when people are searching, or is there still a little bit of a struggle?

Darcy Sullivan: So a passage is when Google kind of pulls out a section of your website and highlights it in search, and I feel like there are, well, chiropractors who have their websites optimized are seeing more traffic from this type of search because they've got segments like somebody might. It's a search for the answer.

Search it for a question that you have, let's say, in a really long blog post and you have a segment that asks the question and then answers it. And so Google can pull that out. It's called a passage and it's, it's a search for the answer. It's a way that Google is displaying searches and has [00:29:00] been for a little while, dependent on what somebody's searching.

And this might change this year, but it's just another reason why when you go to put together content on your website, that even though we want it scannable and easy for somebody to kind of look at a page and jump to the C's section, because it's got a bold header that they're. Attracted to, um, that we actually have rich content on the site and not just.

A couple bullet points or a sentence or two on a page and consider it a page. Um, and again, that comes to like one of those best SEO practices, like optimizing the content that you put on and actually putting on content that aligns with what people are searching for.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Make, makes sense, makes sense. I got one more for you.

Okay. Um, Google Analytics four. What is that? Yes.

Darcy Sullivan: [00:30:00] So, um, Google Analytics did an update. Uh, I, this people have been avoiding it, it happened, so you have to get on board with it. But sometimes it can kind of feel like drinking water from a fire hose, and it's a little apples to oranges compared to what people were used to seeing if they even understood how to.

How to break down their analytics. Um, we put together a download that goes into more detail about that. We'll give you the link that you can include in this episode, but it's, it's a, it's a little bit too much to go into detail, you know, but overall, it's one of those things that we've got a lot of resources on our website.

That kind of help you break down. Okay. Well, in universal, I was seeing this, but this is what it means in Google analytics for, um, just to, to help simplify things for people. Cause that was a big

Dr. Kevin Christie: change. [00:31:00] Okay. Yeah, definitely. We'll put those, we'll put the, uh, couple of resources you have there, uh, in the show notes, of course, and we'll post it in our, in our Facebook group.

Is there anything I didn't ask you or that we should look out for? Well, I

Darcy Sullivan: mean, I think everybody has been now talking about AI, um, and it's kind of hard not to include that in the conversation and. Uh, what I really have to say to that is you can't just lean completely on an AI tool. If you are going to use one, it's not going to really replace a person.

You have to make sure that you give it specific directed and that you've trained it so it's got your voice, your tone, and that you're using it as a resource, not like an added resource, not just the only resource.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Perfect. Yeah. I look at it this way. It's, um, you've got a [00:32:00] big, big lump of clay and you got to carve it out into a statue.

And that's kind of what the AI is. It gives you a lot of good information that you got to just carve it out from there.

Darcy Sullivan: Right. And you don't want to just use what it provides you because it's basically taken other information that other people have used again, unless you give it really specific directive.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Perfect makes sense to me. Well, thank you so much. I love having these updates. It's something that, you know, I just, uh, we've talked about it all the time, but, uh, chiropractors that really do well with search engine optimization, get that flywheel going and they have a very reproducible amount of. Organic, uh, leads or patients that come in the door.

And when your website really matches up with that, it's a, it's a thing of beauty to watch. And it's one of the cheapest forms of marketing you can do consistently. So thank you again for your expertise and time today.[00:33:00]