A practitioner listing is a separate Google My Business listing that allows public-facing professionals like lawyers, doctors, and hair stylists to have a separate presence from the primary business.
Imagine your local gym has four personal trainers. Each trainer has a unique set of hours and pricing for private training sessions. One of the trainers focuses on heavy lifting, while another is an expert at flexibility and stretching. This is the exact purpose of a practitioner listing. Each trainer could create a practitioner listing showcasing their unique information.
I will help you understand the benefits of a practitioner listing and how they can help your local SEO. I will also identify the pain points and why practitioner listings can cause headaches for those who manage them.
At the end of this blog, I share a strong visual example of dermatologists who benefited from having practitioner listings.
If you need support with local SEO, contact The Media Captain!
Businesses Eligible For Practitioner Listings
Below are the types of companies eligible for practitioner listings. Thank you to Marie Haynes’ blog, where the list was initially published.
- Attorneys
- Doctors
- Hairdressers
- Insurance agents and brokers
- Mortgage brokers
- Music instructors
- Personal trainers
- Realtors
- Alternative medicine practices (e.g., massage therapists, dental hygienists and registered nurses)
- Tattoo artists
- Tutors
Related Blogs:
Understanding Practitioner Listings
You should not create a practitioner listing if there is only one physician, hair stylist, or attorney. Practitioner listings are only when there are multiple practitioners. If you are a solo practitioner with a Google My Business page plus a practitioner listing, I recommend merging the practitioner listing with your Google My Business page.
Below is an illustration of a dermatology practice with four practicing dermatologists. You will see the main business page and four corresponding practitioner listings for each dermatologist. The structure seems simple but the management of the practitioner listings can be difficult (more on this in the pros and cons section).
Pros and Cons of Practitioner Listings:
Pros
- The ability to list different services, hours, and pricing can further distinguish the practitioner listing, leading to more exposure.
- Different primary and secondary categories versus the main business page.
- Primary categories are one of the most crucial SEO ranking factors.
- Having a unique primary category versus the main business page can yield more exposure within the local pack.
- Public-facing professionals can have a powerful marketing tool with their business listings.
Cons
- It can be very messy for a business to manage multiple practitioner listings
- Too often, an individual lawyer or doctor will claim their business listing. Once they leave the company, their listing is still associated with the business, leading to confusion and difficulty adjusting the credentials.
Professional Tip: My recommendation any practice with multiple practitioner listings is to maintain access to all of the listings. This way, when someone new comes aboard or someone leaves, rather than relying on someone else to create, delete or merge a practitioner listing , you can manage and control the situation.
Example of Dermatologists’ Practioner Listings In Cleveland
When you search for “Cleveland Moh’s Surgery” , you’ll notice that all of the local pack’s results are for individual doctors with practitioner listings versus the main business. This reiterates why practitioner listings are so important. Moh’s surgery was listed on each of the practitioner listings, which is why Google is showing at the top of their search results.
When you click on the practitioner listing of Vidimos Allison MD, it shows that she’s affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic. Even though the practitioner listing is for an individual doctor, the URL makes it very clear who she is affiliated with. It’s a win-win for the dermatology practice and the individual doctor.
The issue with Alison’s practitioner listing and the other Cleveland dermatologists is that they have minimal reviews. If one of these dermatologists specializing in Moh’s surgery were to get 15 5-star reviews, their ranking would likely increase and more people would click on their listing due to the trust factor.
Related Video: How to get more reviews on Google My Business
Conclusion
Practitioner listings offer many benefits for public-facing professionals. Issues most commonly persist during staff turnover when the practitioner pages aren’t in a centralized location. If you add the proper information to your practitioner listing, you can reap the SEO benefits.
If you need support with practitioner listings and local SEO, contact The Media Captain!
