Most clinic owners think optimizing their Google Maps presence ends after setting up their Google Business Profile, adding hours, and uploading a few photos. But if you stop there, you’re missing one of the biggest ranking opportunities on Google Maps.
In this episode of The Clinic Marketing Podcast, you’ll learn advanced tactics to boost your visibility and credibility through user-generated content—reviews, photos, Q&A, and posts from your patients.
Discover how to:
- Turn your Google reviews into an ongoing growth engine
- Use the Q&A section to build trust and improve SEO
- Encourage authentic, high-quality patient photos that attract new visitors
- Leverage user-generated Google Posts to increase engagement and local visibility
You’ll also get a framework for building a sustainable system that keeps your profile active and your clinic at the top of local search results.
If you want to dominate Google Maps and stand out from competitors, this episode will show you exactly how to get your audience involved in the process.
Episode Webpage, blog, & show notes: https://propelyourcompany.com/google-maps-user-generated-content/
Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you!
NEW Webinar: How to dominate Google Search, Google Maps, AI-driven search results, and get more new patients.
In this 1-Hour SEO Planning Session, you’ll learn what it takes to thrive online and convert online traffic into foot traffic.
Plus, Get a Free Patient-Centered SEO Action Plan to Kickstart Your Strategy!
https://propelyourcompany.com/learn
📞Book a discovery call - Book a discovery call with Propel to see how smart SEO and website design can help your clinic get found online.
https://propelyourcompany.com/
Let's Stay Connected:
- Website - https://propelyourcompany.com/
- Free SEO Training 🎉 - https://propelyourcompany.com/learn
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Most clinic owners think optimizing their Google
(00:03):
Maps presence stops afterclaiming their Google Business
Profile listing, adding a littlebit of information, and then
walking away.
But the truth is, there is amajor power play that I'm going
to share with you today, andit's all about how to leverage
user-generated content toincrease your Google Maps
(00:28):
ranking and make you stand outfrom your competition.
In this episode of the ClinicMarketing Podcast, we'll dive
into advanced tactics that gobeyond the basics, helping you
turn your patients into activecontributors who boost your
visibility, credibility, andengagement on Google Maps.
(00:50):
You'll learn how to leveragereviews, photos, and questions
from real patients, plus how tobuild a system that encourages
ongoing participation withoutfeeling forced or awkward.
Well, hello and welcome to thisepisode.
I'm your host, Darcy Sullivanfrom Propel Marketing and
(01:13):
Design.
Listen, if you are just gettingstarted with your Google Maps
listing, this episode might notbe for you.
You might want to check out someof our beginner episodes when it
comes to Google Business ProfileListings, which are what control
your Google Maps listing.
Because today I am sharing withyou some strategies that not
(01:37):
many people are using, which iswhy you've tuned in, I hope,
because you want to stand outfrom the crowd.
So today we are talking allabout how you can use
user-generated content.
That's content from youraudience.
Things like reviews, whicheverybody is familiar with,
reviews, but what they're notfamiliar with are using
(01:59):
user-generated photos,questions, and posts to boost
engagement in your rankings inGoogle Maps.
Google sees activity ascredibility.
The more engagement your profilehas, the more signals Google
gets that your business isactive and trustworthy.
(02:21):
User actions like postingphotos, leaving reviews, asking
questions are fresh content forGoogle.
And it's not just aboutkeywords, it's about
authenticity and recency.
Recency meaning it's new.
You're active on there.
(02:42):
It's not like the lastengagement was five to eight
months ago.
These signals, when positionedcorrectly, help improve your map
pack rankings, visibility, andAI-generated answers,
click-through rates from maps toyour website, and more.
(03:06):
So let's talk about how to getinto this and what actions you
should take.
So first up is reviews.
And I don't think it's asurprise to anybody that Google
reviews matter.
That's a kind of a no-brainer,right?
But we would like for you toturn your reviews into a
continuous growth engine.
(03:28):
So if you can, you want to makesure that you're not just asking
for reviews, but you're guidingpeople for reviews and the way
that they're leaving theirreviews.
So you're asking for detailslike what services did you come
in for?
How did it help you?
Example, instead of leave us areview, you might suggest tell
(03:50):
us what changed after your firstadjustment or session.
See how different that is?
Instead of just sending out thatgeneric message, did you have a
good experience?
If so, please leave a review.
Instead, again, try sayingsomething like, tell us what
changed for you after your firstappointment.
(04:14):
Next, you want to make sure thatyou respond to every review,
good or bad.
Working keywords naturally.
Show future patients that yourclinic cares.
And I've given this examplebefore, but this is a great use
of AI.
If you're gonna sit there andsay that you have five core
(04:35):
services, and you go to ChatGPTor Grok or whatever your AI
choice is, and you say, hey AI,provide me 20 responses for
people who leave reviews aboutservice A or service B or
service C.
And then you've got this likemassive document, this Google
(04:56):
Doc that's just sitting therethat any of your team members
can copy and paste from so thatyou're leaving responses that
are more detailed and look likeyour team cares more than just
saying, hey, thanks.
Thanks for the response.
Cheers to your good health.
It also helps work in somekeywords more naturally, which
is always good.
(05:17):
You can also feature reviews inposts or social media.
You can definitely go to Canvaand turn those quotes into
graphics.
You can create a reviewfollow-up system.
A lot of people do this, a lotof clinics do this.
If you haven't done this, youmight want to consider doing
(05:38):
this.
Having an automated text oremail after their appointment,
again, we suggest that thewording being a little bit more
directed towards theirexperience versus just leave us
a review.
Include a direct link to yourGoogle review.
You can use signage for the QRcodes.
Um, there was an episode whichwe'll link in the show notes
(06:00):
where we talked about makingsure that you're not
gatekeeping, that you're notjust sending people that say
that they would leave you apositive review to your Google
Business listing.
Instead, you're guiding everyonethere.
So that's one, right?
That's reviews.
That's that's a little bit morebasic, but let's dive into some
(06:20):
other stuff.
So one of my favorite, I don'twant to say favorite, one of the
most overlooked sections in theGoogle Business profile right
now is the QA section.
And with the QA section, you asa business, when you set it up,
you can ask a question and youcan answer a question.
But this is a great place toencourage patients to ask real
(06:43):
questions.
Questions like, do you offersame-day appointments?
Do you accept my insurance?
What's the difference betweenchiropractic and massage
therapy?
All of these are gonna varybased on what your clinic
offers.
But when somebody asks aquestion, you want to make sure
that you quickly review it andrespond to it.
(07:03):
Google indexes your answers sothey can show up in search
results.
And again, you can go ahead andhave those seed kickoff
questions that you're asking asthe business and answering, but
really we're focusing in thisepisode on talking about
user-generated, those thecontent that comes from your
users.
So another example of this isuser-generated photos.
(07:29):
User-generated photos do not goagainst the limited number of
photos that you're allowed tohave associated with your Google
Business Profile listing.
Now, keep in mind, all of thisis exactly relevant at the time
I'm recording it.
Goodness knows Google could makesome changes tomorrow, but here
are some things to consider.
So on the negative side of this,I'm gonna give the example of we
(07:53):
were talking to a chiropractorand they had somebody come in
and they were working on theiroverall office.
The person redid their floors.
The company that redid thefloors took tons of pictures and
posted it, tagging them, whichmeans that that chiropractic
company, those photos showed updirectly when you Googled that
(08:14):
company.
Well, pros and cons.
One in this example, it was acon.
And you know why?
Not that the service was a con,but the situation was negative
because of the fact that thephotos that the flooring company
had taken were horrible of theoverall clinic because there
were water bottles sitting out,there was dust places.
(08:36):
So the the chiropractic cliniccontacted them and said, listen,
I really appreciate, we reallyappreciate all the work you did.
We're happy to leave a review onyour listing, but please take
down this photo because it's thefirst thing that people see when
they Google our business, andit's not showcasing how
beautiful and improved the fullredesign of the interior looks.
(08:58):
It's just showcasing the floorswith some water bottles and
other stuff sitting out.
But you can encourage authenticphotos to be posted.
Maybe you are participating inclinic events.
This is a great time toencourage people to post
pictures or post before or aftershots with their permission,
(09:20):
again, depending on what type ofclinic you run and asking people
to tag your clinic as theyupload images.
Also, I love this idea, and thisis to make it natural.
And that is to do a photo wall,like have a branded area set up
in your office or when you areparticipating with community
(09:43):
events where it makes it easyfor people to take photos that
highlight your clinic, whetherit's your clinic's logos being
highlighted in it or what havenot.
And it makes them easy for themto post and tag your business,
not just on your Google Businessprofile, but all social media
posts.
And mention one reason we lovethis is that users' photos build
(10:07):
emotional trust because peopletrust what they see from other
real people posting.
So here's another one.
This is one that people justdidn't know that you can do.
But you can actually havesomebody outside your
organization post a Google Post.
Right now, when I'm includingthis, that can happen.
(10:29):
So within Google BusinessProfile, you have the option to
do Google Post.
And we have a really great umepisode where we dive into the
right way to use Google Postsand some strategies behind it.
But one that nobody is reallyusing is leveraging the fact
that users right now can createposts.
So they can share spotlights ofwhat's working for them.
(10:53):
They can answer real questions,they can do anything.
Now, again, you're kind ofgiving over control, which we
don't all love, but these areadvanced strategies, and these
are strategies that otherclinics aren't using.
So I just want to throw them outthere to you.
So, what do you do with allthis?
Well, you can build asustainable user-generated
(11:17):
content system.
You can create a rhythm.
You don't have to make itrandom.
Weekly, respond to the QA's thatpeople have posted.
Monthly, maybe make sure thatthere's a highlighted story or
photo.
Quarterly, maybe run funengagement campaigns.
You can assign this role tosomeone on your team, maybe a
front desk or an assistant.
(11:38):
And then remember to track yourmetrics.
New reviews per month, newphotos added, QA activity, map
views versus profile actions.
So let's recap.
Again, these are not your basicstrategies for your Google
Business Profile.
So if you want Google BusinessProfile basic strategies, please
(11:59):
go listen to one of thoseepisodes.
We've got those for you.
There's also other advancedGoogle Business Profile
strategies that you can find onthis podcast.
But this one is all aboutuser-generated content.
So let's recap.
The reviews, those lead tocredibility.
QA, those lead to trust in SEO.
(12:21):
Photos, those lead to authentic.
And post, those lead toconnection and engagement.
If you want to see real growthwith your Google Maps listing,
you can't just set it and forgetit.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Be sure to check out the episodewebpage slash blog post
(12:42):
associated with this, where youwill find tons of other amazing
resources to help you improveyour Google Business Profile
listing.
Most clinic owners think optimizing their Google
(00:03):
Maps presence stops afterclaiming their Google Business
Profile listing, adding a littlebit of information, and then
walking away.
But the truth is, there is amajor power play that I'm going
to share with you today, andit's all about how to leverage
user-generated content toincrease your Google Maps
(00:28):
ranking and make you stand outfrom your competition.
In this episode of the ClinicMarketing Podcast, we'll dive
into advanced tactics that gobeyond the basics, helping you
turn your patients into activecontributors who boost your
visibility, credibility, andengagement on Google Maps.
(00:50):
You'll learn how to leveragereviews, photos, and questions
from real patients, plus how tobuild a system that encourages
ongoing participation withoutfeeling forced or awkward.
Well, hello and welcome to thisepisode.
I'm your host, Darcy Sullivanfrom Propel Marketing and
(01:13):
Design.
Listen, if you are just gettingstarted with your Google Maps
listing, this episode might notbe for you.
You might want to check out someof our beginner episodes when it
comes to Google Business ProfileListings, which are what control
your Google Maps listing.
Because today I am sharing withyou some strategies that not
(01:37):
many people are using, which iswhy you've tuned in, I hope,
because you want to stand outfrom the crowd.
So today we are talking allabout how you can use
user-generated content.
That's content from youraudience.
Things like reviews, whicheverybody is familiar with,
reviews, but what they're notfamiliar with are using
(01:59):
user-generated photos,questions, and posts to boost
engagement in your rankings inGoogle Maps.
Google sees activity ascredibility.
The more engagement your profilehas, the more signals Google
gets that your business isactive and trustworthy.
(02:21):
User actions like postingphotos, leaving reviews, asking
questions are fresh content forGoogle.
And it's not just aboutkeywords, it's about
authenticity and recency.
Recency meaning it's new.
You're active on there.
(02:42):
It's not like the lastengagement was five to eight
months ago.
These signals, when positionedcorrectly, help improve your map
pack rankings, visibility, andAI-generated answers,
click-through rates from maps toyour website, and more.
(03:06):
So let's talk about how to getinto this and what actions you
should take.
So first up is reviews.
And I don't think it's asurprise to anybody that Google
reviews matter.
That's a kind of a no-brainer,right?
But we would like for you toturn your reviews into a
continuous growth engine.
(03:28):
So if you can, you want to makesure that you're not just asking
for reviews, but you're guidingpeople for reviews and the way
that they're leaving theirreviews.
So you're asking for detailslike what services did you come
in for?
How did it help you?
Example, instead of leave us areview, you might suggest tell
(03:50):
us what changed after your firstadjustment or session.
See how different that is?
Instead of just sending out thatgeneric message, did you have a
good experience?
If so, please leave a review.
Instead, again, try sayingsomething like, tell us what
changed for you after your firstappointment.
(04:14):
Next, you want to make sure thatyou respond to every review,
good or bad.
Working keywords naturally.
Show future patients that yourclinic cares.
And I've given this examplebefore, but this is a great use
of AI.
If you're gonna sit there andsay that you have five core
(04:35):
services, and you go to ChatGPTor Grok or whatever your AI
choice is, and you say, hey AI,provide me 20 responses for
people who leave reviews aboutservice A or service B or
service C.
And then you've got this likemassive document, this Google
(04:56):
Doc that's just sitting therethat any of your team members
can copy and paste from so thatyou're leaving responses that
are more detailed and look likeyour team cares more than just
saying, hey, thanks.
Thanks for the response.
Cheers to your good health.
It also helps work in somekeywords more naturally, which
is always good.
(05:17):
You can also feature reviews inposts or social media.
You can definitely go to Canvaand turn those quotes into
graphics.
You can create a reviewfollow-up system.
A lot of people do this, a lotof clinics do this.
If you haven't done this, youmight want to consider doing
(05:38):
this.
Having an automated text oremail after their appointment,
again, we suggest that thewording being a little bit more
directed towards theirexperience versus just leave us
a review.
Include a direct link to yourGoogle review.
You can use signage for the QRcodes.
Um, there was an episode whichwe'll link in the show notes
(06:00):
where we talked about makingsure that you're not
gatekeeping, that you're notjust sending people that say
that they would leave you apositive review to your Google
Business listing.
Instead, you're guiding everyonethere.
So that's one, right?
That's reviews.
That's that's a little bit morebasic, but let's dive into some
(06:20):
other stuff.
So one of my favorite, I don'twant to say favorite, one of the
most overlooked sections in theGoogle Business profile right
now is the QA section.
And with the QA section, you asa business, when you set it up,
you can ask a question and youcan answer a question.
But this is a great place toencourage patients to ask real
(06:43):
questions.
Questions like, do you offersame-day appointments?
Do you accept my insurance?
What's the difference betweenchiropractic and massage
therapy?
All of these are gonna varybased on what your clinic
offers.
But when somebody asks aquestion, you want to make sure
that you quickly review it andrespond to it.
(07:03):
Google indexes your answers sothey can show up in search
results.
And again, you can go ahead andhave those seed kickoff
questions that you're asking asthe business and answering, but
really we're focusing in thisepisode on talking about
user-generated, those thecontent that comes from your
users.
So another example of this isuser-generated photos.
(07:29):
User-generated photos do not goagainst the limited number of
photos that you're allowed tohave associated with your Google
Business Profile listing.
Now, keep in mind, all of thisis exactly relevant at the time
I'm recording it.
Goodness knows Google could makesome changes tomorrow, but here
are some things to consider.
So on the negative side of this,I'm gonna give the example of we
(07:53):
were talking to a chiropractorand they had somebody come in
and they were working on theiroverall office.
The person redid their floors.
The company that redid thefloors took tons of pictures and
posted it, tagging them, whichmeans that that chiropractic
company, those photos showed updirectly when you Googled that
(08:14):
company.
Well, pros and cons.
One in this example, it was acon.
And you know why?
Not that the service was a con,but the situation was negative
because of the fact that thephotos that the flooring company
had taken were horrible of theoverall clinic because there
were water bottles sitting out,there was dust places.
(08:36):
So the the chiropractic cliniccontacted them and said, listen,
I really appreciate, we reallyappreciate all the work you did.
We're happy to leave a review onyour listing, but please take
down this photo because it's thefirst thing that people see when
they Google our business, andit's not showcasing how
beautiful and improved the fullredesign of the interior looks.
(08:58):
It's just showcasing the floorswith some water bottles and
other stuff sitting out.
But you can encourage authenticphotos to be posted.
Maybe you are participating inclinic events.
This is a great time toencourage people to post
pictures or post before or aftershots with their permission,
(09:20):
again, depending on what type ofclinic you run and asking people
to tag your clinic as theyupload images.
Also, I love this idea, and thisis to make it natural.
And that is to do a photo wall,like have a branded area set up
in your office or when you areparticipating with community
(09:43):
events where it makes it easyfor people to take photos that
highlight your clinic, whetherit's your clinic's logos being
highlighted in it or what havenot.
And it makes them easy for themto post and tag your business,
not just on your Google Businessprofile, but all social media
posts.
And mention one reason we lovethis is that users' photos build
(10:07):
emotional trust because peopletrust what they see from other
real people posting.
So here's another one.
This is one that people justdidn't know that you can do.
But you can actually havesomebody outside your
organization post a Google Post.
Right now, when I'm includingthis, that can happen.
(10:29):
So within Google BusinessProfile, you have the option to
do Google Post.
And we have a really great umepisode where we dive into the
right way to use Google Postsand some strategies behind it.
But one that nobody is reallyusing is leveraging the fact
that users right now can createposts.
So they can share spotlights ofwhat's working for them.
(10:53):
They can answer real questions,they can do anything.
Now, again, you're kind ofgiving over control, which we
don't all love, but these areadvanced strategies, and these
are strategies that otherclinics aren't using.
So I just want to throw them outthere to you.
So, what do you do with allthis?
Well, you can build asustainable user-generated
(11:17):
content system.
You can create a rhythm.
You don't have to make itrandom.
Weekly, respond to the QA's thatpeople have posted.
Monthly, maybe make sure thatthere's a highlighted story or
photo.
Quarterly, maybe run funengagement campaigns.
You can assign this role tosomeone on your team, maybe a
front desk or an assistant.
(11:38):
And then remember to track yourmetrics.
New reviews per month, newphotos added, QA activity, map
views versus profile actions.
So let's recap.
Again, these are not your basicstrategies for your Google
Business Profile.
So if you want Google BusinessProfile basic strategies, please
(11:59):
go listen to one of thoseepisodes.
We've got those for you.
There's also other advancedGoogle Business Profile
strategies that you can find onthis podcast.
But this one is all aboutuser-generated content.
So let's recap.
The reviews, those lead tocredibility.
QA, those lead to trust in SEO.
(12:21):
Photos, those lead to authentic.
And post, those lead toconnection and engagement.
If you want to see real growthwith your Google Maps listing,
you can't just set it and forgetit.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Be sure to check out the episodewebpage slash blog post
(12:42):
associated with this, where youwill find tons of other amazing
resources to help you improveyour Google Business Profile
listing.
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