Top 110 Business Directories for Doctors
Can all doctors use citation sites?
What is a citation and what does it do for local SEO?
A citation is a reference within an online directory connected to an established business. These listings include important information about your business—such as your phone number, address, email, website, and other crucial information. It may also include photos or other helpful graphics.Â
Medical practitioners can use these citations to their advantage by carefully crafting them to benefit local SEO. This will help nearby patients find your business when they’re seeking medical care and help motivate them to choose your office for their necessary services.
What are the benefits of citation sites for doctors?
Primarily, online citations are designed to boost your local SEO with search engines, but there are other benefits as well. For example, the more often your practice shows up on search results, the more often potential patients will see it. That enhanced online presence will enhance your repute with these individuals, since the more often people see references to a service provider, especially if people they know also use them, the more likely they will view that service provider as legitimate and reliable.
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Search engines do this too; the more often they view consistent information about your business across the web, the more likely they will consider your practice to be a legitimate resource. This means that they will be more likely to recommend your practice to online searchers.Â
What is the purpose of business directories for doctors?
No matter what type of practice you operate, a citation can increase the chances of your business being discovered more often—and more quickly—than your competitors. The more often this happens, the more you will fuel the self-perpetuating cycle of online referral that will get your practice noticed. For example, when your practice is discovered on a local directory, search engines take note of it. The more often this happens, the more likely that these same search engines will feature you as a popular search engine. When it comes to these citations, the ultimate goal is for your practice to achieve a spot in the “top results” of a relevant search.
Best 110 Doctors Directory Submission Sites for Local SEO
How do you create high-quality citations for directory submission sites for doctors?
No matter how many citations you create, it is important for you to maintain certain key qualities throughout all of them. These aspects will help your practice appear more legitimate to search engines and patients alike.Â
- Consistency. All of the information that you include in your citations should match. This means that you should not have one email or site address on one citation, and a different one on another. Not only would this confuse search engines, but it may also incite patient distrust. If you're looking to increase traffic to your site, as well as general online prominence, consistency is key.
- Quality. Citations may seem simple, but that doesn't mean that you should take them lightly. Any citation you create or business directory you choose should always be relevant to your business. Listing your practice on directories that don't cater to medical practices, or target patients outside your service area, can confuse search engine algorithms and mislead the public.
- Quantity. Don't be misled by the title of this section; quality is certainly more important than quantity. While there are going to be a variety of options for you to list your business, you don't have to post in every directory. Instead, focus on sites that have higher authority with searchers. You can get an indication of their authority by viewing their site traffic stats.
- Priority. Just like you do in your practice, keep patients in mind when you write your citations. Think about what they're looking for, what they need to know to make a decision, and what might deter them. Remember: most patients search multiple online directories before they choose a practitioner, which is why it's best to keep your content consistent and high quality throughout all of your listings.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I create a citation for my medical practice?
You can create a citation for your medical practice yourself, by paying for a service, or by hiring a service provider. Brightlocal has resources to help you build your own citations, but they also offer a professional citation service for about $2 per citation. Alternatively, you could hire an individual to create the citation; freelance marketplaces such as Fiverr or Upwork are good places to start.
2. How much does it cost to list my medical practice on online directories?
Business directories for medical professionals usually don’t charge you to list your medical practice, so the main cost will be in creating the citation—at least $0 to $5. Making your own citations can cost as little as $0. A service, such as Brightlocal, costs about $2 each. Alternatively, hiring a freelance service provider usually costs a minimum of $5 per citation.Â
3. What are the different kinds of business citations?
There are two main kinds of business citations: structured and unstructured. Structured citations are usually organized into subcategories like global, national, local, and industry-specific—and are used to list your business in specific directories. Unstructured citations can usually be used anywhere, since they don’t focus on specific industries.
4. What is local citation management for medical practices?
Local citation management is all about choosing citation sites that are most likely to be resourced by potential patients. The best sites you can choose will essentially recommend your business to locals. Directories with higher traffic (aka. higher authority) are going to be more likely to be used by your patient pool, so be sure to prioritize those.
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