A comment we often hear at Smart Girl when talking about digital marketing for senior living is, “I’m tired of paying for third-party referrals, but that is where most of our traffic comes from.”
Well, friends, want to know the reason your traffic is coming from those expensive third-party referral companies? They are spending big bucks to dominate the search results page with their content, paid ads, and organic strategies.
When families go to search for help, support, or information about senior living, these referral websites are always among the search results at top of the page.
However, digital strategies like content, paid ads, and organic SEO, can take time and money. Depending on your community’s occupancy goals, you might be looking for quicker results.
Compete (& Win) in Local Search Results
Over 85% of Baby Boomers are active online. Google maintains over 90% of the market share for search engines. This means that families are most likely starting their search for senior living options on Google.
According to Google, 46% of searches have a ‘local intent’ – meaning someone is looking for a local solution.
In senior living, the majority of the searches for communities have to do with location. These local searches are when you want your community to show up in the Google 3-Pack and local search results.
So, you need to be smart about how you are showing up for these results.
Your Community’s Google My Business Page
If you want to compete locally on Page 1 of Google, optimizing your Google My Business listing can be a quick way to show up for more local searches.
- Google My Business pages are your local business profile for Google Maps and local search results. Make sure your community information and photos are up to date.
- Even according to Google’s help document, Google My Business is the single most important signal to Google that you should rank for local searches about senior living.
- Reviews on Google can appear on the Map listings and in your paid Google Ads.
- Google Promotions are another way to keep your profile fresh and help your profile show up for those local searches.
Keeping your Google My Business listing up-to-date, accurate, and fresh with new content will help your community show up for more of those local searches.
Google reviews are one of the best ways to consistently tell Google that your listing is current, relevant, and well-liked by their searchers.
Plus, the more reviews you have and the higher your ratings will impact the social proof that families are looking for when they want to validate their decision of senior living.
Want to get started with increasing Google Reviews for your senior living community?
Download our Free Senior Living Executive Guide: 7 Smart Steps to Double Your Google Reviews in 7 Days.
