As professional veterinary marketers, practice owners often come to us with questions about what they can do to supplement our marketing efforts. Taking an active role in your marketing is always a good idea, but it can be difficult to figure out how to start. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve gotten about veterinary marketing this May to help you find your marketing footing:

How Does Google Calculate My Review Average?

When it comes to digital marketing, it is essential for potential clients to be able to find your website. Google compiles a variety of different factors to determine your rankability on its search engine results pages. One of these factors is your Google review average. 

Google review scores, also known as Google Ratings, are based on user reviews and ratings submitted on Google Maps and Google Business Profile (né Google My Business). These scores help potential customers quickly understand the quality and reputation of a business. Several factors contribute to a business’s Google review score:

• User ratings: Users can rate businesses on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. These individual ratings are averaged to calculate the overall score for a business.
• Number of reviews: The total number of reviews a business has received on Google also plays a role in its review score. A higher number of reviews generally indicates a more established and well-known business.
• Review content: The text of the reviews can impact how users perceive a business. Positive and detailed reviews can help reinforce a high rating, while negative reviews can undermine it.
• Review recency: More recent reviews may carry more weight in the overall score, as they provide a better indication of a business’ current performance and reputation.
• Reviewer reputation: Some users have more influence on Google Maps and Google Business Profile due to their activity and engagement on the platform. Reviews from these “Local Guides” or users with a higher level of contributions might be more impactful on a business’ score.

How Often Do I Need to Blog?

Another factor Google likes is consistent new content on websites. Blogging is an effective way to add new content to keep your site fresh. Clients often ask us how often they need to blog, and the answer is: it depends. When it comes to content, the more the better. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the content needs to be well written and informative. If you don’t have the time to devote to penning multiple blogs per month, one is enough (or we can write them for you!). When trying to decide how many blogs to produce in a month, keep in mind:

• Unique topics: Finding unique topics that provide more information about a topic than your competitors is more important than writing as many blogs as possible.
• Goals: If you want to drastically increase your website traffic, you should write more blogs per month (aim for four). If you are more focused on setting yourself up as an industry expert, you should be posting at least one blog per month.
• SEO: If you are going to go through the effort of writing blogs, you want to be sure they help your website performance. Incorporating geo tags and keywords helps you get the most out of each blog you post. If you don’t have time to incorporate these into multiple blogs, it might be better to stick to one or two a month.

How Often (and What) Should I Post on Social Media?

Some veterinary practices post every day, and some post three times per week. Your social media strategy should be to determine what your audience engages with most on which days and times. Some practices won’t see the same engagement posting every day that a practice will see posting just a few times per week. Data collection can help you find the sweet spot for how often to post.

As far as content to post, we recommend a mixture of the following:

• Pictures of client’s pets
• Pictures of staff caring for pets
• Pet care tips
• Reminders of services—especially when its seasonally relevant  like flea/tick preventives in spring and summer
• Pet holidays
• Hour changes/closure for inclement weather
• Educational articles or infographics (especially those with your branding)

How Much Should I Spend on Ads?

Determining your ad spend budget is one of the most important factors of digital advertising. If you set the budget too low, you might be missing out on good leads. If you set it too high before you have a good understanding of your target audience, however, you could be wasting money. 

The budget required for ads may fluctuate depending on goals, time of year, and location. A Google ad campaign focused on generating calls and website form submissions should start at a minimum of $150/month or $5/day. When determining your budget, consider your practice’s average client transaction. If just one click/call converts into a new client, you may have already paid for your campaign. Smaller budgets can then be increased according to how many new clients/appointments you can handle. 

How Can I Collect Appointment Requests on My Website?

Streamlining as much as possible on your website will make it easy for potential clients to contact you. One of the best additions you can make to your website is to give people the ability to request an appointment right from your site. You can utilize fillable forms or third-party booking software to make this change. The forms can then be tracked using software like Google Analytics to determine where the user was acquired from, which helps you continuously refine your marketing strategy. 

Beyond Indigo Pets has decades of experience with digital veterinary marketing, and we are here to help you get tails through your door. Fill out our form or call (877) 244-9322 today to find out how we can help you improve your digital marketing.