Local Listing Question for Vet Office

[JohnWeb12]

We have done the off-page directory listings work for a veterinary office (submitting to the main data-aggregators, as well as sites such as CitySearch/Manta/Yelp) & now want to supplement those with submissions for each individual doctor. There are 8 doctors at their practice. The plan was to submit them to only 3 sites - the main data-aggregators of LocalEze, ExpressUpdateUSA & Factual.

They only have one phone number (their main number) to use for listings. So can we submit the doctors all with the same number? Or is that a total waste of time b/c listings will end up being duplicated/merged down the road? What do you recommend that we do?

[Ryan-Bradley]

Getting all of the listings correct for the practice should always be first before you get into individual doctors. I personally would hold off on submitting a listing for each doctor except for those that are specific to doctors like healthgrades.com, ratemds.com and then Google Plus Local. Google prefers a practice to have one main practice Google Plus Local profile for the whole practice, then have an individual Google Plus Local for each doctor in the practice.

Here's an example of a practice Google Plus Local page:
https://plus.google.com/+ChoiceChiropracticWellnessCenterBoulder
And here is one for the doctor specifically (this is the type of profile that is the equivelant to the practice profile, but for each doctor): https://plus.google.com/100970026051930711588
Also, those two are different than the regular personal profile, like the one used for authorship:
https://plus.google.com/+JonathanSchnelle

[WGW]

Great stuff there Ryan. I've been reading a lot about how to deal with separating offices and individual practices on G+ in industries such as Dentists, Lawyers, and Real Estate. You're advice looks excellent. For the individual dentist that you posted, would you still recommend that he verify his page some way? It would probably also be beneficial for him to get a custom URL when he's able to.

Here are some additional links about dealing with local listings such as these:

http://searchengineland.com/the-most-common-problems-with-local-business-listings-151247

http://marketing-blog.catalystemarketing.com/google-places-duplicates-doctor-dentist-lawyer.html

[MiriamEllis]

Hi JohnWeb12,

You've received some good advice on this thread. In a situation like this with eight doctors with a single phone number, there is a strong possibility of creating NAP confusion and the thread John Scheidell has linked to regarding doctor duplicates is something both you and the client should read before taking a step in this direction.

[Ryan-Bradley]

Thanks John. Yes, I would definitely verify the individual doctors page so they can get a custom url like you say.