As we’ve written before, an important factor in promoting your practice online is to know where the conversation is happening. Every day conversations shift from platform to platform depending on public preference and recent developments in services. Social media battles are being fought for the public interest and it’s important to know where to engage – and right now that is Google+.
Launched in beta June 2011 and released to the public that September, Google+ has quickly become the fastest growing network ever. While it hasn’t seen the activity and numbers of Facebook and Twitter, that is all about to change.
Recently, all registered users of Gmail, YouTube and other Google-owned services automatically acquired a Google+ account. This means we can expect a big jump in Google+ activity and in turn, potential for your practice.
But a growing population isn’t the only benefit your practice will receive when joining Google+. Google is still the king of search and is built with more integration in mind than Facebook or Twitter, boosting your search results and enabling current and potential patients to find your practice more easily. It is also equipped with Google+ Local to further help your business be found in search, maps and mobile.
Other more recent developments include more networking potential. “Communities” have been created where users can share useful information about certain topics (i.e., healthcare, dental technology, etc.). In an effort to build a community for dental professionals, we at Patterson have created the online Dental Study Club as a space for discussion and networking. Here we fully encourage sharing tips and ideas so we can learn from each other and improve upon the patient experience and practice lifestyle.
Now more than ever is the time to consider adding or increasing your presence on Google+. With great change comes great possibilities, and we hope you will take advantage of this new opportunity by joining us during this exciting change. Please don’t hesitate to post questions under the comments below. And remember, be sure to add Patterson Dental to your circles and join the Dental Study Club online community!
How can I do that?
Hi Polina! Once you’ve created a Google+ account simply click on the last two links of the blog post and it will direct you to our pages. From there hover your mouse over “Add to circles” to add Patterson Dental to one of your circles. To join our Dental Study Club simply click that link and then click the link, “Join Community.” Both links are to the right of the profile name. If you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to post them. We look forward to seeing you on Google+!