For independent practices
Getting found, and getting chosen
Plain-English marketing notes for independent practices.
- Sources
- Every number here names where it came from and the date it was read.
- Readers
- Independent practice owners. Veterinary, dental, chiropractic, optometry.
- Author
- Written by Tri Vu. My own views, not my employer's.
Everything I have written
18 posts, newest first
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I Asked Google What a Review Is Worth. It Cited Reddit.
Somebody typed "how much are Google reviews worth for your marketing" into Google and sent me the answer. Google's AI Overview gave a confident, specific, well formatted reply, including a price list for what one review is worth in dollars.
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The Service Google Will Not Let You Advertise
If your practice sells PRP or a stem cell procedure, Google's advertising policy names that treatment and says you cannot promote it. This is not a bidding problem or a landing page problem. It is a written rule, published and findable, and it is also very easy to go years without meeting it.
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If You Redesign, Do You Lose Your SEO?
Short answer: a new look costs you nothing. Changing your addresses without mapping them costs you a great deal. Those are two different events and almost nobody separates them, which is why this question makes owners freeze for a year.
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What Is a SERP, and Why Should You Care?
You go to Google and type something like "dentist near me". Google shows you a page full of results. That page is called a SERP. Search Engine Results Page. That is it.
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The Question They Google Before They Call You
A patient sits on the couch at nine at night and types "how much does Invisalign cost" into their phone. They are not shopping for you yet. They are deciding whether this is a thing that happens to people like them.
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Do Blogs or Backlinks Automatically Improve Rankings?
No, and no. Neither one does anything automatically, and the reasons they fail are completely different, which is why bundling them into one answer never helps anybody.
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The Part of Your Practice That Does Not Retire
A practice manager told me this week that her website was fine. She was right, and I did not argue. That is not the interesting part.
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Their AI Posts Got One Like. The Fix Was Not Firing the AI.
One of our clients stopped using AI written social posts three months ago. Engagement went from about one like per post to fifty five. I went looking for research that would explain it, and the research says the effect should have been tiny.
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What 1,000 Clicks Is Actually Worth to an Invisalign Practice
Somebody sells you traffic. More people will find you, more people will call, more cases will start. Nobody ever does the arithmetic out loud, because the arithmetic is unflattering and the last step is the one nobody is selling.
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What the Google Map Pack Is Actually Worth
Somebody wakes up, their dog will not eat, and they search "vet near me". A map appears with three practices on it. That moment is real and it matters.
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The 7-38-55 Rule Does Not Say What You Think
You have seen the chart. A circle split three ways, usually in a sales deck or a communication training slide. Words 7 percent. Tone 38 percent. Body language 55 percent. Underneath it, some version of the line "people decide whether they like you in this ratio."
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Who Is Actually Using AI Instead of Google
Everyone has an opinion about whether AI is replacing Google. Almost nobody quotes a number that came from a real survey. Here is the age data, where it comes from, and the part that actually changes what you should do.
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ChatGPT Ads Is Here. Can You Actually Buy One?
ChatGPT started showing ads in February. If you run a practice, the useful question is not whether this is a big deal. It is whether you can actually buy one. For most of you, right now, the answer is no.
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What Video Actually Does for a Practice
Nobody choosing a vet, a dentist or a chiropractor can judge how good you are. They cannot evaluate your clinical work before the appointment, and most of them cannot evaluate it afterwards either. So they judge something else. Video is the cheapest way to control what that something else is.
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Which Google Ranking Factors Actually Apply to You
There is a widely shared list of what Google weighs. Most of it describes a fight you are not in. Here is the list, and the much shorter one that decides whether somebody two miles away ever finds you.
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What Ranking Number One Is Actually Worth
Everybody wants to be on page one. Almost nobody knows what each position actually pays. Here is the scoreboard, and where the real money sits for a local practice.
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Why Google and Yelp Reviews Matter for Your Practice
Most practices treat reviews like a nice-to-have. They are the first thing a prospective client sees, and one of the biggest levers you have on where you rank.
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Patient-Centric Marketing Is Not a Slogan. I Measured 11 Practice Websites.
Most practice websites are written about the practice. The patient is a guest in somebody else's story.
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