12 Tips About Google SERP Changes and Your Senior Care Marketing = Crazytown.

Originally Published Here: https://www.asnmarketingplan.com/12-tips-google-serp-senior-care-marketing

First of all, Valerie, super nerd, what’s a SERP?

Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) are the pages displayed by search engines in response to a query by a user. The main component of the SERP is the listing of results that are returned by the search engine in response to a keyword query, although the pages may also contain other results such as advertisements.

Google is the most frustrating digital animal on the planet, and likely the hardest for a home care agency owner or assisted living facility owner or marketer to understand.

Unfortunately, it also dominates search. Period.

Can your senior care marketing strategy live without Google? Will your business survive? Your answer should always be YES.

We have been riding the internet marketing train since 2008, and in that time, we have seen sweeping changes in both Google and Facebook, on top of dozens of new platforms that anyone can take advantage of for online marketing.

My senior care friends, your demographic is on Facebook and Google.

Not Snapchat, not Instagram, not Twitter, not Tiktok, not anything else that has come around in the last 5 years.

You do not need to spend money on any other platforms. You will not see a return at all. Promise. No matter what that local SEO guru tells you, Facebook and Google are your go-to platforms for the foreseeable future.

“Never put all of your eggs in one basket.” AND “Don’t build your business on rented land.”

I don’t know who to credit for these quotes, but they are absolutely true.

• Never rely on one platform or one account or one WAY to market your business.
• WE (fellow business owners) do not own Facebook or Google. WE BORROW from them. These two platforms are “rented land” for us. They can delete YOU or your business at any time, for any reason, no questions asked, no answers given.
• Build your own website, your own content, your own STUFF that no one can take away from you.

Right now Google is in the middle of some of the strangest algorithm changes that us “web nerds” have ever noted. It’s a wild ride from day to day.

Today you are #1, tomorrow #17.

It’s not something that someone DID or DID NOT do for you, it’s an algorithm change.

The best advice for anyone seeing changes in their rankings for certain keyword phrases is: DON’T PANIC.

Keep doing the right thing.

What is the “right thing”?

• Unique educational content posted to your blog/website.
• Senior Care Marketing also= Company news, people news, celebrations, posted to your blog/website.
• Use Facebook to reach out to your local community!
• Keep doing that in-person networking. Be everywhere, all the time.
• Make sure that you have control of your Google My Business (GMB) listing.
• Make sure your GMB is optimized, 100% filled in and added to “almost” daily.
• Make sure your address on your website and on other directories matches 100%.
• Make sure the home page of your website is search engine optimized for the keyword phrases you desire the most.
• A website that is not old and outdated or built on Wix or similar platforms…. (come on people, sorry, but true)

Paying to Play- Do It With Caution

Should you pay for Google Ads or Facebook Ads?

I would say yes, in moderation.

What is moderation: $300 per month is a minimum, $1200 a month is a max.

I would also say- be careful.

Google Ads has notoriously been a HUGE waste of money for Senior Care Businesses. Why? Job seekers. The job seeker problem has existed for many years, and still does.

Why is this a problem?

Job seekers will click on your Google Ads, wasting your money. You could put banners and flashing lights on an ad that says NOT FOR JOB SEEKERS and they will STILL click on your ads. Either they can’t read or don’t care, but either way, I’m not hiring someone who can’t follow directions. NADA.

The Good News About Google Ads

The good news is that we now have campaigns that can do a better job of weeding out “job seekers”. Actually, GOOGLE gives us more options. Right now we have 2000 keyword phrases and 70+ NEGATIVE keyword phrases, plus demographic data that helps a lot.

What About Facebook?

Facebook is viable, but everyone must understand that it doesn’t cure lead to close time. No platform and no amount of money will ever cure (ie shorten) lead to close time in senior care marketing.

• I recommend some moderate level spending on Facebook to increase your “LIKES” on your page (FANS).
• I recommend running some ads that turn into leads.
• I recommend thoughtfully ditching the expensive recruiting platforms and using Facebook instead. (correctly)

Why Does it Take So Long To Close a Senior Care Lead?

Think about your potential client- they aren’t asking you to fix a leaky pipe. They are asking you to take care of a loved-one for a lot of $$. They are handing you a huge amount of trust. They are emotionally overwhelmed, physically drained, and sometimes completely out-to-lunch until a crisis occurs. It’s no wonder that it takes 6 months for a lead to close sometimes.

Friends, It’s a Long-Haul. But Even Longer if You Don’t Invest Wisely

Doing nothing online is a losing proposition.

Doing something, with the help of a team that has survived “senior care marketing and the internet” MAYBE longer than you have been in business, is a winning formula.

Stay the Course. Add, Don’t Subtract

If you want to dominate your local area online, the best way to do that is to build your empire with content and mix in a little paid advertising.

Relying ONLY on paid ads is a huge mistake. Once you turn them off, you are left with ZERO.

Content stays forever.

Summary

If you need the phone to ring MORE, there are tons of ways to accomplish this. Sometimes it requires a bit of testing and patience to find the right formula.

You are not the only organization who might be wondering where your rank went, or where your listing went. It happens for various reasons all the time. Supplement your senior care marketing when you need to, in moderation. Your rank will come back if you do the right thing.

Promise! We have watched this happen dozens of times over the years.

Stay tuned, because 6-months from now, by August of 2020, things will change again! Guaranteed.

Stop marinating on Google and get busy on Facebook. If Facebook has a spaz, do a little supplemental advertising on Google. Roll with the changes, but KEEP ON ROLLING!

We can help! We have a boat-load of programs designed to overcome hurdles and fix rankings. Talk to us by filling out our form.