Latest / The Clinic Marketing Podcast | Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers / Google Rankings Still Matter, But Are You Measuring Them the Right Way?

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Google Rankings Still Matter, But Are You Measuring Them the Right Way? · The Clinic Marketing Podcast | Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers

• 0:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: Hey there, and welcome back to the Clinic Marketing Podcast.
• 0:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: I’m your host Darcy Sullivan from Propel Marketing and Design.
• 0:32
  Darcy Happy AI try: I want to talk about Google rankings today because there's something happening with search results that I think every clinic owner should understand.
• 0:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: And before we get into it, let me make one thing very clear.
• 0:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google rankings still matter.
• 0:45
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you move from page four of Google to page one for an important keyword phrase, that's a big deal.
• 0:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you're consistently outranking the clinics you're competing against, that's a big deal.
• 0:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: And if you've heard me talking recently about a chiropractor we worked with who moved up more than 30 positions for an important keyword phrase,"chiropractor in their city," I absolutely consider that a meaningful SEO win.
• 1:10
  Darcy Happy AI try: But here's where things get a little more complicated.
• 1:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: The ranking you see when you Google yourself isn't necessarily the ranking every potential patient sees.
• 1:19
  Darcy Happy AI try: And some recent data suggests those differences may be getting even bigger.
• 1:24
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google Search Results Are Getting More Variable We've known for a long time that Google doesn't necessarily show identical search results to every person.
• 1:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: Location matters.
• 1:34
  Darcy Happy AI try: The device you're searching from can matter.
• 1:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your search history and other factors can influence what appears.
• 1:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: And if you've ever looked at a Google Maps ranking grid, you've probably seen this in action.
• 1:45
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your clinic might rank extremely well when someone searches two blocks from your office, but someone searching five miles away could see a completely different group of clinics.
• 1:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's normal with local SEO.
• 1:58
  Darcy Happy AI try: What's interesting is that we're now seeing more variation in the traditional organic search results too.
• 2:04
  Darcy Happy AI try: Sterling Sky recently shared research looking at more than 8 million search results.
• 2:10
  Darcy Happy AI try: Their analysis found a significant increase in ranking volatility beginning around Google's May 2026 core update.
• 2:19
  Darcy Happy AI try: In other words, the same keyword search isn't necessarily producing the same nice, predictable list of results every time.
• 2:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: So what does that actually mean for your clinic?
• 2:27
  Darcy Happy AI try: Let's say you own a chiropractic clinic and you're trying to rank for"chiropractor in your city." Your ranking report might show you at number four.
• 2:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: You search from your office and see yourself at number two.
• 2:39
  Darcy Happy AI try: Someone else on your team searches from home and sees you at number five.
• 2:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: And maybe tomorrow you search again and get another result.
• 2:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: Which one is right?
• 2:47
  Darcy Happy AI try: Potentially all of them.
• 2:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: And that's where we have to make an important distinction.
• 2:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: Ranking Movement Matters.
• 2:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: But One Ranking Check Doesn't Always Tell the Whole Story.
• 2:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: This is probably the biggest takeaway I want you to get from this episode.
• 3:00
  Darcy Happy AI try: There's a huge difference between tracking meaningful ranking movement over time and looking at one search result and assuming that's what everyone sees.
• 3:09
  Darcy Happy AI try: Let's go back to that chiropractor who moved up more than 30 positions.
• 3:14
  Darcy Happy AI try: If we're tracking an important keyword and we see a clinic move from much farther down in the search results toward page one, that's meaningful.
• 3:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: We're looking at movement over time.
• 3:24
  Darcy Happy AI try: We're looking at a trend.
• 3:26
  Darcy Happy AI try: We're seeing evidence that Google's perception of that website and its relevance for that search is improving.
• 3:32
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's very different from saying:"I Googled myself this morning and I'm number three, so everyone must see me at number three." Or:"I was number three last week, I searched today and I'm number six.
• 3:44
  Darcy Happy AI try: Something must be wrong with my SEO." That's where clinic owners can drive themselves crazy.
• 3:49
  Darcy Happy AI try: One search is one data point.
• 3:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: What we're really looking for is the bigger pattern.
• 3:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: So Should You Still Track Keyword Rankings?
• 3:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: Yes.
• 3:58
  Darcy Happy AI try: Absolutely.
• 3:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: I still want to know whether a clinic is moving up or down for the keywords that matter.
• 4:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: I want to know whether we're making progress for"chiropractor in your city,""physical therapist in your city,""acupuncturist near me," or whatever searches align with that particular clinic.
• 4:15
  Darcy Happy AI try: I also want to look at specific services and conditions.
• 4:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you've created a strong page about shockwave therapy, for example, are you gaining visibility for searches related to shockwave therapy?
• 4:26
  Darcy Happy AI try: If sports chiropractic is an important part of your practice, are you becoming more visible for those searches?
• 4:32
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you want more patients with sciatica, are the pages you've built around sciatica starting to gain traction?
• 4:39
  Darcy Happy AI try: Rankings can help us answer those questions.
• 4:41
  Darcy Happy AI try: But they're one piece of the SEO puzzle.
• 4:44
  Darcy Happy AI try: I want you to look at Visibility, Not Just One Position.
• 4:47
  Darcy Happy AI try: Instead of only asking:"What position do I rank?" I want you to start asking:"Is my clinic becoming more visible for the searches that matter?" Because there's a difference.
• 4:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe you used to show up for 20 relevant searches and now you're showing up for 75.
• 5:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe several important pages on your website are starting to move up.
• 5:05
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe you're appearing in more areas on Google Maps.
• 5:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe your Google Search Console data shows that impressions are increasing, which means your website is being shown to more searchers.
• 5:16
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe organic traffic is increasing.
• 5:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: Those things collectively give us a much better picture of what's happening with your SEO than one keyword ranking does.
• 5:26
  Darcy Happy AI try: And then we need to take it one step further.
• 5:28
  Darcy Happy AI try: Is That Visibility Turning Into Patients?
• 5:31
  Darcy Happy AI try: Ultimately, rankings aren't the end goal.
• 5:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: Neither is website traffic.
• 5:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: The goal is getting the right people to find your clinic and take the next step.
• 5:38
  Darcy Happy AI try: So alongside rankings, I want to look at things like: Are more people finding the website through Google?
• 5:45
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are people clicking through from the search results?
• 5:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are people finding and interacting with your Google Business Profile?
• 5:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are they calling?
• 5:52
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are they submitting forms?
• 5:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are they requesting appointments?
• 5:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are new patients telling you they found you through Google?
• 5:58
  Darcy Happy AI try: Because you could technically have improving rankings without those rankings producing much business.
• 6:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: For example, if you're moving up for searches that nobody in your market is actually using, that's not particularly helpful.
• 6:10
  Darcy Happy AI try: On the other hand, if your overall visibility is increasing for the right searches and you're also seeing more traffic, calls and appointments, that's a much stronger indication that your SEO strategy is working.
• 6:24
  Darcy Happy AI try: And Search Is Getting Bigger Than Google Rankings There's one more reason I think this shift in thinking is important.
• 6:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your potential patients aren't necessarily following one path to find you anymore.
• 6:34
  Darcy Happy AI try: They might search Google.
• 6:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: They might go directly to Google Maps.
• 6:38
  Darcy Happy AI try: They might encounter an AI-powered result within Google.
• 6:41
  Darcy Happy AI try: Or they might go to ChatGPT, Gemini, or another AI tool and ask something like:"Who's the best sports chiropractor near me?" Or:"Where should I go for shockwave therapy in my area?" That's why I've been talking so much about visibility across both traditional search and AI-powered search.
• 6:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: We're not abandoning Google rankings.
• 7:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: Far from it.
• 7:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: A lot of the foundational SEO work that helps Google understand your clinic can also help other search and AI systems understand who you are, what you do, where you're located, and why you might be relevant to a particular search.
• 7:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: But it does mean that our definition of SEO success needs to be bigger than:"I'm number three for this one keyword." So Here's What I'd Pay Attention To If you're trying to figure out whether your clinic's SEO is actually improving, I would look at several things together.
• 7:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: First, ranking trends.
• 7:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are important keywords generally moving in the right direction over time?
• 7:39
  Darcy Happy AI try: Second, overall search visibility.
• 7:41
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are you appearing for more of the searches related to your services, conditions and location?
• 7:47
  Darcy Happy AI try: Third, Google Analytics and Google Search Console data.
• 7:50
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are impressions and clicks growing?
• 7:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are more pages starting to get discovered?
• 7:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: Fourth, Google Business Profile and Maps visibility.
• 7:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are people finding you locally and taking action?
• 8:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: Fifth, traffic and conversions.
• 8:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are those searches turning into website visitors, calls, appointment requests and ultimately patients?
• 8:09
  Darcy Happy AI try: And I would look at all of this as a trend.
• 8:11
  Darcy Happy AI try: Not what happened Monday compared with Tuesday.
• 8:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: Look at what has happened over several weeks or several months.
• 8:17
  Darcy Happy AI try: Please Don't Let One Search Send You Into a Panic.
• 8:19
  Darcy Happy AI try: So here's what I want you to remember the next time you Google your clinic.
• 8:23
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you see yourself at number one for an important keyword, celebrate it.
• 8:28
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's great.
• 8:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you've moved up 10, 20 or 30 positions for an important search term, celebrate that too.
• 8:34
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's meaningful progress.
• 8:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: But don't assume the exact position you're seeing at that moment is what every person in your market is seeing.
• 8:42
  Darcy Happy AI try: And if you search tomorrow and you're suddenly a few positions lower, don't immediately assume your SEO is falling apart.
• 8:49
  Darcy Happy AI try: Zoom out.
• 8:50
  Darcy Happy AI try: Look at the trend.
• 8:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are your rankings generally improving?
• 8:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are you showing up for more relevant searches?
• 8:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: Is your visibility increasing?
• 8:58
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are more people reaching your website?
• 9:00
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are you getting more calls, leads and patients?
• 9:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's how we start getting a much more accurate picture of whether your SEO is actually working.
• 9:07
  Darcy Happy AI try: Because rankings still matter.
• 9:09
  Darcy Happy AI try: We just need to make sure we're measuring them in the right context.
• 9:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: Thanks for joining me for today's episode.