What is a Digital GPA, and What Does It Mean for Your Practice?

A digital GPA (grade point average) is a grade that reflects your veterinary practice’s digital marketing efforts on Google. It’s a crucial tool that gives you detailed insight into your marketing techniques and overall performance.

Man assessing results

What Factors are Used to Calculate a Practice’s Digital GPA?

The digital GPA grades your digital presence and marketing efforts in 6 specific categories. These categories represent significant factors in determining your practice’s likelihood of maximizing Google as a revenue stream. The grades for these categories are then averaged out to give you your cumulative GPA.

The factors used to help calculate your digital GPA are:

Google Reviews

We score your Google rating, and the number of Google reviews you have against your competitors to determine your Google Reviews grade.

Online Directories

In this category, we score the accuracy and consistency of your practice’s name, address, and phone number across 20 different online directories. Consistency and accuracy are critical because they show you are a legitimate business in your area. Incorrect or inconsistent information in any directory will hurt your score.

Google My Business

Google My Business (GMB) is Google’s own directory system for businesses. We score the strength of your ranking for the search term “veterinarian” in your local market against competing veterinary practices. Your GMB profile can be used to provide information to help you rank in your local pack.

Local Rankings

We also need to determine how well your practice website ranks in Google for 5 specific search terms in your local market. These rankings indicate how well your website is ranking in the local pack, and also in organic listings for popular search terms and services.

On-Page SEO

For your on-page SEO grade, we score the technical makeup of your website and measure how easily Google can read through your website.

Copywriting

Your copywriting grade is based on original content that is organized into the proper page hierarchy which Google evaluates for rankings. The presence of any duplicate content on your website will give you a score of 0, because duplicate content has no SEO value.

So, why do you need to know your digital GPA? What can you do with the information it provides?

Veterinarian with good reviews

Why It’s Important to Know Your Digital GPA

If you’re doing any digital marketing for your veterinary practice, you’ll naturally want (and need) to know how well your website is performing across the board, and which areas of your marketing might need more attention and improvement. Marketing your practice successfully is an ongoing process, one that may occasionally include trial and error. But you will also learn a lot about what’s working, what isn’t, and what you can do to improve your efforts going forward. With InTouch, you can expect routine check-ins and adjustments with our marketing team to help you maintain strong Google rankings.

There is no such thing as one-and-done marketing, where you adopt a static strategy and assume it will continue to deliver well into the future. By knowing and understanding your digital GPA, you’re better equipped to make smart, agile marketing decisions that keep your veterinary practice several rungs above your competitors. The knowledge you gain from your digital GPA can empower your practice’s long-term success and growth and keep you competitive.

What You Can Do with the Knowledge Gained from Your Digital GPA

You can use the information you get from your digital GPA to sharpen your marketing prowess and strengthen any weak spots. For example, does your practice currently only have 10 Google Reviews? You should put more effort into growing the number of reviews you have and making sure you are getting more positive reviews. Is your on-site SEO lacking? Time to put more focus into improving your SEO. When you can see which areas of your marketing might be holding your business back, you can take steps to improve them and gain more ground in your local market.

Vet-looking-at-computer

Get InTouch and Get Your Digital GPA

Your digital GPA can empower you and your team to make better marketing decisions and enjoy greater success from using Google as a revenue stream. It can also dispel any uncertainties you have about how your digital marketing is performing currently, and how it can perform in the future with some key adjustments.

At InTouch, we can show you how to use Google to your advantage—not the other way around.

Get the digital marketing results you’re striving for, and get InTouch by calling (800) 493-9003.