By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Is no secret I like taking photographs, and when I don’t have my semi professional hobby camera equipment, I’ll often times take photographs with my iPhone. I tend to be in my chiropractic office a lot (like many chiropractors are) and I’ve likely taken thousands of photographs of all sorts of different things throughout the practice. Everything from magazine cover labels to x-rays of my own wrists, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say I take about 10 new photographs each day.

I’ve talked a ton about location, and I’ve mentioned at several chiropractic conferences (and search engine conferences) that location data (aka exif data) shows up on lots of photographs, especially those taken with mobile phones. I’ve been noticing though that depending on which phone I’m using, and where I’m standing when taking photos in my office, I’m getting different listings of cities in and around Los Angeles.

For example, the screen shot to the left shows map location data for a photo taken outside the front door of my office, that was then uploaded to my flickr profile page. The photo was taken w/my Apple iPhone 3GS.

Notice the city (maybe they don’t consider it a city) is Del Rey, Culver City, CA in the US. It’s a bit odd since Culver City is technically about a 1/2 mile up the road (closer to Centinela Blvd) from my location.

Del Rey would be more accurate but few people would likely be able to locate Del Rey, CA on a map. Marina del Rey yes, but not plain Del Rey. In my opinion it would be correct to call the area Los Angeles, since that is the city, but I think the maps are attempting to narrow down and fine tune on results. Los Angeles is huge and quite a generalization when doing location pinpointing.

I noticed similar results when in Las Vegas this weekend, so it’s not just what I’m finding at my office. Think it’s time to get out both my mobile phones, and my WiFi camera card, and see if different locations get tagged for photos taken from the same position and location.

Try this with your phone. Take a photo at your chiropractic office, and upload it online (or email it to me). Let’s see if the city listed in the exif data is the city your office is commonly known as. I’m gonna test this as well while traveling next week.

Gives me another reason to visit chiropractors while on the road.

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

There is a lot of people living in the Coachella Valley Palm Desert area of Southern California, and there’s an amazing amount of medical services provided. I was doing some on-site research last weekend in the Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert area and I was blown away by how many dental offices, medical offices, orthopedic facilities, and even MRI diagnostic centers that were in the region. You’d think the place would be rife with chiropractic offices but by the looks of what I’ve been finding out, opportunities for practicing chiropractic in the Palm Desert, Palm Springs, and/or Rancho Mirage areas are abundant.

It’s the desert, no doubt about that, and there is searing heat in the summer months. Still, just like in regions of Phoenix Arizona, more and more people are moving to the desert and choosing to live there year-round. While plenty of Canadians and other snowbirds visit the area seasonally, there’s many more making permanent residence in cities like Rancho Mirage or Cathedral City.

While the Palm Desert area has been long known for a place where senior citizens can retire and enjoy the good life on the golf course, the average age of new residents is getting younger each year. Add to that and almost nonstop construction cycle of new neighborhoods, golf resorts, casinos, shopping centers and commercial buildings.

Commercial Real Estate for Lease – Rancho Mirage California

I love some of the styles used for building in the Palm Desert area. This photo is of a building for lease on Monterey Drive in Rancho Mirage. It’s near a local Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart, and other major retail outlets. It’s more than likely priced too high for the typical chiropractic practice and is more situated as a retail rental space but it is only one example of dozens of commercial spaces I found for lease, rent, or ownership in the Palm Desert/Coachella Valley area.

Putting aside chiropractic philosophy for a moment, I would imagine chiropractors focusing on personal injury (like auto accidents, motor vehicle collisions, etc.), could stay busy year-round practicing in the Palm Desert area. There’s also likely plenty of opportunity for chiropractors seeking to operate nonsurgical spinal decompression clinics. There’s certainly no shortage of orthopedic and neurological surgeons in the region. And with all the golf resorts nearby, the prevalence of L4 L5 lower back spinal disc herniations has gotta be off the charts.

Lets not forget the average person that goes to work each day (not everybody in Palm Desert is on vacation) that would benefit from regular chiropractic wellness care (not the personal-injury clinic or disc decompression type practices mentioned above). Add to those workers, their families and their children, and you’ve got some rocking potential for chiropractic care in the desert of Southern California.

Before you begin complaining about the heat, May I remind you that world-famous Joshua Tree National Monument is within very close driving distance. So are the mountainous (and much cooler) trails of the San Jacinto Mountains, and beautiful vacation places Idyllwild. Residents aren’t even far from a trip to Big Bear for mountain biking in the summer and snowboarding and/or skiing in the winter time. And I haven’t even mentioned the Indian Casinos. I’ve stayed and played at more than two and I’ve been impressed (I still love traveling to Las Vegas for casino entertainment) enough to return for multiple visits. Food in the Palm Desert area as spectacular as well, there is a ginormous selection of restaurants stretching from Palm Springs to Indio and Coachella.

I’ll the continuing research on the area in relation to chiropractic offices, potential chiropractic employment, and will get some feedback from local desert chiropractors life off the 10 Freeway in Southern California’s Palm Springs/Palm Desert/Rancho Mirage/Coachella areas.

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

It was mentioned yesterday on Search Engine Land that in the United States, Google would now be providing their own map data, instead of using data (as they did in the past) from a company called TeleAtlas. While local search expert Michael Blumenthal provided details in a blog post regarding the changing of map data, I wondered how the changes may affect results when using Google to search for local chiropractors.

As not to be too biased in selecting cities, I went to my chiropractic twitter account and asked “name a random city please.” Replied results included New Orleans, Knob Lick, Denton, Defiance, and Poteau.

This is a good random selection of cities because it shows that when it comes to searching for local businesses and services, google map results aren’t always going to be displayed, especially in more rural areas.

I started my search with Defiance, Ohio. I failed to get local map results for search terms like Defiance Chiropractor, Defiance Pizza, Defiance Restaurants, Plumber Defiance, or Dentist Defiance (thanks to Michael Gray for the city suggestion).

My first thought when no Google Maps results were returned was that there wasn’t enough information on local businesses to serve up a Lucky 7 local maps listing. There were traditional organic search results for each business category, many of them being from sites that provide large amounts of city data, but no maps.

I did the same searches (chiropractor, dentist, etc.) for Poteau, Oklahoma and had similar results. No map data was displayed for any of the business categories I searched in that area. Thanks to Serena Ehrlich for the city suggestion.

Chiropractor Adam Tanase suggested Knob Lick, Missouri and I was fairly certain I’d get the same results as I did in the previous two city searches. The area is south of Farmington, along Highway 67, and it appears to be quite rural.

WordCamp LV guy, John Hawkins, suggested Denton Texas. This is more what I was after, but I did ask for random cities, and I like how it shows the results are varied.

Chiropractor Denton Texas map results

I performed a search for Denton chiropractor and got back the results I was looking for. The screenshot above shows map data is provided by Google and if you count the red markers you’ll see that there are 7 (A – G) with a choice to view more results as the last selection. It looks to me like selection E is nearest to the centroid for the city (notice where it says Denton on the map) but it’s not the first listed result. Interestingly, when searching Dentist Denton, the top result (A) was nearest to the centroid. The results vary when searching pizza or plumber. Let’s take a look at one more Metro area.

Chiropractor New Orleans map data

The city of New Orleans was suggested by Michelle Robbins, and like the results for Denton, there were seven businesses listed on the map when including the term chiropractor in the search. In this case, selections A. and E. were closest to the city centroid, with E. being slightly closer.

I can’t recall what the data looks like for every city, but in many areas I’ve looked at, it appears that the local map results being served up by Google has changed from what was appearing when 10 Box or 3 Box (remember those?) local business results were being displayed. I may not be ecstatic about every result, but I like the looks of the Lucky 7 Box, it’s easier to read than 10 provides more results than 3. Change is good.

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Just as I completed the Chiropractor 15683 post I had a request from someone seeking a chiropractor in the Henderson Nevada area. I conducted some online searches and laughed when I noticed the Chiropractors Nevada page appearing in the top results.

Only two chiropractors were listed on the page but that was good enough for me to give a referral. I got some more information like what the prospective patient was looking for, had they been to a chiropractor before, were they seeking a specific technique (like NUCCA Upper Cervical or Gonstead).

If they had been to a chiropractor before I usually will ask when the last adjustment was. Every once in a while I hear from someone that didn’t get adjusted at the chiropractors office, that may seem strange, but it’s important to know when making a referral to a new office.

So, two great chiropractors in the Henderson area (both worth driving to). One is Dr. Devin Luzad who runs Spinal Care of Nevada, and the other is Dr. Matt Mortensen, who is located on West Lake Mead Blvd.

More info on Dr. Matt Mortensen can be found on the Las Vegas Chiropractor page and we’ll be updating the Henderson Chiropractor page with information related to Dr. Luzads office.

If you’re seeking a chiropractor in the Las Vegas area not nearby either of these two chiropractors, I’d still recommend calling them to get referrals for who is top in the area (service, technique, affordability, equipment, etc.), as I still believe local chiropractors best know who in the community is doing the greatest job serving patients.

Never Underestimate Chiropractic Care Adjustments

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

I’m at the Las Vegas Airport and while doing some searches related to chiropractic I noticed a few chiropractor offices in the San Francisco area advertising fees for service in ads campaigns.

I found it interesting that not just one, but all three top ads were advertising rates. The offices are not that close to one another but it goes to show that entry level affordability is available for chiropractic services in areas considered to be costly for care.

Berkeley, CA 94710 – The 1st advertisement I noticed was for an office in Berkeley California and the chiropractor was advertising a $25 Consult & Exam Includes 1st Adjustment.

Wow, 25 bucks for not only the consult and exam (consults are often free in chiropractic offices), but an adjustment is tossed in as well. No idea how well this converts but I can imagine the question asked by most coming in for care… How much is the 2nd visit?

Milpitas, CA 95035 – The next office is located in Milpitas, which is about 42 miles from Berkeley. This Bay Area chiropractor advertises Chiropractic Care $49 1st Visit We can Help.

The difference from this ad and the one above it is the Milpitas chiropractor doesn’t mention what’s included for $49. Will an adjustment be given? What about xrays? Is there an extra fee for the exam? Can one still come in for a consult? Is that $49 or is it free?

Dublin, CA 94568 – The 3rd office on the list has the following in their ad… Call for FREE CONSULTATION and EXAM ($150 value)

No mention if xrays are included with the exam or if an adjustment is included with the exam. Is the exam free if a cash patient? Is there a different fee if using insurance or the claim is going to be handled by an auto injury attorney?

All in all, the first ad was the most clear in describing what services are included for $25. That’s a pretty good deal, especially when compared to the 3rd ad. Even though #3 says it’s free, I have a suspicion that other charges will be due for xrays and/or adjustment.

The 3 offices surveyed are not too far from each other, Berkeley to Milpitas  is about 42.0 miles, Milpitas 95035 to Dublin 94568 is about 24 miles and Berkeley 94710 to Dublin 94568 is about 35 miles.

Back in May of 2008 we covered Chiropractor Accepts PayPal For Visits and showed a screenshot of the offices out of office billing plans. Also, while here in Las Vegas i noticed a local advertisement for chiropractic services at $47. $47 Consult / Exam & Xrays. North Las Vegas was in the ad copy. Unlike 2 of the ads above, this one was clear that xrays would be included in the 47 dollar fee. One thing I’m left wondering is how many xrays are included. My gut says it’s a 2 view series in area of complaint (cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spine).

So, both in California and Nevada, we see chiropractors advertising introductory services for $50 or less, that’s affordable healthcare.

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

I’m in Florida attending a continuing education conference. I don’t know much about the South Florida area and I’ve found myself doing quite a bit of searching while sitting inside the conference center. I published a post showing localized ppc chiropractic advertising for Florida and I’ve continued to check local content for surrounding areas.

I came across the above local Circuit City photo while browsing Flickr. I talk endlessly about locations and local search, and there’s a reason for it. It’s important to pay attention to search in one’s local area. Check results regularly and improve your rankings (if that’s something important for you). Here’s a summary of related local search topics.

Don’t Forget the Location – Why including granular content in your posts is important. The post itself is a summary of local related topics.

Potential Keyphrase Ranking with Twitter – A test conducted with the help of some friends on potential rankings after tweets are sent to specific accounts.

Chiropractic Morrisville – There’s more than one Morrisville in the US, a reason to include other local info (like zip codes) when creating content.

Broomfield Chiropractor and Colorado Local – There’s only one Broomfield that I’m aware of, but it’s still important to include specific location information when creating content for the area. Surrounding cities, postal codes, and other localized info is beneficial.

Westside Manhattan Chiropractic College – It’s doubtful there’s many searches for chiropractic colleges in the New York Westside area but there was once a chiropractic school located in Manhattan. When creating local content, consider including historical information as well.

Getting to Know Your Local DCs – A series of Meeting Chiropractors posts where local DCs are featured in news articles. Nearly all chiropractors benefit from adding location based information, not only their primary site, but on additional sites as well.

Southern California College of Chiropractic – Like the school in NYC, there was once a chiropractic college in the Pasadena area. There’s more than one Pasadena in the US, so once again, it’s a good move when including additional information to the content being created.

Chicagoland Chiropractors – I like this example as I had not previously known about variations used to describe the city of Chicago. ChiTown is another I’ve seen used in the past. Find out what terms locals use to describe the region, and incorporate those terms.

West Valley Chiropractic – As far as I can recall, the west valley area post is the most general I’ve seen for a city or town localized search example. There are west valley locations in Utah, Washington, California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and other areas. There’s got to be other locations like these throughout the USA, differentiate your locations.

Conferences near Airports – The only reason I’m including this in the summary is that I’m at a conference and it’s not taking place near an airport. Attendees have told me cabs ranged from $60 – $70 for a one-way taxi from the FLL airport. Those putting on conferences should consider these attendee hidden costs when planning events and seminars.

That’s it from Pembroke Pines, FL 33028. Get granular and localize!

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Last week when I posted Definitely Not the Yellow Pages I thought for sure I’d find dozens of previous articles I’d written regarding Yellow Pages and Advertising that I’d written over the past ten years. Much to my surprise, I didn’t locate many, but I did grab a screenshot of recent Yellow Page keyphrases and rounded up some archived YP posts.

The screenshot shows 14 related search terms all based off the search “Yellow.” These are the terms and brands people are seeking when performing search queries.

Position #8 is the straight keyword but all the rest are directly related to the industry, a good reminder that “yellow” is still on top of consumer mind share for local.

In August 2007, I conducted a traffic summary on 5 Yellow Pages Local Directory Websites, and at that time, at&t’s owned yellowpages.com was getting the largest share of web traffic. I’m overdue to revisit all 5 sites and see where YP traffic stats are for 2009.

While it’s old news, the sale of an Online Local Search Phone Directory in September of 2007, has me wondering what such an asset would sell for in todays market. Is the recession affecting the selling of local directory domains either negatively or positively?

Chiropractors have long run ads in Yellow Pages, those days may be nearing their end, Chiropractic Yellow Pages December 2004 was amockup ad sent to my office by a sales rep. Nobody is delivering mock up YP advertisements to my office so far in 2009.

Being in a large metro, you’d maybe think YP ads would do real well, but that’s not always the case. Split Metro Yellow Page Advertising was something we visited in 2007, and I still think tracking calls is the best way to go.

I’m not crazy about the waste produced by all those bags of yellow pages either, and we’re at a point in the office where not even a single old copy is left lying around. In my opinion, there’s no point to, since we have online access for staff and patrons and many local search answers are just a click or two away.

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

“Dr. Mike – there’s a sales rep on the phone, says they’re with the Yellow Pages.” is what I used to hear from my front desk manager frequently. The calls have decreased ( I no longer accept any calls from anyone claiming to work with any Yellow Pages company) but I still get offers in the mail for advertising offline and online in the… Yellow Pages.

Everybody has heard of the Yellow Pages, but who are they really? If you run a small or medium sized business, surely you’ve been contacted by yellow page reps or been pitched to advertise on Yellow Pages Local Directory Websites.

Let’s take a look at some of the mail I get…

In very bold black lettering I’m told Don’t accept imitations which is followed by ad copy that talks about there being only one Yellow Pages. Really? Company is based in New Jersey and what looks like a statement is actually a solicitation.

This one shows the very well know let your fingers do the walking logo, but is it the Yellow Pages? Clearly, in this case we can see it’s United Yellow Pages Inc. That company is based out of Garden Grove (or maybe that’s just a local office).

A letter I received from at&t advertising & publishing. Notice the blue text at the bottom. Is this San Francisco based mail coming from the Yellow Pages? Interesting that they’ve included such information in their marketing copy. Guess what’s inside?

The company (at&t) makes it very clear that they are NOT the Yellow Pages. They do however know own the .com for the domain, a smart move (imo).

Nearly all ad sales I’m seeing related to YP pitches have moved online (nobody is calling about advertising in the books – at least not in our area). Business owners are advised to continue watching out for internet directory scams and to try working w/legitimate entities.

Before advertising anywhere, do your research.