39% of patient actions were phone calls: 1,240 in six months
Patients were already searching for this Melbourne orthopaedic practice by name. A verified, complete Google Business Profile turned those searches into 3,174 direct actions in six months.
- Published
- 5 min read
Project at a glance
- Industry
- Orthopaedic surgery, multi-surgeon private practice
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
- Engagement
- Monthly SEO retainer, Google Business Profile included
- Working together since
- 2023
- Period measured
- August 2024 to January 2025
- Headline result
- 3,174 direct actions, including 1,240 calls
Case study contents
At a glance
A Melbourne orthopaedic practice had a Google Business Profile that sat unverified and did not appear on Google Maps. Patients who searched for the practice by name had no call button, no directions and no opening hours in front of them. We verified the profile, completed it and kept it active. In the six months measured, the profile was viewed 9,159 times and produced 3,174 direct actions: 1,240 calls, 1,460 website visits and 474 direction requests.
About the client
The practice brings several orthopaedic surgeons together under one name, covering knee, hip, shoulder, foot and ankle, trauma and limb reconstruction. It consults from rooms inside a major private hospital in inner Melbourne. Most new patients arrive through a GP referral or a recommendation, then look the practice up by name before they call.
The starting point
The practice’s Google profile existed but had never been verified. It was hidden from Google Maps, and nobody at the practice could edit it.
No performance data survives from that period, so this case has no “before” figure. Every number on this page comes from Google Business Profile’s own Performance report for August 2024 to January 2025.
The challenge
The gap sat between patients who were ready to book and a practice they could not reach from Google. It had four parts.
Business. Referred patients searched for the practice by name and found nothing they could act on. The demand existed; the shortest route to a booking did not.
Technical. An unverified profile cannot be edited and is not shown on Maps. Categories, services and details were missing or locked.
Delivery. The work had to fit inside an existing monthly SEO retainer, alongside ongoing website work.
Cost of inaction. Every name search ended without a one-tap way to call or find the rooms, leaving patients to dig through the website or the hospital’s general listing.
What we found
The problem was access. People already searched for the practice, yet Google had no verified listing to show them. Until ownership was confirmed, nothing else on the profile could be fixed.
Strategy and why us
We had worked on the practice’s website SEO since 2023, so the profile joined the same monthly plan and the same team. The approach had three layers, each built on the one before.
- Fix the base: verification and categories
- Complete the profile: services, description, photos
- Keep it active: monthly posts, review requests and replies
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Website SEO retainer begins |
| Then | Profile verified |
| August 2024 to January 2025 | Period measured on this page |
| 2025 | Services list expanded |
Execution
Each challenge was matched to one piece of work on the profile.
| Challenge | What we did |
|---|---|
| Profile hidden and locked | Verified ownership and set the correct categories |
| Thin profile | Added the services list, a full description and photos of the practice |
| Static profile | Published monthly posts on specific procedures, including arthroscopy, base of thumb arthritis and shoulder arthroscopy |
| Trust at the point of choice | Requested reviews from patients and replied to them |
Results
All figures come from Google Business Profile’s Performance report for August 2024 to January 2025. Before verification the profile was not shown on Maps, and no figures from that period survive.
| Metric | Before | Aug 2024 to Jan 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Profile views | Not shown on Maps | 9,159 |
| Searches showing the profile | Not shown | 2,971 |
| Calls | Not shown | 1,240 (39% of actions) |
| Website visits | Not shown | 1,460 |
| Direction requests | Not shown | 474 |
| Total direct actions | Not shown | 3,174 |
Where the views came from
Google Search brought most of the views: 4,377 on desktop (48%) and 3,904 on mobile (43%). Google Maps brought 715 on mobile (8%) and 163 on desktop (2%). About 85% of the searches that surfaced the profile were for the practice’s own name.
What the trend shows. Monthly actions declined steadily across the six months, and January was the lowest month. December and January are holiday months in Australia, and January was captured before the month closed. Both lower the latest figures, yet neither fully explains a decline that began earlier. We report it as it is.
What drove the change
These actions exist because the profile became visible: a hidden profile produces no calls. What the data cannot show is how much new demand the profile created. With about 85% of searches being for the practice’s name, most of these people were already looking for it; the profile gave them a direct way to act. Website SEO ran in parallel and may have contributed to website visits.
Business impact
1,240 calls is about 207 a month, roughly ten every working day. The practice did not track how many of those calls became booked appointments, so this case ends at the action.
What was delivered
- Profile verification and category setup
- Complete services list and practice description
- Practice photos
- Monthly procedure posts
- Review requests and replies
Key lessons
- For referral-led specialists, the Google profile is the front desk for name searches. Patients have already decided; the profile only has to make the next step easy.
- Verification comes before everything. No content, post or review counts while the profile is hidden.
- Record a baseline on day one. This case has no “before” figure because none was kept, and that is the first thing to fix on any new profile.
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