Elements (profiles, listings, directories) that are outside the website – Do they really matter?

In the early days of online marketing, your website was often seen as the primary, and sometimes the only, source for users who wanted to learn about you or your practice. However, slowly but surely, this idea has eroded away, and today it’s completely wrong to say that the website should be the key and only focus when it comes to online marketing..

Why? Over the years, online marketing has evolved into a comprehensive ecosystem of onsite and offsite elements. I’m sure you’ve heard us mention the work on onsite and offsite optimizations many times in the past. On-site refers to the work we do on your website; off-site includes online profiles, listings, videos, and directories. Basically, any content or element we can publish and optimize outside the website. Not only are these off-site elements interlinked with the website, but they also feed and grow the overall trust signals associated with your practice as a whole, which is extremely important in today’s world.

Over time, as these off-site elements are optimized, many of them begin to rank in Google search results, and in some cases, they even outrank the website. This means that each profile or listing can now function as a mini-website, promoting you and your practice. A potential new lead might discover you through your Google Business Profile, a Healthgrades listing, a video, or a directory listing and convert directly from that profile.

We know this because of the data we see through call tracking. In one comparison, we tracked calls for two clients:

• The first client had a call tracking number published only on the website (the existing number was also kept to ensure NAP consistency, but the new number was prominently displayed for new leads or patients to call).
• The second client had tracking on both the website and all editable online profiles, listings, and other elements.

The results showed that the first client received only 5–20% of the total calls that the second client did. In other words, most of the calls came from off-site elements, not from the website. This trend has been consistent when implemented with different clients over the years, which is why we can say with confidence that while your website is a key element, it’s not the only one on the playing field. Each one has the potential to help grow your practice.

Let’s not forget that as online marketing continues to integrate with AI more deeply, the importance of off-site profiles becomes even greater. For example, when a user uses an answer engine to get recommendations for a local service provider/business, the AI-generated answers won’t always cite a website; it might pull information from a Google Business listing, an NPI directory, a social media profile, or even a video and cite that as a source. This is why we at Ekwa have five dedicated teams focused on strengthening your online presence, not just your website, but by focusing on these off-site elements. These include our Social Media, Online Reputation, Backlinks, Citations, and NAP Consistency teams. While some of these teams also focus on other areas (such as social engagement or reviews), they all work together to create, update, and optimize your offsite profiles on a monthly basis. It’s a time-consuming process because each profile, listing, and element has its own guidelines on how to optimize and maintain it. This continuous effort ensures that your practice remains visible in both traditional search results and AI-driven answer engines.