Ajay Prasad is the CEO of GMR Web Team, a full-service healthcare digital marketing agency focused on patient acquisition and retention.
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A researcher at the Harvard Business School found that businesses with higher ratings on Yelp generally generate more sales, with every additional star accounting for a 5% revenue boost or higher.
While it’s almost impossible to avoid negative reviews from disgruntled clients or malicious competitors, you can use certain strategies to protect your well-earned reputation. This is true for all businesses, including dental clinics. This practice is called reputation management, and it is imperative in the online space.
Why Reputation Management For Dentists Is A Must In This Age Of Healthcare Consumerism
Most online shoppers read product reviews before buying and depend on them to make a purchasing decision. Similarly, we found that 81% of patients consider online reviews when selecting a healthcare provider and specifically focus on more recent reviews that previous patients leave.
If you’re promoting your dental practice online, your website will have all kinds of visitors, including those looking for your company’s weaknesses. That’s why reputation management for dentists is a must, especially in this era where your practice’s online image is the most sought-after.
Elements Required To Build A Successful Online Reputation For Dentists
It is worth noting that online reviews can either make or break your healthcare business. The good news is that you can choose what reviews can do to your healthcare practice’s reputation. The following elements are helpful when it comes to building a successful online reputation for dentists.
Avail Useful Information To Readers
Only some visitors on your website are seeking dental services such as teeth whitening or treatment. Others need information concerning their dental health. A good website should contain all the information a patient or potential customer may seek.
Most dental practices ignore information such as the proper diet for battling specific dental health issues. Such details could be what many of your site visitors want. Therefore, publish blogs consistently to keep your audience informed. A well-designed website that provides a lot of information will likely have many visitors who may someday become customers.
Display Awards And Achievements On Your Website
It is natural for a person to want to associate themselves with success. Awards and achievements portray your company as reputable, legitimate and focused. For a dental practice, potential patients will view it as a safe place where someone can solve their dental health problems. That’s why showcasing any achievement, big or small, on your website and social media pages is essential.
Awards and badges from popular platforms like Vitals, FindATopDoc and ScoreDoc are trusted by patients and also show that your practice complies with the terms of service stipulated by the health regulations. Patients typically look out for such details when choosing a dental practice.
Encourage Patients To Leave Reviews Online
You may offer the best dental services. However, if your patients won’t acknowledge that, you may not have something to show for the work done. Online reviews are a highly effective marketing strategy because many prospective patients depend on them to make their decisions. So, ensure you professionally request your patients to leave a review at the end of service delivery. This is important because your practice may lose many new patients if your satisfied patients are not leaving a review.
Respond To Reviews On Time
Good or bad, every review counts for your dental practice. Some patients may leave bad reviews out of misunderstandings. Therefore, you should always respond to every review by addressing the complaints. For positive reviews, acknowledge them and urge the patient to visit again. Timely responses help settle some matters before they escalate. For instance, instead of waiting for a frustrated customer to expose your business on social media platforms, intercept the issue quickly and rectify any mistakes. This will help keep your business reputation positive.
Keep Your Website In Good Shape
A well-designed website is the backbone of your dental practice. This is where you will showcase your products and services and receive customers. Those with questions will also come to seek information on your website. Even those who want to contact you directly will likely get your contact details from your site. In other words, your website carries a significant part of your dental practice.
Keeping this in mind, always keep it in good shape to ensure visitors get the most out of it. Make it user-friendly by enhancing navigation, ensuring faster page loading speed, including before and after imagery, and availing everything that your prospects require.
List Your Business Consistently
Patients will also likely visit famous health listing sites or directories for the best dental practice. So, list your practice on sites such as GeoDentist, Dentists.com and EveryDentist. Also, ensure you list your business name, address and phone number (NAP) accurately and consistently across all listing platforms. This will help your practice’s website to rank better in local and organic search results and enable patients to find you more easily. Moreover, these sites or directories highlight your expertise, years of experience and certifications, which are trusted by patients and thus help in improving your online reputation.
Final Word
Studies show that going through online reviews is the very first step to finding a new doctor, so your online reputation is often the first impression you make on your potential patients.
Further, a stellar online reputation is integral to building a successful brand. So to achieve this goal for your dental practice, implement the strategies discussed in this article and, most importantly, offer quality dental services to improve the patient experience. Last of all, never forget to ask for reviews from your satisfied clients.
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