Five Star Dentistry

Cultivate a positive reputation across review sites.

In Part 3 of our series on building your online presence, Aoife provides some helpful tips on what online review sites can do to build your online reputation.

Check out Part 1 to learn about Google listings and Part 2 to get your head around Facebook Pages!

As we learned in the first part of this series, setting up and maintaining a positive Google listing is a great way to start improving your online presence. It’s easy and free to get your name out there and start building your reputation! You can also use Facebook Pages to grow a following around you and your practice, giving you more opportunities to attract new patients and reach out to your current patient-base.

With both Google Listings and Facebook, you can determine what patients see when they search for you. However it’s important to understand that, unless someone has recommended you to them, potential patients are unlikely to be searching specifically for your practice.

According to a recent survey conducted by Neilsen for Yelp, 78% of consumers will turn to review sites when looking for a local business. On these sites, users can rate and review businesses. Patients on the hunt for a local dentist can then use this information to make an informed decision about which practice might best suit their needs.

To cover all bases, you must ensure all of the material online — both on your sites and on review and comparison sites — best reflects you and how you run your practice.

In this article, we give you the rundown on some of the most important sites you can use to build your presence.

1. Yelp

As a popular and widely consulted review site, Yelp often features on the front page of Google search results. Like a Google listing, you can either claim an existing business or set up a new one. Check if your practice is already listed on Yelp to take ownership over it, or alternatively you can set up a new listing. Yelp offers the useful ability to respond to consumer reviews, giving you an opportunity to engage with your patient base. If you upgrade to one of their premium plans, you can also access analytics on who is visiting your listing. Yelp claim that the average annual incremental revenue generated by a business claiming a free Yelp Business Page is $8,000, so there’s certainly no harm in giving it a go!

2. Healthgrades

Healthgrades is a huge platform for healthcare reviews, attracting over one million patients a day, with a format that enables patients to review individual doctors. It is a good idea to make a highly detailed Healthgrades profile, which can showcase your experience and credentials and make it easier for potential patients to put their trust in you.

3. RateMDs

RateMDs is a free website which allows users to submit ratings of doctors, dentists, psychologists, urgent care centers, group practices, and hospitals. It offers doctors a premium plan whereby they can control which reviews appear first on their profile.

4. Angie’s List

Angie’s List is a huge online directory of businesses and contractors. Unlike many other review sites, Angie’s List has a certified verification process that eliminates anonymous reviews. Each company has a page composed of a description and customer reviews. Once you have registered and set up a page for your practice, verified reviewers can then rate your business based on price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism.

5. Vitals.com

Vitals is a comparison site aimed specifically at helping users to find doctors and medical facilities. It is free for both doctors and patients, making it a great low-risk option if you are just starting out with developing your online presence. In addition to being a medical facility search service, Vitals provides advice articles and scheduling tools for patient. Their info video is available here.

6. Zocdoc

Zocdoc has a reviews section, but it is primarily a medical care scheduling service. You can customize your Zocdoc profile with your insurances, the procedures you offer, and your real time availability. Customers can then schedule appointments with you online and you can send them reminders via text and email when their appointment is approaching. The Zocdoc service is available 24/7, meaning that patients can book at any time of the day or night, with Zocdoc claiming that 45% of its bookings are taken outside of office hours.

To get started, why not have a look through these sites and see if there is any mention of your name or practice? You can also look at the profiles of other similar practices and practitioners and start getting some inspiration! If you decide to start your own profile, be sure to add any of information that might be of interest to potential patients, including your credentials, your practice’s opening times, and your contact information. The addition of photos, both of you and your practice, will also give your listing greater legitimacy.

Keep checking these sites regularly and stay up-to-date with the material published about your practice on the internet. Soon you’ll find that awareness about your practice is growing within the community, and your number of appointments should grow with it!

Did you find this piece useful? What more would you like to know? Let us know in the comments how your experience has been with online review sites and get in touch with us if you need any more advice.