Is your reputation at risk? How to enhance your digital footprint for increased appointments

By Glenn Lombardi

You will never have control over what patients say about you online, but you do have complete control of the story you create about your practice on the Internet. To start, you need to establish your own online presence with a professional website, the foundation from which all of your patient communications and marketing initiatives should extend.

Monitor

Once you’ve launched your practice website, the first step to an enhanced online image is to continually monitor mentions of your practice on the Internet. For starters, simply perform a search for your name or practice name on major Internet search engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing. You can also set up automated alerts for your practice. Any time your practice is mentioned online — good or bad — an email will alert you with any and all relevant information.

Verify your Google Place Page

Not long ago Google made a few minor, but important, changes to local search. Now only businesses with a physical location in the town searched will be displayed in the result listings. This ensures that searchers receive only the most relevant results for the keywords they are searching, such as dentist Houston.

Dentists need to claim their Google Place Page to ensure a top, verified position in the search results. This shows Google that your practice is in fact legitimate, which weighs favorably in terms of your ranking position.

Generate positive, natural reviews

More and more, people are seeking out online reviews for trusted firsthand experiences before making a decision about their choice of dentist. A dental marketing expert can help you implement a technologically advanced reviews solution that allows patients to review you right from your office. Through the dentist’s mobile-compatible website, patients have the ability to easily review their dentist from their mobile phone without having to deal with cumbersome QR codes.

For the less tech-savvy patient, dentists can also offer an out-of-office reviews solution, which includes simple step-by-step instruction cards that walk the patient through the quick reviews process from their home computers. Generate five or 10 new positive reviews each month, and over the course of a year, you will have generated enough positive patient reviews to negate any damaging reviews that will undoubtedly appear from time to time.

Your patients are talking about you online. Now is the time to take responsibility for your reputation, starting with a professional website. A professional in dental website and Internet marketing can help you monitor your practice online, claim your Google Place Page, and generate quality, natural reviews for an enhanced reputation and increased appointments.

Author bio
Glenn Lombardi is president of Officite, LLC, the number one provider of websites and Internet presence management strategies for the dental community. Officite has built more than 6,000 websites that have generated over 325,000 appointment requests since 2002. To learn more, visit www.officite.com or call (800) 908-2483.