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Online Patient Reviews: Quality and Consistency Matter!

by Naomi Cooper March 20, 2013

Online Patient Reviews: Quality and Consistency Matter!If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are then well aware of the importance for dentists to establish and maintain an active online presence. More people than ever are turning to the Internet when researching health care options. And in today’s tech-savvy world, patients conduct their research online before they ever call your practice to make their first appointment.

Control the information potential patients find online, and increase the likelihood of them taking the next step in calling you by asking your satisfied patients to post online reviews.

  • Before the Internet, patients would simply ask a friend for a referral and then call to make an appointment. Today, patients may still ask a friend, but they will also go online to research you before they ever make the call to schedule an appointment.
  • Encourage your satisfied customers to write a review on these sites to increase the amount and quality of the positive reviews. The more positive reviews you have, the better your practice will appear to potential patients.
  • While it is important to generate positive reviews online, it absolutely must be done in an authentic manner. Consistently adding 1-3 new reviews each month for 6 months will appear most trustworthy to Internet users and your potential patients. For more information on the level of trust of online reviews among today’s Internet users, check out this EMarketer article.

There is no higher stamp of approval of your practice than the referral of a happy patient. Make the most of their positive experience and politely ask them to share their experience online. Consistently asking patients to post a positive review increases the opportunity to reach prospective patients within your community, and helps you to build an authentic online presence for your dental practice.

How does your team actively ask patients to post online reviews? Are new patients asked upfront how they heard about your practice?

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Social Media 101: Utilizing Google+ in Your Dental Practice

by Naomi Cooper February 5, 2013

Social Media 101: Utilizing Google+ in Your Dental PracticeWhile not as prevalent as Facebook, Google+ is another social media site that can work well for dental practices. The usage statistics do not compare to Facebook, but it is still a good idea for businesses to maintain profiles for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes. Google+ profiles are incredible drivers of SEO, so having your dental practice listed within Google+ helps patients easily find you and connect with your practice online.

There is often confusion between the 2 main components of Google+: Google+ pages for business, and Google+ Local pages. Here is a brief breakdown of each:

Google+ Page

A Google+ page is similar to having a Facebook business page. It is your dental practice’s profile within Google, and offers many opportunities to feature videos, share photos and images and create direct inbound links, all of which are very important in boosting your website’s SEO.

A Google+ page is set up in a very similar fashion to Facebook, with cover and profile photos, and an About section where you enter in your business address, phone, website, and other important information. Your Google+ page allows you to post content and share information with those who have followed you.

Google+ Local Page

A Google+ local page is your dental practice’s listing within Google. It is tied to the Google search results as well as to Google maps. Where as it has the same features as a Google+ page (phone number, hours, website, etc.), it also allows patients to write an online review of their experience at your practice. This is a great site to direct your patients to in order to increase your online patient reviews. Google creates a Google+ Local page for every business in the country, but it’s up to you to claim that profile and make sure it’s accurate.

These are the basic differences between the 2 types of business profile pages within the Google universe. You can log on to https://plus.google.com/pages/create to get started.

Do you use Google+ within your dental practice social media plan? Please share your comments and experiences below. And check back here for the next Social Media 101 installment – easy to implement strategies for your dental practice YouTube channel.

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Put the Power of Google to Work for Your Dental Practice

by Naomi Cooper December 5, 2012

Put the Power of Google to Work for Your Dental PracticeOnline Marketing…SEO and Websites…Social Media…

Dental practice marketing sure has changed over the past few years. The Internet, and especially social media, have completely changed the way you promote your practice. For beginners, this can be overwhelming. However it is essential to modernize your marketing techniques in order to grow your practice in this digital age.

The first name you need to understand – Google. At first glance, you may think it is just another search engine. In reality, it is so much more. It is an influential Internet powerhouse, and putting it to work for your dental practice is a smart way to reach new patients.

I recently wrote a guest blog for Sesame Communications on this very topic. I encourage you to take a look and challenge you to leverage the power of Google for your dental practice.

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Getting Your Practice Online and Engaged in Social Media

by Naomi Cooper July 31, 2012

Getting Your Practice Online and Engaged in Social MediaHave you been thinking of increasing your practice’s online presence, but not sure how to get started? An increasing number of dentists have become familiar with using social media in their personal lives, but may not be comfortable or know where to begin incorporating social media into the practice’s marketing plan.

Here are a few ideas to consider when beginning your social media campaign:

– What sites are you already familiar with? This will help ease you into social media if you are using a site that you are comfortable with.

– What sites do your patients use? If you do not know, have your staff begin asking patients each day and keep track of the responses. Particularly pay attention to the sites used by patients who are most similar your “target patient”.

There are endless ways to participate in social media online. The most popular sites include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+. It’s important to remember that, with social media, quality is more important than quantity. So if you feel you only have time to engage on one of these sites, it is better to actively participate in just one site and build your audience with thoughtful and timely posts. Once you have mastered one site, you can then think about expanding into more.

Social media is the biggest buzzword to hit the dental profession in decades. Having a presence on social media sites serves to increase the traffic to your practice website and helps new customers to find your information when searching online for a dentist.

Is your practice online? What sites have you found to be most useful for your practice? Did you have any hesitations while getting started? Please share your thoughts below.

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