In 2018 you will have new plans, resolutions and to-do lists for yourself, your family and your practice. The new year is expected to have even more people on the Internet, which makes it imperative for you to build a strong online reputation. You need to set aside some time from your busy schedule to manage your online reputation and grow your business exponentially. You just can’t afford to miss this opportunity. Here are some tips that can fasten and ease your task.
Track and grow your online presence
Online reputation is all about your online presence and what people think about you and your practice. To know how and where you are sited on Google searches, you need to check your online presence. For this, you need to type the name of your practice in the search engine.
Don’t ignore words like fraud or scam if they appear in search results under your practice name in Google (Bing or Yahoo). This can be a part of review spam, as well. Take immediate steps to rebuild a damaged image. Also, check on which page is your practice being displayed on. If you are not on the first page of Google search results, then you are losing your target audience. This also indicates that you are lacking in your SEO strategies.
For establishing your online profiles to attract more online traffic via Google+, citation or website, your profile should have your practice name, practice address and number, operation hours and a description of your practice. Remember to make use of relevant keywords.
Have an engaging website for your practice
Visiting your practice website is like making virtual communication between your patients and you. Every searcher wishes to receive genuine information from your website. For your target audience to stay on your webpage, you need to have an engaging website. There should be a balance of images and text. Don’t overload your website with information or present it in a bland way. Make use of content marketing and present the information in different content forms such as blogs, infographics, podcasts, videos, etc. Also, make use of relevant keywords so your website never goes unnoticed.
Create and maintain your social media accounts
You are well-versed in the popularity of social media and can expect its growth this year. So, utilize this platform to popularize your practice and build a strong online reputation. Check if you are present on all social media platforms and if not, create an account at all such sites. Then stay active on all your accounts. How to do it?
- Do regular posting
- Reply to comments and feedback
- Reply to queries by messaging patients personally
- Maintain privacy and follow HIPAA rules
- Join groups related to your niche
- Share informative comments on others’ posts
Manage your online reviews
Have your profile created on all review platforms such as Yelp, YellowPages, Healthgrades, etc. and regularly monitor what your patients have to say about you and your practice. To build a strong reputation, you need to get as many positive reviews as you can. This can be done in the following ways:
- Asking for positive reviews
Your service and treatment are the best ways to please your patient and build a long-term relationship. Once a patient is pleased and about to leave your practice, you should not miss the chance to request him/her to write a positive review for your practice online. You can say something like, “If you are satisfied with the treatment, can you please write few kind words on a review platform for us? I would be obliged.”
In addition to requesting people visiting your practice, you can send an email or text message or make a call to your patients and ask them for positive reviews. After patients write a review for you, it is good to thank them personally.
- Handling negative reviews
At any time in your life, you can face negative reviews. Neither ignorance nor taking them personally is a solution. First check for review spam. Then, politely explain the issue, if anything happened. Give assurance of improvement and request the reviewer to take things offline. Satisfying comments can turn disappointed patients into happy patients.
Reputation is a gem that will brighten your future. The world will not destroy your reputation over a single mistake, but it will take years for you to build a strong online reputation. myPracticeReputation will help you create an online reputation and beat the ever-growing competition.