A good online reputation can help you attract more patients. As you might imagine, the opposite is also true: A negative online reputation can scare prospective patients away.
No matter the current state of your online reputation, there are ways to improve how you and your healthcare practice appear online. Read on to learn more.
Claim Your Online Listings
Now more than ever, people are going online to find healthcare providers. According to BrightLocal’s 2017 Local Consumer Review Survey, 54% of consumers use the internet to search for local businesses at least once per month.
To reap the benefits of a great online reputation, you first need to claim your listings on review, healthcare, and directory websites. Since you may not know exactly where prospective patients might find you, you need to claim every listing you can.
At a minimum, you need to claim, correct, and optimize your practice information on healthcare review sites. This entails:
- Verifying that you’re listed as the practice owner on your profile and that the description of your practice is accurate.
- Ensuring your address, website link, phone number, and business hours are accurately listed.
For an extra boost, upload great photos of you and your practice whenever possible. This will give prospective patients the opportunity to get to know your practice as they weigh their options.
More on This: Why It’s Important to Optimize Your Healthcare Director Profiles
Ask Patients for Reviews
Positive patient reviews are good for more than an ego boost. According to a recent survey, 72% of patients use online reviews as their first step to find a new doctor. About half (48%) say they would go out of their insurance network for a physician with favorable reviews.
To improve your online reputation, you should actively ask patients for feedback. There are several ways to ask for reviews, including:
- Posting a sign at check-out that asks patients to review your healthcare practice on Google My Business, Healthgrades, WebMD, or other specific review sites.
- Personally asking patients for reviews at the end of each appointment.
- Sending post-appointment feedback surveys that encourage patients to share positive feedback online.
Building an Optimized Website
According to BrightLocal, 10% of consumers who read a positive review will immediately contact a business, but 37% will visit the business’ website before they do anything else. This means you need a website designed to convince prospective patients that your healthcare practice is worth visiting.
Optimized healthcare practice websites have:
- A modern layout with easy-to-navigate web pages that look great on all devices.
- SEO-optimized web pages that are created to be found in search engines and answer prospective patients’ questions.
- Reviews and testimonials that demonstrate patient satisfaction.
- Prominent calls to action (CTAs) that encourage visitors to schedule an appointment.
If your website needs a makeover, don’t delay. More than one-third of consumers think a clear and smart website gives a local business more credibility, according to BrightLocal.
The Practice Growth Platform from PatientPop can help your healthcare practice improve its online reputation by helping you claim and populate online listings, gather patient feedback, highlight positive patient reviews, and build an optimized healthcare practice website. Learn more at patientpop.com.
