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Any practice needs a steady flow of patients coming through the door in order to be successful. Besides your website, many patients use online directories and reviews to find a practice and schedule an appointment. These are among the top channels in the decision making process.

Here’s a brief overview of the whats and whys of online directory listings and reviews and how they affect a patient’s decision to choose you as their healthcare provider.

Patients Find Your Practice Outside Your Website

Patients often come into contact with your practice outside of your website. In fact, 58.6% of patients choose a provider based on information they find outside of a provider’s website – maps, mobile applications, and online directories.

Inaccurate Information Drives Patients Away

We check and monitor practice data on 68 online locations. There’s a good chance yours appears in many of these locations (even if you didn’t create them).

And there’s a better chance that some of your listings contain incorrect data. Inaccurate data leads to a negative experience before patients even walk through your doors.

Quality Listings Lead to Better Search Results

Accurate information signals to search engines that your practice has a higher level of credibility than one that has not maintained its data. Algorithms use accuracy to determine a ranking in search results and the increased used of mobile search makes accurate data vital.

Online Reviews Encourage Confidence in Your Practice

Online reviews are often one of the final pieces of information that prospective patients use before deciding that a practice is right for them. Your practice’s success is directly tied to its online reputation.

Accurate Listings Affect Your Online Reviews

Many online directory listings let patients leave an online review, but inaccurate online listings may result in duplicate practice listings being created. Patients may leave reviews in scattered locations, instead of your genuine practice listing.

The result is that you may experience a drop in search results because your best online reviews point everywhere except your primary practice listings.

To check your directory listings across 60+ websites in less than a minute, visit www.checkmylistings.com