By: Melody Gandy-Bohr

In a society where 80% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations, reputation is everything. Your practice’s success is directly tied to its online reputation. If a potential patient reads a favorable review, their trust in your practice grows, though a negative review could turn them away. Maintaining a positive reputation can be a source of anxiety for many practices, but with the right strategy, it doesn’t have to be. Follow these tips to successfully build and improve your practice’s online reputation.

Create Good Content

What do patients look for when they’re searching for a healthcare practice? For starters, a professional website that is mobile-friendly. Visitors to your website are likely to look you up on their smartphone, so make sure your website renders properly on mobile devices.

Next, make sure that your website features relevant content that is both informative and grabs the visitor’s attention. If your website doesn’t convince the visitor that your practice is what they’re looking for, they will quickly click away. It’s crucial to your online reputation that your website leaves a great first impression.

Now that you’ve made a good impression, how do you keep visitors coming back? Whether it’s regular updates to your website or to your integrated blog, generate new content on a frequent basis. Not only does this give visitors a reason to keep checking out your website, this increases engagement, which in turn increases the likelihood that those visitors will convert into patients. An improved online reputation and more patients through your door? That’s a win-win.

Post, Tweet and Share

When it comes to spreading the word about your practice, it’s not about who you know, it’s about who knows you. Your followers on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter can improve your online reputation for you. Engaging with followers on social media helps promote your practice to a wider audience. Every like, comment or share from your followers will be seen by their followers in turn. Share your blog posts or new offers with followers. You’ll be surprised at the positive response from this effortless form of marketing.

Don’t forget to check back in regularly and update your social media accounts consistently. Building a strong following on social media doesn’t mean just setting up a business page. You need to engage with your followers to keep them talking about your practice. Remember, the only thing worse than having an unfavorable reputation is not having a reputation at all.

Respond to All Reviews – Not Just the Nice Ones

In an ideal world, all of your practice’s online reviews would be positive. No one wants to receive an unfavorable review, but they’re bound to happen. What matters most is how you respond.

A kind, thoughtful response shows that your practice values its patients, and prospective patients who read it will take notice. The best possible outcome of a negative review is that the reviewer is so appreciative of your response, they update their review to be more favorable.

Responding to a positive review is equally important. Positive reviews can be contagious! When a patient leaves a glowing review of your practice and you respond with a genuine ‘thank you’, another patient may moved to leave a review of their own. Before you know it, your practice’s online reputation has dramatically increased – and all it took was a ‘thank you.’

Your Online Reputation Matters

The number of consumers searching for doctors online is on the rise, so your practice’s online reputation matters more than ever. Your practice needs a strong online reputation to compete with competitors. Like Rome, your online reputation won’t be built in a day. But if you put in the necessary work on a consistent basis, you’ll get there! Engage with patients online, respond to reviews in a timely manner and, it can’t be stressed enough, be consistent.

No time for reputation management? Let Officite take it off of your plate, so you can get back to running your practice. Talk to an Officite Web Presence Advisor today to learn how we can boost your practice’s online reputation.