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Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

a10 Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | September 2014 Industry News Ad Online reviews dramatically change the way patients choose a dental care provider. Eighty-eight percent of con- sumers trust online reviews as much as personal recom- mendations.1 In the highly competitive world of dentistry, online reviews can substantially impact the growth and profitability of your practice. Here are three principles to help you protect your online reputa- tion, ensuring your high-quality reviews get in front of prospective patients searching for a dentist: Online-review rules you should follow • Make sure your published reviews get in front of pro- spective pa- tients. It’s im- perative that your online re- views are pub- lished to a site generating or- ganic prospec- tive patient traffic and has tools that convert that traffic into appointment requests. Healthgrades is an example of this, boasting over 220 million annual visitors and more than 20 million visitors looking for a dental care provider. Last year Healthgrades Enhanced Profiles from Sesame Communications were intro- duced in the dental industry. With an En- hanced Profile, your high-quality, verified patient reviews are automatically populat- ed and allow prospective patients to click- to-request an appointment. A recent study by Sesame Communications found that dental care providers with a Healthgrades Enhanced Profile publish an average of more than 21 online reviews and generate 11 appointment requests every month.2 • Keep track of your online reputation. There is always the possibility your pro- file will encounter a negative review. This is easier to track when reviews come from your verified post-appointment surveys. Keeping track of online reviews across the Internetcanbeachallenge.Utilizeaservice from a reputable vendor that can traverse major review sites and return the results to you. Also, make sure you publish a suf- ficient volume of positive reviews. They will put infrequent negative reviews in the right perspective. • Address every negative review. Dealing with a negative review isn’t easy, but quick- ly addressing the issue can have a positive outcome. Contact the reviewer immediate- ly, apologize where appropriate and then ask the reviewer to re-submit their review. The best review sites will override the negative review with the new review, en- suring the reputation of your practice is ac- curately represented. Final thoughts The weight prospective patients put on online reviews continues to grow. By pub- lishing reviews where prospective patients search for a new dentist, keeping track of what patients are saying about your prac- ticeonlineandquicklyaddressingnegative reviews, your practice can use this power- ful medium to promote the value of your practice and expand your loyal patient community. (Source: Sesame Communications) ÿ References 1. http://searchengineland.com/88-consum ers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal- recommendations-195803 2. Sesame Communications Research Brief, 2014, Healthgrades Enhanced Profiles™: Patient Acquisition Performance Metrics Safeguard your reputation with these three principles It’s critical to ensure that high-quality reviews are getting in front of your prospective patients. Photo/ Sesame Communications

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