3 Reasons Doctors Must Manage their Online Reputation

Do a quick Google search for yourself and your practice. Ask yourself these two questions: Do the search results provide accurate and positive information about you? If you were a patient would you be swayed to pick up the phone to schedule an appointment?

Whether you’re happy with your online reputation or not, this is a task you should perform often. Managing your online reputation is essential in today’s age, where millions of pages of new content and consumer reviews surface the Internet each day.

Still not convinced? Here are the top 3 reasons you must manage your online reputation:

1. 80% of consumers go online to read information about doctors. Before choosing a health provider, most patients search online for practice websites and patient reviews. It’s important to not only make sure patients are finding your website, but also that they’re impressed by the information search engines to provide. This is where search engine optimization can be of help to you and your practice! Learn more here.
2. Establish patient trust. Seeing you and your work online helps develop a personal relationship with patients before they even set foot in your office. Making sure patients come across your impressive achievements and positive patient reviews will establish trust and credibility for you and your practice.
3. A first impression is everlasting. In most cases, your online reputation is your first impression—who you are online is who you are to potential patients. Gain control of your online reputation!

Here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling:

• Stay alert: Set up Google alerts for your name and practice name to receive email updates whenever you’re mentioned online. You can also use tools like Twitter Search to monitor what people are saying about your brand on Twitter.
• Build your own brand: Start by claiming and building out your Google+ Local listing. Also, start blogging and work on optimizing your website in search engines. This will help you control what’s ranking for your brand name and keep any negative mentions off of top Google pages. Join social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Your social media presence also influences your rankings within search engine results pages.
• Encourage patient reviews: Patient reviews have tremendous power in search engines. Encourage patients to post positive reviews to your Google listing.

Need Help Managing your Online Reputation?

At MyAdvice, we provide a variety of services that help enhance the online presence of healthcare practices worldwide. Contact an MyAdvice representative and ask us about our Internet marketing services.