Online Reputation Management Helps Doctors Help Others Effectively

Online reputation management services have become standard for many professions and businesses. Those in the medical field are realizing just how important their online reputation is, but many discover too late that their reviews online have the potential to empty or fill their waiting rooms.

More than 70 percent of patients seek information about their physicians online, and 72 percent report trusting these online reviews with the same degree that they would trust a personal recommendation from a friend or family member. It is crucial for doctors and medical practices to invest in online reputation management and take a proactive stance to capture and control their online persona.

In today”s age of social media, a reputation can be lost or made in mere minutes. Online content spreads quickly and a bad review from a competitor or disgruntled patient is not easily hidden in a stack of comments in search. The best defense of your online reputation is a good offense, therefore online reputation management should be a key component to any business plan. To start, it is best for individual physicians to fully know and understand their personal online reputation, as well as that of their practice. A simple Google search can answer any questions regarding public perception, and while it is easy to try to brush erroneous reviews off, it is important to remember that perception is reality, even if it is not truth.

It is best for physicians to respond to any critical comments by first correcting blatantly untrue information. If inflammatory content does arise, the situation should be handled head-on, but offline. If the comments are posted on third-party sites, doctors can have anything that clearly violates the site”s terms and conditions removed – this includes posts that contain any personal identifiable information.

Content creation is a strong weapon in online reputation management. Relevant, timely content will help push bad reviews down in search. Since 90 percent of searchers do not go past the first page of search results, and a full 99 percent are reported to not go past the second page, moving erroneous information down in search is effectively making it disappear. When medical professionals are proactive about creating content and branding themselves, they can “own” their online image. This ownership allows for bad reviews to be relegated to the bottom of search. Effective ownership can include buying website domains under the physician and/or practice names as well as creating social media pages and blogs (with Google Authorship credit) that point back to the practice.

It is important for doctors to remember that not all complaints are the work of a competitor or disgruntled employee. Some can be taken as constructive criticism and should not be disregarded as false just because they are critical. If there is a problem, it should be addressed.

Doctors can no longer ignore problems and hope that they go away. Medical practices are experiencing fierce competition and a physician”s reputation should be seen as their highest commodity. Good online reputation management practices can give doctors the edge they need to fill their patient rosters and create the best in compassionate care. Article Source: Olsztyn Ubezpieczenia

More About tadeusz.zygmuntowicz@o2

View Posts - Visit Website