Dentists - How To Police Your Online Reputation For Free (Really)

More and more dental practices are encouraging patients to post testimonials or comments on public review sites.  At the same time, one of the most common concerns I hear from doctors is, “How will I know if a patient says something bad about me online?” Let’s face it, today’s online patients are both more social and vocal.  While many dentists understand it’s more important than ever to provide excellent customer care, even the best provider is susceptible to an occasional rant.

The easiest (and free!) solution to help monitor your online reputation is to subscribe to Google Alerts.  To set up alerts, visit www.google.com/alerts.  You can then enter:

  • Search terms. For example: Your name or practice name.
  • Search type. I recommend a comprehensive type.
  • How often you want to receive updates; ie:  As it happens, once a day or once a week.
  • Length of email updates. The number of search results, up to 20 or 50.
Then enter your email address and click “Create Alert”.  You will then have at least one cyberspace monitor who is watching out for you.  Help protect yourself from online negative word of mouth (or perhaps you’ll discover a compliment!) … It doesn't cost anything to police your online reputation, yet it can prove invaluable.

Rita Zamora is a relationship-focused dental marketer, specializing in referral marketing, patient relations, case acceptance and social media for general and specialty practices.  Rita developed her referral marketing expertise working hands-on in specialty and general dentistry practices.

Share this post
Tags
Archive
Sign in to leave a comment
Facebook's latest revolution