What Is Online Review Management: Everything You Need to Know

If you work as a dentist, you are aware of the significance of having a good online reputation. After all, potential patients will often research your practice before they book an appointment. Online reviews are among the first places they’ll look.

That’s why it’s so important to have a solid online review management strategy in place. But what exactly is online review management? And what do you need to do to ensure your dental practice has a good online reputation?

In this blog post, we’ll answer all of those questions and more. We’ll go through everything you need know about online review management, from how to get more positive reviews to how to deal with negative reviews. We’ll also introduce you to some helpful online review management tools.

Read on for some helpful tips whether you’re just getting started or searching for ways to enhance your existing strategy.

What Is Online Review Management?

Online review management is the process of monitoring and responding to online reviews of your business. This can include anything from setting up Google Alerts to track new reviews to regularly checking sites like Yelp and Facebook.

It’s important to have a good online review management strategy in place because potential patients will often research your practice before they book an appointment. And one of the first places they will look is online reviews. In fact, according to a recent study, 72% of patients say that positive online reviews are an important factor in choosing a doctor.

How to Get More Positive Reviews

You can encourage your patients to leave positive reviews in a few different ways.

One way is to ask them. You can do this at the end of their appointment or send them a follow-up email or text message. Many dental practices also post signs in their office asking patients to leave a review.

Another way to get more positive reviews is to offer an incentive. For example, you could offer a discount on future services or a free teeth whitening kit. Just be sure to check with your state dental board first to ensure this is allowed.

Finally, you can also use dental appointment reminder software or dental billing software that allows patients to leave reviews directly from their accounts. This is a great way to make it easy and convenient for patients to leave a review, increasing their chances of doing it.

How to Deal With Negative Reviews

No matter how hard you trying, there’s always a chance that a patient will leave a negative review. But don’t worry—there are ways to deal with negative reviews positively.

You should first reach out to the patient directly and try to resolve the issue. Often, addressing the problem head-on will be enough to get the patient to take down their negative review.

If the patient doesn’t want to take down their review, your next best option is to respond publicly. This shows potential patients that you’re willing to listen to feedback and make changes based on it.

Having a policy for dealing with negative reviews is also a good idea. This way, you and your staff will know exactly what to do if someone leaves a negative review online.

Online Review Management Tools

A few different online review management tools can help you keep track of your online reputation.

One option is Google Alerts, which allows you to receive email notifications whenever new content is published that contains your specified keywords. This is a great way to track new reviews of your dental practice so you can quickly respond if necessary.

Another option is Yelp for Business Owners, which gives you access to a dashboard where you can track and respond to reviews. You can also use this tool to post special offers and announcements.

Conclusion

Online review management is an important part of running a successful dental practice. By monitoring and responding to online reviews, you can help ensure potential patients have a positive impression of your practice. And by using some helpful online review management tools, you can make the process easier and more efficient.