Online reputation is just as important, if not more so than offline reputation. For a medical practice, this is especially true. Company reviews are easy to write and can significantly influence any business’s bottom line.
What Is an Online Reputation?
An online reputation says something about the people behind the website. This may highlight their hard work, compassion, or patient response time. An online reputation, much like an offline reputation, helps potential clients decide whether they want to work with you.
How To Measure Reputation Online
The metrics to measure an online reputation are much more concrete than trying to measure an offline reputation. They involve examining web traffic (how many page views a site receives), as well as conversion metrics, search engine rank, and subscriptions.
Web Traffic
Page views do not necessarily lead to new clientele. This can leave some businesses wondering “why bother tracking views to begin with?” Although web traffic is not the same as a conversion rate, it still measures the quality of a website.
Web traffic allows marketers to understand how long a user stays on the site. It also allows marketers to distinguish which pages are captivating enough to spend time on. Once a marketing pattern is established, a marketing campaign has a solid direction.
Conversion Metrics
Conversion metrics measure the interest of potential patients. This is done by looking at the call-to-actions ratio.
A call to action can represent new patients, returning patients, and total transactions. It also can represent non-financial based leads. These conversions measure information submitted, calls, appointments scheduled, or signing up for an account,
The conversion rate essentially measures how successful the site is at generating leads for a business. A basic formula goes something like this: the total number of new visitors/the total number of new visitors X 100.
Search Engine Ranking
Websites do not automatically appear on the first page of Google unless they are optimized. Online reputation influences the ranking of medical practice through high visibility and business reviews.
The more page views a website receives, the more likely it will boost the overall search engine ranking. When comments and reviews are posted this also affects the ranking. Even negative reviews can bump a website further to the top.
To have a positive online reputation, comments and reviews may need to be monitored. This will help increase the overall conversion rate.
Is Online Reputation the Same As Getting a “Good Review”?
In a word, no. Reviews dramatically help boost an online reputation, but they are not the only part of an online reputation.
Social media presence is a popular and effective way to manage online reputation. This is true for individuals just as much as it is for companies. Social media accounts help potential clients understand the values and style of communication a medical practice uses.
Social media accounts also have the added bonus of creating user engagement opportunities. Potential, current, and past patients can all comment on the site. This creates conversation and allows the business to explain any unanswered questions.
Newsletters are another way to control reputation. Regular newsletters allow subscribers to follow the business as it grows. Scheduled emails, can boost awareness as well as positive feedback. A newsletter is also a way to reach out to existing patients to discuss what works and what has been improved.
Managing Reviews
Online reviews are basically the same as word-of-mouth opinions. They usually carry more weight than the text on a landing page. In part, this is because reviewers do not have stock in the company and are writing without any strings attached.
Even with excellent service and strong communication skills, a business can generate negative reviews. This can be due to a number of reasons, not all of which are a medical practice’s fault. When a negative review occurs it is important to respond in an appropriate way to manage the business’s reputation.
Negative reviews from previous clients can feel like a punch in the gut and it’s understandable to want to write back in kind. Unfortunately, that will further damage the reputation of a business, even if the practice was acting correctly.
Answering these reviews with updated policies is just one strategy to handle complaints. Adding more positive reviews will often drown out one or two negative ones. The ratio of positive to negative views is extremely important for online presence.
There are several ways to encourage previous patients to leave reviews. Asking them directly is one way. Reaching out to patients online is another. Even creating online surveys can motivate previous clients to post positive reviews.
The Benefits of a Strong Online Presence
The benefits of a positive online presence are clear. An increase in traffic is more likely to reach potential patients that may not have heard of the practice. Sites that encourage user engagement can also boost reputation and ultimately sales.
Building an online reputation for a medical practice is more than just reaching potential clients. It’s about sculpting a business through the personalities of a company. This allows potential patients to trust the practice even before they’ve met a physician.
With all the research available through online marketing metrics, a practice’s reputation can quickly improve. By tweaking a marketing campaign to see which demographics are interested and how they are reacting to the site, medical practices have a much better chance of finding and retaining clients.
Working With a Marketing Team
Trying to market a website without professional help can backfire. Simply spending money on ads or one specific part of the campaign may leave companies struggling in the future. Knowing where to put the most effort is the first step of marketing a business.
Marketing firms analyze individual companies to see how they are currently doing and where they need to be. While these methods are similar in most marketing firms, medical practices are handled differently.
It is essential for a medical practice to have a positive online presence. A lack of clientele or negative reviews can greatly damage the offline reputation of the practice. To build and preserve a positive online reputation, contact Surgeon’s Advisor today.
