Online Reputation Management For Doctors
Regrettably, we live in a litigation society. Despite the fact that nearly every doctor makes every attempt to provide the best possible treatment to each patient, it is often impossible to keep everyone satisfied. When patients are displeased with their doctors, they commonly use internet means to convey their dissatisfaction. Worse, some doctors become embroiled in lawsuits and, through no fault of their own, receive negative press attention, which can lead to lost business and a ruined reputation. But is this all just one more of the downsides to 21st practice as a doctor? It does not have to be. Online reputation management for doctors, as both a public relations and marketing strategy, has become a standard service for some forward-thinking PR companies. Pearl Lemon PR is one of them.
Why A Doctor's Online Reputation Matters Rather than begin by offering a long explanation about why your online reputation matters as a physician, we thought we’d let these numbers from recent research studies speak for themselves: ● 85 percent of Internet users between the ages of 18 and 65 believe online reviews and evaluations posted by those they don’t know are as trustworthy as personal recommendations from friends and family.
● 33% of Millennials – those born between 1982 and 2000 – actively look for healthcare information online and on message boards and are likely to give greater weight to information provided by medical professionals. ● 72% of adult patients begin a search for a new doctor online via a Google search rather than via their health insurer’s provider portals. ● 84% of patients say they research new primary care physicians and other medical practitioners online before visiting a doctor’s office. ● Positive internet reviews persuade 48% of patients to seek treatment outside of their insurance network because they value quality of care over cost.
What Does Online Reputation Management For Doctors Entail? Most doctors who do seek help with online reputation management do so because something negative is impacting their personal professional reputation and/or that of their practice. It’s obviously a good reason to do so, and in the right hands, in those of a specialist practitioner like the Pearl Lemon PR team, it can be surprisingly effective.
Dealing with Negative Reviews and Media Coverage Repairing a damaged online image is not easy, though. The fundamental fact about online reputation management for doctors is that negative reviews and negative news coverage do not go away. Once a review has been left for them on a site like Yelp!, Healthgrades, Google My Business and more, removing it can prove almost impossible, even if it is unfair. Some doctors even go as far as to pursue expensive litigation to have them removed and fail.
What’s the best way to get rid of negative content? By replacing it with a simple formula for success: take advantage of Google’s search algorithm by developing valuable content that pushes unfavorable content linked with a company’s name past the first page. It isn’t something that happens overnight. And saying it can be done is easier than doing it. However, there are specific white hat PR and marketing tactics that may be used to rebuild your internet image, regardless of your industry. Tactics that the Pearl Lemon PR team are considered proven experts in (and we have the testimonials to prove it) as leading providers of online reputation management for doctors.
Promoting a Positive Online Image As you know, prevention is always better than cure. So why wait until negative online content threatens to damage your reputation before actively working on your online reputation management for doctors? Building a positive reputation online via effective PR and marketing strategies offers all kinds of advantages. Not only will you help create a positive search profile for potential patients to discover during their online research, but many of the online reputation management for doctors strategies we make use of at Pearl Lemon PR will even improve your SEO, allowing those patients to find you first, ahead of your competitors.
Review Management for Doctors Not only are there more people reading reviews, but there are also more people writing them. According to the Pew Research Center, 38% of customers never submit internet reviews for items or services. However, this is changing. In 2020, 72 percent of Americans said they had left a review for a local business, up from 6 percent in 2019. As a result, it’s critical to keep up with new reviews about you or your clinic. This can be very time-consuming, however, which is why many doctors and healthcare practices don’t do it. Working with Pearl Lemon PR means you’ll have a dedicated team watching ALL the review sites at ALL times, allowing you to offer thanks to those who leave positive reviews and address any negative reviews immediately. A measured response to a negative review can often turn it into a positive! We will also help you implement ways to encourage more of your patients to leave reviews, something that will boost your SEO as well as your online reputation.
Thought Leadership for Doctors When it comes to healthcare services and doctors, consumers search for more than just reviews. They, like everybody else, are increasingly using Google and the Internet to investigate health disorders, healthcare treatments, and other health-related concerns. If you and your clinic provide the factual, helpful content people need, they are much more likely to schedule a consultation with you. Additionally, they will already have the impression that you are a reliable, knowledgeable source of valuable information.
Written content is a good place to start, but videos, podcasts, and even television and radio appearances can all help you establish yourself as a thought leader in your profession. The person who the media, in all of its manifestations, looks to for trustworthy information. We call this thought leadership in marketing and public relations, and it can be a powerful force for doctors’ online reputation management and brand development success in the proper hands.
At Pearl Lemon PR, we use tried-and-true tactics to position our clients as thought leaders. We assist you in identifying and leveraging earned media opportunities as well as developing the most effective owned media. We can also provide media training if you have no prior experience in front of a camera or behind a microphone.
The Pearl Lemon PR Difference Pearl Lemon PR’s seasoned staff goes above and above for every client when it comes to online physician reputation management. With a full-service public relations campaign, we can also help you promote your clinic as the go-to location for healthcare advice and treatment, even for people who (think) they don’t like doctors. Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can assist you.