CDEN0110

I 21 business _ online reputation I cosmeticdentistry 1_2010 Therearemanydentalpracticesthatbidmorethan US$6 for every click, resulting in thousands of pounds spentonAdwordseachmonth.Oneparticularpractice IamawareofspendsmorethanUS$3,000amonthon Adwordsandclaimsthecostis“wortheverypenny”.As withalladvertising,therearelimitations,evenbeyond expense. Ads are companies promoting themselves, andtoday’ssavvyconsumerrecognisesthisandfilters information accordingly. However, even the world’s leading search engine recognises the extreme power and relevance of word-of-mouth feedback. Google recently expanded its offerings to enable consumers to search for and compare local businesses online. Try searching for a dentist in your area by typing in your postcode followed by the word dentist in the Google searchbox.Amapwithalistingoftendentalpractices willbedisplayedabovethenaturalsearchresults. To the far right of each listing is a link to reviews. This is where a consumer can view what your patients say about your practice. With this Google has hit the referraljackpot:thisfunctionalityleveragesconsumer relationshipsandcapitalisesontheinherentcredibility of the first-person testimonial. This is a priceless in- tangible—somethingadvertisingdollarsjustcan’tbuy. _Build your reputation So how do you, as a dentist, take advantage of this new tool to guide and shape your online reputation? It is important to remember that this is not a practice snapshot in time, but rather a reputation built and sustainedovertime.Yourbestchanceofsecuringand maintaining a ‘top-ten’ placement is to be amongst the first to populate your Google profile—and to keep a steady stream of relevant reviews and quality prac- tice information flowing in to Google. You can do this oneoftwoways:passivelyoractively. The passive approach: you can hope the patients who visit your practice have the wherewithal to create a Google account, find your Google profile, and submit a review. This requires time and effort on your patients’ part,andstafftimetoinformpatientsandpromotethe process.Evenifyourstaffarededicatedtomakingyour patientsawareoftheonlinereviewprocess,youcanonly hopepatientsremembertofollowthroughoncetheyget backtotheirbusyschedulesathomeandwork.Ifhistory isanyguide,apassiveapproachwillresultinoneortwo reviewspostedoverthecourseofseveralmonths. Theproactiveapproach:today,theonlyintegrated approach to proactively managing your online re- putation on Google is through companies such as Demandforce (http://demandforce.com/), an online patient-communication company. They recently an- nounced a data integration agreement with Google thatenablesdentalpracticestopopulatetheirGoogle profileseasily,includingpostingreviewsdirectlyfrom dataoriginatingfromtheircommunicationsystems. With Demandforce, each patient is automatically sent a thank-you e-mail message after each appoint- ment. As part of the thank-you, they can choose to submit a confidential survey of their visit, as well as a public review. You can read the reviews of your practice and post a response or ask for a review to be removedifitdoesnotmeetstandardpostingrequire- ments.Aftersevendays,thedataisautomaticallysent toGoogletopopulateyourprofile. This proactive approach results in dozens of reviews beingpostedtoyourprofileeverymonth.Inadditionto Googlereviewmanagement,Demandforcewilloptimise your profile by submitting additional information such as specialties, languages spoken, insurance accepted, hoursofoperationandaffiliations.Youcanalsochoose to integrate online scheduling directly into your profile. The new Google review functionality is included at no additionalcostwithastandardmonthlysubscription. Whether you opt to take a passive approach or a proactiveapproachtobuildingyouronlinereputation, Ihighlyrecommendyoutakechargetoensureitaccu- rately reflects and therefore benefits your practice. Your online reputation is your business and those practices that realise this early on will have a signifi- cantheadstartovertheirpeers. Solicited or not, online reviews are here to stay. Ourpatients’satisfactionandtheirresultingword-of- mouth referrals will always be our bread and butter; only the serving plate has changed. What are you do- ingtoshapeyouronlinereputation?Haveyougoogled yourpracticeoryourcompetitorslately?_ Dr Lorne Lavine is founder and president of Dental Technology Consultants, a company that aims to address the specialised technological needs of the dental community. He can be contacted at DrLavine@ TheDigitalDentist.com. _about the author cosmeticdentistry