Drilling Into the Root of Online Patient Acquisition. Three Things to Consider.

Drilling Into the Root of Online Patient Acquisition. Three Things to Consider.

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  1.  Understand your online reputation and respond to reviews.

In case you haven’t noticed, the internet is vast. It’s tough to stay on top of all the places where people may be talking about and reviewing your practice. On top of that, responding to both positive, but especially the negative reviews can have a big impact on your online reputation. 

Logging into Google, Facebook, Healthgrades, and any and all other platforms can be a real time suck. It’s critical to have a single viewport into all of these review channels in order to assess what’s going on but also to simplify the review response writing process. 

Timely, effective responses to reviews are not always sexy, but they are definitely impactful.

  1. Getting seen in Google searches is actually simpler than you may think.

Millions of patients are searching online each day for dental practices. So it’s critical to ensure that your practice gets found online -- and it may be easier than you think. While some practices think they need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), in reality, a lot can be accomplished through 3 simple things:

  1. Star Rating -- 4.2 or Higher
  2. Lots of Reviews > Few Reviews
  3. Recency and Frequency of Reviews 

Number 3 is critical and far too often overlooked. Just because you have a great star rating does not mean you’ll show up at the top of the listings. It’s a MUST to have recent and frequent reviews. 

3. Engage with and convert new online visitors quickly.

Okay, so you’re generating reviews, your stars are solid and you're getting a good amount of weekly and even daily reviews. You’re all set! Not so fast. 

Reviews will help you get seen online, but won’t always lead to conversions - i.e. turning an online lurker into a patient. You’ve got to be able to connect with these new “lurkers” quickly and conveniently. And in today’s digital world that means thru webchat, text, or both!

We live in a world where quick solutions and answers are expected. If you’re not providing those, another practice will. 

What’s a webchat? 

  • A simple plugin for your website that enables two way chatting for new online visitors.
  • Allows patients to inquire about insurances, ask questions, and even schedule appointments.

In review: 

1-Understanding your reputation is the first critical step in order to improve and respond to online feedback.

2- Reviews: The more frequent the better. Stars and quantity are nice, but frequency can set you apart.

3- Connect with patients and people the way they want to connect, conveniently and digitally, either thru chat or text. 



Swell is a customer engagement toolkit that helps local businesses provide convenient online experiences and improve their customer interactions. Send Facebook messages, texts, or emails to individuals or targeted groups, all from a single messaging tool. Receive and quickly respond to webchats from site visitors. Let customers schedule their own appointments and submit payments online. Send surveys and respond to feedback, then gather reviews from all those happy customers. Business growth is all about engagement. Swell makes it simple.

If you are interested in SWELL or want to test them out for free, check them out here: https://info.swellcx.com/thedentalmarketer

Article was written by: Angelica Lopez from Swell

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