Serving your community with professional and ethical dental services should be your number one priority as a practitioner. However, you must still have an effective online marketing strategy to reach potential patients and maximize your conversions. Using patient reviews is a practical way to achieve your marketing goals.

With Online Reviews you can automatically request reviews from patients to showcase on top review sites like Google, Facebook, and Yelp. Still, it is crucial to understand how to earn and use reviews for the best results.

How Do Patient Testimonials Help a Dental Practice?

Over 80% of Google users read reviews to evaluate the quality of businesses like yours. In other words, when your happy customers post positive testimonials on Google, other potential patients see them and may choose your services.

On a more technical level, positive reviews impact your ranking in Google’s algorithm — meaning the more reviews your dental practice has, the more visible it is online. Ranking higher on Google is important because most people will not click past the first page of the search engine results when looking for a new dentist. Earning four and five star ratings helps more people find you, which is the first step to converting them into loyal patients.

What Should a Dental Practice Do to Earn Reviews and Testimonials?

Earning honest feedback from patients can be harder than it seems. However, collecting these reviews is an important first step in your marketing strategy. Before you try to solicit reviews from patients, examine how often people post about you across sites like Google, Facebook, Yelp, or other major platforms.

If your dental practice lacks reviews, leaving signs around your clinic or printing stickers for your doors and windows with instructions on how to post a review can help. You can also email or send a message to patients after their appointments, encouraging them to share their thoughts online. 

Your reviews and testimonials serve different purposes. A review is typically a general rating between one and five stars — sometimes with an option for your patients to share additional information. Testimonials are longer statements from patients discussing their experiences with your staff in detail.

One or two strong testimonials on the homepage of your website could convince visitors to choose your practice. Alternatively, reviews on your Google Business Profile page offer users a quick look at your practice while browsing the web. Both are important to use to market your practice.

What Other Strategies Can Your Dental Practice Use to Boost Online Visibility Through Reviews?

Knowing how to use customer reviews to generate interactions online is essential. Any time a patient leaves feedback, you should respond to it concisely and professionally. Practice-to-patient engagement shows users that you are active and receptive to concerns. 

Don’t worry if a few patients leave negative reviews now and again because you can use these to your advantage. Some online users may think bots generate all your reviews if you don’t have a single poor response, so one or two negative reviews can boost your other reviews’ credibility.

Feature your positive reviews on your website, social media, or in press releases because it is essentially free advertising. Good reviews show that your practice is trustworthy. It may even be worth quoting your reviews as a website brag line if you earn dozens of five-star responses.

How Many Reviews Do You Need?

Determining how many reviews your practice needs depends on your marketing goals. As a new business, earning seven to ten five-star reviews from local patients is a reasonable goal to set. 

It may be worth requesting a deeper testimonial from a patient who leaves a five-star review. They can post these on third-party sites to encourage others to explore your online resources. Remember not to pressure them with this request, or you could violate solicitation laws.

As your business grows, continue providing outstanding patient care and customer service to maintain a high ratio of positive to negative reviews. Earning dozens of five star reviews puts you above your competition on Google and exponentially drives new customers to your practice.

Dental Practice Solutions That Amplify Your Online Reviews

Earning and managing reviews doesn’t have to be tedious. At Dental Intelligence, we can help you optimize your online strategy. Schedule a demo today to see our Online Reviews in action!