Every doctor now gets searched online, as many patients and prospects base their choices on reviews. Since they make judgments based on what they discover online, it's imperative to know what's being said about you so that you can manage your online reputation. Even if you execute caution on what your online posts are, someone else may say something negative or unfair about you. Here are strategies on how to protect online reputation for doctors.
Reputation Risks for Doctors
Some doctors may assume the best way to protect online reputation is to delete negative comments and hide behind security settings on Facebook or Twitter. But if people suddenly can't find you after reading a negative review, it raises questions. Keep in mind that everyone from celebrities to unknown clerks is at risk of facing negative online content about them.
A Deloitte
global survey of executives in 2014 found that reputation is considered the biggest business risk. In fact, 87% of the respondents said reputation risk was a greater concern than business strategic risks. Over 40% of executives fear the consequences of reputation damage can involve loss of revenue.
The biggest challenge is cleaning up the mess created by what other people say about you online. While you can control the content you post about yourself, you can't stop what others decide to say, whether they have a legitimate complaint or are just recklessly trying to damage your reputation. Perhaps they are a dissatisfied patient, a disgruntled former employee, a competitor or someone hired by a competitor to spread negativity.
Impact on Referrals
One of the biggest drivers of new leads in the healthcare industry is referrals. When you see a drop off in referrals it can be a sign that people are finding negative reviews about you online. So, be sure to Google search your name periodically to find out what others see. Keep in mind that not everyone is served the same results, since Google uses cookies that track your online interests. Each individual gets different results, so it's important to check on various computers.
A Harris Interactive survey in 2012 of 2,570 adults found that
48% of who Googled their own name said the results they found were not positive. Furthermore, 30% said they found results that were irrelevant. Those are pretty alarming statistics, considering Google is the world's most used search engine.
How To Protect Your Online Reputation?
Luckily, there is an innovative technology you can use to
track and defend your online reputation. One of these tools is Google Alerts, which sends you free notifications when new content based on your keywords appears online. Several other tools can help you track what people are saying about you or your keywords on social media. Here are additional steps you can take:
- find out who the people are that are posting negative comments
- if the information is false, ask them politely to remove the comments through a private message
- consider a service that scrubs online content
- review your own social media and blog posting and consider removing any content that may offend others
- purchase your own domain name and launch an official website so that you control content about yourself
- create many pages for your site to increase the odds that search engines will prioritize them
- Develop about 9 other web properties with regularly updated content including social media profiles to further dominate search results
Over to You!
It is crucial to protect your online reputation as a doctor since many patients now based decisions on online reviews. Stay on top of your own online content and consider hiring someone to manage your online reputation.
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