Dentist Reputation Repair: A Guide To Rebuilding Trust Online

Dentist Reputation Repair

Just like any other medical professional, dentists often struggle to rebuild their online reputation after it has been damaged due to unfortunate issues. Dentist reputation repair plays a major role in rebuilding the practitioner’s online reputation and ensuring their long-term success. It is extremely crucial for dentists to survive in this competitive dental industry. 

Did you know that companies with a negative online reputation are more likely to experience a loss of nearly 41% in their brand value and overall revenue? If you fail to repair your online image, you may face similar consequences for your dental practice. 

To help you deal with crises, we’ve come up with a complete guide to online reputation repair for dental professionals. Here you’ll learn about the possible online crises a dentist can face, how they can overcome those, and restore their positive online reputation. Let’s get started!

What Is Online Reputation Repair? 

It requires you to manage and improve how you or your business is perceived by online users. Most significantly, you need to rebuild your online reputation if any negative information or review has adversely affected your digital image. 

Businesses or individuals need to monitor their online presence, address negative issues, and promote positive content to restore their positive public image. 

What is Online Reputation Repair for Dentists? 

It refers to the process of resolving a dental practitioner’s online reputation-related problems and repairing his/her reputation across online platforms. The process of online reputation repair also involves the best practices to mitigate the potential damage from an existing negative reputation of a dentist. 

With the right strategies, a dental expert can rebuild a positive reputation online and regain their patients’ trust. 

Everyone who has sought dental care services from your clinic has the right to review your practice online. While the satisfied ones can leave positive patient feedback, others can write negative reviews about it. 

A negative reputation can significantly overshadow the value of your dental expertise and achievements. It doesn’t matter how premium your dental care services are; there will always be some negative sentiment regarding them. 

Is It Possible to Fix A Completely Damaged Online Reputation of a Dentist? 

Yes, definitely! Online reputation repair for dental professionals is not a myth. Every problem has its own solution. It can take a significant amount of time to fix a completely damaged online reputation of a dentist. But dental practitioners can rebuild their patient trust and repair their online image with effective strategies and a proactive approach. 

They need to actively manage their dental practice’s reputation online, address negative feedback, and encourage more positive reviews from their satisfied patients. Dentists can implement impactful strategies or hire a renowned online reputation repair agency to strategically rebuild their patients’ trust and improve their reputation online.

What Factors Influence the Online Reputation of Your Dental Practice?

‘’It takes too many good deeds to build a reputation and only one bad one to lose it.’’

– Benjamin Franklin

Just the quote says – just a single negative reputation can destroy all the good efforts you have made.

Your dental clinic’s online image depends on what others have to say about it. While you don’t have direct control over it, you can influence their opinions by managing certain factors. Thus, you must have a clear idea of the factors that can significantly influence your dental practice’s online reputation. 

A dentist’s online reputation is either positively or negatively influenced by the following factors. 

  • The quality of dental care treatment services you offer 
  • The quality of your patient service
  • Social media interactions with followers 
  • Online patient reviews and ratings of your dental clinic
  • Online reach of your dental clinic     
  • Your nature of responding to negative online reviews 
  • Your activity on various online platforms 

When Should Dentists Repair Their Online Reputation? 

Check out the other factors that indicate when you need to prioritize dentist reputation repair to mitigate the impact of a negative online reputation. These factors also show why a dentist can have a negative reputation online. 

  • Negative reviews by unhappy patients 
  • Negative spam reviews by competitors or bots 
  • Unfortunate incidents like patient safety issues or poor quality treatment services 
  • Inaccurate business information across online platforms, like the wrong contact number or address of your dental clinic 
  • Online arguments with patients who have given negative reviews 
  • Lack of online engagement 
  • False online information about your dental treatment approach 

Effective online reputation repair gives the loudest voice to your opinion as a dentist to surpass the ongoing online negativity related to your dental practice. So, if your online reputation has been tarnished due to certain factors, you must consider repairing it with impactful strategies.

How to Repair Online Reputation for Dentists: Top 15 Effective Strategies 

“Unfortunately, your reputation often rests not on your ability to do what you say, but rather on your ability to do what people expect.” 

–  Bryant H. McGill 

Your potential patients may turn to search engines to learn about your practice if they need any dental care services. If the first page of Google shows some negative content or reviews of your dental practice, it’s time to repair your online reputation. 

Want to know why? 

Because you may be losing hundreds of your prospects due to this negative online image. 

We’ve discussed the top 15 effective online reputation repair strategies for dentists here. Follow these strategies to rebuild your dental clinic’s reputation if it’s struggling with a negative online image. 

Just a strategic approach and a little patience! And your dental practice is all set to build a loyal online patient base. 

  1. Find The Root Cause of Your Reputation Crisis
Find The Root Cause

There will always be some patients who won’t think twice before leaving a bad review online for your dental service. It is also possible that there might be some underlying cause behind the online reputation crisis of your dental practice. 

No matter what the matter is, you must find out the root cause of it. If you don’t have a clear idea of why you’re struggling with a negative online image, you cannot resolve the issue and rebuild your reputation as a dental specialist. You must find the underlying issue and examine whether it can be managed by you or not.

What if things take unwanted turns? 

When you repair your dental clinic’s damaged reputation, certain things are not in your control. For such cases, you can seek professional guidance from an expert online reputation management team. Check out the tips to find the main reasons for your online reputation crisis and create a roadmap for your dental reputation repair strategies.

  1. Google your dental clinic’s name and see what comes up as the search results. 
  2. Carefully track whether there are any negative reviews, outdated information, or even false claims about your dental clinic. 
  3. Set up Google Alerts or other reputation tracking tools to monitor your dental clinic’s online mentions. 
  4. Try to understand where the online negativity is coming from and why your patients are saying bad things about your dental clinic. Try to figure out –
  • Is it a patient security issue at your clinic? 
  • Did you fail to deliver on a promise? 
  • Is it something related to a customer service issue? 
  • Did a competitor release negative content online to paint your clinic in a negative light? 
  1. You must analyze the source of your negative reviews. Additionally, assess the impact of your reputation crisis beforehand to take the necessary precautions. 
  1. Monitor What’s Said Online About Your Dental Practice
Online Monitoring

Monitoring everything related to your dental care business is crucial to understanding what is being said online about it. It’s extremely crucial to dentist reputation repair. The earlier you have a clear idea of what the issue is, the better you can handle it later and prevent the potential damage. 

You must be constantly looking for whether there is any potentially damaging information online about your dental practice. What people are saying about the dental care services you offer and the customer service your clinic provides. Tools like Google Alerts work great for such purposes.

As soon as someone mentions your name online with good or bad intentions, Google Alerts will notify you via email. Check the following process to use Google Alerts to monitor what’s said online about you. 

  1. Enhance Your Search Engine Ranking with SEO
Enhance Your Search Engine Ranking with SEO

Before we talk about this strategy in detail, let’s first have a clear idea of SEO. 

What Is SEO? 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is a digital marketing technique that helps businesses rank their website higher on the first page of relevant online search results. Likewise, it helps dental professionals rank higher on online search result pages for relevant keywords. 

Nowadays, most people search online to learn about a business. Effective SEO optimization strategies can help professionals make their site more visible online and repair their damaged reputation. So the prospective clients can easily find their business online. 

How Can a Dentist Make Their Practice SEO-friendly? 

SEO optimization ensures the search engine results paint a trustworthy picture of your dental practice. With effective SEO best practices, you can positively influence the online results when people search for your dental clinic or keywords relevant to your business. 

Dentists need to make their online presence and website content SEO-friendly to rank on the search engine results page (SERP). Let’s explore how they can do it. 

  • Keyword Research 

Dentists need to find keywords relevant to their practice with the help of tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs. They must choose the keywords with higher search volume and lower ranking difficulty.

Using long-term keywords with more than three words (e.g., ‘best affordable dental practice’, ‘root canal dental services’, or ‘top orthodontic specialists’) in their content can help dental professionals target specific patient markets.

Additionally, they can also use local keywords like ‘top dentist near me’, ‘best dental clinic in city’, or ‘emergency dental care hospital in my locality’ are best to attract local patients and rank for local searches. 

  • On-page Optimization 

This is the process to optimize your entire website content and online presence. The following are some major on-page elements where you must incorporate the selected keywords. 

  1. Meta title and description
  2. Title tags 
  3. Header tags like H1, H2, H3, and so on 
  4. Image Alt text to describe the images you have incorporated in your content 
  5. Site URLs
  6. Body content 
  7. Internal links 
  8. Blogs 
  9. Body content
  • Off-page optimization 

Now, dentists need to optimize the off-page elements of their website to ensure the success of the dentist reputation repair process. From managing social media to acquiring qualified backlinks, off-page optimization covers everything that happens outside a dental website. They need to acquire backlinking and guest blogging opportunities from authoritative dental and other medical websites. 

Additionally, they must share engaging, informative, and promotional posts across popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Off-page optimization also requires dentists to manage their online brand mentions and reviews.

  • Technical Optimization 

Do you know that you cannot rank your poorly functioning website, no matter how well you’ve optimized the on-page and off-page optimization? 

You must ensure your dental website functions seamlessly across every screen size and device. The pages load fast, and the navigation is easy for visitors to understand. Dentists must choose a mobile-responsive design for their website as 64% of website traffic comes from mobile devices.

They must incorporate a schema markup code in their website URL to help the search engines understand and effectively display their website content in their search results.

  • Local SEO Optimization 

This process requires you to optimize your dental website with location-specific keywords. They need to claim their Google Business Profile and incorporate the NAP details about their dental practice, like the name of the practice, address, and phone number. Claiming profiles in local directories and building local citations can help a dentist establish a strong presence in the local healthcare market. 

How Will SEO Work for a Dentist’s Reputation Repair? 

When a dentist optimizes their website with SEO keywords and performs the above-mentioned practices, it will naturally rank their website on search result pages. 

For example, a potential patient has seen a negative review about your dental clinic. But they will also see that your website continuously appears at the top in the results of their dental care online searches. It will generate a sense of interest in them regarding your dental practice and encourage them to visit your site. 

Furthermore, you need to create positive SEO-friendly content that can also significantly repair your dental clinic’s online image. Search engines love fresh and original content, and so do your potential patients! Your potential patients will be able to easily find your dental practice online, which ensures a constant flow of new appointments. 

  1. Audit Your Negative Online Reviews 
Audit Your Negative Online Reviews 

Review management plays a crucial role in repairing the online reputation of dental professionals. What are people saying about your dental practice online? This is the first question you’ve to find answers for. 

Review management plays a crucial role in repairing the online reputation of dental professionals. What are people saying about your dental practice online? This is the first question you’ve to find answers for. 

You need to audit your negative online reviews to track what people are saying about your dental clinic online. Explore how you can audit your negative reviews.

Step 1: Search online about your business – the best way to do it is to Google your dental practice’s name and monitor the results.

Step 2: Discuss with your customer support team regarding the feedback you’re receiving from your patients with your customer support team. 

Step 3: You can also track Google reviews and other review sites like Amazon, Yelp, and so on.

Step 4: Social media platforms like Facebook are another significant place to notice how your followers and other social media users are perceiving your dental care practice.

Step 5: List the negative sentiments from the past 1-2 years. Tools like Review Trackers and Free Review Monitoring can provide all the data in a spreadsheet. 

Step 6: Identify any negative sentiment that has appeared three or more times in the last 1-2 years. 

Step 7: You can discard any sentiment that appears less than three times, unless the review makes a serious accusation of an illegal situation. 

Step 8: After that, your job is to categorize complaints based on type. You can make a final list for the client in an easy-to-read format. 

Step 9: The data is now ready to summarize your findings and figure out a solution. 

  • After performing a detailed review audit and try to find the answers to the following questions. 
  • Are you receiving more negative reviews than others? 
  • Do you have better dental reviews on a particular site than others? 
  • What is the most common feedback you’ve been receiving regarding your dental practice? 
  • Which dental treatment service is receiving more negative reviews than others? 
  • Are your competitors leaving negative reviews about your dental practice? 
  • Has a competitor crafted a comparison blog about your dental care business? 
  • Have any of your social media posts backfired on you on social media platform

Through these answers, you can identify the root cause of your negative online reputation. 

  1. Bury Negative Reviews and Search Results with Positive Content 
Bury Negative Reviews and Search Results with Positive Content 

According to a Wisernotify study result, one unaddressed negative review can drive away 30 out of 50 customers. Thus, it’s crucial to surpass the negative reviews and search results to avoid serious consequences in the future. This is a significant part of dentist reputation repair strategies. 

You need to create positive content to showcase your dental expertise and credibility. 

  • Informative blogs
  • Research-based articles
  • Social media posts 
  • Frequently asked questions 
  • Podcasts
  • Guest blogs

Did you know search engines love such engaging and informative content and prioritize these sites to rank in their search results? 

These types of content can push down the negative search results about your dental clinic. It can fill the first pages of relevant search results with positive information about you.

  1. Respond to Negative Reviews Appropriately – It’s Essential to RESPOND
Respond to Negative Reviews

It’s not a great idea to ignore the online negative reviews, as it can seem that you’re agreeing with the complaints. It can also show that you don’t value your patients’ opinions and are not flexible enough to improve your practice. 

You cannot respond in the same way to every negative review. Different reviews come from different scenarios and require different responses. However, the common ground here is that you need to respond quickly to every negative review you receive, even the spam.

Yes, you have heard this right! Follow the tips to learn how you can professionally respond to the negative reviews. 

  • As a dentist, you need to understand the specific issue raised by the reviewer before you respond to them. 
  • Always respond to the complaints without being defensive. Try to offer a solution instead of arguing with the reviewers. 
  • You should always consider bad reviews as great opportunities to improve your dental care services. 
  • Not all the negative reviews are fake. You need to identify whether the bad reviews have come from your existing patients. If yes, you need to resolve their issues and showcase how much you value your patients’ opinions. 
  • Your response should be professional and shouldn’t initiate any online arguments. 
  • Negative reviews can be hurtful, so you shouldn’t take them personally. 
  • If you’re at fault, you must sincerely apologize for the negative experience a patient may have had at your clinic. 
  • For the negative spam reviews, you can address the reviewer and ask them to provide details of their identity and other references to get a solution.

When Not to Respond to Bad Reviews? 

If the reviewer uses a suspicious review site to leave their genuine feedback, you shouldn’t respond to those reviews. You must check whether there is any option to delete or edit the reviews. If not, then you must avoid responding to those reviews as an online response is a waste of time. For such reviews, you can try to fix the issue offline. 

For example, someone has personally attacked you through a review or made a defamatory remark. You shouldn’t respond to those reviews and report them for violating the review guidelines. Responding to such reviews can trigger higher search rankings for these, and more prospective patients will be able to see them. 

  1. Remove Negative Reviews and Content from the Internet
Remove Negative Reviews and Content from the Internet

Now that you’ve already identified and responded to the negative reviews, it’s time to remove the ones that have violated the online review guidelines. Negative reviews and search results removal is a crucial process of dentist reputation repair.

Firstly, understand one thing – the internet is full of people who have the right to leave a negative review about your dental practice, use foul language, make defamatory remarks, or even attack you personally. 

You cannot stop them! But you can remove those reviews and results from the internet by reporting them and providing necessary proof. 

Ways to Remove Negative Reviews from the Internet

Explore how a dentist can remove negative reviews from the internet. 

  • You can contact the author or the site administrator to request the removal of the negative review. 
  • You can craft positive content about your dental expertise, achievements, and credibility to mitigate the negative impact of those bad reviews. 
  • You can also contact the team of the review sites if any review has violated their terms of service and appeal to them for the removal. 
  • Furthermore, you can report those reviews (it’s one of the most effective techniques to remove a bad review). 

Follow the steps to do it effectively – 

Sign in to your Google Business Profile Manager > Locate the Review > Click on the three dots in the upper right side > Click on ‘Flag as inappropriate’ > Choose a reason why the review has violated Google’s policy > Click on ‘submit’. 

Helpful Ways to Remove Negative Content from the Internet

Let’s learn about how you can remove negative search results from the internet.

  • Once negative information circulates on the internet, it is difficult to remove it. But you can contact Google and ask the team to remove the content/page/site from its listings. 
  • Before that, you can check Google’s Removal Policies to learn more about it. It will help you give a clear idea of the type of content they remove. 
  • Even if Google removes the content from their listings, you need to contact the site’s webmaster and request that they remove the content from their site. 

Note: If the content doesn’t appear in the Google listings, it doesn’t mean that the content no longer exists on the web. 

  • You can report and appeal for the removal of a negative comment about your dental practice if the comment has violated the Google Content Guidelines
  • If the comments fall under the purview of copyright infringement, you can prioritize the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This act can take down any content, files, infographics, and videos from the internet due to copyright violations. 
  • Reputed agencies often provide professional online reputation management services for dentists that include the removal of negative reviews, comments, and content from the internet. 
  1. Set SMART Goals to Boost Your Brand Reputation
Set SMART Goals to Boost Your Brand Reputation

It’s important for you to set realistic goals. Let’s face one thing – 

You cannot repair your completely damaged reputation within one week! 

Just like any other online reputation management practice, online reputation repair for dentists requires you to put constant effort and needs significant time to show your desired results. Thus, dental practitioners need to set achievable goals. 

We suggest you set SMART goals to repair your dental practice’s online reputation. Wondering what SMART stands for? Let’s learn more about this. 

What Does SMART Stand for? 

It stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. It refers to a parameter that requires you to set realistic and achievable goals for your business’s online reputation. 

  • Specific – It refers to what specifically you want to achieve through the dentist reputation repair strategies. 
  • Measurable – You must ensure that the end result of your reputation repair goal is measurable, such as a certain amount of time within which you want to repair your dental practice’s online reputation. 
  • Achievable – All negative content cannot be removed from the internet overnight. You need to give the process enough time to show your desired results. Just as we’ve said before, you need to set goals that are achievable. 
  • Relevant – You must perform the best practices that are relevant to your online reputation repair goals. Focus on the intent and the specific result you want to achieve. 
  • Time-bound – You cannot take forever to get the desired results from your reputation repair strategies. That’s why you need to set a time limit to repair and build your dental practice’s online reputation. 
  1. Be Vocal About Your Practice’s Bright Side, Promote Yourself
Be Vocal About Your Practice’s Bright Side, Promote Yourself

It’s you who will promote what is the best thing you can offer as a dentist! 

There will be no one better than you who can promote your dental practice most effectively. If you’re not vocal about your practice’s bright side, the negative online sentiment can wash down all the good things you can offer. 

In today’s competitive healthcare scenario, you must know how to impactfully promote your dental clinic. You need to showcase that your treatment services are exactly what your potential patients are looking for. Positive reviews from your satisfied customers are not enough. You need to speak out loud – you’re offering the best dental care services. 

This is crucial for pushing down all the negative reviews and content in the search engine ranking. You can promote your dental practice through –

  • Promotional blogs
  • Paid Google and social media ads 
  • Social media posts 
  • Guest posts 
  1. Partner with Influencers to Spread the Word

We suggest you connect with the influencers in your industry to promote your dental practice across social media platforms. You can collaborate with those with a significant number of online followers and a good online reputation. Through different projects, you can partner with them, promote each other’s content online, or engage in meaningful conversations. 

For instance, your dental clinic sells a dentist-prescribed toothpaste and toothbrush. You can ask the influencers to promote your products on social media in exchange for freebies, goodies, discounts, or other rewards. 

You can also feature their promotions on your official website and repair your online reputation through their endorsement. Additionally, you can invite them to collaborate on a podcast or host a webinar with them.

  1. Guest Post Your Content on Leading Dental Websites 
Guest Post Your Content on Leading Dental Websites 

This is another essential strategy for dentist reputation repair across online platforms. Check out the steps to get meaningful guest posting opportunities for your dental practice.

Step 1: Firstly, you need to make a list of the top websites relevant to your practice. Always choose those websites that have the highest domain authority. 

Step 2: You can ask the site owner or the business to post your content on their website. This will significantly increase your dental website’s online visibility.

Step 3: This way, you can reach your practice to the target audience of that authoritative site. The more exposure you get, the more opportunities there are to promote the positive sides of your dental treatment services. 

Step 4: You can also post their content on your website in exchange for their guest posting opportunities.

When your prospective patients see that authoritative and renowned websites are posting your content on their site and promoting your services, it’ll generate a sense of trust and confidence in them regarding your expertise. This is a great way to regain your patients’ trust and repair your damaged digital reputation as a dentist. 

  1. Hire a Professional PR Team to Handle It More Tactfully

What is better than seeking professional help? Nothing, we say!

Dental professionals must prioritize hiring an expert team of public relations (PR) professionals to convey a compelling narrative and secure positive media coverage. They also help the dental professionals with –

  • Crisis management 
  • Mitigating the impact of negative publicity 
  • Positive news coverage regarding your dental clinic 
  • Promotion of your patient testimonials and treatment success stories 

A skilled PR team can identify your online reputation crises before they escalate further. They can also help you manage crucial reputation related situations and maintain a good reputation online. 

  1. Promote Your Positive Reviews and Testimonials
Promote Your Positive Reviews and Testimonials

You must control your online reputation by encouraging positive reviews from your happy patients. Did you know that 3 out of 4 customers trust a company more because of their positive reviews? 

You need to encourage more positive reviews through emails and other media. You can ask your satisfied customers for feedback regarding the experience they had with your dental care services. 

Follow the tips to encourage reviews from your patients. 

  • You can send email reminders to those clients who recently sought dental treatment services from your dental clinic. 
  • You can also send follow-up emails if the recipients still haven’t shared their online reviews. 
  • It is also recommended to include calls to action (CTAs) in your site that can land the patients on a review site where they can share their feedback. 
  • You can add links to your review page in your social media profile and request those patients (who are already your followers as well) to review your dental practice. 
  1. Avoid Online Arguments, A Big NO No
Avoid Online Arguments

Have you initiated an online argument with the reviewers who have posted negative reviews about your clinic?

It’s a big mistake you must avoid while repairing your online reputation. A huge section of the world’s population is on the internet. So remember one thing – your entire argument will be witnessed by not only your prospective patients but also every internet user. 

Will it convey a good impression of you as a dental professional? The answer is NO! 

There will be many instances when someone will say negative things about you or your dental practice using foul language. They will intend to provoke your reaction and engage in an argument with you. 

Never participate in such arguments! Instead, you can be logical while responding to those negative reviews. We suggest you handle things offline and try to mend things up in a professional way. Your professionalism speaks about your credibility and authority. Your calm behavior is the key to winning more patients than winning an argument online. 

  1. Keep Calm as This Shall Too Pass!

Negative comments, search results, and reviews are a part of running any business, especially if it’s associated with any medical practice. Nowadays, people trust online reviews just as they used to have faith in personal recommendations.

An Electro IQ study result has shown that almost 88% of people trust online reviews as much as suggestions from their friends and families. You can calmly handle those negative reviews and implement our strategies for dentist reputation repair. 

This negative online reputation will not stay forever! Your constant efforts and strategic approach can help you regain your patients’ trust and rebuild a strong, positive digital image of your dental practice. 

Major Benefits of Implementing Online Reputation Repair Strategies for Dentists

Before the internet took over all our lives, medical professionals like dental specialists used to rely solely on word of mouth recommendations and traditional advertising to build their online reputation. 

But things have changed drastically in recent years! 

Google your dental practice and check whether the results show negative content. If yes, then you must take it seriously and consider some best practices to get your online image back on track. The following are some major advantages dental professionals can leverage if they implement our proven online reputation repair strategies. 

  • Re-gained Patient Trust 

Patients want to spend their money on medical services they trust and prefer. Potential patients and even your existing patients may lose their trust in your expertise due to your negative online image. Online reputation repair strategies for dental practitioners involve the generation of positive reviews and the publication of positive content, which helps professionals to regain their patients’ trust.

  • Attracts New Patients 

Online reputation repair for dentists requires optimizing the website for search engine result pages. This can lead to a strong online presence and a top search engine ranking, which makes it easier for their potential patients to find a dental business. More visibility results in more patient acquisition. Positive reviews from satisfied patients also expand the online reach of a dental practice and attract more patients. 

  • Offers Competitive Edge 

Dental professionals can stand out from the healthcare market competition with a good online reputation. Online reputation repair strategies involve the promotion of your dental expertise through positive reviews and engaging positive content. It can differentiate your clinic from the competitors and help you gain a loyal patient base.

  • Enhanced Credibility 

Dentists can rebuild their patient trust, attract new patients, and improve their search engine rankings with effective online reputation repair strategies. These can enhance the dental expert’s credibility and contribute to a stronger online presence. Through these practices, you can influence your potential patients’ perceptions regarding your dental practice and boost its success. 

  • Improved Online Visibility 

As a dentist reputation repair strategy, you need to perform SEO best practices for your dental website. A SEO-optimized website can earn a top position in the search engine results page (SERP) and make your dental practice more visible online. When your practice appears more often on the first page of the search engine results, the likelihood of it getting noticed by potential patients increases. 

  • Increased Patient Retention 

Dentists need to positively respond to negative reviews and proactively address the significant concerns. It naturally improves patient satisfaction and loyalty, resulting in repeat business or increased chances of future appointments. A strategic approach to online reputation repair for dentists can immensely help dental professionals increase the retention of their existing patients. 

Tools You Can Use to Repair Your Dental Practice’s Online Reputation 

Apart from your strategic approach to repairing your online reputation, you can also employ some useful tools to boost your efforts. Here we have mentioned the five most useful tools that you can use to track and repair your dental clinic’s online reputation. Let’s have a look. 

  • Google Alerts – A free tool from Google that sends your email notifications when your target keywords, your dental practice’s name, or any other related phrases are mentioned online. 
  • Meltwater – It’s a comprehensive media intelligence platform you can use for social media monitoring, media analysis, and influencer outreach.
  • Brand24 – You can use this tool to track online mentions of your dental business across various digital platforms. This tool is best for public sentiment analysis and offers some exceptional reporting features. 
  • Mention – It’s a social media and web monitoring tool that dental professionals can use to track their online mentions, analyze public sentiment, and manage online reputation. 
  • Brandwatch – A powerful social listening tool that works exceptionally well for in-depth analysis of online conversations and trends.

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions about how dentists can repair their online reputation. 

Q1. How long does it take to fix a bad reputation for dental clinics?

There is no specific time for this. The duration depends entirely on various factors, including the severity of the damage, the chosen online reputation management strategies, and the level of proactivity in your approach. However, you can notice significant improvements within a few months if you hire a professional ORM team.

Q2. Can I repair my dental practice’s online reputation myself, or do I need to hire an agency?

We’ve already discussed the proven strategies that you can implement to repair your dental practice’s online reputation. However, we recommend seeking professional guidance to ensure the most effective approach and the success of your efforts.
Although these DIY efforts are helpful to some extent, you must hire a reputable online reputation repair agency to handle complex situations more comprehensively. Such agencies often have a team with skilled ORM professionals who have the knowledge and expertise to develop and implement tailored strategies to repair a dental practice’s online reputation. 

Q3. Will negative content about my dental clinic disappear completely from the internet?

No, we can guarantee that all the negative information can be completely removed from the internet. It can be suppressed or overshadowed by sharing the positive content. You can push down the negative search results by optimizing your dental website to organically rank it on search results.
Additionally, you can send review requests to your satisfied patients and encourage them to share their genuine feedback regarding your dental services. These practices can create a dominant, positive online presence for your dental practice. 

Q4. Can online reputation repair guarantee a positive image?

Your aim must be to build a positive digital image online. But unfortunately, no reputable ORM services or even constant dental reputation management efforts can guarantee a specific result. However, you cannot expect an instant result. There’s no need to be disheartened! With the right strategies and persistent efforts, you can improve your online reputation and build a positive digital image over time. 

Q5.  I have recently been receiving too many negative reviews for my dental clinic. What can I do to rebuild my positive image? 

The first thing you can do is to find the root cause of these sudden spamming of negative reviews. Once you’ve found that, you can appeal to the review sites to remove those spam reviews by reporting them. If those are not spam reviews, you can politely respond to the negative feedback and assure the reviewers that you will improve your dental care services. 
A little apology can be a great help in such situations! To suppress negative reviews, you can request that your satisfied patients leave their positive reviews on digital platforms. However, we suggest you hire online content removal services from a reputable agency to seek professional guidance. 

Q6. Should I respond to negative online reviews, or is it best to ignore?

Yes, you must respond to the negative reviews to prevent further damage. Even for the spam negative reviews, it’s better to respond to demonstrate your accountability and prove them as false reviews. For example, a person pretending to be your patient can be exposed with your review response. 
However, you must respond professionally to avoid online arguments and show your patients how much you value their opinions. With the right response, you can turn these negative reviews into positive ones. Ignoring is not a great option as it can leave a negative impression and escalate the issue. 

Conclusion 

If some negative information or reviews about your dental practice are circulating online, there are possible strategic ways to mend it. Due to such issues, your dental practice may struggle with a negative online reputation. If you use a strategic approach to repair your digital reputation, you can regain your patients’ trust. 

You can build an in-house team and instruct them to follow the dentist reputation repair strategies we have discussed in this blog. However, hiring a reputable online reputation management agency can help you get the professional guidance to repair your dental practice’s online reputation. 

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