Yelp Keeps Calling Me! What Do I Do?

First of all, do you have any idea what Yelp is selling?

In 2012, Yelp became a publicly traded company on the US stock market, so revenue is more important than ever. Today, about 70% of Yelp’s profit comes from paid advertisements, like those the company solicits you for by phone. Your listing at Yelp is free, so what do you need to pay for? Yelp offers local advertising on search engine results pages for a business’ location. The company can also add your information to your competitors’ Yelp listing (not search engines) and remove their advertisement from your Yelp listing. In addition, the paid services can include a slide show, call to action button, and video on your Yelp listing. Packages start at $300 and go up to about $1000 per month, according to Yelp’s advertising page.

Does your dental office need Yelp’s paid service?
As of January 2013, Yelp had over 100 million visitors per month, and about a third came from mobile searches. This sounds huge, right? Well, Google was pulling in 100 billion searches per month in late 2012. In July 2013, Bing claims to have had over 19 billion searches, and Bing is second to Google in the search market, so there’s no one in between. Yelp, however, is not a search engine – it’s a review site, like CitySearch. Google has a review site, Google+ Local, and then there’s Yelp. There are also industry-related review sites, like the government-based HealthGrades.com, and paid review sites like Demandforce and Rate a Dentist. Angie’s List also comes to mind. There is no unbiased research to tell us how many people search for dentists on any particular review site, so we have to make informed decisions based on our best judgement. Enter the statistics… Read More

Google Alerts: Look Who’s Talking

Have you ever wondered who’s talking about you, and your dental practice, online? You might have googled your name to see where and how often you show up in search results. Oftentimes, however, dentists aren’t aware of being mentioned by a patient, in a social media post or online review. While it isn’t foolproof, Google Alerts is a tool that can let you know who’s talking about you on the Internet.

How Alerts Work

Google Alerts will send you an email, in real time, daily, or weekly, with links to where your name was mentioned online. If your name is posted on any page that’s indexed by Google, you should receive an email alert. Like I said, it’s not foolproof, and not everything online is followed by Google’s robots. For instance, pages with a “no follow” tag in the code are not indexed.

How to Get Alerts

First, you need a fee GMail account. If you don’t have one, get one now. The logins you use for your Gmail account will allow you access to Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, Google+, YouTube, and all other Google-owned applications. Once you’re inside your Gmail dashboard, click “More” on the top of the page, in the navigation. From the dropdown list, choose “Even More.” You’ll land on a page with all of Google’s cool applications. Scroll down to the category “Specialized Search,” and select the bell icon next to “Alerts.” Read More

10 Tips for Promoting Your Dental Office

Since the big bang of cosmetic dentistry has begun to falter, many dentists are left in a marketing void. How can a cosmetic dentist transfer back into doing a lot of bread-and-butter, general dentistry? Perhaps you’ve invested a lot of time and money into marketing cosmetics, only to find that the trend became commonplace. While you may have extensive training and a great before-and-after gallery, most consumers believe that all dentistry should be cosmetic these days. The upper middle class public is well versed in the top cosmetic dental procedures, like teeth whitening, veneers, and invisible orthodontics. Now, your cosmetic practice has to compete with other cosmetic dentists, as well as all general dentists. Don’t worry. I have 10 tips that, if you follow them, will keep the calls coming, the chairs filled, and the bills paid.

  1. Branding & Signage: If your sign says “cosmetic dentist,” that’s exactly what people think you are. Add “and general” to your description, and consider including “family dentist,” if the term applies. See more about dental logos here. 
  2. Website: Your website should reflect your image and appeal to your target market. A template site without a strategy won’t do much good. You need a website that sets you apart from other dentists, and that site should be well optimized for search and mobile compatible. Learn more about dental websites here. 
  3. Blog: Google’s experts say that there’s no excuse for a business not blogging. Today, blogs are an essential component of competitive online marketing and search engine optimization. Read about dental blogs here.
  4. Social Media: All businesses need a presence on Facebook. Not only will it help with SEO, but a Facebook profile makes a dentist seem more technically up to date. Image is important! Find out more about social media marketing here. 
  5. Articles & PR: Articles and press releases about your practice, services, events, and new employees can become a strategic part of an online marketing campaign. Gone are the days when press releases had to be peddled to newspapers and radio stations. Today, articles and press releases help with SEO. Read about content marketing here. 
  6. Eblasts/Newsletters: Keeping a patient costs a lot less than replacing one. In addition, word-of-mouth (or word-of-mouse) marketing is the most economical and rewarding type of advertising. A monthly e-blast or newsletter will allow your brand to remain in your patients’ minds between their visits. Electronic reminders also provide a digital tool for quick and easy word-of-mouse marketing. Eblasts can be emailed or posted to Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn with the click of a button. We create newsletters and eblasts – learn more here.
  7. Ask for Referrals: Don’t forget to ask your patients for referrals. Find the phrasing that you feel comfortable using, and start telling your returning patients that you want to take care of their friends, family, and coworkers.
  8. Testimonials: In the past, a written note card of thanks from a patient made staff and dentist feel like they did a good job. Today, online testimonials, like those posted on Yelp and Google+ Local, can significantly help SEO and rankings. If you don’t have a plan in place to acquire patient testimonials, it’s worth your time to create one. A few good reviews could score you page-one rankings.
  9. Videos: Videos are a great way to show off your office, staff, technology, and personality. Video patient testimonials are also impressive. But if you take the time to create videos, don’t forget to optimize them so that they show up in Google search results. Videos need a keyword-rich script behind them so that they can become an active part of your SEO strategy.
  10. Photos: A picture’s worth a thousand words, they say. With dentistry, it’s true. Before-and-after photos, smiling patients, happy staff, and a clean, welcoming office can all be conveyed in photos. Make sure that your website, blog, and Facebook page are well peppered with your original photographs – not just stock images. Technology is great, but the heart of dentistry is personal – it’s about people. Photos can convey that you still believe, people come first.

To learn more about building a thriving practice in a waning market, call MDPM Consulting today for a free marketing analysis. Jill, our CEO and  seasoned dental marketing consultant, will be happy to answer all of your questions. Our team will analyze your online presence, interview you about your current and past marketing, as well as your target market, then create a practical success plan with measurable goals. Call today: 972-781-8861, or email info@moderndentalmarketing.com.

Social Media and SEO in Dental Marketing

While MDPM Consulting does condone the use of social media in dental marketing, and we even offer an ebook on the topic, we don’t believe that social media should be the focus of a dental marketing strategy. Much like printing a brochure or running ads in a publication, social media marketing is just one element that can be integrated into a larger, full-scale dental marketing program.

If you’re interested in learning the latest about social media marketing, I recommend you subscribe to www.socialmediaexaminer.com. If you listen to the podcasts and read the blog, you’ll learn how to engage with your potential and current patients through social forums, like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Read More

How to Get More Patient Testimonials

Inspirational speaker Zig Ziglar said, “When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.” Though his hay day was during the 90s, Zig’s words still ring true. Dentists in private practice are also business owners, and marketing is an essential part of their success.

Keep an Eye on Your Reviews

Yellow Pages advertisements and direct mail are no longer the leaders in dental practice marketing. We now have Internet marketing and search engine optimization to understand. Even more recent, online reviews (aka patient testimonials) have entered the picture. Many dentists are shocked to find negative online reviews, sometimes from people they never saw or treated. I have seen defamatory reviews that refer to a dentist as a “mouth rapist,” and others posted by people who didn’t like the way the office phone was answered. Disgruntled patients sometimes don’t want to pay their dental bill, so they vent frustrations in a scathing online review.

Studies tell us, 70% of web users believe what they read online from other consumers,

so your online reputation is important.

Rarely can a dentist get a negative review removed by a patient — or the website on which the review is published. In fact, many dentists have lost lawsuits trying to clear their name and regain their good online reputation. If you find a negative online review, the best way to address it is to first post a level-headed reply, backed by facts and steeped in compassion. If you are not a talented writer, enlist the assistance of a professional writer. Read More

Reduce Your Risk for Bad Reviews from Dental Patients

This article isn’t about reputation management, Yelp!, or choosing verbiage to respond to negative patient reviews. Instead, I want to discuss how your team members’ words and actions are interpreted by patients.

Most often, dentists who receive bad reviews that mention kind, caring, reputable team members feel betrayed by the reviewing patient. Doctors may also question what’s occurring at the front desk, on the phone, and at check-out, when he or she isn’t present. How can you know that your team is taking great care of your patients? How can you make sure that their words and actions are positive in the eyes of your patients?

How We Get Offended

In most cases, a feeling of being offended is the fault of the offended, not the offender. Think about it: Someone cuts you off in traffic and you get angry. Perhaps the rude driver did it on purpose, but most likely he was negligent rather than vengeful. What made you angry? You assumed the driver cut you off on purpose. You made an assumption that may or may not be true, and because of this assumption, you got angry. If you could write a review about that driver, it would surely be negative!

Now, let’s apply this to a scenario in your front office. Read More

Grade Your Front Office Team, Dentists!

Do you wonder how your front office team handles calls? At MDPM Consulting, we’re problem solvers. In some cases, we build a dental website that draws excellent traffic, but something mysterious keeps the dentist’s appointment book from filling up with new patients. We analyze user experience, look at how long visitors remain on various pages of the website, where they enter and where they leave. In most cases, everything seems perfectly aligned for transition – that is, the potential patient has every reason to book an appointment. What’s the stumbling block?

Returning Emails Correctly

Do all of the email forms on your website work? Do the emails funnel to one person? What’s your office’s procedure for returning emails? Digital communication is not going away. In fact, texting is replacing email, in many cases. A dentist should have full confidence that: 1) email forms on the website work; 2) a team member returns emails and texts within 24 hours; 3) all emails and texts that do not transition into new patients are kept on a list for weekly follow up calls until the potential patient responds. Also, email signatures should be consistent throughout the practice. Every team member who might communicate via email needs to include the dental practice logo, website, and phone number in his or her email signature. Read More

HIPAA Forms on Dental Websites: Are You in Compliance?

As a dental marketing firm, MDPM understands the rules and regulations dentists are held to – the standards for doctors are much higher than those for professionals outside the medical industry. Recently, the ADA distributed an electronic newsletter that mentioned the requirement for dentists to have HIPAA privacy practices displayed on their websites. Are you in compliance with this federal regulation?

The Mandate for HIPAA Notice on Dentist Websites

Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45 – Public Wellfare states:

(3) Specific requirements for electronic notice. (i) A covered entity that maintains a web site that provides information about the covered entity’s customer services or benefits must prominently post its notice on the web site and make the notice available electronically through the web site.

How Dentists Should Comply

Current clients of MDPM should send their HIPAA forms via fax (877-492-8838) or .pdf file (seo@moderndentalmarketing.com), and we will immediately post your form, which will be your notice and, thus, will make your practice compliant on this issue. If you are not an MDPM client dentist, contact your current webmaster and request that your HIPAA form be posted as soon as possible. Should you run into problems, feel free to call MDPM for assistance. We are here to serve dentists with reliable, compliant dental marketing solutions.

If you do not have a HIPAA form, visit the ADA website for more information.

Read More