Many patients use online review sites to find a new doctor, validate their choice of physician, or evaluate a doctor they’re already seeing. If you’re looking to acquire new patients, having a stellar online reputation is crucial. Having no reviews or negative reviews can deter potential patients, while great review profiles can be used as effective marketing channels. Here are the top five review sites that every doctor should be on.
1. Google My Business & Google Reviews
- Google reviews show up in Google search results under the map
- Google reviews can help with organic rankings
- Patients searching for doctors near them on Google Maps will be able to quickly decide on a provider based on the ratings and reviews
2. Facebook
- Facebook is the top social network
- Facebook is more social and interactive than other review sites; friends can see each other’s reviews, promoting brand awareness and brand advocates
- Having a Facebook business profile has multiple purposes – you can also use it to share photos, videos, promotions, updates, etc. with patients
3. Healthgrades
- Healthgrades has the most monthly traffic among doctor-specific review sites (30 million visitors per month)
- Healthgrades provides extensive information about health care providers – patients can search by insurance, distance, review, gender, age, availability, etc.
- Doctors can display specialties, board certifications, conditions treated and procedures, education, awards, and more
- Patients can rate doctors and staff on more detailed criteria, such as trustworthiness, how well the doctor explains conditions and answers questions, office environment, etc.
4. RateMDs
- RateMDs has over 2 million active ratings on the site
- RateMDs allows you to easily view the top 10 doctors of each specialty
- RateMDs also gets visitors for their health news & forum sections
- The rating system is simple, with options to rate the staff, punctuality, helpfulness, and knowledge
- RateMDs profiles display key information that a patient may be looking for, including credentials, insurances, addresses, phone numbers, and websites
These days, a majority of patients evaluate a doctor’s online reputation before deciding to schedule an appointment. No matter how beautiful your site is or how informative your content, it’s important to have great online reviews to gain the trust of new patients.
