Did you know that 94% of patients consider online reviews when they’re looking for a dentist? Furthermore, nearly 72% of patients look up dentist-specific review sites to help them in their search.
In our modern day and age, when people need to find a dentist, they’ll probably look to reviews to lead them in the right direction. If potential patients can’t find you online, they might not find you at all.
If your dental practice is struggling to attract patients, the culprit may be a poor online presence. Local businesses are 1.4x more likely to have an average star rating of 4.5 or higher if they prioritize their online presence. And since 38% of consumers only consider engaging with businesses that have at least a 4-star average rating, putting in the effort is well worth it.
So how—and where—do you start collecting reviews for your dental practice? Allow us to help you out.
Why are Reviews Important in the Dental Industry?
First, let’s go over a few basics. Why do reviews matter so much in the dental industry? The answer is simple: Reviews are the key to winning business.
Patients expect a smooth end-to-end process—from the moment they first visit your website or physical practice. They want it to be easy to find you, easy to work with you, and easy to spread the word about you. And reviews help with all of those things.
Furthermore, people don’t want to leave their mouths in the wrong hands. One bad dental experience can lead to years of anxiety or pain—or both. Your dental practice’s online reviews can help your potential patients feel confident that you’ll take good care of them. It will give them an idea of what to expect if they choose to book an appointment with your team.
As a dentist or someone in charge of running a dental office, here’s why you should keep the reviews coming:
- Reviews build trust before a patient even steps into your office.
- Reviews will put your patients’ minds at ease.
- Reviews are the modern-day word-of-mouth—and people take those recommendations seriously.
- Even poor reviews are an opportunity for you to improve your practice.
4 Dentist Review Sites You Should Be On
While you do want to have a presence on Facebook and Google, you should also consider specialized, dentist-specific review sites. Here are the top 4 sites we’d recommend.
1. Zocdoc
Zocdoc is one of the most popular dental review sites—and for a good reason. Zocdoc allows people to find highly-rated, specialized, in-network providers. It also allows people to filter by location, appointment availability, virtual appointment availability, and more.
Upon searching and clicking on a dentist’s name, the user will be taken to that dentist’s Zocdoc profile where they’ll be able to read through reviews from other users. If they like what they see, they can schedule an appointment directly from Zocdoc.
Want to list your online practice on Zocdoc? Click here.
2. Vitals
Vitals is another popular online database of online reviews for facilities and doctors that patients use to find doctors in their local neighborhoods.
Vitals doesn’t just offer basic contact and location information. Instead, it invites patients to review various aspects of their visit to your practice, including the accuracy of their diagnosis, whether or not the staff is friendly and helpful, bedside manner, and more. Patients also have the option to filter reviews by star rating and book an appointment directly from the Vitals platform.
Own a practice? Click here to get started on Vitals.
3. Healthgrades
Next on the list is Healthgrades, one of the top-rated online databases of doctors and dentists. Like the platforms listed above, it allows users to read through reviews from your patients, find information about your practice, and book an appointment with your team. Users can filter their searches based on location, specific needs, and more. You can get a lot of eyes on your practice by listing it on Healthgrades.
Want to get started? Claim your free Healthgrades profile here.
4. CareDash
Last, but certainly not least, is CareDash. CareDash is dedicated to providing reliable reviews—every review on their platform goes through an approval process. This is a win-win for patients and providers. Patients get trustworthy opinions, and providers can rest easy, knowing that they don’t have to worry about spam reviews.
The CareDash platform allows patients to rate providers based on treatment quality, bedside manner, communication, wait times, scheduling, and more.
Click here to list your business on CareDash.
3 Tips to Get More Reviews for Your Dental Practice
Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Knowing where to gather reviews is a great starting point. But if you’re not sure how to gather reviews, you won’t get very far.
1 – Create In-Store or Digital Signage
Whether it’s printed in-store or shows up as a reminder on your website, people are 12% more likely to leave a review following a good experience if they see a sign that asks them to. Something as simple as a reminder sign on your reception desk or a pop-up on your home page can yield amazing results.
2 – Send Review Invitations via Text
One of the best ways to ensure your patients leave a review is to make the process as easy as possible. And text makes it easy to do that.
Consumers are actually twice as likely to choose text over other forms of communication. And more than a third of the people who are asked to leave a review via text actually follow through and do it.
