Dentists Check Themselves Out Online

The vast majority of dentists in this survey report they’ve searched for themselves online. Google, of course, was the leader.

“For marketing, all dentists should know 1) where they are on search engines, and 2) what is being said about them,” said one dentist.

Here are some other thoughts from dentists about dentist review websites:

• “If you have a website on the internet, you better search your site at least monthly to see where it is positioned on the search engines!” (Ohio prosthodontist)
• “It’s a good idea to see what your patients are reading about you.” (New York dentist)
• “It is amazing how much information is incorrect and not entered by me. For example, I moved to another area of the country, and the websites still had me listed under an address from 4 years previous!” (Illinois periodontist)
• “I have heard that there are places where upset patients can go and leave a derogatory message and you have no way to refute it?? Is this true??” (California orthodontist)

Editor’s Note: That is essentially correct. While many consumer review sites allow you to respond to negative reviews, not all do. The most troubling example of this is Yelp. In fact, a California dentist recently filed a libel lawsuit over a bad review on Yelp.

Read more: Dentist Review Websites Now Part of Internet Dental Marketing