Get More Patients With Dental Reputation Management Software
More 5-star reviews = more patients. See how the right reputation management platform helps you grow trust online and bring in new business.
- 9 min read
- Nov 2024
-
Federico Cala
- Originally published 01/16/21,
- updated 11/08/24
- by Federico Cala
Key Points
- Reviews drive decisions — over 75% of people read reviews before choosing a dentist, making reputation management essential for growth.
- Software simplifies success — platforms like BirdEye, ReviewTrackers, Podium, and RepuGen help collect, monitor, and respond to reviews efficiently.
- Positive reviews boost SEO — consistent 4–5 star feedback improves visibility in Google’s Local 3-Pack and organic search rankings.
- Turn negatives into wins — reputation tools help resolve issues privately, turning unhappy patients into loyal advocates.
- BirdEye stands out — our top recommendation for dentists, offering automation, review monitoring across 150+ sites, and SEO-friendly microsites.
When it comes to online reviews, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing. And glowing, 5-star reviews of your practice are a really good thing.
Meet Sarah — she’s new in town and wants her teeth whitening done before her best friend’s big day. Where does she start? Online reviews.
She’s scrolling through what people say about their experiences with local dentists. That’s how Sarah decides where to go — and where your practice can really stand out.
- 75% of people read online reviews when checking out local businesses
- 61% visit 2-3 review sites before making a decision
- 54% would only consider a visiting business with a minimum of 4 stars
Imagine that! Nearly everyone deciding on a dentist checks out what others are saying first. And with only 1.5% of people regularly writing reviews, you need a way to boost those numbers.
Good reviews (and lots of them) will give your practice a major competitive advantage and are a critical part of a modern dental SEO strategy.
How do you get there? What’s the best way to drive a steady flow of positive reviews and control how you’re viewed online? Dental reputation management software.
What is dental reputation management software?
Simply put, dental review software is a tool that helps you collect, manage, and showcase the reviews your patients leave. Why bother? Because in a world where everyone Googles everything, those online reviews are gold. They’re the first thing that potential patients like Sarah see when they’re hunting for a new dentist. Plus, good reviews also get Google’s attention, helping your practice appear higher in search results.
A strong digital public image can’t happen overnight — it takes time, growing 1 online review at a time. With this in mind, dentist review management software is a comprehensive, long-term tool designed to monitor what people say about you, boost your practice through more positive reviews, and correct negative patient experiences.
How dentist reputation management software helps
You can certainly manage your online reputation all on your own, but dentist review management software makes it so much easier — almost incomparably so.
This software is so helpful that if you don’t use it, you’ll be at a disadvantage when competing with a practice that is.
Just consider these 4 features that dental reputation management software offers:
1. Monitoring
Once you implement the management software, you can keep a close eye on everything that’s said about your practice online. Anytime someone talks about your practice, you’ll know about it!
2. Control
More than just monitoring what’s being said, you can control the conversation. Online dental reputation management software allows you to act on the feedback you receive with ease, providing an easy way to reply to your reviews, drive patient loyalty, and fix problems.
3. Conflict resolution
One common misconception about review management software is that it allows you to delete negative reviews.
If you get a negative review, this software actually lets you contact the patient to understand and fix the problem. Often, this leads to the patient changing their review to something positive.
Negative reviews — Turning frowns into smiles
Even the best dental practices can occasionally receive a negative review. The key is not to panic but to handle it gracefully. Here are some tips on how you can handle bad reviews:
- Listen and understand: Really read and understand the complaint.
- Respond promptly and politely: Quickly acknowledge the review. Apologize if necessary and show your commitment to high standards.
- Offer solutions: If possible, offer a solution or invite the reviewer to discuss the issue offline.
- Learn and adapt: Use the feedback to prevent future issues. This could mean tweaking your procedures or providing extra training for your team.
- HIPAA-smart replies: When replying to reviews, remember that even acknowledging someone as a patient could step over HIPAA lines. Keep your comments general and guide any specific discussions offline.
4. Analytics
A thriving dental practice uses patient feedback to improve its processes and the overall patient experience. Reputation management software will help turn feedback into useful insights with analytics and graphs. You’ll get an inside look at what exactly your patients want.
Dental reputation management software impacts local SEO
Online reviews do more than build your reputation and help potential patients feel more confident in choosing you as their dentist. They’re also a critical part of your SEO strategy — just as much as building citations and on-site optimization!
We work with dentists throughout the US. Time and time again we’ve seen how Google rankings favor dental practices with great reviews. If someone uses a common search term like “best dentist”, Google will only display local practices with top-rated reviews.
We’ve also seen first-hand how reviews can significantly impact SEO by influencing:
- Rankings in local search engines — Online reviews make up 15.44% of Google’s Local 3-Pack and 6.47% in localized organic search results.
- Click-through rates — Businesses with 5-star reviews on Google usually get more clicks. This means more people visit your website and more people check out your practice.
- A person’s purchasing decision (or in this case, their dentist selection) — When someone interacts with a positive review of your practice, is more likely to convert.
Keep in mind that Google is looking at more than just the overall star or number rating of your reviews. Other important factors include:
- Number of reviews
- Content in the reviews
- Variety of review sources
- Status of reviewers
- Speed and consistency of reviews
Managing your online reputation and having a plan to get new reviews is a key SEO strategy for any dental practice. Your competitors are already doing it, and you should be too.
Other benefits of review management for practice growth
- Quick decisions, big impact: Let’s go back to Sarah — imagine her, scrolling through reviews. Effective review management ensures those first impressions drive new patients like her tight to your door.
- Keep ’em coming back: When Sarah sees you responding thoughtfully to feedback, it shows her that you genuinely care. This kind of attentiveness can turn a one-time visitor like her into a loyal patient, coming back time and again.
- Word-of-mouth: Happy patients are your best advocates. When Sarah leaves your practice smiling, she’s likely to share her great experience. Happy patients like her become your best advocates, naturally bringing friends and family your way, which drives your practice’s organic growth.
- Improve your brand’s reputation: Taking charge of your online reviews helps shape how people see your practice. By maintaining a positive online presence, you control the narrative around your brand, ensuring it remains positive.
4 trusted platforms — reputation management for dentists
BirdEye is one of the most widely used platforms among dentists and other small businesses. This all-in-one software includes a microsite with all your reviews on it and allows you to manage all your reviews and respond to them from a simple-to-use dashboard. Its mobile app is another selling point, making it incredibly simple to manage your practice’s reviews.
ReviewTrackers markets to businesses of all sizes and has healthcare experience. Practices using ReviewTrackers appreciate how the software centralizes all your review data in one app and allows you to request reviews via text. This software also partners with Hootsuite so you manage your social media and your dental reviews in 1 place.
Podium specializes in working with local businesses of all sizes. A few of Podium’s unique selling features are its ability to facilitate two-way texting between you and your patients and the ability to set up internal competitions to achieve the best online reviews. The biggest drawback is its lack of campaign management and social media monitoring.
Created specifically for the healthcare industry, RepuGen caters to medical groups, hospitals, doctors, and of course, dentists. Some of the best features of this platform include the ability to reach out and perform a service recovery before a dissatisfied patient posts a negative review. They tout a service recovery rate of 80%!
Why we recommend BirdEye for dentists
We’ve spent 10+ years working closely with dentists and have a deep understanding of just how busy managing a dental practice can be. BirdEye, with its completely automated customer-driven features, offers a seamless and easy-to-implement solution to dental reputation monitoring that’s hard to beat.
BirdEye will help you keep practice information up-to-date and consistent across 50+ consumer sites and business directories. And with your own personalized dental practice microsite, you can look at your reviews from over 150 sites across the web. Another feature we love? This microsite is optimized for search engines and indexed by Google. It even gives patients the option to book an appointment with you directly!
More than its simplicity and comprehensive, SEO-friendly features, BirdEye gets results.
Want to streamline your appointment booking, too?
Check out our Guide to Dental Scheduling Software to discover the best tools to keep your practice running smoothly.
Bonus: 4 tips for getting even MORE great reviews
Here at :Delmain, we’re all about digital solutions. But there are a few things you can do offline to help boost your online reviews, too:
- Train your team to “make the ask” for a review when checking out patients — something like, we’d love to hear your feedback about your appointment.
- Create print materials that list all the different sites patients can review you — some of our clients leave a card in their patient goody bag.
- Use a Google Review Tap Card — an NFC device that patients can simply tap with their smartphones to leave a review instantly. It’s quick, easy, and boosts the chances they’ll share their reviews.
- Put patient satisfaction at the top of your list. Really listen to their feedback, and if you start seeing a trend — like complaints about long wait times — take action to fix it and provide a better patient experience.
Boost your Google reviews and get more patients!
When it comes to growing your practice dental review management is just one piece of the puzzle. At :Delmain, we integrate this with a deep knowledge of the patient journey and a comprehensive digital marketing strategy.
If you are ready to take things to the next level, claim your FREE New Patient Roadmap. This personalized guide will show you exactly what you need to invest to draw in new patients, boost your online reputation, and turn those happy patients into growth opportunities for your practice.
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