Why should you update your practice’s online directory listings?
A recent survey conducted by Doctor.com indicates that nearly half of healthcare consumers avoid providers with incomplete online listings. As a result, it is important to provide complete and accurate information about your medical practice, no matter what online directory a patient uses.
What you may not know is that optimizing online directories for doctors also increases your overall visibility on the most widely used search engine on the planet. In order to match your medical practice’s published information with the data on the Internet, Google’s bots examine every bit of information on the internet. Consistent information about your medical practice across all listing sites facilitates this process, which improves search visibility for your medical practice.
Medical directory management refers to the process of claiming and optimizing each physician’s profile on any doctor finder website or database so that all published information is current and accurate. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on online directories to provide accurate information about medical practices. It is the provider’s responsibility to verify the information.
If your practice’s online listing is correct, you will have an optimal online presence that will attract new patients. The purpose of maintaining your online directory listings is to ensure that they are accurate and up to date.
Promote Your Medical Practice through Online Medical Directories
There is no doubt that a large percentage of patients now rely on doctor finder websites to select their healthcare providers. A survey found that 83% of respondents use a search engine to find a doctor. When showing search results to users, Google – the most widely used search engine – favors its own Google My Business (GMB) directory. Establishing and maintaining a GMB profile helps patients find your practice, both for desktop and mobile device search results.
It can have unintended consequences if you fail to maintain and control your own online listings. The practice may already be listed with inaccurate or incomplete information that has been generated automatically. By claiming and updating your directory listings, prospective patients will form an accurate view of your practice.
You may be listed in an online directory as being based at an old address when you actually have multiple clinic locations in the region. Furthermore, outdated directory information may include inaccurate hours of operation, potentially causing some potential patients to show up and become frustrated when they are met with a “closed” sign. Patients under the wrong impression won’t realize your practice is just around the corner.
Search engines will be unable to understand which listings match yours in search results if the information is incorrect. If you do not verify and update listing information, your practice may not appear at all in online searches.
The advantages of using online medical directories
Increasingly, patients are turning to third-party websites to gain information about the doctors, dentists, and other healthcare providers they should consult. For these reasons, having complete and updated profiles, such as a bio, a list of services offered, and photos, is more likely to compel patients to make an appointment with you.
Your online reputation is also impacted by online medical directories. According to a recent survey, 88% of patients read online reviews before accepting a referral. Patients may decide to book with you when they see a high rating and reviews that they can relate to, but a deficient or inaccurate profile may dissuade them from doing so. The appeal of a medical practice is enhanced by having a solid profile and excellent reviews.
Best Online Medical Directory Sites
The following are well-known websites for finding doctors.
- Yelp
- WebMD
- Doctor.com
- Healthgrades
- Zocdoc
- Doctorfinder (affiliated with the American Medical Association)
- Vitals
- RateMDs
In addition, health insurance companies maintain individual provider directories.
Our marketing agency will provide accurate directory listings to help you grow your practice
Do you find managing 60-75 listings in doctor directories and citations difficult? TeleHealth IT simplified this process by automating the management of online directory listings rather than manually updating every listing. By simply clicking a few buttons, we will update all of them for you, even time-sensitive updates such as temporary closures.
