New Patient Survey Gets a Facelift

The New Year is ushering in new enhancements to the Smile Marketing website service.

First on the list is an overhaul to the New Patient Survey. Along with a more user-friendly feel and contemporary look, you’ll find several new features:

Dashboard widget that reveals the source of most new patients
Tab that shows a summary of your patient ratings
New button that leads to the full New Patient Survey dashboard
Tab for “New Patient Sources” with a bar graph display
Timeline feature that includes dates and comments of new submissions
New icons and improved styling for email notifications

Dashboard Widget

Before:

After:

The New Patient Survey is an excellent tool to encourage online reviews, promote referrals, and get valuable feedback about your practice. But remember, to take advantage of these features, you’ll need to keep your dashboard updated by adding new patients.

Click for more information about the New Patient Survey.

5 Digital New Year’s Resolutions

Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions? Sure, the more traditional resolutions involve diets, renewing gym memberships, and other “better health” initiatives. What about taking on a betterment project for your practice?

In the spirit of “new beginnings,” add marketing to your Resolution’s list.

Here are five digital resolutions to consider:

Activate pay-per-click advertising campaigns to target new patient growth
Invest in professional photography to make your website more personal
Add patients as subscribers to your Smile Marketing dashboard
Become more active on social media, sticking to a daily or weekly posting schedule
Blog frequently to position yourself as an authority in the dental field

Happy New Year!

Google Local Adds Local Pack Filters

Google has been tweaking its local search engine for quite some time now, and its latest development includes a new filtering feature on its “local three pack” (the three Google Maps listings that show at the top of a local search).

For instance, a search like “Baltimore dentist” would show the following three listings:

If you look at the photo above, at the top left (under the map) you will see two new filter features: Rating and Hours. These filters give searchers the ability to sort by a practice’s office hours and average review rating.

This underscores the importance of having accurate Google listings. If a prospective patient is looking for a dentist who takes appointments on Friday at 1:30pm (and your office is open at this time) you’ll want to make sure your listing reflects those hours.

The new filters also highlight the importance of your online reputation. If you have a two-star average rating, and a prospective patient searches for practices with at least a three-star average rating, you could get filtered out of that search. For more on reputation management, here are some blog posts from our archives:

Looking to improve your online reputation? Upgrade to a Premium Smile Marketing service plan to gain five-star feedback on the top review sites.