Doctor Tips: Answering Questions on RealSelf
Best Practices
- Answers should be given as "opinions" and not "advice". Statements such as "In my opinion" or "In my past experience" or "In similar situations that I've handled..." can help delineate opinions from advice.
- Answer each question as if you are the only doctor who is posting an answer. Your answer should be able to stand on it's own - you never know what order the consumers will read the answers or if your answer will be indexed by search engines. In addition, local visitors may be looking for local answers and you want to have your answer represent your expertise in the best light.
- Save time with your social media strategy by automatically posting your answers on FB & Twitter. These are easily connected via the links on your dashboard.
- Leverage the Web Traffic Boost on every answer you post with the PRO upgrade and drive targeted traffic from RealSelf to your website.
How do I get started with Q&A?
First, go to "Edit my profile" and make sure that you have selected all the procedures that you offer, because we make questions available to you based on the treatments you select.
Once you have listed your treatments, there are 3 ways to discover questions to answer on RealSelf.
- Go to your dashboard and go to "Answer questions now" in the Q&A section. Just click on a topic and a list of questions will appear on the page.
- Sign up to have new questions sent to you by email. Just go to the "Email Setting" section in your dashboard and tell us what topics you're interested in and how often you'd to receive emails.
- Click on "Ask a Doctor" at the top of each RealSelf page to see the most recently asked questions.
What are the guidelines for answering questions?
The three main guidelines are:
- Every answer must be educational - please answer the question and refrain from overt marketing or self promotion.
- Each answer must be original and your own.
- Refrain from listing your practice information, phone number, website or signature. Users can click to your profile to obtain this information. Self-promotion will actually decrease your credibility when answering questions.
You can find a complete Code of Conduct here. The sooner that a new doctor shows consistent compliance with the RealSelf guidelines, the sooner we can promote them to "autopublish" so that they answers are published immediately.
The answers you provide serve as content for your profile and will help engage consumers to learn more about your expertise and 'virtual bedside manner'. For assistance in answering questions, contact your Doctor Community Advisor at 206-624-9375 x4
Check Out: Less Advertising, More Content Marketing