Most private practice owners are aware of the power reviews can have for their business. Reviews can be impactful both positively and negatively. Potential patients are increasingly relying on reviews to make decisions about the medical care services they intend to avail themselves to.
Generating reviews for any business is a critical component of SEO, specifically local SEO. First-hand reviews help build your brand and reputation, while 3rd party reviews offer proof your practice does what it says it does.
Basically, online reviews are referrals for your business. Having consistent, positive sentiment being offered about your practice is a great way to stand out among your competitors. People will trust what is said about you more than they will trust what is said by you.
Why should you ask for reviews?
There are many great benefits to attaining reviews for your business. One of the main benefits is that reviews build trust in your business and brand.
Continually being recognized in your reviews as the best, most reviewed, expert, timely, etc. by patients is invaluable. These reviews can also assist you in driving new messaging for your business. If you see a pattern in review communication, you can begin to turn that into a core message. For instance, if many of your reviews are mentioning how caring you perform your services, you can add that as a core to your business values.
Attaining reviews is difficult, takes commitment, and is a long-term investment. It is a good idea to spread out reviews to different platforms as well. To regularly attain reviews on various websites is difficult and time-consuming. People tend to trust those reviews more because it is more difficult to fake those reviews.
Unfortunately, purchasing fake reviews is common. Sometimes, a business will purchase reviews for a particular platform, Google, Facebook, etc., to increase the number and rating of their business reviews. If your business has a good number of reviews from various platforms, patients are more likely to trust those rather than 1,000 reviews on one platform.
Having solid reviews and ratings on different review platforms will also help your people choose you over your competitors. The way patients are talking about you is just as important as you attaining reviews. Having a positive footprint across review platforms will help drive business. Having an array of positive reviews will also encourage others to write their own reviews about your practice.
There are numerous benefits to attaining reviews for your business.
On Google, once you attain at least five reviews, your business will begin showing stars in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). This is a huge advantage if you are listed in the Local Pack. It is an even larger advantage if you have stars on your listing and your competitors do not. Stars will make your listing stand out above the rest. The more reviews you attain, the better off you will be.
For non-Google or niche review websites, they may also have stars in the SERPs. This can be another benefit to your business if you have positive reviews on those sites as well. If a potential customer searches for your business and sees a SERP page full of review stars of your business, the odds are likely you will win that customer’s business.
Google My Business counts reviews as a ranking factor. The more positive reviews you have, the more likely you will rank in the Local Pack above your competitors. GMB reviews also surface in the Google Q&A section when customers are searching for answers.
A recent study said that 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, with the average consumer reading 10 reviews before being able to trust a business. The more reviews you can attain, on a variety of platforms, the more potential customers will find your business and trust the reviews they see.
Reviews go hand in hand with loyalty. Customers who take the time to leave a positive review are more likely to feel a sort of loyalty, be a repeat customer, and tell others about your business. All of this will increase your brand awareness and reputation in your business.
Reviews will provide you with valuable feedback about your business, service, and employees. Patients will let you know what is working, and what needs to be improved. If they are continually talking about how terrific your service is, you can turn that into a selling point for your practice. If patients are discussing a need to improve, you can make that a point of emphasis to improve your business.
To make a larger impact and create a stronger review foothold, it is important to attain reviews from various review platforms. The most important platform is Google.
Remember, once you have at least five reviews on Google, you will receive review stars in the Local Pack. From there you should focus review efforts on other digital platforms like Facebook.
Attaining a steady stream of reviews is more difficult than it seems. To keep getting reviews for your business, you need to be proactive. At Medical Care Marketing, we can help you do just that.
If you want to be successful in today’s digital marketplace, you simply need to take advantage of the numerous opportunities and benefits reviews can provide your business. If a review campaign is not something you have given much thought to or have yet to begin, you are already behind. It’s not too late, though you must start soon. Having a well-designed review strategy with the opportunity to attain reviews regularly is key. If your business is not taking advantage of reviews, you can bet your competitors are.