When you’re choosing a restaurant for date night, you likely check the reviews from past or returning customers. The same goes for picking out the best couch for your new home. Reviews help guide your decision.
Your potential patients are doing the same when they’re considering your healthcare brand. That’s why acquiring and managing Google Business Profile reviews is so important.
As a healthcare facility, your Google Business Profile reviews allow potential patients to learn what they can expect from your care through the eyes of people they can relate to. By engaging with the reviews, you’re building trust and credibility that can boost your overall reputation.
Your Google reviews also play a role in your search engine optimization performance, as the algorithm wants to prioritize brands that patients respond well to. By improving your reviews, you’re increasing the likelihood of being ranked highly on relevant search engine results pages.
We’ll discuss strategies that can improve your Google Business Profile reviews as well as tools that can help and how to maintain review consistency.
3 strategies for improving your Google reviews
As great as you know your treatment is, the reviews people leave reflect their personal experiences, and you can’t control what they write.
But there are still ways that you can improve your Google reviews for increased traffic and patient acquisition. Here are three strategies worth trying:
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Encourage patient feedback
It’s possible that, even with a positive experience, a patient won’t think about writing a review. They may just assume that you already have a ton or that theirs won’t make a difference. But by encouraging them to leave feedback at the end of an appointment by posting a Google review, they’ll see that you appreciate their opinion and that they can play a role in helping you improve.
Here are a few things you can say or ask to encourage feedback:
- “Is there anything you would like to see in future appointments?”
- “How can I make you feel more at ease?”
- “Don’t be afraid to speak up if you have a concern. You should feel empowered to advocate for yourself.”
Check out this BURG blog article for 4 more tips that can help your practice get more Google reviews.
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Provide excellent patient experiences
The truth is that you can’t improve your Google reviews if the patients don’t have much to report on in the first place. The key ingredient in getting good reviews is to provide customer experiences that deserve the praise. People tend to go to different providers throughout their life, due to changes in their location, healthcare needs or insurance coverage. By creating an experience that stands out in their mind, they are likely to leave a glowing review.
An excellent patient experience can include:
- Short wait time
- Comfortable and homelike office
- Active listening
- Education in an easy-to-understand way
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Address and resolve negative reviews
All patients deserve a space to share their concerns about their experience as a way to help you improve. While it can be disheartening to receive a negative review, addressing it with a professional, empathetic response can show how much you value the patient experience and staying grounded.
You can also use the response as a way to resolve the negative review by directly addressing the concern and steps that you can take to help the patient, such as booking another appointment with a different approach.
Maintaining consistency in review generation
Having a regular influx of Google reviews builds trust and credibility so that you’re seen as an authority on your specialization in the community. But if you’re struggling to get more than just a few reviews every other month, there are a couple of ways that you can maintain their consistency:
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Develop a review request process
It’s important to know that it’s generally frowned upon by users and the algorithm alike to incentivize reviews, and it even violates Google guidelines. But by having a request process in place, you can be sure that Google reviews never fall to the wayside in terms of prioritization.
A review request process may include:
- A script for the receptionist to follow that mentions the reviews
- Having a physical reminder, such as a sign or flyer, on the exit door
- Asking for a review at the bottom of any paperwork given to the patient
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Using email and text message reminders
When you’re trying to retain a patient, continuously appearing in their inboxes keeps you on their mind. Be sure to send reminders about follow-up care through emails or texts. As a separate note, you can also include a gentle mention of leaving a review, such as a QR code linking to your Google Business Profile.
Want to improve Google reviews for your medical practice? BURG+CO. can help
Reviews are one of the contributing factors to your SEO performance. The algorithm wants to prioritize listing sites for providers that have received a stamp of approval from past and current patients. If you need help improving your reviews, BURG+CO. offers proven strategies that can support your goals.
Our team has years of experience in helping healthcare brands improve their digital presence to attract new patients and retain existing ones. If you’re looking to perform better in search engine results and attract more potential patients to your site, we’re ready to talk to you to see how we can help.
Contact our team today for more information about digital marketing or to schedule a complimentary consultation.
