Positive patient reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, Facebook and Healthgrades drive new patients to your practice, improve the quality of your listings and help your overall search results. But reviews are hard to obtain because most directory sites now require reviewers to have an account in order to post reviews. Further, automatic review systems (the ones that allow you to review what get’s posted before it goes live) are much less effective because they seldom post your reviews on sites where people actually see them (ie. Google and Yelp). Here are 4 sure-fire ways to supercharge your views for the sites that matter the most:
1. Ask for reviews.
Asking for reviews should become a standard practice in your office. Whether you choose to only target patients who are particularly enthusiastic or you ask everyone who walks in the door, most people only think to post a review when they are unhappy. A simple, “Would you mind reviewing us online?” can go a long way.
2. Make it easy to find your review sites.
Don’t expect patients to remember to review you when they get home and don’t expect them to be able to easily leave a review where you want them to. Instead, make it easy for your patients by using something printed that clearly shows where to go. You could add a quick reminder to your receipts; use a flier or a business card to send patients in the right direction. We designed our Review Builder with this in mind.
3. Send out an email blast.
Extend your reach by sending a short email asking your happy patients to review you online. This is an extremely effective method because you already have your patients online when they are looking at your email. Further, you can target your email to get Google reviews by sending an email directly to those who have a Gmail address or Yahoo reviews to those with a Yahoo email address. Keep the email short, quick and to the point.
4. Offer an incentive.
If you’re opening up your reviews to all of your patients, you may consider providing an incentive to leave a review by offering entry into a contest or giveaway to anyone who leaves you a review. For ethical reasons, you shouldn’t limit contest entries only to those leaving positive reviews and some review sites frown on soliciting reviews. But sites like Facebook are especially great for contests and make it easy for patients to participate.
Building a deep history of positive reviews shouldn’t be viewed as something you do for a short period of time and then forget about. In fact, your reviews have a better chance of making it through filters and being seen as legitimate if they are added slowly and consistently over time. How has your practice been successful in gaining positive reviews?
