As you build a digital presence for your medical practice, online reviews are an important factor. For one, patient reviews have become a primary factor in consumers gauging the quality of your practice and the skills of your providers. Healthgrades indicates that 90% of patients use reviews to evaluate physicians. Online reviews can also help grow and boost your business in many other ways.
Online reviews help build credibility for medical practices by removing the barrier between the patient and the practice. Sharing the benefits of your services on your website might not be enough to sell a potential patient. Patient reviews that back up what your website says or add an additional layer of credibility are essential to turning visitors into leads and helping your team convert them into consultations and patients. Patient reviews provide a level of unfiltered honesty that people often trust.
Online reviews also are a convenient way for people to evaluate your medical practice. Instead of having to search for answers, they can read about patients’ experiences at the click of a button. Although Google is the most important platform to generate a lot of positive reviews, strategies that distribute your reviews across other major sites like Facebook, the Better Business Bureau, and Yelp, as well as industry-specific review sites such as Healthgrades, Vitals, RealSelf, and others, can maximize the full impact of reviews.
While patient reviews can help potential patients assess if your services are the right fit for them, online reviews can also increase the visibility of your medical practice. Client reviews are an important factor in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This means that having reviews can improve your ranking on search engine results pages.
The reviews portion of a Google Business Profile (GBP) is an important review platform for SEO. A GBP is a Google-owned asset that helps businesses manage their online presence. The profiles that appear on Google’s Map Pack results at the top of users’ search engine results page can consume 40-60% or more of the clicks that happen on a given search result. GBP reviews significantly influence your GBP’s “Local” SEO by sending trust signals from local Google users (you have to be a Google user to post a Google review), so this is a great place to start your review marketing efforts.
Another important tip is to respond to your Google reviews. Not only does it show you are engaged with your online Google community, but it also adds trust signals to potential patients that see them. Most importantly, it enhances the rapport and relationship between you and your most likely referrers; they have already publicly demonstrated the desire to help you! Don’t ignore them and stimulate more of this positive behavior.
Patient reviews can help your medical practice improve and grow through increased credibility, convenience, and visibility. For more information about reviews for your medical practice, call MedShark Digital for a free consultation.