Reviews make a huge share of the Internet. They help searchers decide on which service to avail and from where. More than 80% people consider reviews as a personal recommendation. An online review has numerous reasons to prove its importance, such as business credibility, popularity in local community and acts as a social proof. Around 88% read reviews to analyze the quality of a local business.
Thus, online reviews are as important as a citation for SEO strategy. For this, it is important to gather positive reviews that help you attract more patients and grow your business
How reviews affect a user discussion
A searcher/patient go online, searching for a practice or treatment. They visit review platforms and read the posts by other patients. Reviews help them in analyzing if your practice can fulfill their need. A survey by BrightLocal, around 67% people read up to 6 reviews before making a decision. Both positive and negative reviews affect the decision of a patient. Patient reviews also help you lower down bounce rates and motivate viewers to spend more time on your website.
How these reviews affect your online ranking or SEO
To rank higher on Google you need to have good SEO strategy and around 10% of this ranking depends on reviews. Since there are numerous uncontrollable factors affecting ranking, it necessary to understand the significance of reviews. Things taken into consideration when analyzing reviews are the number of positive reviews, the frequency of reviews and authenticity of review platform.
As mobile searches are winning over the desktop searches, scrolling down the search page has become outdated. The top results on a mobile screen are the ones with the highest rating and most reviews. With the help of coding, you can get your star ratings displayed beneath your practice in the search engine. Good rating always attracts the attention of searches and thus increasing click-through rates. And for a high-rated practice, patients would never mine going that extra mile.
The number of reviews you have on more review sites, the more authentic is your practice for Google. Via reviews, your target audience and Google get to know in details how your practice is. A simple way to check and manage the sites with highest positive reviews for your practice is to search on Google by typing “[your practice] + reviews”.
How to get more reviews
You now know how online reviews affect online ranking of your practice. So, it is must for you to gather more positive reviews for more patient acquisition. Firstly, you need to request your happy patients to post reviews for your practice on various review platforms as well as your website. Don’t hesitate to ask because there is a large share of patients who don’t post reviews just because they are not asked to.
Secondly, you need to reply to the reviews received on various review platforms. This delights the reviewer and motivates other patients to write about you. Welcoming negative reviews and reverting in a nicer manner can convert the negative comments into positive words. To get better ranking you need to learn how to deal with bad reviews.
Thirdly, invest more time talking with your patients online or offline (when visiting your practice). This helps in building a stronger relationship and loyalty. Taking out time for your patients in a busy schedule delights and impress them that makes them talk good about you and your practice. Good reviews help you build a stronger online reputation.