Reviews are crucial for practices and practitioners, as well as patients and potential patients. Patients can leave reviews on various online platforms, such as your practice’s Google business profile, Yelp, Facebook, and more. Reviews offer practices a chance to connect with patients, fostering trust and loyalty.
What is Review Monitoring?
Review monitoring is a means of tracking online evaluations of your practice or your practitioners brand shared across the Internet. Reviews become visible on designated review sites, mobile apps, social media platforms, videos, blogs, podcasts, and numerous other sources. According to Exploding Topics research nearly 50% of all internet users leave a review once per month, which equates to roughly 2.6 billion new reviews per month. SEO site checkup did a survey and found that 90% of patients trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
5-Online Review Statistics.
- Negative reviews can damage a practice’s reputation – A single negative review can cost a practice up to 30 patients, according to a BrightLocal survey. ReviewTrackers found that 42% of patients would avoid a practice or practitioner for at least one year after reading a negative review.
- Most people read multiple reviews before a decision is made – A study by Spiegel Research Center found that most people read at least 10 reviews before performing an opinion about a business or practice. This highlights the importance of having a large quantity of reviews for prospective patients to look at.
- Online reviews have an impact on local SEO – According to a study by Moz, online reviews play a significant role in local SEO ranking factors, accounting for roughly 13% of how Google ranks local search results.
- Consumers are more likely to trust a review from strangers – A study by BrightLocal found that 70% of patients trust online reviews more when they see positive reviews from strangers. These opinions seem to be unbiased and based on truth/experience.
- Positive reviews improve click-through rates – Search Engine Land found in a study that online reviews can improve click-through rates by up to 35%, which has a direct impact on search engine rankings. Having higher search engine rankings will translate into higher traffic , leading to increased total revenues.
Why Responding to Reviews is important.
Understanding how patients perceive your practice can be achieved by reading your online reviews. It is important to respond to both positive and negative reviews, this will show that you care about your patients’ experience, while increasing your likelihood of potential patients choosing your practice. Keep in mind that your responses will be public for everyone to see. You will want to keep your message short and courteous, avoid getting personal, or to sales related with incentives or advertisements.
How to Respond to Good Reviews.
Positive reviews are generally from happy patients, so a simple “thank you” is a sufficient response. You can use this response as an opportunity to share new, relevant, or educational information.
- Respond in a timely manner – A prompt response is appreciated and shows you care about patient experience.
- Stay professional and courteous – Never lash out or take the review personally – it can be seen as unprofessional or rude.
- Personalize your response – Let the patient know they are valued. Maintain patient loyalty.
- Highlight what you are doing right to make customers happy- This will make existing patients feel good while assisting prospecting patients into seeing what they can expect from your care or service.
- Ask relevant questions to encourage further engagement – This will help you get valuable feedback that you can use to improve your care or service.
- Invite customers to reach out if they need help – This shows that you are there for your customers and want to ensure they get the most out of your product or service.
How to Respond to Negative Reviews.
Nobody wants a negative review, however most practices will receive one at some point. Below are 6-tips on replying to negative reviews:
- Respond in a timely manner – A prompt response is appreciated and shows you care about patient experience.
- Stay professional and courteous – Never lash out or take the review personally – it can be seen as unprofessional or rude.
- Understand your patient’s experience with your practice before responding – If a patient mentions a problem with care or service, investigate to see what may have gone wrong. Be honest about mistakes made and steps taken (or will be taken) to remedy the situation.
- Apologize when appropriate but do not take responsibility for things that were not your fault – Show compassion and empathy for your patients.
- Offer to talk it over – If this is the first you are hearing of the complaint, invite the patient to call or email so that you can try to sort out the matter with them.
- Show that you are authentic and genuine – Sign off with your name or initials to show you are taking matters seriously and that a real person is listening.
Monitoring reviews requires you to gather and process data from numerous sources, including designated review sites. Apps, and social media. If you get more than a few monthly reviews, doing so without review monitoring tools is nearly impossible. Ultimately your practice reputation may determine your success or failure. That is why review monitoring – the process of tracking, analyzing, and managing your online reputation is crucial to your practice.
Responding to reviews showcases your dedication as a practice manager, owner, or practitioner who values patient feedback. While striving for all positive reviews is ideal, negative feedback can arise. Demonstrate your practice’s responsiveness and embrace it as a chance for improvement. Your response to criticism can enhance your practice’s reputation, and a thoughtful reply may encourage the patient to reconsider their review.