As a Chiropractor, How Do 5-Star Online Reviews Help Me?
The reality is that most people coming into your practice have looked you up online. Whether it be Google, Yelp, etc. If there is one thing people love to see online it’s 5-star ratings!
Put Yourself in the Shoes of a Potential Patient
Imagine being a prospective client looking for the best chiropractors in your local area. It's helpful to actually do this search and see what results come up. Now check out to see who has the 5-star ratings and how many reviews they have. Now, you'll start to understand how great it would be to see your practice listed with a 5-star review from a high number of reviewers.
Which Chiropractor Would You Choose?
Ask yourself as a prospective client/patient which chiropractor would you go and see. The one with 20+ reviews and a 5-star rating? Or, would you prefer the one with 4 reviews and a 4.5-star rating? A prospective patient might not bother with going to anyone with less than 4 stars because they likely have other options with better ratings. Clearly, 5 stars = new patients. And, therefore, a booming business.
Your Online Reviews Matter to Potential Patients and Search Engines
There are other benefits beyond just the obvious draw and promotional aspect of these online reviews for your chiropractic office. They also have SEO (search engine optimization) benefits. This results in higher visibility via search engine results and a higher ranking in that local search. Ideally, you want to organically (non-paid) be in the top 3 in your local search.
Quality Over Quantity
While you can hope happy patients will end up reviewing you online it’s not going to happen. You need to put a strategy into place to make this a reality. It's not necessary to have loads and loads of reviews, you need to have high-quality reviews.
How Do Most Chiropractors Ask For Online Reviews
Chiropractors Often Fall Into 1 of 3 Categories:
- They never ask anyone for online reviews.
- They ask absolutely everyone for online reviews.
- They carefully select happy clients for “feedback” that can help other potential patients find relief and improved health.
It’s pretty obvious which one is the most effective. By strategically asking for “feedback” from patients you know have a story behind their experience under your care will lead to high quality and very relevant reviews (aka "feedback" when asking your patients). The more descriptive and candid their reviews are the more search engines will like this as well.
Quick Highlights
- 5-Star and high-quality online reviews give you an edge on your competition
- Online reviews give “proof” of the quality of your chiropractic care
- Online reviews can assist with SEO, hence boosting your ranking in local search results
Top 10 Tips to Get More Online Chiropractic Reviews
1. Ask REAL Patients for Candid Online Reviews (Feedback)
Just as mentioned above you need to be strategic as to who you ask for “feedback”. Never, never ask staff, family or friends to post reviews for you. Those will damage your online reputation. They will end up being identified, possibly reported, and can reflect very poorly on you and your practice. Inherently, you will know which patients to ask. When asking happy clients to write online reviews, express the fact that your practice is dedicated to helping others and their feedback will help other people know how they can be helped by visiting your practice. In short, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Get!”
2. Don’t Offer Incentives for Online Reviews
You will see some “tips” saying the complete opposite. However, it’s our experience that this does not garner the high-quality reviews you should be looking for. Quantity is simply not better than quality. If a patient will only review your practice because of some sort of perk this will not result in a thoughtful and honest review. Their reward should be the quality of the care they have received from you and that it has greatly improved their health. You want them to express this experience when leaving you an online review.
3. Get Your Staff Involved
Your staff should feel responsible for making certain you have a strong online reputation. Perhaps you have some sort of indicator as to who and when to ask a patient for a review. Maybe it’s how many times a person has come into the office or a subtle checkbox on a patient’s file where you can indicate to yourself and to your front desk staff that it’s a good time to request some feedback. Your team should also know that a patient’s experience with them is just as important as their experience with you. Every touch point needs to be on point and consistent. Have you ever read a review of a restaurant that says, “the food was excellent, but the service was terrible”? That usually equates a 3-star rating or less. In short, getting reviews is a team effort!
4. Make It “EASY PEASY”!
The fewer steps a patient needs to take the more likely they will write an online review of your chiropractic practice. If you have asked a patient for feedback send them a direct link to a review site such as Google or Yelp. Ideally, you will have something on your site already. However, if you don’t you might want to consider using a service such as Online Chiropractic Review Builder. By having a review building tool integrated into your site you can manage, display 5-star reviews and have a branded landing page to send your patients to. They can easily send you a review from their phone, tablet or computer in 2 EASY steps.
5. Address Negative Feedback
People have bad days. Not just patients have bad days, but you and your staff might have a bad day from time to time top. Whatever the reason you need to be prepared for what to do if you do receive a negative online review.
Here is a good system to follow:
- Respond directly in a very very timely manner
- Be positive
- Be apologetic
- Offer a solution
With services such as Online Chiropractic Review Builder, you can be sure you will know exactly who, what and when an Online Chiropractic Review is sent. You will receive an email each time a review is submitted. From there you should directly respond. We’ve seen many times where a Doctor has been able to turn a 1, 2, or 3-star rating into a 5! Having the opportunity to be on top of your reviews and communicate directly with your patients gives you a tremendous edge over your competition.
6. Don’t Forget About HIPAA Compliancy
When responding to a review (negative or even positive) remember to be completely HIPAA compliant. NEVER reveal any protected health information. It’s technically true if a reviewer reveals/admits they are a patient and why they have waived their HIPAA protection. However, it doesn’t matter...their privacy should still be protected by you. Being delicate and respectful and honest is key. Write your response in generalities citing the necessity to maintain confidentiality.
7. Have a Follow-Up Strategy
Perhaps you always send an email to patients after their visit to thank them and/or have reminder emails sent regarding scheduling a new appointment or an upcoming appointment they have already set. Make the main point of the email to be a “thank you”, “reminder to schedule” or “upcoming appointment reminder”, etc. Don’t make the main point a solicitation for online reviews. You should, however, include the link to leave you a review. Before the link simply write something like, “We love to hear feedback and to help other patients looking for great care! If you would like to share your feedback you can do so in 2 easy steps by clicking here.” Obviously, phrase this in a manner that is applicable to your office.
8. Be Active on Social Media
It’s simple, chiropractors who maintain fresh activity on their social media accounts garner more online reviews than those who do not. If you are not a prolific contributor to your social media you might want to consider services such as Automated Chiropractic Social Media. You will have relevant chiropractic social media posts including videos and articles sent daily to your account. Visitors on your social media page will be directed to your own website, not away. To increase community on your social media pages we encourage you to do a weekly or even monthly post as well. Regardless, being active on social media will result in more online chiropractic reviews.
9. Another Note Regarding Facebook
When carefully going through our client’s Facebook pages we have found many, many, many who have not claimed their Facebook page. Many didn’t even know it existed. This is not good for your online reputation. Facebook frequently generates “unofficial” pages for businesses and gives you the option to “claim” it. In some cases, you might have your own Facebook business page AND there is another Facebook generated page deemed “unofficial”. If this is the case, you can claim the page and then merge the pages where applicable. If you have questions about this and/or need assistance please do not hesitate to reach out.
10. Get Involved with the Community (Offline)
Be creative and don’t lose your shirt on it. Look around for community events you can proudly put your name on (for a low fee). Sponsorships can range from $25 - thousands. However, many community events come in with a low price tag. A race, festival, community theater, music, or school event, etc. While this is an “offline” activity it can benefit you online. This is an opportunity to spread goodwill, advocate for chiropractic care and be an active member in your community. When someone sees the name of your practice they will associate you with this. Certainly give attendees an easy way to connect with you via your social media and get in touch with you at the office to schedule consultations, etc. If you are at the event bring an iPad to have people sign up for your newsletter or even schedule an appointment. If you see your current clients there consider asking them for "feedback" next time you see them. You will have made a positive impression on them by being active in your community!
ChiroHosting Can Help Your Chiropractic Office Get More 5-Star Online Reviews
If you would like to speak to us about your website or discuss our results based N8 Chiropractic Websites and other Chiropractic Marketing Services please feel free to schedule a 1-on-1 call with us to discuss. We are NOT a pushy sales organization. We love what we do and are happy to answer your questions and point you in the right direction to meet and exceed your goals!
Thanks!
ChiroHosting Team
