Customer reviews are the oldest form of marketing, all the way back to the days when word-of-mouth was the only kind of advertising available. Potential new customers have always placed a high value on what past customers think about the products or services they have spent their money on and will rely on this information to make their own decisions about a business.
Below, we discuss why Google reviews for med spas are important, what you can do to get more reviews for your clinic, and how our business intelligence marketing software can help you take your conversions to the next level.
Why Are Google Reviews For Med Spas Important?
Truthfully, Google reviews are important for businesses in every niche or industry vertical. More customers read reviews in-depth before making a purchasing decision than ever before, and establishments that want to grow their customer base need to make sure they’re keeping up with these rapidly shifting market trends.
Med spas and other service-based establishments have been particularly impacted by the growing importance of consumer reviews. Few patients will book an appointment at a med spa with just two or three Google stars, even if the establishment is close by. Today’s patients want to hear about what other people have had to say about key touchpoints like customer service, cleanliness, and how knowledgeable the staff are.
Clinics looking to improve website conversions and get more potential patients on the phone and in the door should pay special attention to curating as many positive reviews from real patients as possible. Using multiple different tactics can help you maximize the quality and number of reviews you ultimately end up getting with this initiative.
8 Things Google Reviews Do To Boost Your Conversions
1. Google Reviews Are the First Step to Building Trust With New & Current Patients
Many people trust a customer review of a company before they will trust what the company has to say about itself. They believe that the customer’s opinion is a more accurate reflection of reality and reviews are the first step to building trust with your target audience. Future patients who visit your website or Google Business profile will be able to read ideally mostly good reviews and begin forming a positive relationship with your brand.
2. Patient Reviews Drive Local Traffic
Patient reviews on third-party platforms like Google and Yelp work to strengthen your off-site SEO by providing valuable backlinks to your website. Kyra Sammis, a Trustpilot Customer Success Manager, informed her audience at SMX Next 2021 that according to data published by Moz.com, reviews on third-party sites carry over 50% of the ranking weight for Google. This makes soliciting reviews an extremely important part of your overall local SEO strategy.
3. Med Spa Websites With Google Reviews Rank Higher
Google’s page ranking algorithms are extraordinarily complex and no one has been able to successfully create a perfect SEO formula that will hit every ranking factor that Google considers. But it’s important to note that Google reviews are a known ranking factor and Google has gone on record to say that they play a significant role in overall page rank.
The more good reviews you have on your Google Business profile, the higher your website will rank, even though they are in two different places on the web. This is because when you apply for your Google Business account and verify it, the profile becomes linked to your website. Google can see the relationship between the two and is able to accurately use review content to calculate page rank.
4. Reviews Give You Valuable Patient Feedback
Good patient reviews are exciting and like a pat on the back for a job well done. They also help you understand where your strengths are and what the performance of your team looks like when you are not present to observe them. Treat each review you receive as a piece of valuable feedback, like a lens from the outside that allows you to look at your practice from a patient’s point of view.
5. Negative Reviews Offer You An Opportunity
Negative patient reviews are never a pleasure to receive, but they do offer you a unique opportunity. Not only does critical feedback allow you to make necessary adjustments that are brought to your attention, but also shows future potential patients how your clinic handles criticism and uses it to improve where appropriate.
For example, say a patient experiences more discomfort during a treatment than expected. The patient leaves a bad review saying that part of the problem was the design of your procedure chairs – they were uncomfortable to sit in for extended periods and gave the patient a sore neck. In this scenario, you could replace the chairs in your clinic and reply to the review with photos and commentary about the upgrade.
No one expects perfection from establishments in any industry, but what they do expect to see is negative reviews being taken seriously and used to make improvements as applicable. Make sure to apologize to patients with negative experiences and make it clear what your clinic has done to rectify the issue.
6. You Can Target Keyword Searches For “[Your Spa]” + “Reviews”
The Local Consumer Review Survey reports that as many as 93% of consumers researched a business online before visiting their establishment in person or making a purchase. Today’s patients know how to do their due diligence before choosing a med spa and will be looking to see what other patients have to say about the quality of your clinic and services.
A great local SEO tactic is to optimize your website’s review page for “[Name of Spa]” + “reviews” to capture traffic from users who are searching for content using this keyword combination. You can also use the brand names of popular treatments + your city + reviews to target users who may be searching for a specific procedure, like lip fillers or microdermabrasion.
7. More Reviews Can Increase Foot Traffic To Your Spa
If your med spa is in a location where there is the potential for foot traffic, online reviews can increase visitors to your establishment. When users search for content using key phrases like “med spa near me,” they are looking for the closest clinic to them that also has the best reviews. Patients will cross reference these two factors until they find a suitable establishment that is close enough to them.
You can proactively nurture potential patients who might find you on foot by curating reviews on Google and optimizing your contact or about page for keywords like “closest med spa” and “medical spa near me.”
8. Good Reviews Can Put You Ahead of Your Competition
Businesses that have good customer reviews will always outperform those that don’t have any reviews, or worse, those that have mostly bad ones. It’s usually no issue if there are a few negative reviews peppered in between the good reviews here and there, but if they start to show up more often than good reviews, it’s something you should take seriously.
Look at how many positive reviews your competitors have in your area and strive to have at least that many if not more. This should be an ongoing effort as your competition continues to secure reviews from their patients.
How Can I Get More Google Reviews For My Med Spa?
Now that you understand the importance of Google reviews for med spas, the next step is learning how to get more of them ethically and effectively. Here are some of our top tips for curating reviews:
- Make your correct contact information available. It’s not uncommon for patients to mail letters to an old address or post something to an inactive social media page. Make sure patients can easily access your correct contact information on your Google Business profile, website, and social profiles.
- Create incentives. Give patients a reason to leave a review, like a modest discount or free skincare product. Just be sure to offer this incentive to anyone who leaves a review, whether good or bad. It would be considered unethical to offer the incentive only to patients who leave a positive review.
- Tell patients how to leave a review. You’d be surprised how many patients don’t leave reviews simply because they don’t know where or how to. Consider putting this information on the back of a business card or something else you can easily hand patients as they leave the clinic.
- Ask for reviews. If you have a happy patient, you can simply ask for a review. Say something like, “I’m so glad you’re satisfied. Why not leave a review about your experience?” Then, give them information on how they can do so.
- Respond to every review. It’s important that potential patients are able to see interaction between your establishment and its reviewers, regardless of whether the review is positive or negative.
- Display reviews prominently on your website and social media. There are widgets and form fields that can help you display reviews from Google, Yelp!, Trustpilot, and other trustworthy platforms.
Schedule a Demo of Our Business Intelligence Marketing Software
At Surefire Local, we strive to help our customers reach their marketing goals with a wide variety of custom-tailored online marketing strategies designed for maximum results. With our business intelligence marketing software, you can get 85% more patients and 34% more traffic while we do all the heavy lifting. Contact us today to schedule your demo.