Yes, everyone is judging you: The world of online reviews

ByPaul M. Stubenbordt

According to a recent survey by Opinion Research Corporation, more than two-thirds of respondents depended on online review sites when looking to purchase a particular product or service. More and more consumers choose where they eat, where they get their car repaired and which doctor to use by reading reviews online. In a world with Yelp, Google, Yahoo and blogs, it's important for businesses to manage their online reputation.

At this time, by far the most important review for an ophthalmology practice is its Google Places page. There are two reasons why Google reviews are important. First, Google is the most dominant search engine, and the more reviews you have, the better your Google Places page will rank when someone searches for keywords such as Chicago LASIK or San Diego cataract surgeon. Second, consumers are more likely to see your Places page reviews than any other review site on the Internet.

I've been telling my clients for some time now to try to get online reviews, especially Google reviews. Implementation, however, has been somewhat difficult.

Only patients with Google Gmail accounts can make Google reviews. Also, it's a good idea to put a link on your home page that says "Review us on Google" that links to your Google Places page. This will save you the trouble of having to explain to patients how to find your page, and it will save the patient the hassle of looking for it.

Here are a few methods for obtaining Google Places reviews.

1. Get the employees fired up!

Incentivize your staff to ask for reviews. If they successfully have a patient make a Google review, give the staff member a small cash bonus. Some practices have really taken the bull by the horns by creating internal contests among the employees. One small practice I work with successfully received more than 100 reviews in 1 month by simply asking patients, "If you had a good experience with us, would you mind going to our website and clicking on the 'Review us on Google' button?" This method also allows for you to pick and choose who places a review on Google.

2. The simple e-blast

Another simple method is to email your patients with Gmail addresses a link to your Google Places page with a nice little note saying, "If you had a great experience at our practice, please share your thoughts online by clicking here." It's simple, clean and very effective. The only downside is you'll get the occasional reviewer who wasn't happy with the complete experience.

3. The lazy method

The last method takes a little longer. It takes a series of cleverly placed internal marketing pieces that ask for patients to "Review us on Google." This is not the preferred way to go, unless you simply don't have the time or the email addresses to pull off the prior two methods.

Some practices offer small incentives to patients for taking the time to do a review, such as gift cards to Starbucks and future discounts off of services.

Angie's List

A site that is spreading like wildfire is Angie's List. It is unique because consumers have to pay a membership fee to see what others have to say about various businesses. It blocks the potential for businesses to pay their way to the top and ultimately results in a more trustworthy review. I recommend that all practices check their Angie's List profile to look for both positive and negative reviews.

Final thoughts

Getting Google Places page reviews are extremely important. How important? If done correctly, you could save thousands of dollars on spending in pay-per-click campaigns, obtain more patients through improved search result rankings, and solidify your brand in the market by creating trust between you and your clientele.

All review sites are important, and in upcoming blogs, we'll discuss other review sites.

My next blog will focus on online reputation management and dealing with negative reviews. And you can stay up to date with the latest in ophthalmic marketing at www.stubenbordt.com.