It’s very important for therapists to have a positive online image in order to attract more clients. Google reviews have a big impact on how credible and visible your practice is.
63.6% of prospective clients look up to positive Google reviews before making a decision to select a therapist. Therefore, you cannot afford to ignore the reviews your firm receives on its Google My Business page.
Google reviews also have a significant impact on your local search engine rankings and making your profile more visible to your potential clients. For this, you can buy Google 5 star reviews, to increase the impact of positive reviews on your profile.
While aiming for a solid online image of your practice, don’t overlook the necessity of providing quality mental health care to your patients.
In this blog, we’ll provide tips on getting more Google reviews for therapists. Read the blog to learn more.
Can Therapists Ask For Google Reviews
Therapists can indeed request Google reviews from their customers, which can greatly improve their online presence.
Therapists face confidentiality issues from the clients when asking for Google reviews or other customer testimonials. This can make marketing for therapists rather tricky! Therefore, the American Counseling Association (ACA) in the United States and similar organizations set ethical guidelines and standards.
Here are general considerations while asking for reviews from patients-
Confidentiality
A primary priority of asking for a review from a client is ensuring their confidentiality. Requesting reviews from clients may result in publicly revealing their relationship with a therapist, thus breaching their confidentiality.
Two-Way Relationship And Exploitation
Asking for reviews can be taken as abusing the client’s trust and confidential information and dependence on the therapist’s gain. It could also lead to the development of dual relationships, in which the counselor and client engage in various roles or interactions outside of the therapeutic relationship.
Voluntariness
The power imbalance in the therapeutic connection raises concerns even if a client is ready to leave a review voluntarily. This imbalance may make it difficult for a client to feel as though they may refuse or voice a bad experience.
Tips To Get More Google Reviews For Therapists
As a therapist, you may greatly increase your online credibility and draw in new clients by improving your Google reviews. Here are tips you can use to get more Google Reviews for your practice.
Make Easy For Clients To Leave Review
Asking for Google reviews for your therapy practice is essential if you want to raise the number of positive evaluations on your profile, for that you should simplify the process of reviewing for your clients.
To simplify the process, you can provide your clients with a method or links to leave a review, such as a review form on your practice website that directs them to the GMB profile.
It is always recommended that you include a link of your Google Business Profile on your website to make the review process easy for the clients.
Additionally, it’s critical to confirm that the URL you offer is correct and current. You can accomplish this by routinely monitoring any additions or modifications to your Google Business Profile.
Acknowledge Customers When They Leave Review
Reviews on your profile demonstrates how good your service is and how satisfied your client is. However, as you are well aware, people frequently require encouragement to behave in a constructive manner.
For that, you can ask your present clients to submit reviews for the services they have received, if they feel comfortable doing so.
If the client agrees, provide them with all the details about where and how to submit reviews to ease the process.
Before requesting online reviews, consider the circumstances surrounding your client’s advancement and difficulties. Certain clients will feel comfortable disclosing to everyone that they attended therapy, while others may desire total confidentiality during their therapy sessions.
Manage Negative Reviews
As a therapist it’s important to understand that negative reviews might hurt your company. This may also damage your reputation on the internet and this will also make potential clients think twice before hiring you as their therapist.
Even though getting a positive review is rewarding and thrilling, you will probably ultimately get at least a bad one. Thankfully, it is possible to lessen the effect of negative reviews.
The first strategy is to reply to negative reviews promptly and courteously, such as ‘We appreciate your review, both good and bad, and we’re sorry if we offended anyone’.
On the other hand, you should be extra careful to handle situations after receiving online or Google reviews for your practice in an ethical manner. So, try to address problems faced by the reviewer, you can also get in touch with them personally by phone calls, emails, or secure messaging services.
This can assist in transforming a possibly bad encounter into a positive one and provide you with the chance to gain additional insight into the client’s viewpoint.
Moreover, consider proactively requesting reviews from your clients following their sessions. This can help you discover any underlying issues with mental health care or customer service before they might have a detrimental impact.
Respond To Review Promptly
You should reply to reviews, whether positive or negative, as soon as you receive them, usually within a day or two.
This shows your patients that you value their feedback regarding the service they have received and are considering the feedback. This is crucial as 89% of customers read the reviews posted by other customers in online reviews.
Please answer all the reviews politely and with language that exudes compassion and empathy. Being polite while replying will always help you maintain a good reputation.
Example of how to respond to positive reviews-
I really appreciate you taking the time to write a review! My goal is to give each person the greatest experience possible, and your criticism is highly valued and useful.
Example of how to respond negative reviews-
I appreciate you alerting me to these concerns. Although I’m sorry to hear about your experience, I appreciate you sharing it with me.
Conclusion
Google reviews can positively impact the success of your therapist practice. As it makes sure you’re offering excellent mental health and customer service to all your patients.
Therapists can establish an engaging online presence that connects with their clientele by putting into practice efficient methods for obtaining reviews and making the most of those positive reviews.
You can increase the number of Google reviews on your profile by buying Trustpilot reviews and improving the SEO of your therapy business. Trustpilot reviews will help you gain the trust of prospective clients and ultimately increase the number of clients you see at your practice.