It does not matter if your practice offers innovative and cutting-edge procedures, is staffed with the most highly trained team members, and your surgical suite is one of the area’s most technologically advanced , without an amazing online reputation new patients will not consider your practice when searching for their aesthetic needs. The chance to connect with new clients requires a good online reputation and lots (and lots) of recent patient reviews. Online reviews and testimonials are essential to a growing cosmetic surgery practice. While there are many perks to having lots of reviews, MD Internet Marketing has narrowed down the top five benefits for your cosmetic surgery practice.
Top 5 Benefits to Lots of Good Reviews
1. Online reviews are the new “word of mouth”.
When you think of how valuable “word of mouth” suggestions can be, online reviews will multiply that by a thousand. Today’s shopping-savvy consumers in almost all age ranges find online reviews as valuable and trustworthy as hearing recommendations in-person. This makes sense since review sites, social media outlets, and discussion forums are the primary way this generation shops for almost everything, including plastic surgeons. The interest that grows from a large number of online reviews is endless. When they see your name come up again and again while perusing reviews, each one is as powerful as a coworker’s advice.
2. Online reviews establish a feeling of trust in potential patients.
Up to 90% of potential patients read through online reviews before making their choice for a provider or an elective procedure. Reviews open a window for these consumers to see other people’s experiences. While a couple of reviews mean that a few people had a good experience with a surgeon, many reviews will immediately tell others that the surgeon has performed certain procedure lots of times and has a huge number of happy patients. When trustworthiness is one of the top criteria a patient looks for in a cosmetic surgeon, a big number of reviews are of utmost importance.
3. The more positive reviews, the higher your star rating, and the higher your practice sits in a Google search.
Landing at the top of Google’s search results is incredibly important to get prospective patients to click on your website. One way to make it to the top of the list is with a five-star rating. The more stars, the higher the practice lands. Now, each of Google’s search results has their star rating displayed below their name. So not only does a higher star rating land you higher on the list, but it also sets the client’s first impression of your office. So having loads of patient reviews on the big review sites, like Google, Yelp, Facebook and RealSelf ensures that more clients will take a look at your office.
5. You will win big over your competitors.
In an online search, offices with a five-star rating (coming from lots of good reviews) will beat out similar, local competitors with only a three or four-star rating. Then, once a potential client makes it to your site, seeing a link to hundreds of positive Google, Yelp, and RealSelf reviews will seal the deal. Pushing your current patients to leave a review will always pay off because happy testimonials will bring in new clients.
The bottom line, as a plastic or cosmetic surgeon, you need lots of recent online reviews to establish a strong reputation and differentiate your practice from all of the competition.
MD Internet Marketing can help you determine what your online reputation currently looks like, then put your practice in the right direction for improving it. Contact MD Internet Marketing at (954) 993-5154 or fill out our online contact us form to get started.