What You Need to Know About Google Reviews for Therapists
Do therapists need Google reviews to get clients? Yes, if you are starting a therapy practice, you need to pay attention to Google reviews. The truth is that a therapy practice operates like any other business. Visibility is important. Google is often the first place people turn when they want to find therapists in their area. By having a strong history of positive Google reviews, therapists can build trust and confidence among potential clients. However, Google reviews don't populate quickly just because you exist. Most people will never leave an online review in their life. Let's talk about getting, managing, and responding to Google reviews as a therapist.
How to Get Google Reviews
If you owned a bakery or plumbing company, you could simply ask clients to leave Google reviews for you. You could even incentivize them with coupons or prizes. As a therapist, this could be considered unethical. That's why getting Google reviews for therapists is more about presenting opportunities. It's so important to avoid the optics of pressuring or coercing clients.
Luckily, there are ethical ways to get Google reviews as a therapist. The simplest solution is to make it easy. It starts with your psychotherapy website. If you don't already have a dynamic website that your clients can use as a resource, it's highly recommended that you get one professionally made. You can share a quick link to your Google Business Profile in a visible spot right on your therapy practice's website. If you're feeling overwhelmed by putting a website together that features good SEO content and options for scheduling appointments, I specialize in digital marketing for therapists. I can put together an affordable custom therapy website package that gets your digital presence up and running!
Why You Should Care
Google reviews can help to expand your practice's reach. A strong organic presence with Google reviews can boost your practice's ranking in Google search engine results pages (SERPs). This can be essential in larger cities with lots of therapists. It can also make you the top-ranking search result in a small town or uncrowded market. Of course, you might be wondering if increasing Google reviews for your practice could open you up to bad reviews.
Responding to Bad Reviews
Every therapist remembers what it felt like to read their first negative review. It doesn't just feel like a personal attack. Bad Google reviews for therapists feel like attacks on their professionalism. This is something you need to be prepared for when running a practice. Remember that clients could still leave poor reviews for you somewhere on the Internet even if you didn't provide a clear path to reviews via your Google Business Profile link. Engaging with your reviews actually puts you in a position of being prepared to manage bad reviews.
Yes, you should respond to bad Google reviews for your therapy practice. In fact, you should respond to all reviews. A simple "thank you" or "thank you for your feedback" whenever a review is left is a completely professional and ethical response. This shows that you care about feedback while keeping you well within the confines of HIPAA compliance. Your responsiveness will actually be seen in a positive light by outsiders who are thinking of contacting your practice because it shows that you're "present and engaged."
What about bad reviews? Managing bad reviews can be a delicate situation. Responding quickly can help to ease tensions. In many cases, a person leaving a negative review just wants to be seen and heard. They want their perceptions validated. By responding quickly, you can help to ease some of the tension. If you feel that the review is justified, you can simply thank the reviewer the same way you thank all reviewers.
What if the review is unfair, unjustified, or simply untrue? You can consider reaching out directly using phone, email, or a messaging system to try to resolve the situation. Let them know that you truly want to correct the issue! Of course, this must be a HIPAA-compliant message without any hint of coercion. It's also helpful to know that Google will remove or delete inappropriate reviews that violate Google's policies. This potentially protects you against clients who are harassing you or attempting to "review bomb" you.
Treat a genuine bad review like a learning experience. Even a bad review gives you an opportunity to see what the experience is like from the client's perspective. It's possible that there are gaps in your approach to customer service or scheduling that can be improved. What have we learned? Google reviews can help your practice! If there's competition in your city, having strong Google reviews can jettison your practice to the top of search engines. Don't let fear of bad reviews make you avoid this resource!
If you're feeling overwhelmed with responding to Google reviews, reach out! I offer digital marketing for therapists and can help you boost engagement by responding to Google reviews for therapists. As a former psychotherapist, I am familiar with HIPAA regulations and can respond on your behalf in a way that boosts the reputation of your practice while adhering to privacy regulations.
