Providers must work on their strategy to obtain or maintain a solid online reputation to attract new patients because online reputation matters for patients seeking healthcare services. With the world's most powerful search engine, Google, online search rankings are now a unique marketing avenue and a great way to establish a credible online reputation.

Google review ratings are a source of vital information that influences consumer and patient decisions and drives efforts to improve healthcare services and products. Boosting Google review ratings is a wise move for medical practices to improve their online reputation, sustain operations by acquiring new patients, and stay ahead of the competition.

“Boosting Google review ratings” may sound complex, but don’t be afraid. Here are five simple steps to get it done successfully.

Step 1: Revisit How Google Reviews Work

With Google, people search for information online and find businesses, even medical practices, through search results because they stand out among competitors. Positive Google reviews are an easy way to stand out and rank higher in search. This is important because patients searching for healthcare providers on Google can read the practice reviews and decide if they like them before reaching out. If you want to attract new patients, you need Google reviews. But first, you must understand

  • How patients leave Google reviews:

Logged in to their Google account, patients can leave a review on your “Google My Business” profile via any web browser or Google Maps app. Patients can search for a clinic and click the reviews section to find a "Write a review" button. They then choose from one to five stars to rate their experience and write details. A 5-star review signifies outstanding patient satisfaction.

  • How the overall Google rating affects search results and new patient acquisition

Google's algorithm calculates the average star rating for medical practices or providers from patient reviews. It automatically gives a higher Search Engine Results Page (SERP) ranking to those with more positive reviews.

Prospective patients check star ratings when looking for new healthcare providers and services to gauge how other patients view their experience with a particular practice. Your overall star rating appears next to your business profile in Google Maps and search.

A 2021 patient perspective survey revealed that 69% of patients wouldn't consider a healthcare provider with a Google rating lower than 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. Google's default setting for searches with the word "best" shows businesses with a minimum 4-star average review rating.

Step 2: Deliver 5-star Service During Every Patient Appointment

You receive positive reviews from patients because they have a positive healthcare experience. It makes sense for medical practices to look forward to a high rating when they know they deserve it. Boosting your Google review ratings requires delivering 5-star worthy service that patients recognize and appreciate.

For example, patients expect convenient and speedy delivery of healthcare services. Medical practices can fulfill this expectation by offering patients online appointment booking that gives them complete control over booking and managing their appointments conveniently via a HIPAA-compliant 2-way texting platform. It allows patients to book, reschedule or cancel appointments by simply texting from their bedrooms.

Step 3: Engage with Your Patients

Patient engagement strategies help you improve patient experience and increase positive patient satisfaction, boosting your Google review ratings. By encouraging participation and control in every step of their healthcare journey, you make your patients happy.

However, satisfied patients still need further engagement to encourage them to leave a positive Google review. It often benefits providers to ask patients about their experiences after leaving the clinic. Automated review collection services help you send text reminders to encourage patient feedback and leave a Google review.

When patients finally take the time to leave a positive review, sustain the engagement by responding to these reviews and acknowledging them. Responding to negative Google reviews also gives medical practices a chance to tell patients that they are committed to improving their services.

Step 4: Make It Super Simple for Patients to Leave Reviews

Five-star worthy service and engaged patients allow providers to give their patients enough reasons to reciprocate with gratitude and the willingness to write a positive Google review. However, guaranteeing success requires extra effort.

Automating Google reviews acquisition allows providers to help patients write reviews quickly and conveniently without going through a tedious search and browsing for your practice. This will significantly increase the patient’s willingness to leave reviews and the total number of reviews.

Step 5: Let Curogram Help

The easiest and simplest step to boost your Google review ratings is to use Curogram, a leading patient engagement platform in the United States. The HIPAA-compliant universal health messaging platform saves medical practices the time and effort of setting up patient engagement activities and reviews acquisition automation. Curogram's 2-way texting technology helps healthcare providers streamline booking appointments and managing schedules and automates the system of inviting patients to leave a quick review immediately after an appointment.

With Curogram, your clinic sends patients simple automated text surveys to identify if they are happy, and with an easy-to-click link, they can quickly and conveniently leave 5-star ratings. After which, the system automatically asks patients to share their experiences on your Google business page.

Google reviews are a convenient strategy to attract more patients to medical practices in today's digital world. But boosting your ratings requires giving patients convenience and engaging them to improve patient care and increase patient satisfaction.