Last Updated Aug 2012
People in need of physical therapy services are searching for a good physical therapist and these days, they’re using nontraditional methods that have proven to be very effective.
More and more often, people are turning to the internet to find physical therapists. They’re using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, they’re searching on search engines like Google, and they’re looking to see what other people have to say about physical therapists in their local area.
They’ll do so by looking for, and reading, what other patients have to say about the physical therapist they see. If that physical therapist is you, you’ll want to make sure you have tons of raving reviews floating around about the PT services you offer.
Reviews Help Conversions
What will these tons of good reviews do for your PT practice? First of all, they’ll help build immediate trust between you and your potential patient. When a potential patient sees that other patients you’ve helped were very happy with the services you provided, they’ll trust that you can help them too.
This trust is one of the most important factors when it comes to converting potential patients into patients who follow up with you for your services. The more people trust that you can solve their problems, the more likely they’ll be to make that first appointment with you.
Reviews Are Good For SEO ( i.e Google Places, Yahoo Local, etc )
Third party reviews aren’t just good for building trust, they’re also good for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). When your satisfied patients post raving reviews about you on sites like Google Places and Yahoo Local, they’ll use keywords that potential patients might use when searching for a good physical therapist.
The search engines will see the keywords used in these reviews and will use them to bolster your website’s rating in the search engines. This way, when potential patients search for a physical therapist in your local town, your name is more likely to be at the top of the search engine result pages.
Giving Patients A Nudge To Write Reviews
So, now that you know how helpful third party reviews can be, how do you get your patients to write great reviews about you that other potential patients will read? Your patients are busy people so when you ask them to write you a review, make the process as easy as possible.
One of the best ways is to have a card printed with instructions for writing you a review. It can be on the back of the appointment reminder card you give your patient at the end of their session and can say something like, “If you’ve received excellent service, please take a moment to go to (www.name-of-review-website.com) and write a short review.” You’ll also want send them a follow up email or call them on the phone and politely ask if they’ve had a chance to write a short review about the services they’ve received from you.
Promote Your Reviews
Once your patients start writing raving reviews about your physical therapy practice, you’ll want to be sure to promote these reviews on the internet. Doing so will help your rankings in the search engines as well and it will get the word out about you and your practice faster and to even more potential clients and patients.
Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media sites are great places to promote your reviews. When you mention you got a great review from someone, make sure you link to the site where the review is posted so it will be easy for people to click through, read, and then call you to make an appointment.
A Short Review About Reviews
Potential patients are looking for you online. One of the most popular things they’re doing to find the physical therapy services they need is to read what others are saying in the form of third party reviews.
Third party reviews help you build immediate trust and turn potential patients into patients who use your services. Third party reviews will also help increase your ranking in the search engines. So, make it as easy as possible for your patients to write you a review.
Once a patient has written a fabulous review about you, make sure to promote your review through social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. If you haven’t already started harnessing the power of third party reviews to build your physical therapy practice, there’s no time like the present.
Click here to read more about Samuel Awosolu, PT