Reviews have become increasingly important for all businesses. If you want to do well, you have to have a good review reputation online. Unfortunately for attorneys, podiatrists, and other physicians, these reviews are hard to get. That’s why so many of our clients ask us questions about how to make sure that the reviews they get stick—that they aren’t filtered out by the big review sites (Google, Yelp, FindLaw, HealthGrades, etc.).
To answer your question, and to help you ensure that you’re following best practice review-gathering strategies, we’ve compiled a list of the questions clients ask most often along with our best, most ethical advice:
Can I have people leave reviews from my office?
Yes and no. The one big no-no here is setting up a computer in your office for reviews. Review sites are onto this and can tell if reviews are all coming from the same IP address. If they see it happening they will yank all these reviews.
However, it is acceptable to have them leave a review from their phone, so don’t be afraid to encourage pleased patients, clients, or customers to submit a review before they leave your office. For more on how to ask for reviews, read our article on exactly how to ask for reviews.
Can I offer a discount or gift for a review?
No. Never offer an incentive for people who leave a positive review. This is strictly forbidden. Some people have tried to get around it by giving the gift and saying it’s for any review, positive or negative, but we don’t recommend doing so. Just get reviews the old fashioned way: earn their praise and then ask them to share the love.
Can I send people to review sites from my website?
You can send people directly to most review websites and not have any issues. Here is an example of our “Rate Us!” page:
Keep the content on these pages short and sweet. Don’t distract visitors with a ton of modules or other info; you want to point their eyes directly to the review site buttons, leading them down a clearly marked path to review success!
It is important to note that while we normally don’t see reviews cleared out when a review site is accessed from a website, there is one notable exception: Yelp. To avoid this, only send users to Yelp thorough a button on your website that uses a Google search link. This way Yelp won’t see you send people to their site, but the link will still offer direct access to your page on the review site.
To do this, type in “Your Business Name site:www.Yelp.com,” using your actual business or practice name at the start. Here is an example:
To get this link for your site, right click on your business name for Yelp, select, “Copy link address,” and then embed this link into the Yelp button on your website. This link will be long, and should look something like this:
One word of caution: Make sure you choose the right link, the right business, when you look at your search results. That may seem like a no-brainer but it can be tricky, especially given how many similar brand names there are, particularly in the podiatry field.
Should I pay someone to get reviews for me?
If someone offers to dramatically increase the number of good reviews you get, run away! The only people who offer instant positive reviews are cheating cheaters who cheat, and any reviews you get will be fictitious and almost guaranteed to get your reviews, both real and fake, yanked from review sites. Goodbye hard-earned, legitimate reviews!
Now, if you have a law firm marketing company helping you run an ethical review acquisition campaign, that’s a different story. There is a lot of leg work involved in getting good reviews and managing your online reputation, so there is no problem if you hire this work out. Just never hire someone who promises are too good to be true.
Can I transfer testimonials or written reviews to review sites?
No. If you’re sent a kind, glowing email, or someone responds positively on a comment card in your office you absolutely cannot transfer these kind words to reviews sites.
What you can do is use this opportunity to ask for a review. When you get a positive email response or comment, either verbally or in writing, ask for a review. Thank them for their kind words and ask if they wouldn’t mind sharing them with other looking for excellent legal or medical care, pointing them to your “Rate Us” page.
Should I ask friends, family, and my employees to write reviews?
No. While it can be tempting to send out an office-wide memo to ask employees to write a positive review, or to broach the subject with your family over Thanksgiving dinner, don’t. Not only could this get reviews yanked (if they all come from your office, for example), it’s just bad business. It’s disingenuous, it’s cheating, and it can create a bad feeling among your staff; nobody wants to feel forced into this kind of thing. So save your relationships, and your reviews, and work on getting legitimate reviews using advice from our Reviews Matter webinar.
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