How to Increase Google Reviews for Your Nursing Home: The Ultimate Guide

How to Increase Google Reviews for Your Nursing Home: The Ultimate Guide

About 84% of people trust reviews they read online as much as they do personal recommendations from friends. Google reviews can help people learn more about your nursing home from first-hand accounts. You can improve your nursing home’s online reputation and attract new patients.

By learning how to get more reviews on Google, you can generate more brand awareness and trust, too.

Not sure how to increase Google reviews? Here are the seven tips you need to succeed! With these tips, you can encourage people to post reviews on your Google My Business (GMB) listing. 

Then, you can attract more patients and build your business.

Get started with these seven easy tips today!

1. Update Your Google My Business Listing

Your Google My Business listing helps people learn more about your nursing home. There, they can find your:

  • Business name
  • Address
  • Directions to your nursing home
  • Website
  • Hours
  • Phone number
  • Reviews

If you don’t have a Google My Business listing, you won’t give people the opportunity to post their reviews. In order to learn how to increase Google reviews, start by claiming your listing.

You can claim your listing here.

Your GMB listing will take up prominent space in the top right corner of a search. When someone searches for local nursing homes, yours might appear. If they search for you by name, your listing will appear first.

You can then use your Google My Business listing to attract more people to your nursing home.

Once you claim your GMB listing, make sure the information is up-to-date. If your address or phone number ever changes, update your listing right away. Otherwise, you could confuse prospects.

Do you already have patients who love your nursing home? Ask them to post their reviews on your Google My Business listing. 

Check the reviews you have so far, too. Start commenting to each one with a personal message. Responding to your reviews will show people you’re listening.

You can update your GMB listing with additional information, including photos and videos of your nursing home. Adding images can help you attract more people to your listing.

Once you update your GMB listing, use a plugin to display those reviews on your website. Add a button that links website visitors back to your GMB listing. Use a call-to-action to encourage website visitors to post reviews.

That way, on-the-fence prospects can see your reviews on your website. Happy patients and family members will have easy access to your GMB listing, too!

2. Avoid Purchasing Reviews

As you learn how to get more reviews, it’s important to avoid purchasing reviews.

Purchased reviews look fake. Posting fake reviews will make people think you’re hiding something. They might think patients have nothing good to say about your nursing home.

Purchased reviews can impact your credibility and authenticity. You’ll look ingenuine as a result. 

You shouldn’t purchase or incentivize people to post reviews. Don’t exchange reviews for free gifts. In fact, incentivizing people to post reviews is against Google’s terms and conditions.

Google might penalize your website as a result.

3. Send Emails

If you want to increase Google reviews on your GMB listing, you’ll need a communication strategy. Draft a message to your patients or their family members. Send them an email after the patient’s one-month or one-year anniversary at your nursing home.

Don’t stick to using a cookie-cutter template. Instead, make adjustments to the message to personalize the message for each recipient. For example, you can mention how much you enjoy having the patient at your nursing home.

Creating a personalized message will help you connect with the reader. Otherwise, you might sound robotic or cold.

Then, finish the email by asking the recipient to consider posting their review on your GMB listing.

Consider creating an automated email drip campaign, too. You can ask your patients or their family members to fill out a survey. Then, you can pull quotes from their survey to use as reviews.

4. Ask More Than Once

If you want to increase reviews this year, you need to maximize your opportunities. Don’t hesitate to ask people for reviews more than once. Space out your requests to avoid annoying recipients, though.

Asking more than once will help you remain top-of-mind. Maybe someone didn’t have the time to post a review the last time you asked. Asking more than once will help you avoid missed opportunities.

Craft different messages for these follow-ups. You don’t want to sound repetitive.

5. Gather the Right Tools

If you want to learn how to increase Google reviews for your nursing home, you’ll need the right tools. You’re busy enough running a nursing home. You can save up time in your schedule by using review generation tools.

These tools will ask for reviews for you. You can stay organized without wasting valuable time. 

You can also add a chatbot to your website. The chatbot can help you get more reviews while you run your business. Other automation tools, like email triggers, can save you valuable time and money as well. 

6. Focus on Your Patients

If you want to gather genuine reviews, give your patients an experience worth talking about. Otherwise, you might find their reviews aren’t as positive as you hoped.

Find ways to improve your nursing home. Ask your patients if they’re happy. They might provide you with the suggestions you need to make improvements.

There’s an 80% increase in revenue for businesses that focus on improving customer experiences. Making people happier will encourage them to post positive reviews. Your patients will remain loyal to your nursing home, too.  

Meanwhile, prospects will see the benefits of nursing home care you can offer.

7. Learn to Ask in Person

As you use these tips and increase Google reviews, learn how to ask for reviews on a by-person basis. You can ask for reviews:

  • In text messages
  • Over the phone
  • On social media
  • Through a website thank you page
  • Over email
  • On your invoices
  • On your website’s review page

Asking for reviews will ensure you never miss out on an opportunity.

How to Increase Google Reviews at Your Nursing Home: 7 Tips for Success

Now that you know how to increase Google reviews for your nursing home, get to it! With these tips, you can increase Google reviews online. Your brand reputation will improve as a result. 

As you generate more Google reviews, you can engage prospective patients and set your nursing home up for success.

Need more help with your nursing home marketing strategy? We can help.

Register today to learn more!