The Clinic Marketing Podcast - Local SEO & Healthcare Digital Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers

Google’s new review feature: what you need to know | Google Business Profile & Google Maps new feature | Ep. 104

Darcy Sullivan Episode 104

Today we’re diving into a super actionable strategy to help boost your Google reviews quickly and easily. 

If you’re a clinic owner, chiropractor, physical therapist, acupuncturist, or any local business looking to stand out in search results, stick around—you won’t want to miss this!

So, what’s the big news? Google now lets you create a QR code that takes your patients or customers straight to your review page—no searching, no hassle. 

🛑 But before you start printing these QR codes to post around your office, there’s something important you need to know that we’ll dive into in this episode. 

🚀 In this episode, I’ll walk you through how to set this up, where to use your QR code, and why this simple tactic can significantly impact your business.

Episode webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/google-new-review-feature/

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back, my friends, to the Clinic Marketing Podcast. I'm your, host, Darcy Sullivan, with Propel Marketing and Design. Today we're diving into a super actionable strategy to help boost your Google reviews quickly and easily. If you're a clinic owner, a chiropractor, physical therapist, acupuncturist or any local business looking to stand out in search results, stick around. You don't want to miss this episode. So what's the big news? Well, if you haven't heard, google now lets you create a QR code that takes your patients or customers straight to your review page. No searching, no hassle.

Speaker 1:

In this episode, I'll walk you through how to set this up, where to use your QR code and why this simple tactic can significantly impact your business or clinic's bottom line. Let's start with the basics. Google Business Profile has rolled out a new feature that allows you to generate a QR code that links directly to your review form. When patients or customers scan this code, they're taken to the ad review page for your business. No distractions, no hunting for the right link, super simple. This feature is a game changer for getting more reviews faster, as we know how a steady stream of positive reviews can help boost your rankings in local search engine results, making it easier for new patients or clients to find you. But before you start printing these QR codes and posting them all around your office or clinic, there's something very important that you need to know that we'll dive into later in this episode. So be sure to stick around.

Speaker 1:

Let's go ahead and dive into how to generate your QR code. To generate your QR code, it's very simple. All you have to do is log into your Google business profile listing on a desktop and click the button that says ask for reviews in your dashboard. Google will automatically generate a QR code for you. That's it. You can download the code and start using it right away Now that you have your QR code. If you decide to go with using Google's QR code, let's talk about some smart ways to use it. You can print out this QR code and put it literally anywhere. One popular option to do so is to place the QR code at checkout or reception, but this is where things get a little tricky. See, the fact that Google is providing you these QR codes suggests that it might be okay to collect reviews directly while customers or patients are at your location, but in the past this has been a bit of a gray area If too many reviews come in from people standing right in your office. It could look to Google like you're incentivizing to collect these reviews, which goes against their policies. However, with this new feature, it seems like Google is leaning into their use of QR codes to make the review process easier.

Speaker 1:

Official recommendations for how you should use this include Include it in your thank you emails. Add it at the end of a chat interaction. Include it on your receipt. Isn't it interesting that Google does not specifically suggest that you use it at your physical location? So again, words directly from Google.

Speaker 1:

When it relates to this QR code, their suggestions for using it are to include it in your thank you emails, add it at the end of a chat interaction and include it on your receipt. And include it on your receipt. I think that's very different to printing it out and placing it in your physical location. And, yes, I get it. A receipt could be received at a physical location. But again, I just find it interesting that Google is not suggesting that you print it out and physically put it and post it at your location. So that is really notably missing from their suggestions and I believe that this is a deliberate choice by Google to avoid any policy conflicts. So my advice would be, if you want to put this up directly at your office, directly at reception, is to use it cautiously.

Speaker 1:

If you notice that reviews left by people while they're in your physical location are not showing up, it might be a sign that Google is filtering those because they're seeing so many come from your physical location. In that case, the best bet would be to pull back and focus on other methods of sharing the QR code. And if you do try it in your physical location and you either have amazing experiences or bad experiences, please let me know so we can continue to collect our data on how this affects the strategy of how and where you should use your QR code. Again, some great places to use the QR codes are on receipts, invoices, marketing materials, all types of marketing materials. Here you can use it on your business cards, brochures, basically anywhere where you are using your marketing materials, maybe at an event. You can also use it in an email signature. You can drop in that QR code there. Definitely, if you're sending out email blast, I would include the QR code or the opportunity for somebody to leave a review. Think about it If you're actively sending out email blasts to your audience once a week, once a month. It's a great opportunity for you to also ask for them to leave a review.

Speaker 1:

The goal here is to make it as easy as possible for happy patients, clients and customers to leave a review when they're really just so satisfied with your service, which is why this is such a big deal. We know that reviews can lead to better rankings on Google, which means more visibility and, ultimately, more new clients or patients, and ultimately, more new clients or patients. Plus, this method simplifies the process for people, removing that friction of them having to find the location online to leave the review. So just a quick reminder make sure that the way you're gathering reviews complies with Google's policies no incentivizing reviews or misleading tactics. So there you have it a quick, easy way to boost your Google reviews with the new Google Business Review QR code feature that you can find directly when you log into your Google Business Profile listing. When you log into your Google Business Profile listing. This is a strategy you can implement today with most almost no effort, but potentially big rewards.

Speaker 1:

If you found today's episode helpful, please be sure to subscribe to the Clinic Marketing Podcast and share it with anyone else who you think could use these tips. If you haven't yet, I'd love for you to leave a quick review of the podcast. It really helps us reach more people. Thank you so much for listening. Before we wrap up, though, I do wanna mention that we have tons and tons and tons of resources on our website, propelyourcompany. com, that dive into more Google Business Profile listing strategies, along with other local SEO and SEO strategy. Please check it out. Thanks so much for listening today.