When looking for a senior center for yourself or a loved one, families and individuals must know how to evaluate senior centers. And just like deciding what restaurant to go to or hotel to stay at, potential customers are increasingly turning to online reviews to determine whether or not your senior center or senior living facility would be the best fit. 

So, how do you get better online reviews for your senior center? How do you get senior center reviews in general? 

We made this how-to list of the best ways to get honest reviews for your community center online! 

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The Importance of Good Reviews for Your Senior Center

Now, more than ever, it’s important to encourage your senior centers members to provide (positive) online reviews.

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Reviews are one of the most important ranking factors on Google’s search engine result pages, so good reviews can definitely help with your senior center marketing efforts. This is especially true because Google is cracking down on YMYL (“Your money or Your life”)  businesses. 

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“Your Money or Your Life” pages (YMYL) is a Google term referring to pages that Google determines could impact “the future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety of users.” And senior centers and senior living communities fall right into that category. 

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YMYL pages are held to a higher Page Quality standard because the information they provide can have a proportionally larger impact on individuals health and finances, and therefore a greater impact on one’s life. 

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That means you need to follow the best SEO practices, as well as get glowing reviews that show the positive effect of your senior center on your clients’ health and finances. 

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Plus, online reviews can help build trust and therefore support consumer decision making. In the online world, reviews are “word of mouth” marketing. The more positive reviews your senior center has real people that have experienced your services, the more trustworthy your center is going to seem. 

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For example, would you be more likely to buy a product that has 100 reviews, or 5 reviews? Whatever you answered...most individuals feel the same!

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In fact, 91% of consumers say that positive reviews make them more likely to use a business, 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and 76% trust online reviews as much as recommendations from family and friends.

Need we say more? Reviews are important for your business!  Great online reviews for your senior center can improve retention and engagement, increase senior center sales, and be great for senior center marketing.

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5 Types of Senior Center Online Reviews

Senior centers that effectively leverage local citations have a better chance of growing, attracting qualified leads, and reaching the top of local search results. And that is the goal! 

Local citations are online directories and mentions that will list your business. Some local citations might include: 

Google My Business

One of the most important local citations to take advantage of is Google My Business. GMB is like a search engine within the Google search engine: it works to bring relevant results that are local to the searcher (versus relevant results from anywhere).

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Google My Business provides location maps and addresses, reviews, details about your business (hours, busy times), pictures, and more. Including quality business content will help build credibility, establish your online reputation, and give potential patients as much information about you as possible.

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It’s pretty easy to make one too, and then you can directly send out the link right to your page for users to leave reviews.

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Senior Centers Directories

There are several online directories specifically for senior centers. They are often split up by area and service, so you can add your senior center where it’s appropriate. 

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Note, they might not all have reviews available, but you can get more eyes on your services.  

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Yelp

Some individuals also search for senior centers on Yelp, or are at least checking for reviews there.

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You can make a profile on Yelp as well, much like Google My Business, and this can pop up on Googles’ search engine result pages (below the local map). 

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Local Directories or Platforms

You might have local directories—online or in local papers or magazines—that offer reviews of local services.

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Your Own Site

Your own site counts! Show off how much your members love your center by putting quotes or testimonials from members on various web pages, or even a specific review page.

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You can see some reviews of Televeda on our home page: 

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And our page that offers our services for senior center activities management: 

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5 Ways to Get More Positive Online Reviews of Your Senior Center

1. Make it easier to give reviews

The best way to get more honest reviews for your senior center is by making it as easy as possible. Do this by: 

• Sending direct links to families and seniors to where you would like the review. Instead of just saying “please leave a review on Google,” get them that link we talked about above
• Help individuals complete reviews at your center
• Add review reminders to your site. You can have a banner on your homepage that directs individuals to leave a review, or set up a pop up for when they are leaving your site
• Provide a template, so that members only have to select the answers to questions, or fill in some blanks. 
• Let them know just how easy it will be. Is it only five questions? Will it take just two minutes? Make it clear when asking for a favor how simple that favor will be. 

2. Share social proof of others leaving reviews

Social proof is powerful. Seeing that 20 other members—some of them their friends—left a review can encourage members to leave one too. 

You can share reviews on your site, on your social media, or in emails...just make sure to include a CTA (call to action) and link for others to leave a review once they see the social proof of others. 

It can also help to emphasize how important reviews are in making decisions, especially when it can be a lifelong decision! Even ask them: did they use the online reviews to decide to come to your senior center?

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3. Contact everyone that leaves reviews

Online reviews are a direct line to your consumers, and give them a direct line to you! Showing members or potential customers they can easily contact your business through review forms shows your commitment to your members and center.

Plus, everyone loves a warm, personal thank you (online) note! 

4. Target satisfied customers

The best way to get good online reviews is to target satisfied customers. If you know a member loves using your services, ask them directly in person to leave a review. 

If you see some members come to your center multiple times a week, ask to leave one as well. You can even send out a survey, and request a review from those that respond favorably. 

At Televeda, after every class we offer the chance for attendees to provide feedback. 

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5. Be a great senior center!

There’s no better way to great reviews than by offering a great service. If your members are satisfied, they’ll be more likely to leave a review, and leave a positive one at that! 

How to be a better and better senior center is a whole different post...but feel free to check out these pages for some additional tips:

1. The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Your Senior Center
   
2. How to Improve the Virtual Classes at My Senior Center
3. How to Track Attendance at Senior Center Activities
4. How Should You Determine Your Activity Calendar in 2021
   

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You can also book a demo with us directly to see what we can do to help your senior center organically garner some great reviews!

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Conclusion: Get Some Senior Center Reviews! 

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It’s not only important to get reviews, but actually use them to your senior community’s advantage.  Not all of them are going to be great, but that’s a good thing! 

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Learn from the negative reviews on ways you can improve your services. Track changes in review sentiment and answers over time, and note if you see repeated complaints or positive messages, and use that to help shape your programming and the future of your center.