Attorney Reviews: Managing Your Online Reputation

Why your law firm needs reviews

Imagine you are ready to buy a new car. It takes time to decide which one best suits your lifestyle. There are so many different types of vehicles. Some people might desire a fuel-efficient Prius, while others prefer a luxury, Range Rover.

Just like you would take time searching for the perfect car, clients do the same when looking for their ideal lawyer. Choosing an attorney is a big decision because the verdict could have a monumental impact on the client's life. For this reason, people tend to put a lot of effort into finding the right attorney for them.

Standing out amongst the competition online can be difficult, and that's where testimonials come in. It means much more to have past clients expressing their satisfaction than to write about yourself. Social proof is a key component of law firm marketing and goes a long way in proving yourself to new leads.

In a recent study, 84% of respondents said they wouldn't hire an attorney with less than a four-star average. It's essential to manage your online reputation and ask clients to write a review, letting them know how much it benefits your law firm. Most people are happy to do so, especially if you helped them win a case.

What are the best review websites for lawyers?

The most popular review sites are Google My Business, Facebook, Avvo, and Yelp.

Google My Business

Google My Business reviews appear next to your Business Profile in Maps and Searches. You can ask for client reviews by sharing a URL specific to your law firm. Be sure to verify your business profile, and reply to reviews.

Google reviews improve online exposure and SEO, allowing you to be found more easily in the search engine. They also improve the click through rate to your website. To learn more about how to get Google reviews, read this ARTICLE published by Google.

Facebook

When you make a Facebook Business page, Facebook will have ratings and reviews turned on. Studies show that 92.4% of consumers use these reviews to guide their purchasing decisions. They allow you to expand your search visibility and attract more clients.

Although you can disable reviews, we recommend keeping them live to build credibility. To learn more about Facebook reviews, read this ARTICLE published by Facebook.

Yelp

Yelp is also a popular platform for lawyers to receive reviews. 60% of consumers say they use Yelp to search for businesses in their area. By building an engaging Yelp profile with quality images and a strong description, you will stand out amongst the list of local lawyers.

Be sure to respond to inquires and feedback to build strong relationships that could lead to referrals down the road. Read the article How to Link Directly to your Yelp Review Page to create a shareable link. Send this link to clients, making it easy for them to provide a review. People are much more likely to leave a testimonial if the process is made simple.

Avvo

Avvo is a lawyer-specific website to help people find top-rated attorneys in their area. People can type in the practice area where they need support, along with their zip code, which will populate a list of attorneys that fit the criteria.

Having a high Avvo rating can improve your offsite SEO and if you have a high score it can help you generate more clients. This ARTICLE will help you learn more about how to get an Avvo rating and claim your profile.

Tips on how to get more reviews

If you want to acquire more positive reviews, start by asking for them when clients are at their peak satisfaction. For example, right after the case is complete, ask them to leave some feedback.

Be honest about how much positive testimonials benefit your law firm. Explain to them that receiving feedback online builds credibility, allowing you to help more people in the future. It can be especially powerful to ask people in person or on a video call and then follow up with a message later if they haven't filled out a review yet.

Most clients will want to help you out as long as the process is made easy for them, so be sure to explain how to leave a review and make it as straightforward as possible. Intaker sequences is a great tool that allows you to send a series of follow-up messages on auto-pilot. The sequence will automatically stop once your receive a reply to avoid coming across as spam.

You can send sequences in the form of texts, emails, or a combination of both. Text messaging is the preferred method of communication for most clients, and has the highest open rate. In the message, be sure to include direct links to the review pages.

Lastly, encourage employees to contact clients promptly by incentivizing the process. For example, if your firm gets a certain number of positive reviews, you have a pizza party, or everyone gets a gift card. These simple gestures show employees that you value the time they put into securing clients, boosts company morale and will keep performance high.

What not to do when asking for reviews

While it's important to know what steps to take to get reviews, it's equally important to know what not to do. For example, don't solicit reviews by requesting a review in exchange for a discount, prize, or monetary reward. While this might seem like a good idea, it's a violation on most review sites and can get you in trouble.

It's also not a great idea to ask clients for reviews from your office. While it's nice to ask for reviews in person, if all reviews come from the same server, they will likely get marked as spam. For this reason, you can ask them to leave a testimonial once they get home.

Responding to reviews

When you start using testimonials as part of your legal marketing strategy you will hopefully receive many good reviews. By saying thank you to those who took the time to review your law firm, you will build better connections.

There's also a good chance that you will get negative reviews at some point. Responding to negative reviews in a way that remedies the situation is important. Perhaps they are unhappy with the verdict of their case and while you can't change that you can help them understand why it played out in that way.

Potential clients take these types of social proof seriously and value past customer experiences. You can increase conversions of qualified leads by showing up positively online and showing that you are grateful for all feedback and take the time to thoughtfully respond.

Start getting more reviews right away

Studies show that 97% of consumers depend on reviews to make informed decisions. A person's likelihood of purchasing a product grows by 270% if it has five-star reviews. Be outgoing and ask your clients to leave positive feedback. Make the process easy by providing a clickable review link for each review page you'd like them to fill out.

Use Intaker sequences to follow up and remind people to get their reviews submitted while you're still at the forefront of their minds. Be persistent, but don't solicit reviews in exchange for monetary compensation, as that's against policy for most sites. If you have any questions, please get in touch with our Intaker team.

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