In the era before the internet and even during its early stages, endorsements from word of mouth were immensely valuable for businesses to experience growth in revenue. Nowadays, online reviews are an essential part of the SEO for law firms, as well as a separate tool for obtaining new customers. Referral sources remain an outstanding source for attaining new business, however.
By utilizing the advice and approaches we have gone over, you will secure more 5-star reviews for your firm, attorneys, and staff. When employed properly and consistently kept up, monitored, and maintained, more prospective clients will discover you on the web and reach out to your firm.
How Do Online Reviews Work?
Nowadays, it’s not hard to find plenty of online reviews as we browse and shop online. If you’re looking to hire a local service-based business such as a plumber, landscaper or dentist, you’re likely to find one with a great reputation on the Internet.
When potential customers are looking for a lawyer to hire, they will first search online for reviews about the law firm. Before delving into the details of said reviews, let us ensure we are all in agreement on the definition of online reviews for attorneys.
Ratings, testimonials, or a blend of a written answer with a performance evaluation of a customer’s or outside party’s experience with a lawyer or law firm can be discovered on a multitude of sites and directories on the internet.
As online reviews are widely available, and websites are actively publicizing the ratings of goods and services, they have become necessary for the internet marketing of any business, including attorneys and law firms.
What are the Advantages of Having Online Reviews for Attorneys?
According to a survey, 56% of those who seek legal services report that online reviews are a significant factor when it comes to selecting an attorney. If your firm has glowing 5-star reviews in its collection, you can be one of the top contenders in your market when people are looking for a lawyer.
It is evident that reviews have a substantial impact on search engine and directory algorithms. As noted in the guide to Google Reviews for Lawyers by FirmPilot, reviews are a key factor for local (Map Pack) and localized organic search results, being the third most important aspect according to Moz’s Local Search Factors report. To sum up, the better the reviews your law firm accumulates, the more visibility your online profiles, accounts, and websites will obtain.
The study indicated that the vast majority, 92%, of those surveyed would still think about hiring a lawyer or firm if there were overall positive reviews with a few negative ones. It isn’t realistic to believe that every case will have the best possible result and provide the optimal client experience. The point is that people are sensible and don’t expect all 5-star ratings, as long as the overall rating is high and there are sufficient reviews.
Top Places to Find Online Reviews of your Legal Practice
Various websites and online profiles provide the opportunity for clients and others to leave reviews about your practice or lawyer profile. In this article, I will discuss the most significant ones to pay attention to.
What People are Saying about Google
For law firms, Google Reviews are the most critical when it comes to garnering visibility and new business. Their wide reach and presence on the web make them the most influential source of reviews.
When searching for your legal business, a knowledge panel will appear on Google containing your firm’s details and its overall rating. Google will consider numerous reliable websites when determining how to rank your firm in search outcomes, though their own reviews hold the most importance in their ranking system.
As a general rule, it is recommended to have 10 Google Reviews for each review you have on the listed sites.
Discover all the details you need to know concerning collecting and how you can execute more 5-star google reviews with FirmPilot’s client automated client engagement.
Avvo is an online legal platform that provides a directory of attorneys, as well as helpful legal advice and resources. It is a great resource for those in need of legal help.
Avvo permits lawyers to receive reviews from clients, as well as endorsements from colleagues. It is possible for reviewers to remain anonymous when utilizing the platform. On its face, this could appear to be an effortless way to draw in unfavorable reviews, but it can be beneficial to lots of professionals.
Clients often hesitate to leave reviews due to the delicate nature of their legal issues (such as family law or criminal defense). Avvo recognizes this and provides the option for them to leave reviews without having to publicly display their name or case. This allows lawyers to enhance their reputation without worrying their clients about any potential stigma.
The Social Media Platform Known as Facebook
As opposed to ratings that are generally given out of five stars, Facebook’s review system is called recommendations, and it consists of either a “yes” or “no” as to whether a certain business is recommended or not. Collecting these recommendations is done in the same manner as collecting reviews, so long as a Facebook Business Page has been set up.
A Platform to Leave Reviews
Yelp is a website where people can leave reviews about their experiences with various businesses and services. It is a great source of information for those looking to make informed decisions on where to spend their hard earned money.
Yelp is a widely known business directory website which is frequently seen appearing in search results for the main keywords associated with your law firm. Consequently, it can be a beneficial source to acquire some additional leads and calls each month. Subsequently, it is important to get your law firm’s profile on Yelp optimized and acquire a few positive reviews to strengthen your web presence.
Discovering the Law with FindLaw
FindLaw is a well-known web resource that enjoys a great deal of recognition from search engines such as Google. Few lawyers have reviews on their FindLaw profiles, so this is an ideal chance to make yours shine and promote your law firm’s internet presence and reputation. A few customer reviews on your lawyer’s profile is all it takes.
Justia is an online database of legal information, including case law, statutes, regulations, court opinions, and legal articles. It provides access to a wide range of legal sources and is a valuable tool for lawyers, students, and the general public.
Google pays a great deal of notice to Justia, as it does with FindLaw, and its keyword rankings reflect this. Consequently, many people looking for lawyers discover them through Justia’s blog posts and listings. Therefore, having a profile which is optimized and has several glowing reviews can make it stand out among others, and preserve your good name if any potential customers view your profile on Justia prior to setting up a consultation.
It’s possible with Justia to obtain reviews from not just clients, but also other attorneys. Therefore, you can request reviews from lawyers doing the same type of work as you, or in a different area of law, as well as from new and existing customers.
Your web presence
Potential customers who are visiting your website are in an ideal spot to take action. You can make it more likely that they will do what you want by incorporating social proof, such as customer reviews. These can be exclusive reviews that won’t be found anywhere else. You can also accumulate reviews from other sources like Google, Facebook, and Avvo and then post them on your website.
In the course of the hiring process, it is not uncommon for potential clients to look into your firm. This could take the form of a Google search with a phrase like “your firm’s name reviews”.
For this reason, by having a page on your website devoted to customer reviews, you can make your search results stand out. The image above demonstrates a criminal defense law firm that has a page with reviews and Google is showcasing their review count and average score due to a bit of technical review schema. This allows for an extra spot to be occupied on the search results page for their online reviews, which will aid their reputation in the eyes of prospective customers.
Strategies for Obtaining Online Reviews for Attorneys
In the digital world, it is essential for law firms to have online reviews. Attorneys who develop strategies to acquire more reviews will have a competitive edge and will be able to maintain a positive reputation. Conversely, those who don’t act to garner reviews are leaving their fate to chance since it relies on the decisions of both content and disgruntled customers to leave a review.
Strategies to Request Customer Reviews Personally
- Determine where to incorporate the procedure into the case or intake process. It is possible to ask your customers to leave a review in various places. It is recommended to wait until close to the conclusion of their case.
- Utilize your firm or practice’s customized review links. Most of the sites and platforms that make it possible to create reviews have a special link for your business’s profile. If a client clicks on the link, they will be taken directly to the webpage where they can begin writing the review.
- Incorporate directions on how to leave a review. Assist your customers and make it as easy as possible for them to write and post their rating and feedback by including some straightforward, templated instructions on how they can do this for you.
- Monitor the number of reviews and associated KPIs. Bear in mind that this is a marketing campaign and it takes consistent effort over the long term. Your KPIs (key performance indicators) will act as your north star and inform you of how things are performing. It is recommended to track the following: # of requests, # of emails or texts that were opened, # of page visits (if you have reviewers visit a landing page on your site as one of the steps), # of positive reviews, # of negative reviews, # requests per staff member, # of reviews per staff member.
- Run experiments to optimize. There are many experiments you can run to optimize your efforts. For a manual review process, it is suggested to start with some basic experiments such as different requesters (attorney vs paralegal), altering the step in the process when requests are sent, and the contents of the request message.
- Explore tools to that automate this entire process, such as FirmPilot
Don’t wait, start growing through smarter law firm marketing now.
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