Tag Archive for: increase client reviews

The Do’s and Don’ts of Online Reputation Management for Attorneys

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One fact you can’t escape is that your law firm has an online reputation. People are going to share feedback about your services and other aspects of your business, which will influence other’s decisions about working with you. However, you can manage your online reputation to a large extent, meaning the outcome isn’t entirely out of your control. Here are some of the Do’s and Don’ts of online reputation management for attorneys. 

What is Online Reputation Management?

Online reputation management refers to the actions you take to manage your law firm’s and attorneys’ online reputation. This involves creating and maintaining a strong online presence, delivering quality services, soliciting online feedback, and responding to client feedback appropriately. 

Why Online Reputation Management is Important for Attorneys

Your reputation might be stellar with clients and peers, but that won’t do you much good if your online reputation reflects something different. Times have changed, and a business’s online reputation now holds more weight than even personal referrals or word-of-mouth. 

According to a legal survey from Martindale-Avvo, people are now more likely to choose a law firm based on their online research than a personal referral. A report by Trustpilot reveals that 90% of online shoppers have decided not to deal with a certain business because of a bad reputation. 

Additionally, if your law firm is hard to find online, if your website is sluggish, or if the information people find is outdated, potential clients are more likely to pass you up in favor of a competitor. However, a strong online reputation management strategy can help you make connections with prospective clients that boost your overall results online, especially in local SEO results. 

There’s a right and wrong way to approach online reputation management. Do it wrong, and it could irreparably harm your business. The right approach can help you boost your visibility and overall results. Here are some essential do’s and don’ts of online reputation management for attorneys and law firms. 

The Do’s and Don’ts of Online Reputation Management for Attorneys

1. DO Have an Online Reputation Management Strategy. 

Getting a positive online reputation requires a strategy and some legwork. Decide what you’d like to achieve with online reputation management, create a plan of action, and establish some KPIs to track your results.   

2. DON’T Ignore Customer Feedback. 

In addition to reading reviews, many consumers also critique how businesses respond to reviews, if at all. If you receive any reviews, negative or positive, respond to them quickly and appropriately. Thank everyone for taking the time to provide feedback. If you receive a negative review, invite the reviewer to contact you offline to resolve it. 

3. DO Create a Strong Online Presence.

It’s essential that your firm creates a foundation for success with a strong online presence. For example, if you have some positive Google reviews and a person clicks on a link that takes them to an outdated website, your efforts would be in vain. 

4. DON’T Purchase Fake Reviews. 

The last thing you want to do is prime the pump by buying fake reviews. It’s against the terms of service for every website and directory, so it can get your firm’s page deleted. The reviews also look fake, and potential clients will see right through the tactic. 

5. DO Ask Clients to Provide Reviews. 

If you don’t prompt clients to leave online feedback, you’re more likely to only hear from the people who are upset. This won’t give you the results you need and deserve. Instead, let your clients know that online feedback will help your law firm and you’d appreciate them taking the time to leave a review on Google or some other site. 

6. DON’T React Defensively to Online Feedback.

It’s hard not to get defensive when someone criticizes your business or, worse, your legal skills. However, it’s important to consider that every business gets a negative review at some point. You can’t please everyone. In fact, some consumers will get suspicious if they only see all five-star reviews. Take the occasional negative review with a grain of salt and make sure you respond appropriately. 

7. DO Monitor What People Say About You. 

Use Google Alerts and other tools to monitor any mentions of your name or related services online. When you receive an alert, you can quickly capitalize on this by engaging with someone who has a question or responding to a review. 

8. DON’T Mix Personal and Business Online Personas. 

This is a relevant point if you have attorneys with their own personal brands. It’s important that your law firm’s business channels be separate from the attorney’s personal channels. Things like politics and other divisive issues can alienate a portion of your audience, so think twice before posting. 

9. DO Be Authentic and Consistent. 

You can establish trust and credibility through your online content and interactions with others. Be as authentic and consistent as possible when posting across various platforms. Think about how you wish to be viewed and stick to your firm’s messaging as you create content, respond to reviews, and engage with people on social media. 

10. DON’T Get Frustrated by the Process. 

Managing your law firm’s online reputation is a marathon, not a sprint. If you fail to see immediate results from your efforts, resist the temptation to ditch your strategy, thinking it isn’t working. Your online reputation management should be something you do alongside your other digital marketing efforts to get the best possible results. 

Get Help Managing Your Law Firm’s Online Reputation

Creating and maintaining a positive online reputation for your law firm is just one part of an overall legal marketing strategy. Your clients need to feel as if their voice is being heard, and potential clients value the information they find about your law firm as they make important decisions. 

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we can help your law firm create and manage a winning online presence. We offer results-driven legal marketing solutions that can help your business succeed in a competitive field. Call us today at (800) 649-1764 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation. 

The Importance of Client Reviews and the Most Effective Way to Get Them

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In law school, the last thing that you were likely thinking about was how to market yourself as an attorney. Instead, you probably assumed that by doing good work and providing effective legal counsel, as well as by establishing or working for a reputable firm, clients would come to you. But the days of word-of-mouth marketing are all but are gone; today, more people than ever before are turning to online information as a resource that influences their purchasing decisions of various types, including who to hire for legal representation.

If your law firm is still relying on out-of-date means of client retention and acquisition, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to reach more people. At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, our legal marketing team can help you to understand the importance of client reviews and the most effective way to start cultivating reviews today.

Why Are Client Reviews So Important?

When it comes to understanding why client reviews are so important, the following statistics say it all:

  • Those who are in need of a lawyer aren’t just going to ask around to find one; instead, 75 percent of consumers seeking an attorney will use online resources to identify who they plan to hire. Again, by not having online information about your firm, including online client reviews, you could practically be sending clients to your competitors.
  • Not only are ¾ of people who need a lawyer using online resources to look for one, but nearly ⅔ of people say that online reviews greatly influenced their decision in selecting an attorney.

The bottom line: people are using the internet to learn more about a business before making a purchasing decision – this includes those who are in need of legal services. By failing to provide information to potential clients about your business in a variety of forms, including client reviews, you’re missing an opportunity to connect with a potential client in a valuable way; this opportunity will likely be snatched up by other attorneys in your field.

The Most Effective Ways to Get Client Reviews

Now that you understand just how important client reviews are for your legal practice, the next consideration is how to start building a collection of client reviews on your website.

Lawyers often fail to get reviews for a variety of reasons, starting with the fact that they don’t maintain the right spaces for clients to leave reviews (i.e. Facebook, Google, etc.). Second, lawyers often fail to ask clients for reviews, which is a critical step in the process of actually getting reviews. Third, if a lawyer does ask a client for a review, they often go about it in the wrong way. To get more reviews, consider the following:

  • Choose the right platforms. The first thing that your law firm needs to do is ensure that the right platforms for client reviews are in place. Facebook and Google are both great options – Facebook has more than one billion active users, and consumers say that Google reviews is their favorite source for online reviews. In addition to Google and Facebook, also consider using Avvo, which is a review site specifically for lawyers.
  • Start asking for reviews. It’s not just about having the right platforms in place; you’ll need to actually ask your former clients for reviews. This can be daunting and even feel uncomfortable, but there is a way to do it appropriately and effectively.

How to Ask Clients for Reviews

As you start to ask clients for reviews, there are a few key things to keep in mind for maximum effectiveness.

  1. Make sure your reviews are current by asking clients to leave you a review as soon as possible after representation has been completed.
  1. Ask for reviews from clients who had a positive experience – the goal is to have positive reviews reflected on your website and the various review platforms.
  1. Make it personal by asking for a review in person or by picking up the phone and calling them. Simply sending a generic email to a client you’ve been working with isn’t nearly as effective as personalizing it. If the client agrees to leave you a review, then you can immediately follow up with an email containing the relevant links to review sites.

Know How to Make Reviews Work for You

Finally, once reviews start coming in, you’ll need to know how to make these reviews work for you. Make sure that positive reviews are shared on your website in an area that is easy for prospective clients to find. Show recent reviews first.

Another tip for making reviews more effective is to respond to former clients’ reviews, both positive and negative. Be honest, empathetic, and use a negative review as an opportunity to admit fault when appropriate and highlight how much you care about your clients.

Work with a Professional Digital Marketing Team Today

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we are experts at helping law firms like yours improve their online presence and start attracting more clients. Not only are we skilled digital marketers, but we also understand the unique rules and regulations that you face as a lawyer, including client confidentiality rules and the consequences of fake reviews. To learn more about how we can help your firm, reach out to our legal marketing team by phone at (800) 649-1764 or online today.

How to Get Reviews from Clients

Getting reviews isn’t something you can sit back and trust people will do. You have to actively have a review-requesting plan in place, and train their staff – from managing partners down to their receptionists – in the best ways to ask satisfied clients for reviews.

Here are a few suggestions:

In Case-Closing Letters

Do your clients send a final letter to their clients with their settlement checks or copies of final judgment documents? Include specific instructions on how to leave their firm a review within these letters.

If your client sends copies of these letters via email, include direct links to their review profiles to make it easy.

In Text

Part of the problem with getting clients to leave reviews is them knowing how to. Remove those barriers by texting a link to their business’s Google profile. Here’s how.

In Person

The most powerful way to ask for a review is in person where your client can say, “I appreciated working with you. It would really help more people who need my help find me if you would leave a review online.”

Follow up this conversation with a texted link.

Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing has extensive experience with helping lawyers obtain positive client reviews. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation to learn more about our review management programs and other comprehensive solutions for law firms.