How to handle your law firm’s reviews?
A 2023 Guide
For optimal search engine marketing results today, Google ratings and reviews are more influential than almost any other element of local online marketing. What’s more, in today’s fully digital-influenced society, people must check a business’ reviews right after searching for their name on Google. Commonly, it is the second fact they see after learning about your firm. Here we have created a small guide on how to handle your law firm’s reviews.
Nowadays, one recent negative review or even no reviews can be devastating for your business’s growth, as it is detrimental to both your online reputation and conversion rates.
Let’s look at this scenario for a better understanding:
- Maddie Legal Service: 18 reviews.
- Adams Joseph, Attorney at Law: 4 reviews.
- Matt Quinn Lawyer: 0 reviews
Which one do you think people will feel more attracted to?
Or even, which one will show up first in the search results when people go looking for an attorney on Google?
That’s right, the first one. Not only will their reviews attract the attention of the target public, but Google will also give them benefits regarding visibility and rankings. A law firm with more positive reviews highlights that its services are worthy of trust and that they are the ones they should be calling.
This strong social proof is extremely powerful in today’s digital age, and you should take that into account if you want your business to succeed.
What do Statistics Have to Say?
In the 2015 U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey, it was found that 67% of customers listed “reviews from other former clients” as one of the top two criteria when evaluating a lawyer.
This means that consumers will search for opinions on Google and social media platforms before even thinking of contacting you.
A study by FindLaw finds that 57% of legal consumers have left a review or rating.
81% of those that provided a review left a positive one.
Additionally, according to online review statistics, potential customers read an average of 10 reviews before committing to a service provider.
So when it comes to your online reputation, it’s all about first impressions.
Increasing your trust is just one reason a law firm benefits from focusing on positive Google reviews and ratings.
Consider the following:
Google Maps Searches now show reviews prominently in the 3-pack listing that it offers you at top of the page when you look for anything. An example:
Google Maps illustrates these ratings so that users can quickly decide which law firm to contact, without much deliberation.
Therefore, reviews and star ratings influence your website’s local rankings.
If Google actually considers reviews in organic search rankings is up for debate, but for local searches, we know that ratings and reviews affect ranking in the map results.
As such.
- Map search: Google Maps will say outright that it is providing the user with the highest-rated companies in the local area.
- Mobile searches: Google Now search results for mobile devices, average ratings, and review counts affect your rank. In addition, they are displayed very prominently.
So now that you understand why implementing a plan to begin growing your Google reviews is important, the old saying that goes,
“A happy client might tell one or two people, an unhappy one will tell everyone they can” suddenly makes more sense, right?
The thing is that customers are not usually asked to leave a review for the service they just acquired.
Where to Start?
We made a list of prospective review sites where you can start getting reviews:
- Yelp
Even though Yelp is not a lawyer-kind of website, it is one of the largest review websites. - Facebook
If you haven’t created a business page on Facebook, we strongly recommend you start one. It is an important listing to have for reputation management. - Google
Even though it is listed last, Google My Business should be the first place for you to start, create, and manage your legal business profile.
If you worry about any of the sites mentioned above because they are not lawyer review sites:
In a survey with almost 3,500 participants, it was Yelp the most frequently mentioned site for lawyer reviews. If that alone is not enough of a surprise, about 70% of respondents would consider seeing a lawyer in an inconvenient part of town if they had better online reviews than one closer to home.
Additionally, the study cites the quality of service as the most important consideration for 49% of respondents.
However, if you are still not convinced, here is a small list of lawyer review sites for you:
Avvo
Avvo contains profiles of most attorneys practicing law in the United States. It has become a primary resource for those seeking counsel or legal representation.
Claiming your profile is relatively easy, and chances are you are already listed among legal professionals in their directory.
Due to their online visibility, we strongly recommend this website for the reputation management of lawyer reviews.
Lawyers. com
An indispensable resource for lawyer reviews, this site is for individuals and small law firms.
In addition to being a directory of lawyer reviews, this site is also a vast resource of information concerning legal issues and areas of practice.
To create a profile, you need to register as a user and find your law profile, then click ‘edit this profile’ to make changes
Super Lawyers
Another impressive resource for lawyer ratings and reviews is Super Lawyers. It is invaluable for answers and experts in over 70 practice areas of law in all states.
This website provides a wealth of information for those seeking legal assistance, along with marketing opportunities for law firms.
Reviews improve your SEO
In addition to the above mentioned, and though it may not be immediately obvious, good reviews benefit SEO too.
Basically, the more positive reviews you have, the higher your website ranks.
How does this work?
Search engines crawl around the web to find the content people find useful. This means that Google finds quality content and ranks that content on the first page.
So if your business is “John Smith Law Service” and you have great reviews for your service, when someone eventually searches “good law firms near me” on Google, it will bump up your website at the top.
The more five-star customer reviews your product or service gets, the more it attracts potential customers.
When people keep visiting your website, search engines start to identify you as an authoritative site for this topic. This is a boost to your SEO, and with good SEO comes tons of quality traffic.
Needless to say, this will increase your visibility and popularity among customers dramatically.
Is There Any Software to Manage Reviews?
Just as with any other responsibility, managing your reviews and ratings can quickly become tiresome if you are working alone.
Luckily for you, you can automate the process and free up your time for other tasks by using review software.
This software allows you to collect reviews from different sites in real-time, send review requests, manage the collected customer feedback, monitor reviews, and manage all customer interactions in one place.
Below you can find a small list of review management software to assist you with this:
Yotpo
Yotpo is the leading customer content marketing platform that specializes in helping businesses generate and manage customer reviews.
With this tool, you can easily request and collect customer feedback via email or SMS text messages and then use this feedback to improve your products, services, and overall customer experience.
Yotpo includes a customizable review invitation system, automated moderation and spam filters, social media integration, and a detailed analytics dashboard that provides valuable insight into customer behavior.
Podium
This software utilizes text messaging to help businesses manage customer relationships and build an online reputation.
Podium merges customer interactions and online reviews in a single dashboard, ensuring simple review monitoring, media monitoring, and management.
From there, you can send review invitations, respond to online reviews in real time, and send and receive text messages with current and new customers.
Trustpilot
Trustpilot is an online reputation management system best suited for medium- to large-sized businesses to connect and build trust with customers, giving every brand the power to turn consumer feedback into concrete results.
It is great for local businesses.
It also offers the option to collect, manage, and display customer reviews to improve conversions, stand out in SERPs, and boost sales.
You can manage your positive and negative reviews and create widgets out of your best-selected ones.
EmbedReviews
An online software that will help your firm manage its online reputation status.
It allows you to manage the reviews that you already have, collect new ones, and highlight them on your website.
It allows you to customize widgets based on your online reviews. One of their best use cases is the ability to automatically embed Google reviews from multiple Google locations.
EmbedReviews will connect to your Google and Facebook accounts and generate and display the reviews. Additionally, you can directly respond to reviews either manually or with automated responses.
Yext
Yext is a cloud-based reputation management software that helps firms manage positive customer experiences by monitoring and responding to customer feedback.
The tool is excellent for social media metrics, sentiment analysis, review requests, and response management.
It streamlines the process by letting users generate organic customer feedback to share across websites and local pages.
Reputation. com
A cloud-based reputation management platform that helps firms monitor and manage their online presence effectively
With data-driven insight, this software offers multi-channel survey capabilities to collect customer feedback across different places, including social media, review sites, and other online platforms.
The feedback is then analyzed using sentiment analysis tools to provide actionable insights, helping businesses make data-driven decisions about improving their products, services, and overall customer experience.
This site iss excellent for businesses looking to improve their online reputation and drive revenue growth through effective online presence management.
NiceJob
NiceJob is a cloud-based reputation management solution that helps businesses manage reviews, referrals, and sales.
It has a good review monitoring system, sends email and SMS requests, and has good and bad review management.
This platform has an automated process for collecting reviews from your business listing, and at the same time, it is a distributor of reviews to several review sites.
The process is all automated, so you will not have to do almost anything manually, which will save you lots of time.
Speaking of saving up time…
In addition to using review management software, you will also need assistance concerning client communication. Have you considered how many incoming calls your law firm will eventually get when you start ranking on Google?
Receptionist Service Legal27, Supporting SEO Efforts
By integrating an AI-driven receptionist team, you will further enhance your efficiency and productivity. It handles client inquiries, client intake, appointment scheduling, and call management.
Here is how Legal27 can assist your law firm:
🗣 Prompt Responses: Our service ensures that all client inquiries and concerns are promptly addressed, even outside regular business hours. This provides a positive user experience, which in turn improves your search engine rankings.
🪝 Improved Lead Conversion: By swiftly communicating with potential clients at any hour, Legal27 can play an important role in capturing leads and converting them into valuable clients. A good response enhances client trust and satisfaction with your firm’s professionalism and reliability.
⏰ Round-the-Clock Availability: As mentioned, our service operates 24/7, enabling your law firm to remain accessible to potential customers at all times. We never call in sick, which can significantly improve your business’ visibility and attract clients seeking legal services outside regular office hours.
Contact us today to learn more about our AI-based receptionist services and how we can help your law firm operate more efficiently.
