The importance of online reviews for your law practice cannot be overemphasized. The idea of not needing online reviews because you’re an attorney is entirely false. As much as local businesses need online reviews, your law firm needs them too.
Here are some online review statistics to pay attention to:
- 68% of millennials trust online reviews, as opposed to 34% who trust television advertising.
- Reviews produce an average of 18% uplift in sales.
- Consumer reviews are significantly trusted (nearly 12 times more) than descriptions that come from manufacturers.
- 90% of consumers read more than 10 reviews before forming an opinion about a business.
- Consumers are likely to spend 31% more on a business with excellent reviews.
- Reviews contribute to 10% of Google SERP ranking.
You’re probably thinking you can rely on recommendations; you shouldn’t. We now live in a modern age where people don’t need to ask friends when seeking legal help. 84% of people trust online reviews as much as they trust recommendations from friends.
By getting online reviews and high ratings online, you’ll be building a strong reputation for your law firm. Additionally, clients giving feedback will attract prospective clients to you and create a credible image for your law practice.
Other reasons why online reviews are essential to your law firm include:
- It is the first step people in need of legal assistance take when looking for an attorney.
- It proves your firm’s credibility to potential clients and the public in general.
- It improves your ranking on search engine rankings and review platforms.
- It increases prospective clients’ trust even before they hire your law firm.
- Positive online reviews increase your client base and set you apart from other law firms.
So, How Exactly Do You Get More Reviews for Your Law Firm?
Before you consider getting reviews for your law firms, it’s vital you know where you want your reviews to be posted. There are several review sites. Some review platforms even go as far as scanning the web for positive feedback on your law firm.
However, there are general review platforms and law-customized review sites. These platforms are quite popular, plus reviews written on them are well trusted.
Let’s begin with the general review platforms and how they can be beneficial to your law firm:
Google is the god of online review sites. It is currently ranked as the number one search engine globally and accounts for 57.5% of reviews worldwide.
Even as an attorney, when you need information, the first place that comes to mind is Google. Therefore, it’s only natural that people visit the number one search engine in the world when they require legal assistance.
Having positive reviews and high ratings on Google will be a big win for your law practice. If your name pops up on the first page, people can immediately paint a picture of what your law firm is all about. Creating a profile on this platform is a no-brainer.
What is better than having hundreds of reviews on a platform with over two billion users? Facebook is currently the most used social platform in the world, with over a 2.79 billion users globally.
With 73% of Facebook users logging in daily, your client base will surely be off the charts if you have positive reviews on this platform. Facebook is a family with multiple people seeking recommendations.
In America, for example, 36% of the population get their news from Facebook. This news cuts across environmental changes, politics, local business, product reviews, and even attorney recommendations.
Having a Facebook account will get you more online reviews. These reviews, in turn, will attract more clients and build a solid reputation for your law firm.
Yelp
Yelp is an online review center where people share their experiences on a location, a product, or a company’s services. While this platform is centered on restaurants, it is also a website where people seek reviews on attorneys.
Regardless of the site’s focal point, you must create a profile on this review platform.
On the other hand, people in need of attorneys for serious and complicated legal issues tend to visit review platforms geared toward law firms alone. Some of these sites include Avvo, Lawyer.com, Justia, and many more. You should also create profiles on these sites.
How to Get Reviews from Your Clients
The traditional and respectable way of getting reviews from your clients is by asking if they were impressed with the services you provided them. But as an attorney, you may be too busy to put a call through or send a text asking for a review.
Not to worry, you can make use of an automated and systematic review system. Systems such as ReputationStacker, for example, can make things easier for you and your firm.
When using ReputationStacker, all you have to do is input your client’s email or phone number; ReputationStacker then proceeds to send a simple single-survey question.
Positive reviews are automatically sent to your choice of review platforms, such as Google, Yelp, or Avvo. In contrast, negative reviews are sent directly to your email, where you can easily address them.
However, if you can afford the luxury and time to ask a client for a review, here are the steps you should follow;
- After the end of all business dealings and affairs, ask your client if they are satisfied with how you handled everything relating to the case.
- If the client gives positive feedback, ask if they wouldn’t mind recommending you to others and writing a review.
- Thank the client for taking out time to write a review.
Note: Do not ask for a review until all legal proceedings and business dealings have ended.
Summary
Online reviews are essential to the success of law practices. People trust reviews as much as they trust a recommendation from a friend. Therefore, you should invest time in getting positive reviews.
You should make use of Google, Yelp, Facebook, Avvo, and other top review platforms. It makes your presence felt on the web and creates a good image of your law firm.