Why Attorney Reviews Matter and How to Get More of Them
- Brooke Mathieu
Attorney reviews can make or break your law firm. They are one of the most important factors that potential clients look at when researching a lawyer. We will cover why attorney reviews matter and how your firm can get more of them. As well as give some insight as to where you should encourage clients to leave reviews and how you should encourage them to do so.
Attorney Reviews Have a Direct Impact on Your Law Firm’s Visibility
Attorney reviews are important for two main reasons: they impact your law firm’s visibility and they influence potential clients’ decisions. When it comes to visibility, attorney reviews are a key ranking factor Google uses for SEO. Search engines like Google and Bing use them to help determine where your law firm should show up in search results. The more positive reviews your law firm has the higher you will rank in your local map pack. This means when potential new clients search “divorce attorney near me” you will have a chance of showing up before your competitors do. Our goal for all of our clients is to help them show up as one of the top 3 divorce attorneys in their area. While reviews alone won’t help you earn a top 3 spot, they do play a big role in getting you there. Aside from reviews impacting your law firm’s website visibility, potential new clients will rely on them when searching for a divorce attorney to represent them.
Where You Should Encourage Clients to Leave a Review
The best place to encourage clients to leave a review in our opinion is on your Google Business Profile page. Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) is a free platform that allows businesses to manage their online presence. This includes things like your hours of operation, contact information, and reviews. You’ll want to be sure all of the information is accurate and reflect the most current state of your law firm. More likely than not you already have this setup. When potential new clients search for divorce attorneys in their area, your GMB listing will most likely be one of the first things they will see. This is why it’s so important to encourage your clients to leave a review on your GMB page. Additionally you should also encourage them to leave reviews on other popular platforms like Yelp, Facebook, and Avvo.
How You Should Encourage Clients to Leave Review
The best way to encourage clients to leave a review is by simply asking them. We recommend doing this via email or text message after their case has been resolved. You can also include a link to your Google Business Profile in your email signature and on your website. This will make it easy for potential new clients to find and leave a review for your law firm.
Responding to Bad Reviews is Important Too
It’s important to not only encourage clients to leave positive reviews but also to take the time to respond to any negative ones. We recommend responding to all reviews, both positive and negative. This will show potential new clients that you are active on your Google Business Profile and that you care about what people are saying about your law firm. It’s also important to take the time to thank clients who have left a positive review. This is a great way to build relationships with your current and past clients. Responding to negative reviews can be slightly more challenging, but it is a great way to address any negative topics that might be mentioned in a bad review. It lets clients know that you are proactive about handling situations that aren’t positive. Other times it can be a great way to defend yourself in the right situation. We can’t tell you the amount of times we’ve seen our clients get bad reviews for circumstances entirely out of their control, such as leaving a review for an attorney that wasn’t employed by their firm. We’ve even seen opposing counsel leave some of our clients bad reviews. Responding to their review by making potential clients aware that they are the opposing counsel who is upset, because they didn’t get the outcome from their case they were hoping for, can actually be a great way to help establish credibility and demonstrate success. Here’s a few examples of how to respond to both good and bad reviews:
As you can see, attorney reviews are important for many reasons. If you are not already paying attention to them, we encourage you to start doing so. If you need help getting more reviews for your divorce and family law firm, please contact us. We would be happy to help you acquire more reviews and respond to them efficiently. Whether your firm needs reputation management or any other marketing services such as PPC, SEO, social media, content strategy, website development, or email marketing, Cardinal Concepts can help.
