This is the 21st century, and there's hardly anyone left who purchases without first asking for a review either from an online source or from friends. It is especially so because things are so much easier now and people can get almost anything, they wish to buy by just a click of a mouse.
Everything gets reviewed or rated, from appliances to accessories, even food! As such, it is no surprise at all that this tradition has spilled into the legal profession.
Most legal consumers do not hire a lawyer without first checking out this crucial step for ratings and read reviews. About one-third of these individuals rely on online resources to find valuable information about legal practitioners. To a smart attorney, this is a good thing. After all, Increasing the exposure of a lawyer or a law firm is not the most straightforward task. However, with the help of good online reviews and ratings, things can be much easier.
Think about it, the more favorable reviews you get, the more clients tend to call on you. That's an excellent medium for gathering qualified leads if you ask us. But reviews do not just come to you. Your firm must provide quality services that propel clients to praise you. Most importantly, however, you need to have an online listing presence.
What Exactly Are Online Reviews?
You probably already know this but to remove all doubt let's find out precisely what online reviews are. Online reviews as regards law firms and individual attorneys simply describe the rating or feedback that past and current legal consumers give to legal practitioners as a response to the quality of service provided to them. Potential clients can also give reviews if they've been opportune to enjoy a free consultation.
Before recent times, reviews existed in the form of recommendations to friends and family about a product or service which they have previously used. Nowadays, however, anybody, as far as they have access to the internet, can give a review. Sites like Google My Business (GMB) and Yelp are primarily known for being platforms where various attorney rating reviews can be found
Why Your Firm Should Start Paying Attention to Getting Online Reviews
Studies have shown that both existing customers, as well as potential ones, read reviews. As it stands, a whopping 97% of customers read product reviews before they make a purchase. As if that is not enough, half of these customers confessed to trusting only 4-5-star ratings.
Statistically, positive ratings and reviews drive 18% higher loyalty. It has also been discovered to drive up to 21% higher purchase satisfaction from customers, thus the urgent need to pay attention to the quality of your law firm’s reviews. There's no way around it; reviews indeed are a big deal! We've established that several clients begin their search for a befitting lawyer by reading online reviews.
However, did you know that 70% of these customers would gladly journey to the office of an attorney with high reviews and ratings even if it is located in a less convenient place? This goes to show just how critical reviews are to legal firms or any other business for that matter.
For a law firm, reviews hold many potentials for exposing your business to the right people. Yes, you do need the right SEO implementation to make yourself more popular. However, both first-party and third-party reviews will do the job quite well as well. This is especially so because Positive online reviews can help establish your law firm as experts in the legal field. As such clients tend to notice you first when searching for competent lawyers
Reviews have a way of creating a reputation for your law firm, which can either make your firm or destroy it. As you receive good ratings, your fame will spread. Because anyone in need of the services you provide will be eager to want to work with you since everyone is saying you're good at your job. Thus, your firm will be established as a reputable one that can be trusted and recommended.
Reviews are used by Google as well as other search engines to distinguish you from your competitors. So, showcase the most successful cases of your firm by adding a review page to your website.
Besides, reviews, positive ones especially, can buy you increased traffic. It will interest you to know that people looking for attorneys online tend to be super conscious of their choice. Online reviews help them to gauge a law firm based on its prestige and significance to other customers. While attorneys that have their websites can still amass plenty of traffic if they highlight their specialties, they stand an even better chance of achieving this if they bring attention to their first-party and third-party attorney ratings and reviews.
How to Get More Reviews online for Your Law Firm
For most clientele, 4 to 5-star reviews is the threshold for choosing a law firm or lawyer. This does not only show how much legal consumers value their reviews in selecting an attorney but ascertains that any firm that falls short of this standard will be ignored. Plus, it does not matter how many the ratings and reviews you get; if they are weak, they'll only lead to the downfall of your company. Now, as a legal firm, this information demands that you pay serious attention to your online reviews. If you're not asking yet, the question that should be on your mind is, what can your firm do to get more positive online reviews? These are the ways to get clients to review your firm.
Satisfy Your Clients with Quality service
Granted, people are more disposed to complain about a product or service than they are to praising it. But there's a way around this. While no customer will give you a good review for offering poor services, if you’ve administered outstanding services to your clients, positive reviews shouldn’t be so hard to get from them. You find that most of your satisfied clients are happy to comply once you ask them.
Simply Ask for positive reviews
Increasing your online reviews is not a science rocket. Once you're sure you've made your clients happy by providing the best service, you can go ahead and simply ask for a review. Now, there are specific rules that guide soliciting reviews. First, you should ask those who are happy with your services because they're more likely to drop favorable reviews. Your chances of getting high ratings will be even better if you ask your clients when they are giddy with joy.
As a law firm, you should let your clients know they can find your business on popular review sites by showing signage on your website. Also, attorneys are expected to follow their state bar rules as regards ethics and lawyer advertising. Many of these regulations prohibit giving incentives in exchange for reviews, so do ensure you don't break any of these rules.
Which Online Review Sites Should You Utilize?
The reviews that carry more weight in the eyes of legal consumers are third-party reviews across various platforms as opposed to those on your site. It is only natural that you showcase positive things about yourself on your website, and your clients are aware of this. Third-party sites like yelp attorney reviews appear to be less biased and more trustworthy. The following sites are the most popular ones for reviews.
1. Google My Business
One of the things Google My Business (GMB) is famous for is reviews, and a wide range of businesses, including law firms, take advantage of it. Many customers chose google to be their best source of reviews. Therefore, as a firm one of your priorities should be to gather positive attorney performance reviews on your Google My Business listing so that your company will appear reputable to google users and boost your rank in search results
2. Facebook Reviews
Facebook is the second-most popular review site. It boasts of over 2.2 billion users. Therefore, you would agree that gaining favor on this platform and building up positive reviews on it will do your law firm a whole lot of good. Interestingly, your Facebook page will also come up in Google searches when your firm’s name is searched for.
3. Yelp Reviews
Yelp may not be specifically targeted toward legal services like other sites. Still, it is one of the most reputable websites that people automatically go to when they’re looking for local businesses. Yelp does elevate specific reviews above others, and the platform provides exceptional advertising features to business owners that are willing to pay. However, creating a listing for your law firm is free and worth it.
Reinforce Your Reviews by Listing with Attorney Directory
Irrespective of whether you're an individual attorney or you own a law firm, you need a reliable listing platform to reinforce your law firm SEO and online reviews. List with the attorney directory and notice a difference. As an online lawyer directory, our job is to link your local attorney firms with high-value customers. No matter where your office is located in the U.S we will help redirect links to your site so clients in your area can get in touch with you, enjoy your services and leave positive reviews. Join attorney directory today.
