What your clients think of your business is critical to the success of your law firm. Your clients will check online reviews first before visiting your law firm website. Positive reviews are the best referrals while negative reviews (with the right response) show your professionalism and integrity. Generating great reviews is a great foundation for SEO for lawyers Metairie. Clients trust reviews online as much as word-of-mouth recommendations. They use reviews to determine whether to hire your law firm or not. 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses. Not all clients are willing to leave reviews on your website. Some clients would leave reviews if they are too pleased with your service or are very dissatisfied. A great way to inspire clients review is to provide excellent customer service. However, in case you get negative reviews, it is important to handle them professionally and ensure the issues don’t happen again in the future. Don’t be scared to ask for reviews. Here are ways to ask for customer reviews for your law firm: Ask during a phone call or email – It is inevitable for clients to give positive feedback when your service is excellent. When they call or write to you about how good your service is, don’t hesitate to ask them for a copy of your website. Include a review button on your law firm website – Don’t make it hard for your clients to leave a review on your website. Add in-store customers using a URL – Increase the number of reviews by providing your customers instructions for creating reviews on review sites such as Yelp, Google+. Refer them to review sites - Your regular customers are more likely to leave compliments on review websites. There are thousands of websites that your customers can leave reviews on. However, these websites will help boost your reputation locally: Yelp – A third of Americans turn to Yelp to post reviews and read reviews. If you want your website to stay in the forefront, you shouldn’t miss out on Yelp. Take note that Yelp discourages companies from asking for reviews overtly. You can mention that your website is on Yelp but don’t blatantly ask for reviews. Include Yelp badge on your website, social media, and newsletters to encourage your customers. Google My Business - GMB is essential for any local business. Adding Google + enables you to add a citation to your business besides encouraging your clients for reviews. GMB reviews are featured in local knowledge panels which is essential for your SEO for lawyers Metairie. Law firm-specific review websites - Besides location-specific review websites, your law firm websites can take advantage of lawyer-specific review websites such as: Besides these websites, many state bar associations enlist lawyers based on location or practice area. You can reach out to your state bar association to ensure your practice area or law firm is included and with the right contact details Whether it’s good or bad, you have to respond to reviews to improve your credibility and display professionalism. Here are ways to manage reviews: Monitor online reviews – Check your reviews online specifically on major citation pages and listings. Create a standard response – Keep your response short and professional. Don’t ignore bad reviews – How you respond shows your professionalism and can inspire potential customers to hire your services. You can follow these tips to manage bad reviews: Don’t miss out on the benefits of reviews by avoiding these mistakes: Buying reviews – It may be hard at first to generate reviews but buying reviews can harm your website. It is not worth the risk as search engines could penalize your law firm website. Faking reviews - Another way to penalize your website is by generating fake reviews. Ignoring bad reviews – You can turn negative reviews into a positive experience for your law firm. Responding to reviews can keep your clients at bay and also improve your reputation. Deleting negative reviews – Doing so will just earn the ire of your upset customers. Deleting bad feedbacks hinder the success of your law firm. Generating and managing client reviews can be time-consuming and tedious but once you get the hang of it, it can be rewarding for your law firm website. You can also hire the professional service of SEO for lawyers Metairie to oversee your digital marketing. How to ask clients to leave reviews
Get reviews from review sites
Avvo – This site is particularly designed for people looking for lawyers online where they can search law firm websites based on location or practice areas. Create an Avvo profile or claim your profile so you can post your law firm services and contact information.
Lawyers.com - Lawyers.com is a free website for individuals and small businesses needing legal advice. The best way to optimize your law firm website is to ensure that your profile has complete information about your law firm or practice. How to manage reviews
Read the review well – It may be tempting to respond immediately without fully understanding your clients’ perspective. Cool off first and be empathetic. No need to be rash or unprofessional as it can hurt your reputation.
Acknowledge the issue – Ignoring a bad review and denying the issues can harm your law firm’s reputation. Don’t be scared to engage in a conversation as you dig your client’s issue. This shows that you are acting on negative feedback positively.
Provide solutions – Don’t just apologize, be proactive and provide solutions. Once you have a solution, respond to reviews to inform customers of the actions you will take to resolve their issues. If someone is set not to hire your services again, you can’t change their minds. However, answering their negative reviews professionally helps potential customers decide for themselves.
Take it offline – There are negative reviews you can’t resolve online. In cases that involve confidential information, you can take the conversation offline. Offer a way for your client to reach out to you directly. Engaging in discussions offline shows that you are serious about resolving their issues.
Steer clear from these review mistakes