September 4, 2021

How To Generate Positive Reviews for Your Law Firm

It’s no secret that reviews have the power to help law firms gain visibility and reputation. People trust online reviews and use them to guide their buying decisions.

But the challenge most law firms face is not only getting reviews but acquiring positive ones that elevate your business. No matter how great you may think your firm is, a bad review can have a significant negative impact.

Thankfully, there are some proven ways to get positive Google reviews. Let’s look at the impact reviews can have and what you can do to help them bring a more positive note to your firm.

The Importance of Reviews

On average, four out of five potential clients look for reviews before using any service. Many people have reservations about working with lawyers, and some are looking for confirmation that you’re who they need. Reviews play the role of helping reassure them, so they feel confident working with you.

Clients are more likely to hire a law firm if they see good reviews about it. It doesn’t matter if you’re out of the way. As long as you have what they need, they’ll come to you. Then, as you get more reviews, it has a positive rippling effect that brings even more clients to your law firm.

Also, the more good reviews you have, the lower the chance a bad review can derail your momentum.

Opening Your Firm To Google Reviews

Creating an account to open your business to reviews is easy. First, you need to register your law firm with Google My Business. From there, you’ll verify your business through your account. After verification, all you need to do is follow Google’s Terms of Service, which states you can’t solicit any reviews or manipulate people into giving you positive feedback.

Now that you know about reviews, it’s time to explore the options to get positive Google reviews for your law firm without violating Google’s Terms of Service.

Create Profiles on All High Traffic Sites

Create profiles on any site or social media platform relevant to your law firm to take full advantage of their review features. If you’re planning to expand, then you probably already have a presence in these places. Many people use search engines to check for businesses or scour social media to find something people recommend. Having a presence on these sites alone will increase your chances of getting good Google reviews.

Ask for Reviews

Sometimes, the best course of action is to ask. People are more inclined to leave reviews if you ask them. You can even manage the reviews you get by asking for them from people you know who had a positive experience with your firm. Leave a link to your Google review or social media profile and let them do their thing.

Get Reviews From Partners and Business Associates

Another approach you can take is to ask for them from business partners. They can talk about how well they’ve worked with you and the qualities you possess that make you stand out.

Reading a review from another business allows people to understand how you deal with people and boost their confidence in you. If you get reviews from high-profile businesses, they also elevate your authority.

Increase your chances of getting a Google review from a partner or business by offering to trade a review for a review to help each other out.

Respond to Reviews

Responding to reviews is often a strategy employed for online reputation management. By responding to positive reviews, you show that you’re always aware and prepared to talk.

For negative reviews, a response allows you to show your side of the story. That way, people can know your take on a negative review and can make a better decision. It can even turn a negative review into a positive one.

Run a Review Campaign

You can send messages to all previous clients in your records by using an email campaign to promote your reviews. When doing this, you need to be forward and avoid acting sales-y or coercing them. Ask them nicely if they had a good experience and nudge them to leave a review for future customers to see.

Those satisfied with your service are always eager to leave reviews as long as you make the process easy for them. You can place a link in your email directing them to the review page so they can do it fast.

Focus on Quality Service

While you can ask for reviews, you have to provide more than subpar service, or you won’t get positive feedback. First and foremost, you have to give the quality people expect from your firm for them to become eager to leave reviews. You can even say that good reviews will naturally become a byproduct of quality service.

Providing the best service can also bring you more confidence when you’re asking for reviews. You’ll know that you’ll get high ratings for the most part, and they can overshadow a few bad experiences.

Make It Easy

Even eager customers can shy away from providing reviews if they find the process tedious or time-consuming. You have to affirm that the reviews will only take a small amount of time. The more convenient you make it for them, the higher chance they’ll leave a review.

Here are some ways you can make it easy for them:

• Leave direct links to your review form so people can access it with one click.
• Help the client write by providing them a guide or script they can fill in.
• Tell them it will only take them a few minutes.
• Add a thank you page after they click your link to leave a review.
• Leave specific instructions on reviewing on Google, Facebook, or any other service you’re using.

Embed Google Reviews

Embedding Google Reviews on your website makes it easier for your clients to leave a review as they don’t have to navigate away from your site. They’ll be able to see existing reviews, and you can add in a call to action to encourage them to leave a review. You can also use this strategy to your advantage, as the keywords in these reviews can help improve your website’s Local SEO.

Reviews Should Be a Part of Your Business Process

If you want to increase the number of reviews you get, you have to stay active by asking for them. However, you cannot force people to leave reviews by bombarding them with messages. Instead, ask for reviews as a part of the process. For example, you can send a link to your review page or include a standard call to action after interacting with a client.

When you use all these strategies together, you set up a framework that gathers reviews. With quality service, you’re sure to get positive reviews and improve your business overall. If you’re looking for help improving your reviews or setting things up, contact our team. We’d be happy to help you with a Google review campaign.