How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Law Firm
Are you looking for strategies to bring more awareness to your law firm and get those all-important Google reviews?
You could be winning cases left and right, but it’s notoriously difficult to get clients to actually leave a review on your Google Business Profile or elsewhere.
But having a track record of positive reviews is a key part of improving your local SEO, building your law firm’s reputation, and converting leads into clients.
Drawing in more reviews from clients doesn’t have to be difficult. In this blog, we’ll provide some of the most effective techniques for collecting customer feedback and explain why it’s so important to obtain reviews.
Table of Contents
How do Google reviews work?
Google reviews are part of the larger Google Business Profile (GBP) system. GBP is a free tool that allows businesses to create and manage a profile, answer client questions, and get found in searches. Past clients can submit reviews on your law firm, which appear alongside the listing when users search for it on Google.
These reviews are incredibly important, as they’re an essential factor in local SEO rankings, they improve visibility and click-through rates, and they can also increase customer trust.
Google reviews are a great way for a law firm to boost its credibility by improving its online presence. Businesses develop their own Google Business Profile, which houses all Google reviews and more.
By committing to actively managing and responding to Google reviews, lawyers can attract more clients and build trust easily.
Why are Google reviews important for law firms?
Google reviews are important for many reasons. Although it all comes down to proving your law firm’s worth and ability to potential clients.
Nine out of ten people surveyed reported looking at reviews before making a purchase or hiring a new service.
Here are a few ways Google reviews do that:
- Improve your local SEO. Most lawyers work primarily with local clients, making local SEO an essential part of any law firm’s marketing strategy. And your Google Business Profile (and the reviews on it) go a long way in improving visibility in your targeted areas.
- Build your reputation and increase brand awareness. Your reputation and brand both help your law firm (and the lawyers who work there) establish trust and credibility in your area. Positive reviews hold up your law firm and its accomplishments, letting potential clients know you’re right for the job.
- Improve clickthrough rates. Positive Google Business Profile reviews inspire confidence, convincing prospects that you’re trustworthy and directly improving clickthrough rates.
- Generate more leads. By increasing your law firm’s SEO and overall visibility, you’ll start to attract more leads. Those leads will come organically, and you’ll see an increase in the performance of just about every law firm marketing campaign you run.
- Find out what’s not working. No one wants a negative review. But they have a purpose. Some negative reviews can shine a light on issues that your clients are experiencing while working with you, highlighting ways you can improve. (Don’t be afraid to respond to negative reviews. It shows that you care about your clients.)
Now that you’re aware of how your Google Business Profile works and understand the importance of Google reviews, let’s look at strategies you can implement to increase the chances of your clients leaving feedback.
5 ways to start getting more positive reviews from clients
Now you know why you need to get more Google reviews. Here’s how to get them.
1. Ask your satisfied clients to write a review on Google, Yelp, or another website
The most obvious but often overlooked way to start getting more reviews for your law firm is to ask for them.
Many business owners, including lawyers and attorneys, hesitate to ask for reviews because it can be uncomfortable. But most clients you’ve helped will have no problem leaving you a review when asked.
Leaving reviews isn’t something that comes naturally for a lot of people, so it likely won’t cross their minds otherwise.
2. Make requesting reviews a part of your offboarding process
To avoid the awkwardness of asking for a review directly, consider making it a natural part of your offboarding process.
Including a request for a review in your final email correspondence with every client can help automate the process, removing both the uncomfortable interaction and the manpower involved.
3. Make it easy for your clients to write reviews by providing them with a link or QR code
The key to increasing the rate at which you successfully convince clients to leave reviews is to make it as easy as possible.
When you send those offboarding emails, include links or QR codes to your Google Business Profile and wherever else you’d like a review.
Asking directly and making it as effortless as possible are two surefire ways to get way more reviews.
4. Thank your clients for writing reviews and let them know how much you appreciate their feedback
Whenever you receive a new review, consider going the extra step and reaching out to personally thank them for taking the time.
That added touch can actually improve the chances of a past client hiring you again in the future.
5. Respond to negative reviews in a professional and courteous manner
Every Google review should be seen as an opportunity, even if the feedback isn’t always positive.
Taking the time to respond to each Google Business Profile review helps your law firm show that you care about what previous/potential customers think and are willing to take the time to listen and react accordingly.
A quick response from your firm shows that you understand the gravity of client experience and will build consumer trust. This helps you establish trust and credibility, showing potential clients that you’re attentive and really care.
Responding to Google reviews doesn’t have to take long, but it can play an important role in how effectively you are able to connect with potential clients.
Top review-generating platforms for law firms
We know that it can be difficult to stay consistent when generating reviews when you have limited staff or no dedicated digital marketing team. That’s why investing in review-generating services can sometimes be worth it.
If you’re searching for a way to keep track of how customers perceive your business, many reputation and review services exist that can help. These digital tools not only help you generate reviews but also permit you to address customer feedback in one streamlined dashboard.
Here are a few of the ones we think are worth looking into.
Podium
With Podium, your business can effortlessly nurture customer relationships and increase online reviews across multiple sites, including your Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Avvo.
Everything is consolidated in a single dashboard, so you and your law firm’s staff will have simplified access to handle online review management.
From the dashboard, you can request new reviews and respond to existing ones with ease. Plus, it provides daily interaction reports that help spot any potential issues in your review program. While it’s one of the more expensive platforms on offer based on how many locations are being managed, its features make up for that without fail.
BirdEye
BirdEye is the perfect all-in-one solution to manage your online business listings, reviews, and law firm’s reputation. Not only can you track customer feedback, but also respond quickly with custom emails or texts/SMS messages sent as part of a case closeout process.
Getting more positive lawyer reviews pays off
Getting Google reviews is a crucial part of establishing a strong online presence and building the reputation of your law firm.
By asking satisfied clients to leave a review, making it easy for them to do so, and responding to both positive and negative reviews, you can increase your chances of getting more feedback. And committing to actively managing your Google Business Profile can help you establish trust and credibility, attract more clients, and improve your law firm’s performance.
Dennis Dimka
Dennis Dimka is the founder and CEO of Uptime Legal Systems.
Under Dennis’ leadership, Uptime Legal has grown organically and through acquisitions to become the nationally-recognized legal technology company it is today.
Dennis was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, and Uptime Legal has ranked among the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America for the past eight consecutive years. Uptime Legal continues to innovate and disrupt the legal tech industry.
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