In this blog, we discuss the importance of creating a strong, online presence for your contingency fee law firm.

Competing in a Digital-first World

For today’s consumer, a quick Google search is how they find everything they need. Instead of asking friends and family, consumers read pages and pages of online reviews. It is imperative that your contingency fee law firm’s website is search engine optimized, and that you have a well-established reviews management process embedded in your marketing practice.

Here are a few, simple things you can do to build a strong, online presence:

• First, audit your website and ensure that it is search engine optimized. This should be done on a regular basis so that keywords can be updated, amended, or added to ensure your site is relevant to potential clients.
• Second, audit your Google business listing. Make sure that your website, address, phone number and hours of operation are correct. Confirm that you can call the phone number listed and that a voicemail box is set up.
• Lastly, manage your reviews. Managing reviews may seem like a tedious task with little ROI, but reviews are the new word-of-mouth recommendations. Unhappy clients can put off potential clients at all hours of the day with their unsavory reviews.

Two Ways to Manage Reviews: Proactive and Reactive

Proactively managing reviews consists of soliciting reviews from current clients when they are   most satisfied. This can occur at the time of a positive verdict, or settlement, or at the time that your client receives their pay out. Ideally, your firm should reach out to the client during these times to ask for a Google review.

Reactively managing reviews needs a little more finesse. When unhappy clients leave negative reviews, you should reply to them respectfully with the goal of explaining to future clients why this was an extenuating circumstance. If, however, there is no such explanation possible, a simple acknowledgement is better than none. You can respond with, “We are disheartened to hear you have been disappointed with the service you received. Please contact us at email@lawfirm.com if we can improve your experience in any way.” This shows that your firm is empathetic to even the most critical clients and demonstrates a quality of care that can set you above the competition.

Running a law firm as a business can be an overwhelming struggle, figuring out how to manage reviews and fund marketing campaigns doesn’t have to be.

Taking these steps, like auditing your website, optimizing your site’s SEO, and creating favorable reviews, will provide a boost to building a strong, online presence for your law firm.