One of the most commonly overlooked areas of marketing for law firms is what people see when they do a Google search of a law firm.
Searching for a law firm’s name in Google is something most people will do just before they choose a solicitor. If a person is searching for your law firm, it probably means they are doing some final research about your firm to see what others have say about it. They might even be doing this search just to get your contact details but if they see negative things then their opinion will quickly change.
Many law firms loose clients at this critical point and they have no idea that they are loosing clients because of this.
How to improve your law firm’s online presence in Google
At this point you have probably already hurried to a new browser window and Googled your law firm to see what comes up. If you haven’t, then we would recommend doing this now and then coming back to this article to see how we can improve things for your law firm.
In this article we will cover the essential things you should do to improve the results of what people see when they search for your law firm in Google. This is something most firms overlook but if you wish to see more enquires for your law firm, then the following could make a huge difference.
Reviews from multiple websites
This one should be obvious. If people do not see positive reviews about your law firm from multiple websites then they are not likely to be impressed. Having a few 5 star Google reviews is not enough to confirm in people’s minds that your law firms is a great choice. It is obvious to people that only a few reviews need to be requested from a handful of satisfied clients to achieve this but if you have positive reviews on multiple websites then this clearly communicates that people from multiple sources are happy with your legal services.
Having reviews from multiple websites instantly informs people that your legal services have been appreciated from a variety of sources if these sources are also able to display the little yellow stars within the search results. If people see a full page of Google overflowing with positive results then this is often enough to educate people that your law firm is an excellent choice and that they are not likely to find a better legal service elsewhere.
Where can we get the yellow stars from for our law firm?
There are a few websites that can provide your law firm with the little yellow stars in search results when people search Google for your law firm. You should aim to get 3 sites to show reviews for your law firm. These sites also need to have the ability to show on the first page of Google so below we have created a list of websites that will usually achieve this.
Google Reviews
The most obvious place to start is with Google reviews. You probably already have a few Google reviews for your law firm but if not you should ensure you have claimed your business listing with Google and then request some reviews from your clients. You can manage your Google business listings here: Google business listings.
LawFirms.co.uk
LawFirms.co.uk allows law firms to easily collect reviews from their clients. These reviews can also be seen when people search for your firm in Google and they will also show the little yellow stars. These stars can instantly inform people of a 5 star service without them having to even read anything so they are very effective for improving what Google shows about your law firm.
Your firm’s Google reviews can also be integrated with LawFirms.co.uk so that these can be used as well. This means that you can collect reviews from Google or via LawFirms.co.uk and both types of reviews can be displayed.
You can also add these reviews to your law firm’s website if you wish to, using the LawFirms.co.uk reviews plugin, which will allow you to display your 5 star reviews to your website visitors. The plugin also allows people to easily submit reviews directly on your firm’s website so this also simplifies the process of gathering more reviews and makes the review process for your clients quicker and easier too.
You can signup for a LawFirms.co.uk membership here.
Glassdoor
This one is not as impressive for potential clients as the two examples above because they are not reviews for your legal services like Google and LawFirms.co.uk are but Glassdoor is great for providing an insight into how your employees feel about your law firm. This also helps to show a genuine company that cares about their employees, so is likely to also be viewed in a positive light by your potential clients.
With the Glassdoor website you can request your employees to submit a review about their experience working at your law firm. These reviews can also be shown in Google’s search results along with your Google and LawFirms.co.uk reviews. So this will provide 3 great sources of reviews.
You can learn more about Glassdoor here on their website: Glassdoor.co.uk.
Other places to add your law firm
The above 3 websites can provide the essential review stars in Google’s search results when people search for your law firm but it is also good to add some other sites to these results. Whilst these are not going to be as impressive as the above because the following will not provide the little yellow stars like the above sites will, they can still help to ensure the first page of results is full of positive elements.
So Twitter will not show review stars for your firm in Google’s results but it is a great place for showing that your firm is socially active. Your latest tweets will also usually be displayed in Google’s results so this also provides an opportunity to add a positive tweet or demonstrate your firm’s knowledge to changes in laws, etc. This can help to show that you firm is ‘current’ and is keeping up with the times.
Linkedin will also not show review stars in Google’s results but this does provide another option if you wish to show your law firm as being active on social media.
Media Sites
This is a more advanced approach but if your law firm has had some positive news covered by an impressive source such as the Guardian or the BBC, then you can do some SEO work to help promote these. You could add a page to your law firm’s website such as a blog post and then link to the news page on the Guardian or BBC website for example.
Promoting positive news related to your firm is a more advanced approach but having such things show in Google’s results can really help to impress clients.
Local community, charity or environment
Contributing something to your local community, a charity or helping the environment with things like carbon offsetting can all help to show that your law firm has an awareness of such issues and that there is a genuine commitment to try and help improve such things.
If you sponsor a charity with a generous monthly donation for example, then you could request a mention of this on their website somewhere, which would then also have a good chance of showing in results when people search for your law firm.
Conclusion of what people can see when they Google your law firm
The above provides a powerful strategy for improving the things people see when they Google your law firm. We have provided details of the websites you can use to get the little yellow stars in your firm’s Google results. We have also listed other platforms that you can use to help enhance the results even further. These things include:
3 websites to display stars when people Google your law firm
- Using your Google business listing to gather Google reviews and display the little yellow stars when people search for your law firm in Google
- Using LawFirms.co.uk to gather reviews and to also display more little yellow stars when people search for your law firm in Google
- Using Glassdoor to gather reviews from your employees and to also display more little yellow stars when people search for your law firm in Google
Additional websites that you could use to enhance the results further – These will not include star ratings though
- Use Twitter to show your latest tweets in Google’s results for your firm
- Use Linkedin to help show your firm is socially active
- Use any positive media coverage your firm has received by promoting this coverage
- Help your local community, a charity or the environment to show a genuine commitment to try and help
Final words
Working on improving the above should help to increase the number of legal enquires your law firm receives as it presents your law firm in a positive light at the most critical moment.
Remember, when people are searching for your law firm in Google, they are usually at the final stages of considering your legal services or they are looking for your firm’s contact details. It is essential that people see nothing but positive things about your law firm at this critical moment if you wish to persuade them that your legal services are an excellent choice and that they are unlikely to find a better law firm elsewhere.