Last week, I had the honor of sharing a stage with Nifty Law President Mike Ramsey.
Mike is one of a very few people I would trust to market my own law practice online.
The image at the top of this post comes from the deck we presented at Avvo's Lawyernomics conference.
The slide references BrightLocal's 2013 Local Consumer Review Survey.
If you market a law practice online, you should spend some time reviewing their findings.
A lot of attorneys I speak with dismiss online reviews. The typical objections tend to go something like this:
โWhen people make important decisions, like hiring a lawyer, they donโt use things like search; they rely on people they trust.โ
I have seen plenty of analytics and CRM data that demonstrates this to be false for a lot of people. Nonetheless, I'm sure there are many people in many legal contexts for which it is at least partially true.
In fact, I would encourage anyone who is looking for an attorney to turn to people they trust. However, I'd also encourage them to research the attorney online and assign what they find its proper weight in making their decision.
I anticipate that some of you are thinking:
"Well that might be true for consumer electronics and plumbers, but attorneys are different."
And in many ways, you would be right. The search for attorneys is (should be) different.
But if you think that what people say about you online doesn't matter to anyone, well then, you are a fool.
Now look, if BrightLocal were to conduct this same study solely of legal services consumers, it's quite likely that online reviews wouldn't be assigned the same level of trust as personal recommendations.
But it's even more likely that they would be assigned at least some level of trust.
Also, notice how steeply the number of people who answered "no" has dropped. I would expect this number to continue to decline.
Still not convinced that people are using online directories, communities, ratings and reviews in legal? Take a look at some of these numbers from Avvo:
So, what's the takeaway?
Provide great service to your clients. Build a strong word of mouth referral network.
But also encourage the people who would personally recommend you to review online.
Make encouraging reviews a regular part of your client communication process.
Remember, reviews don't have to include superlatives about the outcomes you get for clients.
Sure, people want to feel that you are competent to handle their situation. But reviews can also speak to your compassion, patience and understanding. These are also things that people who are considering hiring you care about.
Don't know where to send happy folks who want to sing your praises? Start with these:
Looking to spread the love around? Check out Nifty's Local Search Directories and Moz Local's Top Citation Sources for Attorneys.
Finally, if permissible in your state, use reviews on your own pages. Don't forget to include structured data markup for reviews.
Here's a recent Google SERP for "๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ." Ads? โLSAs? โLocal Pack? โLinks? โ ๐ท AI Overview? โ 6 firms listed. Only one tiny ๐. Click the ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ button? ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐: Here's a more detailed look at some of these firms: THE PEARCE LAW FIRM, P.C.Edith Pearce, […]
On April 22, 2025, Google sent an email updating Local Services Ads Additional Terms for Providers: Subject: Action required: important updates to Local Service Ads Additional Terms Many people are arguing that lawyers cannot participate in Local Services Ads, as this would constitute a per se violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct related to […]
Conrad and I recently joined Zack at Lawyerist to record a conversation about AI and marketing. You might think that we spend the whole time on how lawyers can use AI to publish content. You'd be wrong. While AI can certainly support publishing, there are many more interesting ways to use it in legal marketing. […]
As more legal services consumers turn to ChatGPT for local law firm recommendations, a fascinating intersection between AI, search, and maps unfolds. While Google remains the undisputed leader in local business data, ChatGPT is increasingly becoming an entry point for searchers seeking legal representation. But hereโs the kicker: instead of keeping users within its ecosystem, […]
When law firms contact us, they usually want to talk: โข PPC Ads โข SEO Rankings โข Lead Generation Very few want to talk: โข Brand โข Trust & Recognition โข Emotional Connection Admittedly, much of this concerns that AttorneySync is known for lead generation across those common digital channels. But even when we start […]
According to an October 2024 study by SE Ranking: "The legal niche triggers the highest percentage of AIOs (77.67%). The average number of links matched between the AI Overview resources and the top 20 search results was 6.49 for legal topics. AI Overviews for legal topics most frequently link to NYCourts.gov (114 links), YouTube.com (48 […]
I'm grateful for my friend, Charley Mann of Law firm Alchemy. If you're a lawyer, subscribe to his Free Email List. In a recent email, Charley calls out bad guru advice on hiring: "Trying to execute a major SEO improvement? You need to find people who will help you, instead of trying to DIY it […]
If youโve spent any time on LinkedIn, youโve likely seen posts from law firm SEO experts showing off charts with an โup and to the rightโ trajectory. These screenshots, often pulled from tools like Semrush or Ahrefs, are meant to signal SEO success. And itโs not just the agencies celebratingโ๐น๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ […]
Meh, links! All things being equal, links still tend to move the dial more than any other factor in legal SERPs. Maybe links are having a diminishing impact internet-wide. But in my experience, quality links, especially relevant links (both topically and geographically), tend to improve law firm visibility in search more than most everything else. […]
Nice piece Gyi - good to see a well structured argument which furthers the message that online reviews are important & should be baked into local search strategies for all (most) businesses
Thanks for stopping in Myles. And thanks for all your great work.
Why is this such an uphill battle with attorneys? Or is it just the ones I work with...which, of course, means I might be the problem.
It's not just the ones you work with...
Gyi, great points!