attorney marketing

Whether or not you advertise on Yelp, if you do legal marketing online, you should know. Yelp’s sales tactics are aggressive, and that’s just the beginning. Yelp is frequently accused of manipulating attorney and law firm reviews.

If you own your own law firm, then you’ve probably received calls from a Yelp sales representative.

Our internet marketing agency sees abundant evidence that Yelp manipulates attorneys’ reviews, although they deny it.

One law firm, for example, declined to buy advertising from Yelp, and the very next day, all five of their five-star Yelp reviews were filtered – hidden from visitors – and what remained visible was their single two-star review.

These lawyers believe their best reviews were hidden because they did not purchase Yelp advertising.

WHAT HAVE WE HEARD AND SEEN?

We hear a lot of similar stories about reviews changing because attorneys decide to advertise or to not advertise with Yelp.

One client of ours, a personal injury firm in Los Angeles, had several five-star reviews filtered and only a one-star review showing.

Yelp called the firm to sell advertising, and they said, “No, because you’re hiding our good reviews.”

Several days later, the rep called back and told the attorneys to check their Yelp listing. Yelp denies manipulating reviews, but our client’s five-star reviews were now unfiltered.

There is no direct proof that Yelp is unethical as a company, but there are too many “coincidences” to ignore.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Yelp has been sued for pressuring small businesses, and shady things have happened to several of our clients. Another marketer came up with an important suggestion that we intend to share with our clients because something isn’t right at Yelp.

Here’s the tip:

When Yelp calls to sell advertising, don’t say no. Advertise with Yelp if you like – some people get great results, others don’t – but instead of saying “No,” say that you don’t have time to talk now, “but could you email me, and we’ll schedule time in two weeks,” or “after I return from my month-long vacation,” or whatever you can say that pauses the conversation.

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH US

It’s unfortunate that any company has that power, because as an attorney, your reputation is everything.

If someone looks for you online and goes to your Yelp page, even if you have ten five-star reviews and two negative reviews, Yelp can hide the five-star reviews and only show those two negative reviews.

When Yelp does that, your rating drops to one star. Prospective clients will look elsewhere. When a Yelp representative calls to sell advertising, saying “No” isn’t worth the risk. If you aren’t buying, stall.

Let us know what your experiences have been with Yelp. We’re an internet marketing agency that learns from our clients as we meet their marketing needs, and we’ll continue to share this kind of important information.

A Social Media Strategy For Lawyers (That Actually Works!)

An article titled “11 Reasons Why Your Business Should NOT Advertise with Yellow Pages” was first published online in 2010. But keep reading, because you don’t need eleven reasons for not advertising in the phone book.

You only need one. It’s a complete waste of money.

And you don’t need an internet marketing company to tell you that the internet will continue to be the key to attorney marketing.

The phone book has been dead for a long time. It isn’t coming back.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME?

I’m telling you this because the subject was tossed at me – literally – several weeks back.

I saw someone toss an item from a moving white van toward the approximate vicinity of my mailbox.

I had a hunch that it might be a phone book, so I ventured outside to inspect the item, and I was right. Unfortunately – yet somehow, also predictably – an attorney was advertising right there on the cover of the phone book.

It was drive-by marketing – in broad daylight. And the white van made a clean getaway.

My generation – and almost certainly yours as well – as a special file for telephone books. The circular file.

WHO USES A PHONE BOOK IN 2018? (THAT’S RIGHT – NOBODY)

No one uses a telephone directory in 2018, especially to look for an attorney. It’s bulky, and it’s difficult to read and use. If you keep it, it ends up becoming clutter.

Anyone seeking an attorney in 2018 will go online and will probably consider several attorneys before reaching out to one.

Phone books are superfluous. We toss them in the trash, and – quite honestly – if you are advertising in the phone book, you might as well be tossing your cash in the trash as well.

Phone books are local. The internet is global. You can change a phone book ad – maybe – after a year. You can update your website immediately and easily.

WHAT ABOUT RETURN ON INVESTMENT?

The cost of phone book advertising in 2018 is entirely out of proportion to its value – which is zero. You simply get no return on investment from telephone directory advertising.

Phone books simply are not the way telephone numbers are stored in the 21st century. We don’t watch movies at drive-ins, and we don’t need operators for long-distance calls, either.

And we could probably do with less drive-by marketing.

WE DO MARKETING RIGHT

If you’d like to learn more about how our internet marketing company helps attorneys and law firms, email us – info@socialfirestarter.com – or call us at 619-607-4300.

But even if you don’t contact us, please – stop wasting your money on phone book ads that millions of people are tossing into the garbage.

A client emailed us several weeks ago with a question about Google Maps, and the answer is something that’s important enough to share with everyone.

Our client is in Edinburg, Texas. He told us that he was conducting searches for “personal injury attorney Edinburg” and for “personal injury lawyer Edinburg.”

He told us, “When I search from my office, the firm shows up, but when I’m in other parts of Edinburg, the firm is not coming up in the maps, and it’s ranking fifth or below.”

WHY AREN’T YOU SHOWING UP ON GOOGLE MAPS?

Why is this happening? It’s everywhere – not just Edinburg, Texas. It happens because your precise location is perhaps the most important element Google considers when it returns search results for products and services.

If you are located closer to the consumer who’s doing a search, you have a better chance of showing up on the map or receiving a top ranking.

That is a formula which works great for ordering a pizza. The problem is, when you are seeking an attorney, you don’t want the closest lawyer – you want the best one. Google could be doing this for several reasons.

It could just be lazy coding, or it might be something that Google can fix soon for specific services like doctors, accountants, lawyers, real estate agents, and similar professional services – where consumers are seeking the best rather than the nearest.

IS THERE A WAY TO INCREASE YOUR VISIBILITY ON GOOGLE MAPS?

Google Maps was not always this way. In the past, if you ranked for Edinburg, it didn’t really matter exactly where you were in Edinburg – you were still going to show up on the maps.

Edinburg’s not a particularly big city, but now, even in different parts of the same small city, we are discovering these kinds of search proximity issues. Depending on where you are located when you are searching, your search results will be completely different.

Increasing the number of quality backlinks that link back to your site is the surest way to increase your visibility on Google Maps. You must have high-quality backlinks.

Google considers the quality and number of your backlinks when it ranks you, so whenever you publish something, speak publicly, or participate in a charity event, ask for a link on that organization’s website.

Too often, a less-than-professional internet marketing company will simply automate the backlinking process to create lots of poor backlinks for a client, but Google can recognize and penalize automated backlinking.

However, an experienced, professional internet marketing company can help you build the quality backlinks you need to improve your visibility on Google Maps.

Thank you cards have long been used as a nice, personal way to express gratitude to your customers.

In today’s business world where most communication is done through email or text, it may come as a surprise that handwritten thank you cards are just as relevant as ever.

Taking the time to send a personal thank you card shows your appreciation and makes a lasting impact.

I love sending out thank you notes. For example, one of my clients left a great video testimonial for me. To show my gratitude, I’m going to send him a thank you card.

Though I know the value of giving a thank you card, I’m just not good at sending them out.

Fortunately for me, I have a robot that does it for me.

Here’s How Robots Can Help You Send Thank You Cards

This isn’t science fiction. This is the real deal.

A robot can really handwrite a thank you card for you. This is great news for me!

When it comes to thank you cards, there are several reasons I don’t like to write them myself:

1. My handwriting is terrible. Maybe you don’t have this problem, but my chicken scratch doesn’t look good in a thank you card.

2. Sometimes I forget to pick up a card. Like most of you, I have a busy schedule. I don’t usually have thank you cards on hand and I might forget to pick one up at the store. Thank you cards are important and I don’t want to forget to send one to a client.

3. I prefer typing over handwriting. It’s a personal preference, but I know a lot of people feel the same way. If I can type out a thank you note as opposed to writing it in a card, I’m much more likely to follow through.

So how can a robot take over the thank you card for me?

I use a website called Bond.co. I am not affiliated with this company, but I can honestly say that I love their product.

There are a lot of websites out there that will create a card for you that looks handwritten, but Bond is the only one that I’m aware of that uses a robot and a pen to create the message. The robot writing the note gives the paper pen impressions that make it look like it was handwritten.

There are many ways to personalize your note. You get to select the card you want and even pick the handwriting style. I prefer to use Bedford, but you can look through the options and see what you like the best.

Once you’ve selected your card and typed your message, you can add the address. The thank you card is mailed directly to the recipient with your address as the return address.

These cards cost approximately $5 a piece, or less if you order more than one at a time. I know it can be cheaper to send these cards yourself. I would rather pay the premium to make sure they get sent out on time and look nice. It’s a worthwhile expense in my book.

There’s No Excuse To Not Send A Thank You Card Anymore

There is no excuse for those of you that avoid sending thank you cards because you don’t like to write or don’t have the time. You can have a robot do it. It’s quick and painless to send thank you cards when you have a robot doing it for you.

One of the most important things for your law firm’s online presence is having positive reviews. Having 5-stars can mean the difference in a potential customer calling you or not.

People often compare businesses based on their online reviews. Two law firms showing up on the first page of Google will generate a different amount of leads based on their reviews.

This recently happened to a client of my law firm marketing company. The client was ranked high on Google for a competitive term – “Chicago bankruptcy attorney.”

Even though the firm showed up on the first page they were barely getting any phone calls. The firm asked for our help to figure out why.

We discovered that their competition had reviews and our client didn’t have any. We set to work changing that and after a week our client had 25 positive reviews. The phone calls immediately starting coming in.

Quality reviews are important. Social proof makes an impact! You can’t afford to ignore reviews if you expect to bring in new leads.

There are a lot of ways that a marketing firm like Social Firestarter can help grow your business. We can increase traffic to your website, film video for content marketing at your office, and design a new website for you with fresh copy.

With everything we can do, we can’t force your clients to leave you good reviews.

Why Do Clients Fail To Leave Reviews When They’re Happy With Your Service?

Lawyers often think that they did something wrong. That must be the reason a client refused to leave a review when they promised they would.

It’s not because clients don’t want to leave you a review. It’s because it’s too difficult. This is why clients break their promises when they say they’ll write you a positive review. It has nothing to do with the quality of your service.

Get Your Clients To Leave You 5-Star Reviews With This Simple Guide

It’s difficult to get clients to leave reviews. But it’s a crucial part of growing your business that often goes overlooked!

We put together a FREE 22-page ebook that tells you exactly how to get more reviews for your law firm.

The ebook is called A Guide to Obtaining 5-Star Reviews for Your Law Firm.

Not only does the ebook teach you how to get clients to leave you 5-star reviews, but it also shows you just how to deal with negative ones. The way you handle negative reviews makes a big difference in how the review will affect your firm.

To get this value-packed ebook simply enter your email and we’ll send it right to your inbox. It’s absolutely free!