Reputation Management for Attorneys: Maintaining a Credible Online Presence

 Posted on February 27,2014 in Legal Marketing

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you will do things differently." - Warren Buffett

This prophetic quote coined by American business magnate, investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett should be incorporated into the mission statement of all businesses today. Especially true for the American attorney. With the increase of social media marketing by the legal community, it is quite easy for a disgruntled client to instantaneously tarnish an attorney’s good name in just a few keystrokes.

Protecting your reputation online takes time and effort. Realizing your time constraints, seeking the assistance of an experienced online marketing firm can be the first step to ensuring your reputation remains intact. Before researching your options, it may be beneficial to first fully understand the importance of monitoring your online credibility:

Understanding Reputation Management

Online Reputation Management (ORM) is a relative newcomer to the marketing field but it’s importance should not be discounted. For the attorney fully engaged in social media marketing, prospective clients are researching their legal options online. If an attorney’s website contains even one negative review or comment the next attorney can be found just one click away.

Monitoring your Online Reputation

Often a client may feel that there was a breakdown of communication with questions left answered. A disgruntled client will not hesitate posting their frustration to the attorney’s website. An attorney not regularly monitoring and taking control of negative comments or reviews can face significant damage to his or her online reputation.

Expanding your Online Presence

Through the expansion of an online marketing campaign, an attorney can create several avenues of communication with prospective clients. Periodically replenishing websites with relevant blog material can be instrumental in managing your online credibility. By quickly addressing negative criticism an attorney can resolve a client’s concerns and restore their online credibility.

Request Reviews

An attorney should invite and encourage clients to share their recent opinion of the services provided to them. Referrals remain a formidable factor of the advertising spectrum. The majority of clients are more than happy to leave a positive comment or two. Any comment less than favorable can be quickly addressed to alleviate long term damage.

Attorney schedules can be gruesome. Many do not even have the five minutes Mr. Buffett recommended but it only takes 300 seconds for one negative comment to drop your reputation down a notch for all to view on the world wide web. That is five minutes more than any attorney can afford.

At OVC, INC. we understand the importance of Online Reputation Management. We also fully understand how unresolved negative comments or reviews can damage your credibility. We appreciate your time constraints and that is why we have been effectively offering ORM services to the legal industry since 2008. You can rely on our reputation to protect yours. Contact us for a free quote today.

About the Author: Greg Wildman is the President of OVC, INC. Since 1999, Greg has developed hundreds of websites for attorneys from his company's inception as Online Video Concepts, LLC to the modern era's OVC, INC. Greg's knowledge of law firm marketing has helped many law firms establish online presences through custom website development, Search Engine Optimization, legal directory partnerships, social media marketing, content writing and more.