The Importance of Monitoring Your Online Reputation

Nip negative reviews in the bud and preserve your online reputation.

When clients do not obtain the desired outcome on their case, a slew of negative reviews concerning your services or firm could appear online. Even if the client removes the review after some thought, a record of it often remains online for the foreseeable future. Upon noticing negative reviews, you must respond promptly as this direct attack on your credibility could seriously damage future acquisition of clients and associates. Luckily, you can closely monitor social media sites to spot negative reviews the second they are posted, and then respond appropriately to mitigate the damage. Here’s what you need to know.

Tracking Down Reviews
Since the internet is such a vast entity, it’s important to actively monitor popular and obscure sites for negative content about your legal firm. If you maintain a Yelp or Google company page, visit it daily to check for new reviews from your past clients. Also, visit your website and blog to check for negative comments masquerading as innocent remarks about your content.

New clients may check these areas first to determine your reputation as a competent and caring lawyer. If prospective clients spot the negative reviews before you can respond or remove the baseless comments, you might lose that case before even having a chance to develop a close working relationship.
You can discuss recent negative reviews with clients if the topic comes up at a consultation meeting. Briefly explain the circumstances and share how you plan to handle the dissatisfaction with your service. This might be a good time to discuss how case predictions turn out and provide a few ways to handle a negative outcome. Clearly explaining the variety of outcomes possible for each case helps clients avoid disappointment that often leads to the generation of negative remarks online.

Utilizing Social Media Tools
You’ll also need to monitor social media sites that send reviews flying through the web in real time. You can use tracking tools, like Google Alerts, to keep a close eye out for new content surrounding your name or the name of your legal firm. These tools continually search for new remarks and provide you with an alert noting the content and location of the comment.

Start by inputting your name, legal firm’s name and other identifying information into the Google Alert command box. Set the region, frequency and alert delivery location to start monitoring for negative feedback over a wide range of channels. You can also actively monitor social media sites, like Topsy and Twitter, for discussions that place your legal expertise and experience in a negative light. Simply search for identifying information, as most social media users tend to call out their adversary directly. Pay close attention to hashtags and keywords used to identify you and your firm. You can use these key identifiers to find additional information shared by past clients and associates.

Maintaining A Good Reputation
You must respond to each and every negative remark to end the discussion in a favorable way. Appropriately responding to negative remarks places you, and your entire firm, in a positive light with that client and all onlookers. After all, social media platforms often put your entire discussion on display for others to observe and dissect. Address the writer of the reviews with respect to evaporate their anger and enter a level playing field. Make sure to address legitimate concerns using your knowledge and background to support your claims. A good tactic includes repeating their claim, discussing why they are mistaken and offering a positive solution, if applicable. Extend a helping hand toward your fellow man to maintain a presence and positive reputation on popular social media platforms. These interactions will naturally outweigh negativity thrown your way by dissatisfied clients.

Your online reputation acts as a brief portfolio of your success in the legal field. Track and respond to negative reviews to keep this portfolio working for you. How do you track and monitor your brand online? Share your comments below. We would love to hear from you!