How to Use Avvo.com to Market Your Law Practice
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I am fully aware that there are attorneys out there who are squeamish about sites like Avvo and I get it—one of the major reasons why a lot of attorneys don’t like social media sites like Avvo is because they cannot control it.
Ironically, this is the same reason so many consumers are flocking to sites like Avvo -- to find "unbiased" reviews of services and products to guide them in their own decision-making.
Just like anyone can go on Google or Yelp and write a positive or negative review of your business, so they can go to Avvo and do the same. At least Avvo has a clear mechanism whereby you can dispute a false or misleading review and they will even remove it if proven false (which most other sites don’t do). These types of consumer review sites are becoming more and more popular and influential with the search engines.
If you're thinking about ignoring your profile on Avvo, here's something to consider: Avvo is very good at search engine optimization. So in all likelihood, when you type your name into Google, your Avvo profile will often come up on the first page of results. I believe they are quickly becoming a major force in Internet marketing for attorneys.
Here's my advice: You don’t have to like Avvo to benefit from Avvo. They are here to stay and are becoming a force to be reckoned with so...learn how to use them to build and influence your law firm’s Internet presence and generate more business!
Here are the steps you should take for incorporating Avvo into your law firm marketing program:
Claim your profile. This process is free and allows you to update your contact information and add information about you and your law firm.
Put your full resume into Avvo. This can go a long way to improving your rating.
Add all the seminars you have given, awards you have received, and articles you have written. These items can also improve your rating.
Add your photo. I have heard reports that profiles with a photo are clicked on up to 10 times more than profiles without photos.
Add videos. If you have videos put them into your Avvo profile. While they won't improve your rating, it will give potential clients who are checking you out online an opportunity to see who you are, how you articulate your answers, and will position you as more of an “expert.” The production quality of your videos does not matter nearly as much as the information you include in them. It's all about education-based marketing—educating your prospects.
Answer user’s questions. Over 5,000 consumers every week ask legally related questions on Avvo. Please be sure to put a standard disclaimer on each response, i.e., that your reply does not constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship, etc.
Create Avvo “Legal Guides” for your top 10 questions. If you're like most attorneys, you constantly get asked a common set of questions. Write down these FAQs and write a short (1-3 pages) response to each one. Make each question a legal guide. Keep the questions and answers highly focused on a specific topic. Be sure to add a disclaimer on each guide.
Ask all your attorney friends to endorse you. This can make a big difference in your rating. Just like a referral from another attorney in the real world makes a big impression on a prospect, so having a reference from another attorney or a judge on your Avvo profile can improve your rating.
Ask your clients to write a testimonial for you on Avvo. Client testimonials do NOT have a positive or negative impact on your rating. However, I assure you, potential clients read them!
Put your Avvo badge on your website or blog. Avvo allows you to create a “badge” with your profile score on it that links directly to your Avvo profile.
Consider signing up for Avvo Pro. There is a small monthly fee for this, but it provides you with all sorts of statistics like, how many people clicked on your profile, etc. You should also consider advertising on Avvo. If you read my blog frequently or have attended our law firm marketing boot camp, you know I'm not a big fan of advertising. However, I've heard anecdotally from two attorneys now who are finding some success with an Avvo ad campaign in their local area. In fact, one of my criminal defense clients signed up his first client within 6 hours of his Avvo ad going live. Please note, I'm not saying those results are typical because I'm sure they aren't. However, if you have the budget, I think it's worth testing it out.
You can either ignore Avvo and hope they will just go away (they won’t) or you can learn how to leverage them to your benefit.
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