Reputation Management, Part One: the Importance of Protecting Your Online Reputation

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Reputation management is the art and science of making sure that a company’s online footprint is universally positive. Whether your law firm represents large corporate clients or individuals who have been harmed due to the negligence of others, you need to pay attention to your online reputation. Good reputation management ensures that publicly available information about your law firm is authentic, accurate and up to date.

Reputation management often begins with the simplest of processes: Googling oneself. This simulates the experience a prospective customer will have when searching for you or your law firm. If you find negative content about your business, this indicates a potential problem with your reputation management strategy.

Branding and reputation management

As a businessperson, you probably know that your brand is your most valuable asset. It’s your first impression and the memory people reference when they talk about your firm with friends or business acquaintances. Protecting your reputation is like protecting your name, and it consists of responding to customer reviews and posting regular positive, useful content to mitigate the effects that any negative reviews might have on your brand.

On the importance of reputation management

The main reason for managing your reputation is because you always want to put your best foot forward. This is about maximizing the business value of who you are.

The same way you might wear a suit and tie to court, decorate your office to convey a certain message to your client base, or conduct yourself with professional grace during negotiation sessions or trials, you should manage your reputation online. Thanks to search engines, your reputation is your business’ window dressing. It is much harder to hide your reputation online, and many people will see positive or negative reviews before they even read the content on your law firm website or contact you for a consultation. Individuals searching for an insurance attorney are much more likely to contact one with a good reputation online than one that has received bad reviews.

This series on reputation management concepts and techniques is going to be important to your business’ overall good fortune. Whether you are reading this as an associate working at a large law firm or a sole practitioner at a practice in a rural area, reputation management is paramount to your website’s success in the 21st century digital world. The first topic up for discussion is the importance of discovering what you need to know — and what you may already know.