Reputation Management, Part Five: You Can’t Afford a Negative Review Online

Attention, class: You absolutely cannot ignore a negative review online!

If someone posts a negative review of your law firm online, you may think that it would be best to just avoid it and try harder in the future. This might have been a successful tactic in the pre-Internet era, but it will not fly in modern society. Content posted to the Web is visible forever and what started as a simple negative review could snowball into a crisis before you know it.

The perils of a single negative review

Depending on your law firm’s web presence, a single negative review could linger for months if not years at the top of search engine results for your firm name. While a bad day may just blow over offline, an online negative review will affect an auto accident attorney’s ability to attract customers long after its relevance has passed unless prompt action is taken.

What to do about negative reviews

There are several tactics you can take to mitigate the effects of a bad review online. You can do any or all of these, but the most important thing is just to do something.

• Keep tabs on local review sites. Sites like Yelp, CitySearch, Google+ Local, Yahoo! Local and more all allow business owners to respond to, edit and remove reviews. You should try to respond to all your feedback, both positive and negative, with a positive attitude. Clients like to see that attorneys are engaged and easy to reach. Responding to negative reviews certainly demonstrates that you pay attention to what others say and will be easy to access.
• Write a thoughtful response. Tell them you regret they didn’t have a favorable experience with your firm and ask if there is anything they would change if they could. One reviewer might seem like just one customer, but a single voice has the potential to affect millions on the Internet.
• Maintain several sources of updated web content. By consistently publishing content on social media sites, your blog and your main website, you may counteract the effects of a single negative review. Producing reams of positive content can eventually push a disparaging remark off the first page of search results.

One negative review is not the end of the world. It may even present a good opportunity for you to show your customers that you take their concerns seriously, which can have a positive impact on your business as a whole. You just need to stay on top of what customers are saying about your law firm online and respond accordingly.

Need more advice regarding basic things you can do to manage your reputation through search engine results? You’re in luck — SERM (search engine reputation management) is the next topic up for discussion in CaseDetails.com’s Reputation Management series.