Update your Attorney Profile for the New Year
Wondering how to increase online performance even more in 2023? Not only can it be done, but the Martindale-Avvo team can maximize your marketing efforts to keep your practice competitive through the new year.
Tip 1: Know that seasons come and go.
Just as seasons change, so might new client intake at your law firm. Sometimes gaining new clients may work well or even better than expected. And sometimes goals change or you just need a little more. Occasionally, conditions are merely short-term situations that pass quickly. Regardless, we understand these events and how all aspects of marketing work together. Martindale-Avvo is just one part of your marketing effort but one that we’re always here to help with.
With a quick call to your account manager, you can:
- Evaluate your advertising focus, practice area targeting, and use of custom tracking to identify what’s giving you the best performance.
- Review and evaluate your analytics to determine a long-term strategy. Some campaigns may take a while to gain traction and work effectively with other aspects of your marketing plan.
- Learn how to keep your current customers engaged and outdo the competition. Your stronghold in practice areas and location will gain momentum with timely content.
Want to know more? We have some tried-and-true advice for planning your marketing strategy for 2023 here: Time to Launch your 2023 Law Firm Marketing Plan.
Tip 2: Put your best profile forward.
We’ve improved your Avvo profile with a redesign. The new profile focuses on the visibility of what matters most to the consumer: customer reviews are now at the top, and your contact info is front and center throughout the entire page.
While these changes increase online traffic and calls to your firm, we have identified even more ways to optimize and update, giving you the most return on your investment.
Potential clients want to hire an attorney with focused, deep knowledge of their issue. This gives them the confidence to hire you. Practice areas in your profile impact search results where consumers see you.
Make sure to: Aim to add 3 to 5 practice areas on your profile.
Potential clients rely on positive reviews in similar situations as their own. Our attorneys who have at least 3 client reviews receive up to 15x more connections from potential clients.
Make sure to: Refresh your featured reviews often to stay current and show your practice is thriving. Ask for reviews as part of wrapping up with every client (and don’t be afraid to ask more than once!).
One of the most popular filters applied to attorney search results on Avvo is ‘Free consultations’, second only to ‘Review stars’.
Make sure to: Share your hourly rate, even if it is a sliding scale, and highlight if you offer free consultations or an introductory rate.
Potential clients want to understand outcomes for situations similar to their own and see evidence of what success means to you.
Make sure to: Highlight what success looks like in your ‘About Me’. Choose featured reviews that help tell the story of successful outcomes you’ve achieved for past clients and add notable wins to the ‘Legal Cases’ section.
Tip 3: Get to know your data dashboard
With your Avvo profile, you can always access a completely personalized account dashboard that shows performance at-a-glance. The data provides insight into the value of your current campaigns and helps you make informed decisions if a change needs to be made.
Here’s what your dashboard has in store for you!
Total Exposure
Get a look at how many people saw information about you and from what area on Avvo.
Data shown is for example only. Your actual data can be found at https://www.avvo.com/profile/dashboard
Total Contacts
Contacts come in different forms. See how many you received from each type. If you’re not familiar with one, you may not have it active. Talk to your account manager to learn more.
Data shown is for example only. Your actual data can be found at https://www.avvo.com/profile/dashboard
Contact Details
All customers can view their contacts, along with their source and additional details depending on the type of contact made. This may include the duration for calls, the location for clicks to your website, and even direct access to messages sent to you from your profile page.
You can search through all your contacts by filtering via type. You can even download a CSV file for further analysis.
Data shown is for example only. Your actual data can be found at https://www.avvo.com/profile/dashboard
If you’re an Avvo Elite customer, you’ll also see the channel for all contacts, whether from your Elite profile, or the specific practice area and market you’re advertising in.
Avvo Elite Advanced Analytics
Advertisers on Avvo Elite get access to additional advanced analytics, including top-performing markets and spend by practice area. If you’re not on Avvo Elite and you’d like to explore the benefits of gaining new clients from Avvo, talk to your account manager to learn more.
Data shown is for example only. Your actual data can be found at https://www.avvo.com/profile/dashboard
Tip 4: Analyze your data for performance gains
While you familiarize yourself with the dashboard, you might be curious about how to take the data and apply it to your marketing plan. We suggest looking at a few key data points periodically to ensure you’re maximizing performance.
Contacts vs. clients
Be sure to compare your firm’s intake records for new clients to contacts (especially calls) from Avvo. Ask all new clients where they heard about you. Many may have researched you on Avvo but did not actually contact you from our site.
Website clicks but low or unknown clients
Are you digitally tracking where your website leads come from or asking as a part of your intake? It’s not always easy when they click from Avvo but call your website’s phone number. Be sure you have tracking methods in place to see where clients really come from.
High visibility and low contacts
This problem may be pointing to optimizing your profile for engagement. You may need more reviews, better reviews, more awards, a revised bio, new messaging, etc. Low contacts could also be an outcome of more appealing attorneys. Study what others on Avvo may be doing.
Getting calls but short durations
Call your tracking number and see what happens. Does it go straight to voicemail? A phone tree? A receptionist or answering service? Answering calls in real-time mean better conversion even if you’re unavailable to take the call. Learn the entire process of how your practice takes and handles calls.
Unsure which source, practice area or market is working
You may need to use ad tracking phone numbers on your account, especially if you have multiple offices or advertise in multiple practice areas. Focusing on which works is critical for efficient spending. Learn more by talking to your account manager.
Still not quite sure how your account is performing? Your dedicated account manager can expertly help you with legal marketing by leveraging all our available benefits. We want to help your law firm succeed, whether in enhancing your reputation, gaining new clients, or just maintaining a steady stream of business the way you want.
Tip 5: Know how consumers find an attorney.
Your attorney profile on Avvo helps you rank higher on Google, boosting your online presence where consumers start their search. It even can boost your reputation as they see consumer review ratings on your Avvo profile. How do we know? We’ve researched it:
34% use search engines to find an attorney.
When potential clients search for your name, they’ll find your Avvo profile in first page results — which includes your Avvo rating and reviews!
20% of those looking for an attorney use directories after their initial search.
Directories like Avvo! In fact, after Google, online legal directories are the most used in finding an attorney.
84% say reviews are one of their top needs when making a decision.
Because of this, we’ve created your Avvo profile to showcase reviews in search results and on the Avvo site.
Tip 6: Weather the storm
Sometimes we just have to let a storm pass through, but that doesn’t mean we have to sit idle. We encourage you to always seek help from your Avvo legal marketing specialist who’s experienced in adjustments to your profile to improve results.
In the meantime, consider using the other features of your service that boost your visibility and draw in new clients. This ranges from contributing new articles, answering questions in the Q&A forum, and refreshing how they appear on your profile all help gain new interest..
A case study about Attorney Andrew Jaffe is an example of how these tactics can help you. By leveraging his profile to answer questions from potential clients, he gained significant new client cases.
“I saw the impact of using Avvo almost from day one,” Jaffe says. “Avvo gives you a much more focused chance at getting a client because leads are on the site looking for legal help already.”
Your presence will flourish with a little extra time reaching out to potential clients who need legal help immediately. Work with your account manager to develop content and respond to reviews, taking your Avvo membership to the next level. Because after all, storms will eventually pass.
