Will Google Places’ Decision to Remove Outside Reviews Affect Your Law Firm’s Website?
Google Places, which launched last year as a service that allows a business to add more content to its listing on Google Maps, originally incorporated content from other review sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Citysearch. This gave users information about other consumers’ experiences. In late July, the search engine giant announced a significant shift: Google Places will no longer include reviews originally posted on other sites. Instead, Google will post reviews exclusively from Google Places users and, apparently, for restaurants, nightspots, hotels, attractions, and other leisure activities, also from its newly acquired property, Zagat.com. Zagat.com may be expanded to review additional types of businesses or Google may fold it into its current Google review system.
How will this decision affect small business search engine rankings, including those of your law firms?
Google Places has the power to drive a lot of traffic to your online presence and to your office door. In fact, some studies show that traffic from Google Places is more likely to convert clients than other user-submitted review sites. Not surprisingly, some small businesses, such as law firms, panicked when they saw their number of reviews listed on Google Places drop substantially after the removal of the off-site reviews.
That drop in reviews has many law firms debating whether it’s time to change their review and online representation management strategy. At Consultwebs.com, we believe it’s important to invest resources in managing your Google Places account. If you don’t have a listing, or you haven’t been monitoring it, you should start there. Google Places is a free service that pulls listing information such as address, phone number, and website from various local and business directories. Frequently there are inaccuracies or duplications that you may need to clear up. In addition, a Google Places entry with no information beyond the basics can look empty. By adding content, including photos and videos, you can use Google Places as yet another site on the Web to showcase the professionalism and accessibility of your law firm.
Responding to Reviews – Both Positive and Negative
We also believe it is important to request Google Places reviews from clients or former clients. If you have clients who have already posted reviews on Yelp or other review sites, you could ask them to modify and repost those reviews on Google Places. Do not duplicate the reviews on multiple review sites. Follow Google’s review guidelines.
What should be your response to reviews posted in Google Places? You should take the same care with Google Places reviews that you do with other review sites – make sure you respond to both negative and positive complaints. Thank the user for taking time to post a review, address his or her concerns and attempt to resolve any issues he or she may have. By engaging and interacting with comments, you can produce a positive image of a committed, responsible law firm – even when the comments are negative. For more ideas on how to respond to reviews, see Google’s support page on that topic.
As part of the revamped Google Places, the site now includes a prominent red button, “Write a Review” that users can click on, which may encourage clients and former clients to leave reviews.
The Hurdles of Placing Reviews in Google Places
Note that only users with a Gmail or Google account will be able to post reviews. Estimates suggest that only about 13% of e-mail users – or one of every eight online users – have Google accounts. Of course, it’s easy enough to sign up for these accounts – but that is one more hoop reviewers will have to jump through before they can post. That hurdle is an additional reason why it’s important not to neglect other review sources such as Yelp, Foursquare or Insiderpages. Also, keep in mind that while Google Places gets a lot of traffic, it doesn’t get all of it. Many potential clients may well search for you on a different review site. For instance, some users may feel that Insiderpages has a business orientation that will provide more accurate reviews, or they may have had previous great experiences with recommendations they found on Yelp.
Build Up Google Places Reviews, Monitor Other Sites
The main takeaway from the Google Places’ decision to remove outside reviews? You should build up your Google Places reviews while continuing to monitor and respond to reviews on other sites. This may seem like more work, but bear in mind that Google Places offers one more opportunity for potential clients to find you!
Feel free to contact us to help with your law firm’s Web presence at marketing@consultwebs.com or (800) 872-6590.
