Client reviews and peer endorsements: A two-pronged approach for getting more contacts on Avvo - Martindale-Avvo

Client reviews and peer endorsements: A two-pronged approach for getting more contacts on Avvo

Many attorneys rely on referrals as a major source of new business. Because referrals often come from sources attorneys don’t track (like phone calls and walk-ins), it can be difficult to determine what exactly made a consumer decide to reach out. But given that a high percentage of referrals turn into new clients, it’s likely that the client was influenced by one of two factors: a positive review from a former client or a positive review from a peer in the legal industry.

In this post, we’ll look at how potential clients discover positive experiences online and how much these experiences influence their decision to hire an attorney.

Online reviews are the modern-day referral

53% of consumers who go online to resolve their legal issues are also researching attorneys to hire (source). If that number doesn’t seem particularly impressive, consider this: there are over 27 million online searches for the terms “attorney” and “lawyers” each month (Source: Keywordspy.com). When consumers turn to search engines to find you, an online review can act like a referral. And those online reviews really matter. According to our 2022 report, Understanding the Legal Consumer:

  • About half of consumers who’ve contacted an attorney in 2022 say that client reviews played a role in their decision (45.5%).
  • Customers who thoughts reviews were “very important” were 46.6%, and those who thought “somewhat important” clocked in at 34.1%.
  • A whopping 42.1% of legal consumers considered negative reviews a deterrent to hiring an attorney.
  • Just three client reviews can increase the number of contacts generated by 12x (source: Avvo user data).

Client reviews aren’t the only endorsements that matter to consumers. An endorsement from a qualified, educated, experienced peer in the legal industry can also put you ahead of the competition.

Increase the credibility of your online reviews by getting endorsements from your peers

The majority of the information on your Avvo, Martindale, or Lawyers.com profile comes from you. However, peer endorsements present an opportunity to showcase third-party validation from legal professionals who truly know how to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of your work.

Plus, peer endorsements aid the consumer in selecting you as an attorney, they can also have a positive influence on your Avvo Rating.

How to ask for peer endorsements from your Avvo profile

    1. Identify colleagues, judges, opposing counsel, and others from whom you’d like to get an endorsement
    2. Log into your Avvo profile and click “edit profile”
    3. Scroll down to the “peer endorsements” section and click “request a peer endorsement”
    4. On the “Peer Endorsement Request” screen, you can: Select the email address you’d like to send the request from, enter all email addresses you’d like to send the request to, and/or customize the content of the message

Online peer endorsements may not be as common as online client reviews, but they offer incremental authority to potential clients because they come from legal professionals themselves.

Interested in increasing your visibility on Avvo, Martindale, or Lawyers.com? Reach out to an Avvo team member.

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