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Potential Landmines in Attorney AdvertisingDoug BradleyInlandEmpireLawyers.com
Ethical Issues Regarding Marketing Online1. The Dirty Secrets of an SEO - Who you hire
matters.
2. Online Reviews - Love em? Hate em? Wish they would go away?
The Dirty Secrets of an
“SEO”• Search Engine Optimization is
the process to get on page 1 of Google.
• Some SEOs use “Black Hat” techniques which may be effective in the short term, but damaging over time.
• Since a large part of Search Engine Optimization is content and links posted on other websites (“backlinks”), it’s hard for you to monitor and approve where your name is being used.
• Your name and website address could be placed on websites you would never want affiliated with your practice.
Cal Bar Rule 1-400 may apply since the marketer is acting as the attorney’s agent.
Why does this matter?
http://rules.calbar.ca.gov/Rules/RulesofProfessionalConduct/CurrentRules/Rule1400.aspx
How Can I Check my Backlinks?
“MOZ Open Site Explorer”
“AHREFS”
Online Reviews
• A recent survey suggests that Yelp is the #1 trusted website for attorney reviews.
• Same survey reveals that 75% of prospective clients will travel further to meet an attorney with better online reviews.
• Avvo reports that attorneys with reviews are 12x more likely to be contacted.
2014 Survey done by SoftwareAdvice.com: http://www.softwareadvice.com/legal/industryview/how-clients-use-legal-reviews-2014/ (385 responses to 9 questions)
Should you solicit reviews, respond to negative reviews, or ignore it all and hope it will go away?
LACBA Ethical Opinion #525“If Attorney does not disclose confidential or attorney-client privileged information, and does not act in a way that will injure Former Client in a matter involving the prior representation, he/she may respond. However, the Attorney’s response also must be proportionate and restrained… He/she may say no more than is necessary to rebut the public statement made by Former Client.”
SF Bar Ethical Opinion #2014-1“If the matter Attorney previously handled has concluded, responding to the former client's review through statements that do not disclose any confidential information would not typically constitute a breach of loyalty, even though Attorney's response might be deemed "adverse" to the former client. Simply responding to the review and denying the veracity or merit of the former client's assertions (without disclosing confidential information) would not be likely to injure the former client with respect to any work Attorney previously did, or to undermine such work.”
1) http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyers_alleged_response_to_bad_avvo_review_leads_to_disciplinary_complaint2) http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_who_revealed_tmi_in_response_to_bad_avvo_review_is_reprimanded/
1) http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyers_alleged_response_to_bad_avvo_review_leads_to_disciplinary_complaint2) http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_who_revealed_tmi_in_response_to_bad_avvo_review_is_reprimanded/
Best Practices for Acquiring Reviews & Testimonials from a
Former ClientYelp: Yelp does not want you to “ask” for a review, however you can make the client aware that you value feedback on Yelp: “We value our client’s feedback on websites like Yelp.”
*Pro Tip: Yelp reviews populate on Bing search results.
Best Practices for Acquiring Reviews & Testimonials from a
Former Client (Cont’d)Google Plus: Google Plus is the review system that you see in the local “Map” section of search results. These reviews, along with your 5-star rating is visible on a Google Search.
*Pro Tip - A “star” rating will not appear until you get at least 5 reviews.
Best Practices for Acquiring Reviews & Testimonials from a
Former Client (Cont’d)Avvo: Avvo loves reviews and they want you to get as many as possible.
