Reviews and word-of-mouth advertising are two of the most powerful ways for any business to expand its reach, and that includes law firms. When people are researching law firms, one of the first things they’re going to do is head to the Google business listing (and other review sites) to browse reviews and testimonials from actual clients. A history of positive reviews will reflect very well on your firm and make potential clients much more likely to want to reach out to you for assistance.

Therefore, as part of your marketing endeavors, you should make it a priority to do everything you can to encourage more of these online reviews for your firm that show up in your local listings. Here are a few of the strategies you can employ.

• Include cards with documents: When you provide your client with their final legal documents or have a final meeting with them to wrap up their case, you could include a business card that includes a request for reviews. This might be a better idea with some types of law than others. Estate planning, for example, is a circumstance in which this ask might be more appropriate, and it’s easy to include this with the documents you send them.
• Add review links to your email signature: You will likely communicate with your clients a lot via email. Having a prompt to leave a review in your signature can be a great “soft” method of asking for a review. The client will see it in all of your communications, and may well decide on their own to leave a review if you provide them with exemplary service.
• Include messages on invoices: When you send invoices to clients, you can also include prompts to leave a review. Be sure to provide the exact URL for them to follow, whether it’s a paper or digital invoice. The invoice often marks the completion of service, and that is an ideal time to ask for a review from a client.
• Ask directly: The most straightforward of encouraging reviews is to ask clients directly to provide you one. You should follow up with your clients in the weeks or months after their case to make sure they’re doing well and see if there’s any further way you can assist them. This also is a good time to make the ask for the review, if you believe they were satisfied with the services you provided. Asking directly might feel awkward or uncomfortable, but you might be surprised at how effective a tactic it can be.

Put a little strategy into the way you ask for reviews, and you’ll find that you are able to get much more digital feedback from your clients that will be extremely valuable for your firm’s marketing efforts.