In the vast world of the internet, information travels in the blink of an eye. Although it is valuable tool for law firms to reach out to clientele and potentially grow a business, the internet can just as easily make a firm come crashing down.

Hackers, internet “trolls” and hate sites are a reality that haunt many business owners. This results in specific firms being projected poorly due to untrue information, or bad reviews being vastly distributed and easily accessible. To avoid this as much as possible, it is important for law firms to be proactive about their online presence in order to stay on top of scammers and divert clients away from negative material.

Think of having a strong digital footprint as part of your overall brand. If your online presence is low, then your firm does not stand out and clients are unaware of where to look for your firm online. That leaves plenty of room for negative influencers to divert your potential clientele to inaccurate information. So, the stronger the footprint, the more control you have over your company’s image and the content that is present online about it.

In most cases of reputation crisis, publishing content online in a strategic manner that will push the damaging material out of the spotlight is the best course of action. However, this is not an easy and rapid task by any means. New content must compete with other materials and somehow make it to the first page of search engines. Content and review management programs may be a helpful to rise your content to the top at a faster pace to avoid negative repercussions as much as possible.

One program that could be established is to reserve applicable domain names. Malicious websites can easily host a website address that is similar to a firm’s name, diverting the attention of search engines and clients to the hate site and away from your firm.

One may believe that something as drastic as this would never happen to their law firm, but the truth is that anyone could be a target for malicious sites that are meant to attract inappropriate attention; sometimes for no reason at all. By purchasing all the appropriate domain extensions of your firm’s name, which can sometimes mean buying over 10 domains in a variety of iteration, you lessen the chances of potential attacks.

Some other ways to take control of your reputation include:

• Making sure that the photos of you that appear online are appropriate and depict an image that you wish to portray.
• Utilizing LinkedIn for most of your information sharing and connecting.
• Maintaining a consistent schedule for publishing content to build a professional and reliable online profile.
• Having a comprehensive AVVO profile.

Although there are several ways to deter the negativity online, many law firms simply do not have the time to regularly maintain an online presence. But, being there for your clients online is just as important as being there for them in the courtroom. That’s where PR4Lawyers can help.

PR4Lawyers integrates traditional marketing techniques the modern marketing necessities of social media, web development, and SEO. PR4Lawyers’ multifaceted approach helps law firms reach potential clients across all media, while also managing your online reputation to help your law firm succeed.

If you would like more information on managing your law firm’s digital footprint, or to set up a complimentary consultation, please call 1-866-PR4LAWYERS (866-774-5299) or fill out our online contact form.