One of the most common pieces of advice that law firms and businesses receive is to encourage satisfied clients and customers to leave a review on Google. What could be better than a guaranteed five star review?

Unfortunately, these guaranteed five star reviews are not even guaranteed to show up. If a review someone has written and submitted is failing to show up on your Google Business Profile, chances are it has been caught up in Google’s meticulous filters and removed for reasons such as:

• The review contains a link and/or URL
• The review was written by an employee at your law firm
• It is a duplication of a review posted elsewhere on the web such as social media profile
• You have a disproportionate number of reviews compared to the majority of law firms in your market or practice area; this can lead to suspicion that you are paying people or otherwise offering incentives to write positive reviews
• The review originated at the same IP address as an existing review; perhaps two members of the same household left a review based on the same case you handled for them

These are the top reasons that law firms would encounter problems getting client reviews through Google’s meticulous quality filters.

Why Is Google So Strict?

Google wants consumers to be able to rely on the reviews they host to provide an accurate assessment of local businesses. Anything that even has the appearance of underhanded tactics can results in a review being caught up in the filter and/or removed.

The good news is that you do not have to be an expert on Google Business Profile to make the most of your profile. You can leave your Google Business Profile and other SEO needs in the hands of our team at Above the Bar Marketing while you focus on doing what you do best.