I was interested and surprised to read that Yelp is the most popular and trusted lawyer website among consumers.
According to a recent survey by a Texas-based research company called Software Advice, which I read about on Larry Bodine’s blog, Yelp is the most commonly used site to search for attorney reviews online.
58% of respondents said Yelp was the first place they turn to for a lawyer, and 61% view Yelp as the most trustworthy source to search for lawyers online.
More broadly, 83% of cosumers said that they go to online review sites as a first step to find an attorney.
Software Advice received responses from 385 US adults.
For the unfamiliar, Yelp operates a leading online business review site.
Not just a legal site, Yelp contains reviews and ratings of restaurants, hotels, and businesses – pretty much anything that can be reviewed.
It started in the US, and has since expanded to various other countries around the world.
Clearly this is a consumer-focused survey – a multinational corporation won’t be turning to Yelp for a billion dollar bond issue anytime soon – but the results provide a window into the changing habits of online behavior, and the growing influence of online review sites.
I’ve ‘looked under the hood’ at Yelp stats before and, at least for law firms that are primarily selling B2B services, I just don’t see it. The meaningful traffic is not there yet, at least in my own economic region. But what this does tell me, or sort of confirm, is that other online legal directories are not distinguishing themselves. There is absolutely space in the market for one of them to become a trusted source for consumers and, in fact, it really should exist. Selecting an attorney is difficult. AVVO may be winning the eyeballs game, but this survey indicates that a website generally used to find the best taco in town is more credible than any of the companies that focus on this market. That’s an indictment of the industry and I hope one of these, or a newcomer, sweeps in and does an awesome, effective online legal directory.
Derek
Thanks for your comment. It took me by surprise I have to say. My sense was that Avvo is the leader in this consumer space. But it may be that the market is more complex than we think. Of course, I knew Yelp was popular but hadn’t counted on it being quite so influential for consumers seeking legal services. Like you say, though, how applicable is that to businesses rather than individuals.
Lloyd
LLoyd – important to know the background of this Yelp survey . . . . which was funded by Yelp and specifically excluded. . . . well errrr, Google and Facebook and was targeted at . . . . Yelp users. More here: http://mockingbirdmarketing.com/yelp-releases-nielsen-survey-data-declares-king-local-directories/
Thanks Conrad – you obviously applied a more forensic approach than I did. Once has to be skeptical with surveys conducted for the purpose of enhancing the position of the survey organizer. There was a major one a few years ago which found that Martindale was the most influential legal directory, but of course it was partly organized by Lexis/MH themselves.