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Why Law Firms Need a Web Reputation Check

Why Law Firms Need a Web Reputation Check

Before social media and other types of Web 2.0 sites became the norm on the internet, it wasn't really necessary to check your website reputation.  Today, however, a website reputation check has become a critical tool in the web marketing arsenal of many law firms.  If you haven't tried to check your website reputation yet, this guide will teach you why you need to and what you might find out.  Keep reading to learn why a website reputation check can be very valuable for search engine optimization, and how to check your website reputation in several different ways.

How a Web Reputation Check Can Prevent Problems

It's important to know what people are saying about you before a few isolated comments become the dominant narrative.  Understanding your online reputation gives you an advantage in talking to critics and fans.  By performing a website reputation check, you ensure that you're able to anticipate when, for example, a negative review might be impacting your site negatively.

When you check your website reputation, you're likely to find out that some areas of your reputation are already doing quite well while others could use more help.  A website reputation check can make it much easier to prioritize your expenditures of both time and money.  What's more, you may be able to identify defamatory information and make sure that it is taken down before it has a significant negative impact on your web traffic and conversions.

If your website is currently being blocked by antivirus software because the software has detected a problem, you need to know right away.  Only by choosing to check your website reputation can you actually find out what is causing the problem.  A website reputation check can help you improve the safety and security of your website so that it can be trusted by your clients.

Can I Check Website Reputation For Free?

Yes!  One of the best parts about doing a web reputation check in 2012 is that many of the resources to help you are completely free of charge.  Some of the best tools to check your website reputation actually come from the same companies that produce anti-virus software.  These companies, like AVG and PC Tools, can help you run a web reputation check completely free of charge.

However, if you want to check your website reputation beyond just whether your site is trusted to be free from viruses or security threats, you'll need to dig deeper.  Some programs that help you understand exactly what your website's reputation is can cost money.  You'll need to decide for yourself whether the features they offer are worthwhile for your firm.  Many of these tools are more important for retailers and others dealing with high volume sales transactions.

Doing a Website Reputation Check For the First Time

The first time that you check your website reputation, you can find out several key pieces of information.  Let's say that you start with Trustedsource.org, a website created by McAfee virus protection to help people do a website reputation check.  When you check your website reputation with this website, you'll find out not only whether the site considers your website to be the possible victim of fraud or malware, but also what kind of patterns your links are showing.

If you are seeing a pattern of fraudulent links or links that appear artificially created, you may want to use new strategies.  Your web reputation check may also reveal many older links that no longer work to take people to a valid URL on your website.  Knowing this can help you revise your site in a way that will make it more user friendly to future users.

Why One Website Reputation Check Isn't Enough

Just because you check your website reputation and it comes up clear doesn't mean that you're out of the woods.  You should make sure that you run a website reputation check at least once a month.  This will alert you very quickly if any virus or malware should ever take over your website, or if some program began to use your website as a place to create automatic links.

Doing a consistent check of website reputation statistics can also make sure that you're tracking trends in your website.  If you're not keeping track of how your website's traffic and trust levels are changing, you're missing out on valuable data that could help you shape your website for months or even years in the future.

Help!  My Reputation Is in the Gutter!

It's all well and good if you check your website reputation and it comes up green.  But what if there are alerts all over the place?  How do you clean up the mess that has been left behind by viruses or malware?  It's true that in some cases you may need to contact a professional to do this cleanup after running a website reputation check, but you may also be able to do it yourself.

Some website reputation check programs, especially those that require some payment up front, will actually help you to remove any problematic pages from your website.  These programs to check your website reputation can work automatically so that you don't have to worry about the details of how to remove each piece of offending software.

Reputation Management and Services

Sometimes, running a website reputation check can be a good reminder of just how hard it can be to keep your reputation online looking as good as it can.  If you're having trouble, consider showing the results of your website reputation check to a reputation management service.  These services can check your website reputation so you don't have to, and can make sure that any problems are taken care of immediately.  Because these services specialize in reputation management, you can rest assured that your reputation is being monitored more frequently and more closely than it would have been if you had handled it personally.

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