Should you upgrade to Avvo Pro?

If you are reading this post, my sincere hope is that we are beyond the whole “should I even claim my Avvo profile?” debate… It goes without saying that, in my opinion, you definitely should claim your profile and I presume you have at this point…

5 Benefits of Upgrading to Avvo Pro

In my law practice, I have claimed my profile on Avvo, and I have upgraded it to Avvo Pro. By upgrading to the pro edition, you receive access to a number of benefits and customizations that are not available to you with only a free account.  Here are the top 5 benefits to upgrading from a free account to an Avvo Pro account.

1. Eliminate other lawyers’ ads on your profile

First, (and I think this is on of the most important reasons to upgrade), the advertisements you see on the side of the page (showing other lawyers you are competing with for business) are replaced by a message box and a link to your website or a phone number.

Below is a profile of a lawyer in my practice area that has not upgraded to Pro (to protect this lawyer’s identity, I cut their headshot and name, which would have appeared in the same place as my headshot and name in the photo below).

Here is the top part of my profile:

On the other lawyer’s profile, there is a big ad showing another that he is in direct competition with for clients. Not only does it show a nice photo of this lawyer, it includes a 5-star review, her phone number, and other ways to contact her.  In my profile, there is a box where the prospect can send me a message or call my firm. I think it goes without saying that you would rather have a “call to action” box instead of a “call another lawyer” box.

2. Custom Headlines

I am able to put a custom headline at the top of my post. This can be used to grab someones attention and get them to keep reading or to request more information. You can personalize this introduction for each of your practice areas (if you have more than one). The other lawyer has only a box showing his Avvo score (which is ok, there are easy ways to get that number up pretty quickly).

3. Selective placement of client reviews

With an Avvo Pro account, I can take two of my best client reviews (you can select the ones you want to use) and throw them up there at the top of my profile. This provides important social proof that others have used your services and were happy with you as their attorney.  I’ll be posting more on how to avoid negative client reviews later this week.

4. Linking to your blog

Further down on my profile, I am able to link to my blog. Avvo will include my past 5 blog posts on my profile. I wish they would also include photos, a brief description of the post, etc. Unfortunately, a headline is all we get for now. I imagine that Avvo doesn’t want this to stand out too much – otherwise they risk losing the reader to your website. (But this is just my personal opinion – I have no way to verify this).

5. Detailed Analytics

Finally, by upgrading to Pro, Avvo will provide you with detailed analytics on how many times your profile was viewed, and how many contacts are sent to your website or otherwise contact you from your Avvo profile.

Conclusion – Should you upgrade to Avvo Pro?

At $49/month – the price to upgrade is enough to make me think twice about whether upgrading is really worth it. In the end, for me at least, I really wanted to get those other lawyer ads off my profile. I also like the customization for the top area of my profile. As more and more users begin to turn to Avvo to look for lawyers, it is important to understand that this is a viable platform that is not going away.

Have you upgraded to Avvo Pro? Can you trace new clients back to Avvo? I’d love to hear about it – please post in the comments section below.