Maintaining a high profile online is the primary goal for many law firm marketing programs since a majority of consumers looking for legal services turn to the Internet first. When someone types in the area of law you practice into a search engine, you want to be sure your law firm listing appears on the first page of search results.
So what can you do to snag those consumers searching for legal advice in your area of practice? Be sure that your law firm marketing program focuses on these 6 essentials:
Law Firm Marketing Essential #1: Invest in SEO
If your budget is relatively small, invest it all in SEO. It’s the way you get found online. And unless you were a tech guru in your former life, it’s something you need to outsource to the experts. That’s because the search engine algorithms are ever-changing, and you need someone on top of things to be looking out after your website. Don’t even try to do it yourself. Either hire someone at your firm, or find a good SEO company to do the work for you.
Law Firm Marketing Essential #2: Segment services on your website
There are many law firms that have different specialties and each one needs to have its own real estate on your website. Either feature a dropdown menu with all your practice areas listed, or highlight them on your home page with a specialized landing page visitors can get to with just one click:
By segmenting your website real estate according to services, you will be able to optimize your website for the important keywords for each service. This helps you get more qualified leads.
Law Firm Marketing Essential #3: Serve up stellar content
When consumers search for legal services, they are looking for information. You need to have a good idea of the type of information that will satisfy them so you can put in on your website and blog. You may think you don’t know what they want, but you do. Just think of the most common questions prospects ask when they call or visit your firm, then use your answers to inform the development of your content.
You also need to keep SEO in mind when you develop your content, so be sure you either have a writer on staff experienced in content development for SEO or outsource the task. In no way should your content read like a lawyer wrote it — unless your target market is other attorneys.
Law Firm Marketing Essential #4: Video is invaluable!
Video is the perfect medium for attorneys! Not only is it more engaging than text, having video on your website makes it easier for you to establish trust and build a rapport with prospects more quickly.
For tips on creating video that will help you generate leads for your law firm, read my previous post on Generating Leads with Video Marketing.
Law Firm Marketing Essential #5: Rack up the reviews.
In today’s online world, consumers look to reviews from other consumers who have had experience with a specific product or service to inform their decision-making. In fact, research shows that consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust recommendations from people they know. So reviews really are essential to your law firm being visible online.
To get good reviews, you will need to ask for them. Create a process at your firm for getting client testimonials — written is fine, video is better. Ask at the conclusion of your service if the client is happy. Reach out to past clients you know were pleased with your work and request a review on Google or LinkedIn. Send them links to your online review sites to make it easy for them to leave you a review. Then feature all your good reviews on your website.
Reviews are extremely powerful, and having lots of good ones will help you with SEO as well.
Law Firm Marketing Essential #6: Use PPC Advertising
It has become increasingly difficult for attorneys to compete using organic marketing strategies alone. You need to add pay-per-click advertising to your marketing mix. Since most people typically search for an attorney online when they have a legal need, Google Ads is the best PPC platform for attorneys.
Sounds like a lot to manage?
Legal marketing can be complicated, especially if you don’t know what you are doing. If that’s the case, then talk with us about your biggest legal marketing challenges during your complimentary marketing strategy session with one of our Rainmaker marketing experts. Click below to get on our schedule for a legal marketing strategy session. It’s fast (30 minutes). It’s free. And it will help you wrap your head and hands around the best legal marketing strategies to deploy for your firm.
