Clients with legal issues want help, and they turn to the web to get it. Among prospective clients who choose to hire an attorney, nearly 60% take action in less than one week. This means your law firm must be positioned to establish credibility online.
Here's what lawyers can do to establish and develop a footing for your law firm online.
Start with a Plan
Many lawyers are ready to hit the ground running with marketing tactics, but you need a plan first. Put in the time to create a clear lawyer marketing plan with goals before you dive into developing your law firm's online presence.
Without a strategic marketing plan, you'll get underwhelming results.
Marketing a law firm with no plan is a challenge because it's hard to tell if you're tracking toward goals. Instead of making data-driven decisions about what to focus on, you're taking a guess.
You may not stick with a strategy long enough to see real results. In the end, you could become frustrated and give up too early. You'll also lack the focus needed to commit to a single strategy.
Many lawyers get trapped in haphazard marketing tactics. Instead of making a strategic and consistent plan, they try to lean into too many things at once.
But when you have a plan in place, you can tell how your marketing efforts are working.
Your law firm marketing strategy requires you to document:
- Your budget
- Where your clients spend time (your marketing channels)
- What activities will drive actions from those clients (your marketing tactics)
- How you'll measure success (your key performance indicators)
Build a Professional Website
Your website is one of the most important marketing tools a law firm could have. Unlike social media, you own and control what is on there. You can also use it to get traffic and leads through organic earned media placements on Google.
If you don't already have a law firm website, this is your starting point. The best law firm websites are the ones that effectively showcase the firm's approach to the law. They are well-designed, fast-loading, and look great on any device.
When it's time to build your lawyer website, we recommend using a functional CMS like WordPress rather than a poor-performing lawyer website builder. You'll also want to follow an SEO checklist to start off on the right path.
On-page and off-page SEO puts your website in the best position to earn coveted rankings for your chosen keywords.
Your fonts, logos, color scheme, and unique value proposition should all be visible on your website. The site should also be easy to navigate for a reader. Most law firms should consider outsourcing development to an expert website designer.
Professional website designers tie your brand together with best practices for user experience. This creates a superior finished product than you might on your own.
While there are plenty of "do it yourself" options to create a law firm website, it's a poor use of your time. It may not put your best foot forward with all the tools you need to succeed.
Optimize Your Website for Search Engines and People
It's vital for Google to be able to find and index your website, but optimization doesn’t end with technical SEO.
Optimizing your website for search engines is step one to getting your message in front of your target audience. Step two is making the content on your website compelling and attractive for people once they land there.
SEO for lawyers requires a comprehensive strategy and execution to achieve success. Due to all the steps involved, many attorneys outsource this to qualified experts. This ensures that the content strikes a balance for search engines and the people reading that content.
There are a few elements of making your legal website interesting for people:
- Avoiding the use of legal jargon
- Ensuring your content is accessible and clearly written
- Using fonts, colors, and design principles that make content easy to read on mobile or web
- Focusing all content on a client-first approach
As people visit your website and consume your content, you want them to envision what it's like to work with you. They should feel confident in your firm's value proposition, communication style, and experience.
Check out the Levin Firm to see a client-focused approach with strong messaging. Phrases like "Win with Levin" and "we have only one goal" set the tone and approach for visitors. This presents the law firm's value proposition well and consistently. At the same time, the site is also properly optimized for SEO.
Build Citations from Legal Directories
Legal directories confirm important information about your law firm. This includes things like your location, hours, and practice areas. This is beneficial for boosting your local SEO presence.
Legal directories also enhance your online presence in another way. These citations help Google trust that you are who you say you are. This can improve your overall rankings as the search engine starts to trust your site.
Additionally, they serve as another way for clients to find you.
Some of the most popular online legal directories include:
- FindLaw
- Avvo
- SuperLawyers
- Justia
In addition to setting up these citations and monitoring them for accuracy every so often, you can also set up your law firm’s Google Business Profile.
An optimized GBP can show up in Google Maps when someone does a local search. Your GBP may be the first impression someone gets of your firm, so adding photos and reviews is worth the effort.
Choose Social Media Platforms Where Your Audience Spends Time
Social media can be overwhelming, especially when algorithms shift and new platforms emerge. But it can be a powerful tool for attorneys wanting to gain potential clients' awareness.
To succeed with law firm social media, choose the platforms where your potential clients actually spend their time.
A profile and active posting on social media platforms where your target clients spend time increase your brand name visibility. It also builds trust with those who see your activity.
Think carefully about which platforms make the most sense for your practice areas. A criminal lawyer who primarily represents younger defendants might choose YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok. Meanwhile, a business lawyer may instead focus on LinkedIn.
Being willing to try out new platforms helps too. When new platforms, like Intagram Threads, arrive on the scene, think about whether you may be able to reach your audience there.
Create Content Your Audience Cares About
Too often, lawyers create content that's too focused on their own background in law. One of the most crucial elements of marketing yourself as a lawyer is creating content your audience needs, wants, or expects.
Content should be engaging, valuable, and relevant to what your viewers care about in relation to your practice.
Fortunately, there are plenty of examples of lawyers out there creating awesome content for their audiences. You can also look to these as a measuring stick for your own content.
Check out this immigration lawyer's TikTok about important green card cost changes. It's important to his audience and very action-driven. He comes across as knowledgeable and committed to helping his clients. People who want to avoid unnecessary costs in the immigration system will benefit from his content.
Burger Law's YouTube channel is another example of great content for social media. You can tell they built it with client concerns and keywords in mind. They break their videos down into FAQs, testimonials, and an ask a lawyer series.
If you're not sure what content is most likely to resonate with your target audience, work with a marketing expert to do the audience research. From there, you can select the right marketing channels and build a plan for your content creation.
Work with a Law Firm Marketing Expert
There are multiple components that establish and build your law firm's online presence. You don't have to pull them all together on your own.
A legal marketing team can help you create your foundation with your website. They can help you choose the plan, channels, and tactics to get new clients.
While you could take the time to develop your online presence on your own, there is another way. You'll see better outcomes by working with a digital marketing professional. An expert legal marketing agency worries about growing your visibility while you focus on closing cases.
Contact the team at Rankings.io if your next step is marketing that makes a difference.
