Are you looking for a fresh way to draw attention to your law firm? You’ve got your work cut out for you.
The United States has more than 439,000 law firms in 2022 — a 0.3% increase from 2021.
Fortunately, it’s possible to create an online presence that builds authority and drives legal leads. Let’s explore 10 law firm internet marketing concepts and strategies you can implement to attract more potential clients and boost your bottom line.
1. Create a Website
An important step in building an online presence is to create a website for your firm if you do not already have one.
Unlike with a social media page, you control and own what you post on your website. In addition, you can use your website to draw traffic and generate leads.
Your website should be well-designed, look appealing on both personal computers and mobile devices, and load quickly. You should also make your law firm’s unique selling propositions (USPs) visible on the site.
An example of a USP is that your firm has more litigation experience than other firms near you. In addition, you may guarantee you’ll respond to every inquiry within 24 hours.
Your site should additionally feature a clear color scheme and logo, as well as easy-to-read fonts. It should also be simple for the reader to navigate. The best law firm sites are easy for law firm owners to manage as well.
Should You Outsource Web Design?
You may create your website with a functional content management system, like WordPress. However, hiring a professional website designer will save you time and ensure your law firm has a competitive website.
An experienced provider of law firm marketing services can develop a site for you that will effectively showcase your approach to law. This expert will know how to tie your firm’s brand together using best practices centered on enhancing the user experience.
Chances are a professional can create a superior website than you could produce by yourself, so this is one part of your business you may want to outsource.
Is Creating a Law Firm Website Necessary?
Still wondering if a website is necessary?
You might feel tempted to forego a website because you have several network connections and receive WOM referrals. However, a website can help possible clients learn more about you. It’s the perfect place to sell your legal skills and showcase your unique services.
2. Optimize Your Site for Search Engines
The top law firm marketing strategies also include optimizing your website for today’s search engines. This is possible through technical search engine optimization, or SEO.
The purpose of SEO is to help Google and other search engines find your site and rank it as high as possible. This will help you expand your reach online.
SEO for law firms requires a specific, comprehensive strategy to yield positive results. This is why outsourcing SEO to a lawyer marketing firm is generally a wise move.
3. Optimize Your Site for People
In addition to focusing on technical SEO, you should make sure your law firm’s website is optimized for people.
Although it’s important to create a high-ranking site, your site should also feature attractive and compelling content for its visitors. You can do this in a few ways.
First, avoid using legal jargon on your web pages. In addition, make sure your content is clearly written and accessible.
You should also use designs, colors, and fonts that will make your content simple to read on the web or mobile. Be sure to also write with the client’s needs and desires in mind. Keep their priorities first.
Your goal with your website’s content is to help the reader envision what it is like to partner with you. Your prospective clients should feel they can trust you due to your experience, value proposition, and communication style.
4. Create Social Media Profiles
Another way to create an online presence that builds authority and drives legal leads is to create impactful social media profiles.
Managing social media profiles can seem overwhelming to small businesses, like law firms. That’s because new platforms constantly emerge, and algorithms shift. However, social media is a great way for attorneys to build prospective clients’ awareness.
To maximize social media marketing, pick platforms where prospective clients spend most of their time.
Let’s say you are a criminal attorney and primarily represent younger defendants. You may want to target potential clients on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Meanwhile, if you’re a business attorney handling intellectual property cases, you might want to use LinkedIn.
Although you may want to have a presence on multiple channels, avoid creating profiles on more than two or three.
If you have too many, you’ll become overwhelmed and struggle to balance them. You might end up abandoning certain social accounts or even committing ethics violations that cause your profiles to be blocked or banned.
Examine what social media platforms your competitors are using, and consider using these as well. Identify which profiles work and which don’t to determine the most effective strategy for your firm.
Why Use Social Media?
The more you use these platforms, the more you build trust with users who view your activity. This might motivate them to visit your website. There, they can find out more about your services and learn how to contact you.
For instance, let’s say you post a link to your newest website blog on your Facebook page. The blog might be about steps to take following a car accident.
Prospective clients who see your post in their Facebook newsfeeds might click the link and go to your website. On the website, they may see an intake form your law firm internet marketing company has created and posted for you.
The prospective clients can then complete this form, which includes leaving their email addresses so you can contact them.
A law firm marketing service can help you devise a practical and effective social media plan for your business.
5. Create Online Directory Profiles
Yet another way to build your online presence using law firm internet marketing is to create profiles on today’s legal directories. Examples of these directories include the following:
- Justia
- SuperLawyers
- Avvo
- FindLaw
These directories confirm essential information about various law firms. This information may range from practice areas to locations and operating hours. You should also include your contact information, like your phone number, email address, and website.
Purpose of Legal Directories
Legal directories serve multiple purposes. First, they can boost your law firm’s local SEO results.
Second, the legal directories’ citations may make it easier for Google to trust you’re legitimate. This may boost your overall search engine rankings.
Third, legal directories may help prospective clients find out about you.
Keep in mind that some online directories provide free listings, while others offer paid ones. Others offer free listings and give you the option of paying to advertise and increase your visibility.
No matter which option you choose, you should keep track of their activity closely. That’s because they may become forums for dissatisfied clients, who might leave poor reviews of your firm on them.
Still, the benefits of these directories outweigh their cons as long as you check your directory listings regularly.
Google Business Profile
Along with establishing legal directory profiles, you should set up a Google Business Profile, or GBP, for your firm. If your GBP is optimized, Google Maps can show your law firm when somebody performs a local business search.
Your GBP might be a person’s first impression of your law firm, so it’s a good idea to add reviews and photos to the profile, too. The photos can be of yourself, your staff, and/or your practice.
6. Create an Email List
Creating an extensive email list for your law firm is another way to expand your online presence. This list will help you engage with potential and current clients monthly, weekly, or even daily.
To expand your firm’s email list, consider creating gated content, or content people will receive only if they sign up for it. They can do this through a pop-up form on your website.
For instance, consider adding a call to action, or CTA, on your social media posts and website to encourage people to sign up for your firm’s email newsletter. Then, use your newsletter to collect your leads’ email addresses.
7. Develop a Website Blog
You can also build your authority as a law firm by developing a website blog.
Although your firm aims to generate money, it should also be client-centric by focusing on creating value. A powerful way to do this is to generate free educational content online. This may help your clients as well as enhance your digital presence.
Not sure where to start when writing your blog? Consider your customer persona. Then, write out your clients’ motivations and pain points accordingly.
Afterward, brainstorm content ideas that may answer your clients’ questions. These ideas can become your first blogs’ topics.
You may also create value digitally by giving advice to customers who have questions. You may do this via guest posting or even by responding to users’ comments on social media. Being a podcast guest is another popular way to create value.
8. Analyze Your Digital Marketing Results
Once you’ve started to build your digital presence, you should analyze your marketing results. A law firm marketing service can help with this.
For starters, a marketing expert can help you decide which metrics you’d like to use for testing your results.
Let’s say you are working on SEO. You may want to track your Google ranking results.
What if you’re creating a client email list? Consider tracking how many subscribers you have. A marketing expert may also help you track your email click-through and open rates.
Analyzing your marketing results will give you insights into what works and what needs to be improved to further your online reach.
9. Experiment with Ads
Another excellent way to build your online presence is to experiment with ads, like pay-per-click ads (PPC ads). If your advertisement appears on a top search result page, you can quickly boost your online visibility and build your brand awareness.
You may advertise on various search engines, such as Bing, Yahoo, and Google. You could also advertise on social media platforms, like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
In your ad, you could promote a specific content offer or even your firm’s email newsletter.
10. Automate Your Marketing
Finally, build your online presence more quickly by automating your marketing process.
For example, your law firm marketing partner can schedule your social media posts to publish on certain days and at certain times. They can also set up an email marketing newsletter sign-up form on your website that will appear automatically.
Automation will save you time and help you avoid overlooking opportunities to boost your brand awareness and reputation. This may lead to increased revenue for your law firm long term.
Help With Law Firm Internet Marketing
You can build an online presence in several ways with the help of a law firm internet marketing service. For example, you can set up a website that showcases your areas of expertise. You can also develop social media profiles, create an email list, and create a blog for your website.
At Venn Digital Marketing, we take pride in offering top-quality marketing services for small businesses. These range from email to SEO, lead generation, sales enablement, and PPC.
Get in touch with us to learn more about our services, and expand your reach today!