There is no doubt that the law industry is one of the most competitive in the world and with thousands of law firms in one city, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. Therefore, as a lawyer or law firm consultant, one of the ways you can attract new clients and gain a competitive edge is to market your firm online.
With the help of online marketing tips
designed specifically for law firms, you can establish your firm’s
expertise, gain more leads, and turn those leads into high-quality
clients.
If you have been wondering how you can use the internet to grow your
law practice, you are on the right site. Here, we have put together
some of the things you can do to successfully market your law firm
online.
Have a strong website
Law firms need to have a strong and vibrant online presence if they are to compete favourably in the legal world, especially as the bulk of your business comes from local clients. One of the ways you can boost your online presence is to have a strong website.
A website will serve as the basis of your online marketing efforts. This is where people who need legal services will come to get information about your practice areas, and even get free legal advice via comments and feedback form.
To make the most of your website, it has to be a direct reflection of your law firm, its practices, and what it stands for. You should also be willing to constantly share updates and materials on your website that people will find useful. Believe it or not, a website is a great way to get potential clients in through the door of your law firm.
Optimise for search
It is not enough to have a strong website; you also have to optimise it so that it appears in the top results for search online. This optimisation process is known as SEO or search engine optimisation.
These days, almost every business encounter starts with a search query, and optimising your website properly for search will position your law practice so that when potential clients search for lawyers or legal solutions, your website will be among the top results displayed.
To make the most of search engine optimisation, it is vital that you target for local keywords. Use local keywords to improve your search relevancy in your locality and city. For example, if your law firm is located in New Orleans, including New Orleans related keywords will improve your chances of attracting people in that area to your practice.
You should also categorise your website so that visitors can go straight to the section that matter to them without wasting time searching your site.
Even though optimising your site for search is not rocket science, it is understandable that lawyers may not have the time or patience to learn how to do it. If this is you, hiring a legal marketing agency is your best bet so that you can benefit from professional and effective SEO strategies.
Be very active on social media
In recent years, social media has grown to become one of the most effective marketing tools on the internet. With social media, you can easily reach and engage with the people that matter to your business without spending too much money.
Because virtually everyone is on social media, you can even create targeted messages that will be seen by a special set of people. However, before jumping into creating target-based ads, be sure that your social media profile is all set up, as visitors will go to your profile to check out your firm.
One of the biggest advantages of social media is that you can create a personal relationship with a potential client even before they visit your office premises. You can engage them via different social mediums and talk about the benefits your practice can give to them.
Build your local presence on Google
As already established, the bulk of your clients will likely come from the locality where your firm is established; therefore it makes sense to optimise your local presence in that area. The most effective way to optimise for local search is by claiming your Google My Business (GMB) profile.
Your GMB page and profile will make it easy for people to find you in local searches (which are where the bulk of searching is based, especially for mobile internet users). This way, your law firm will always show up in search results for lawyers in your area.
Claiming and building a GMB page is free and easy, and you can always find articles on the internet that will show you tips for creating a winning GMB page.
Consider paid search advertising
The problem with SEO is that it takes sometime before you start seeing noticeable results on your website. This does not mean that the process doesn’t work, only that it may not be fast enough for your purposes.
If you are interested in fast visibility for your law firm, investing in paid search or PPC is the way to go.
PPC or Pay Per Click advertising means that Google shows your site and message to search users, and you only get to pay for the services when someone does click on the link and go to your site. In fact, this is a good way to appear in the first top results of Google SERP.
Even though PPC advertising is not free like organic SEO, you get to see the results immediately. You can also specify how much you intend to spend on this form of online advertising so that you don’t overdo things with your finances.
