Law firm marketing is rapidly changing and becoming more challenging. Whereas old-school methods like billboards and the Yellow Pages are inherently limited in how much advertising they can offer, the Internet is different. Every lawyer can easily get a website and with most people turning to the web when they need legal assistance, you can’t afford to be left behind.
Here are some general principles to keep in mind as you market your law firm online.
#1: Website structure is important.
It’s not one of the sexiest things in the digital sphere, but what the techies do behind the scenes on a website is vitally important to how well it works on Google and how well it works for your prospects. Your site must have clean code and must be built in a way that allows for efficient optimization of each page for the search engines.
If you use WordPress as your content management system, you’ll want to look through all the widgets they offer and choose those that work best for you. But don’t choose a single one more than necessary—an overload can slow down your site and cost you traffic.
#2: Own local SEO.
You want to make sure you’re in the local 3-pack, the featured list of results that appear at the top of a Google search when someone types in a query like “personal injury lawyer near me.” That takes some tedious work. Get listed in the directories. Make sure all the information fields are filled out and accurate—everything from your office hours to the short description of your firm.
#3: Make the most of social media.
We know this is a challenging area for law firms. You have to be careful about how much legal advice you give out on your Facebook page, lest you run afoul of your state’s ethics laws. But you can certainly want to do little things like using social media to humanize your law firm.
If something goofy happens at the office, take a picture and share it. If you’re out in the community, include a little news release. Posts like this remind the public that being a lawyer and being human really aren’t mutually exclusive.
Video is also increasingly important to a social presence. Give a one-minute overview of some pertinent legal topics that people have asked you about. It will help establish authority in your particular field of law.
#4: Be an authority.
Speaking of establishing authority—the written word is still vital and as a lawyer, you should be particularly good at creating written content. Similar to video, we’re not asking you to give away the store for free, or expose yourself to potential ethics violations. But let’s say you picked 8-10 general topics in your area of law and wrote up a little primer on each one. You could even call it “Law School For The Lay Person” or something creative like that.
Search engines will notice—and the authority you accrue will have SEO benefits for your entire website.
