With the average small business now spending around $75,000 a year on digital marketing alone, it’s important that you make those dollars count.
When marketing for lawyers and their firms, lawyers need to be sure they’re capturing their local market as well as coming up in searches for their services. With a little bit of massaging, you can get to the top of the rankings on search engines without spending much of your budget.
Here are 4 tips to ensure your digital marketing efforts are a hit.
1. Manage Your Business Listings
With more than 80% of people trusting online reviews as much as they trust referrals from their friends, it’s never been more important to look good online. If your clients have positive things to say about you, they need to be encouraged to leave reviews on your business listings and search engines.
However, if you haven’t claimed these listings yet, they could be leaving them on multiple different listings that have inaccurate information.
You need to claim most listings before you can edit them and make sure the information on them is accurate. One inaccurate piece of information can spread like wildfire. That’s because search engines and review sites will often purchase bundled information about local businesses from other companies that have bad intel.
One piece of bad intel could get repeated over and over, lowering the number of people who call your office and getting in the way of new business.
After you’ve set up your business listings, start reaching out to your clients and get them to leave reviews for you. If you’re on retainer or have been working with someone for a long time, a positive review could bring in new clients without a dime being spent on advertising.
2. Start a Blog
When people are using search engines, they’re either looking for a specific service or they’re looking for the answer to a question. When you create a legal blog, you can capture both audiences by answering their questions and leaving your services as the solution.
A law blog can get a lot of traffic overnight because of how many legal questions people constantly have. People will be wondering whether they can sue their neighbour, their employer, or even their ex-spouse. No matter what kind of law you specialize in, answering as many of these questions as possible can get you increased traffic and help get your name out there.
A blog also serves as efficient free advertising. You can write anonymously about a big case you had recently that helped you learn something new. You can write about the challenges you’ve had in the past or challenges your clients have had and really inspire people.
Use reputable links throughout your blog, referring to major news outlets or to academic journals. Don’t be afraid to use facts and figures, as long as you always have a source.
3. Get All Over Social Media
You need to be everywhere when it comes to social media. Lawyers who build a strong social media presence can get potential clients to remember them and get to know all about their business with little effort. With a professional profile on every major social media site, you can ensure that you get the attention your office deserves.
If you have a firm with multiple lawyers, make sure that you have uniform looking profiles with your logo in the corner of your images. Get every member of your team to have a professional profile.
Work together to create content and talk about current events. When applicable, use the blog posts that you’re creating to describe common issues. Plan your posts throughout the year using the same calendar you use to prepare for staffing during seasons needs.
Social media will allow your clients to get in direct contact with you. If you get questions or comments on your posts, be sure to answer them ASAP. Answer comments positive and negative with graciousness and goodwill to ensure that everyone sees there’s positive energy on the other side of the screen.
Clients will respond positively to this whether they’re looking for a divorce settlement or an expungement attorney.
4. Use Local SEO
SEO or search engine optimization is the method that website managers use to capture the attention of search engines. Search engines rank every site on the internet based on criteria that include load time, keyword relevance, and how many reputable links you have.
When you search for “pizza” on a search engine, you’ll often get a listing of a local pizzeria near where you searched from. That’s because search engines also know that people want products and services that are closest to them.
Combine all of these elements of SEO together when you’re putting together your site. In your title tags, page descriptions, and across your site, be sure you’re always listing where you’re located. Use references to local landmarks, major interstates, cities, neighborhoods, or any other element you think might help people locate you.
Don’t Miss — What is Local SEO and Why Does Your Website Need It?
Do some research by looking at your competitors. Search for services like the ones your firm offers and see what comes up. Try to find yourself without naming yourself or your firm.
If you see other offices coming up higher than you, take note of what keywords they seem to be using to do so well. Start emulating those sites while adding your own unique twist that could give you the cutting edge.
Marketing For Lawyers Can Be Inexpensive
If you use the right strategy, online marketing for lawyers can be done easily for almost no money at all. The key is knowing your market and using the right terminology. If you get to know the ins and outs of using keywords and all the right tactics for link building, your firm can make a splash online.
For more tips on how technology can improve your bottom line, check out our guide for ideas.
