Online marketing for law firms is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Whether a large full services firm or a single person practice, everyone needs to have an effective strategy for promotion in the digital landscape. Creating a plan can be overwhelming for people who are unfamiliar with the intricacies of the internet or who do not have enough resources to hire a top law firm marketing agency for advice.
In this article, we have compiled a brief guide which can be of great help to such users. They can use the suggestions given here to build a plan which addresses each aspect of digital marketing for lawyers.
Online Marketing strategies for Law Firm:
1. Identify The Goals
What is your objective behind investing in a strong digital presence?
Read: How Marketing Strategies Take Your Business Forward
A majority of attorneys will answer that they want to increase their number of clients with the strategy. However, this answer cannot be true for all legal firms. A large agency run by well-known and respected professionals will not depend on the internet to get new clients. Its reputation already takes care of that. The main aim of such a group will be to engage its current users and provide a source of information to other people. Whatever be your objective, it is necessary to define realistic and quantifiable goals. For instance, a new firm owner can set a target of up to 10 conversions in 3 months.
2.Evaluate The Current State Of The Digital Strategy
In order to identify the necessary steps to improve performance, it is essential to evaluate the present state of the strategy. Find out how much traffic your website is attracting and whether it includes the target audience or not. Social media is another key component of the online promotional plan. Lawyers must assess the engagement levels of their profiles on various networks. In case, they are investing in paid adverts, then they should also check what kind of returns such campaigns are generating.
3.Research The Target Audience
How well do you know your target audience? Do you know what kind of topics they are searching on the web? Having clear answers to such questions is necessary for creating a focused strategy. After you have done an extensive evaluation of your current state, researching the potential client base will help in identifying the gaps in a marketing plan for attorneys and law firms. For instance, a divorce lawyer is posting regular blogs on litigation in such cases while the audience is interested in alternative resolution methods like collaborative law.
4.Create A Plan For Search Engine Optimization
Search engines remain the best source of organic traffic for all kinds of interfaces. You need to have a plan for search engine optimization (SEO) to leverage engines like Google. SEO is a collection of best practices which help in improving the online visibility of an interface. Even though other aspects like social media and advertising have gained importance, SEO still remains the bedrock for online marketing for law firms. Legal professionals must ensure that all their pages have appropriate titles and meta descriptions and the content is optimized with relevant keywords. They must also publish valuable and informative material on their websites as well as build links with other authoritative domains in their segment. All this will help in improving their rankings in SERPs.
5.Build A Strong Social Media Presence
Researching prospective clients will have helped you discover the social networks that they prefer. Make sure you have a profile on the audience’s preferred channels. Publish useful and engaging content regularly on all these networks. Getting active on social platforms allows you to explore another medium to connect with potential clients. Do not post overtly promotional material on these channels and instead focus on having conversations with the audience.
6.Run Paid Advertising Campaigns
You can also run paid advertising campaigns to get in front of prospective clients. Legal firm owners can invest in pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns which will help them appear prominently on a related search engine results page. Similar paid promotions can be run on social networks like Facebook. In fact, most major search engines and social channels have an advertising system in place which can be used by attorneys for their benefit.
7.Use Analytics To Track Performance
You must use analytics to track and measure your initiative. These solutions will help you in knowing whether your strategies are attracting good and relevant traffic or not. You can also use these tools to learn whether social campaigns are effective or not. Analytics can also be used to monitor the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
Conclusion
This basic guide to online marketing for law firm will help you outline an effective plan. It will enable you to harness the power of the internet to draw more clients towards your firm and improve its brand awareness.
