Online marketing for law firms is similar to digital marketing for other businesses, but there are a few special considerations one has to take into account. Lawyers have ethical regulations set up by their State Bar that could determine the kind of outreach they are allowed to do. Before delving headfirst o online marketing for your law firm, be sure to check the regulations that pertain to you.
Make Your Website Work for You
Your firm likely already has a website, but is it working for you? Your law firm’s website needs to be more than a digital brochure. You should have clear calls to action to guide website visitors to the actions you want them to take.
The website should provide an abundance of information about your firm. Information about the lawyers and staff members will help customers feel confident about choosing your to represent them.
Information about past successful cases or testimonials from clients will reassure potential clients that your attorneys will be able to help them. Your website needs to show potential customers that your business is trustworthy and that you will be able to solve their problems.
We’ve written this checklist of website best practices you can use to see how your law firm’s website stacks up.
Use Google My Business to Be Found by Local Clients
Google My Business is a free directory for businesses. Having a Goolge My Business (GMB) listing lets your law firm to appear when people search for lawyers and attorneys in your city. Having a Google My Business listing at the top of the search results is the most important thing you can do to increase your online marketing for law firms.
In addition to a Google My Business listing for your law firm as a whole, you should also create separate GMB listings for each individual lawyer and attorney at your practice. This is important to help your firm’s lawyers be found when clients search for them.
Having your law firm’s Google My Business listing appear at the top of search results is a bit of an art and a bit of a science. There’s many factors that Goolge uses to figure out which business should be shown for each search. We wrote a guide to help you get started. We also offer a service to lawyers to optimize and manage their Google My Business listing.
Be Active on Social Media
Being active on social media like Facebook is also a great form of online marketing for law firms. Social media is a great way of creating awareness of your firm. Also, people turn to social media to ask their friends for attorney recommendations. Having an active presence on social media will make it easier for them to recommend you and your firm right on their friend’s feed.
The social media network most useful for lawyers and law firms remains Facebook. The ability to write long-form content on Facebook can’t be beat. Facebook’s ad platform is also amazing for lawyers. You can target prospective clients based on their demographics and interests. It’s very easy for a law firm to create an ideal client persona and target their ads directly to Facebook users who fit those criteria.
Getting Serious About Online Marketing for Law Firms
As you think about and try these online marketing ideas, keep in mind what your ultimate goals are. Are you trying to raise awareness of your law firm? Are you trying to get more clients in the short term? How will you track the success of your marketing? It might be time to hire a professional.
