The Attorney’s Guide to Internet Marketing Success
By Allegra Abramson
If you’re an attorney looking to grow your practice, building a strong presence online is essential for growth and visibility. Internet marketing for attorneys can be a challenge, as it’s rarely taught in law school, but building your online presence is a key step in developing your client base and cementing your reputation as a trustworthy, competent lawyer. Mastering attorney online marketing takes some work upfront, but any firm or solo practitioner can succeed with the right strategies. Here are our key steps that will help your practice stand out online.
1. Build a Strong Brand Identity:
Your firm’s voice, visuals, and values should be consistent across all online platforms, enabling your prospects and clients to remember you and what legal services you provide to the community. Clients need to connect to you and feel as if you are trustworthy even before they inquire about your services. Project your confidence and competence by starting with a solid, well-developed brand. Spend time checking out other firms in various practice areas to understand what kind of attorney online marketing resonates with you and your firm. Not sure where to start? A logo is a great place to practice with different styles and themes!
2. Invest in a Professional Website:
Consider your website your digital storefront. Is it user-friendly and easy to navigate? Did you include a tagline? Is it memorable? Is your Contact Us page visible? Is your website optimized for mobile and tablets? Did you install analytics to see where traffic is coming from?
3. Include Client-Focused Content on Your Website and Social Media:
Clients will have questions before they even call you. Does your website include an FAQ? Make sure it’s easy for clients to schedule consultations or even speak with a chatbot to get preliminary questions answered. Tip: Research legal technology. Today, many applications can help make your website stand out.
4. Prioritize SEO:
Attorney online marketing is most successful when SEO-optimized because SEO optimization means your content will appear on search engines. If you aren’t sure how to go about structuring your content for SEO, a legal marketing firm can help you.
5. Leverage Social Media to Your Advantage:
Social media websites like Facebook and LinkedIn can help you with attorney online marketing. Select a few platforms to focus on and only focus on those. Create stellar content for those platforms to build followers, increase engagement, and provide interesting, meaningful information for prospects and clients. Consider posting blog posts or short articles in your practice area to attract clients while establishing a stronger reputation in the industry.
6. Reputation Management Matters:
Online reviews are often the first thing a potential client sees about your firm. Ensure you closely monitor reviews on websites like Google, Yelp, and Avvo. Respond to feedback professionally and politely. Request that satisfied clients leave reviews for you, too—authentic; positive reviews will help grow your practice and reputation immensely.
7. Use Paid Ads Strategically:
Internet marketing for attorneys works best with online advertising. Although ads can be expensive, they are very effective if you understand your target and carefully manage your ad spend account. By focusing location-specific or lower competitive keywords, you can reduce ad costs. For example, instead of placing an ad that says, “best personal lawyer in the world” (which could lead to ethnical issues and sanctions) but, you could say “Highly rated personal injury lawyer in [your city]”. The second article will keep you out of trouble but enable you to market to clients in your immediate area who might want your services. Plus, you’re not making misleading, unverifiable, or false claims. Carefully managing ads with functional services, like website management or search engine optimization, is important but, it can be challenging. A professional marketing firm can assist you in balancing ads with a user-friendly interface and properly optimized content.
Attorney online marketing isn’t just about posting your content everywhere—it’s about being visible where it matters most to your future clients. Working to establish yourself online in your community and practice area will take creativity and energy. Still, it will garner positive results, and you may have fun. Follow our seven key steps and watch your firm grow!
