The way that potential clients research and find the law firm that they decide to go with has changed a lot in recent years. Once an industry that did well with business cards, billboards, and word-of-mouth recommendations, the legal industry may have been one of the slowest to embrace getting online, but today it is clear to see that an online presence has never been more essential than ever if you want your law firm to succeed and bring in more clients.
Potential law firm clients are no longer satisfied with just a couple of recommendations and many will turn to Google or social media as the first point of contact in order to find potential legal services and shortlist the most suitable for them. For lawyers, this means that getting found online has never been more important.
So, what can you do to get more online clients for your law firm?
Update Your Website
If your website has been around for years, chances are that it’s no longer up to modern expectations. A good law firm website should be sleek and modern, easy to navigate, and responsive to any device that it’s visited on. Bear in mind that with over half of the population now using mobile phones and tablets to browse the web rather than a desktop browser, it has never been more important for your website to look good on mobile. Not only could it put interested potential clients off if they find your website difficult to navigate and read on a smartphone, but failing to have a responsive design can be a disaster for your SEO and cause you to fall down the rankings even if you’re doing everything else right. Getting a brand-new website can also be a key talking point for your brand and a good reason to get more people to visit it.
Work with an SEO Professional
At the end of the day, your training is in law – not digital marketing – so don’t try to do your law firm’s search engine optimization on your own. Many lawyers make the mistake of going down the DIY route to try and save money, but the truth is that doing it yourself when you’re not the expert can lead to costly mistakes in the long run. Just like you would advise your clients against representing themselves in court, find a professional agency like 12AM agency to do your law firm SEO. 12AM Agency specializes in SEO for law firms and can put together a customized lawyer SEO strategy to put your firm in with the best chance of being found online. They offer a range of SEO services for law firms on a long-term basis to ensure that you enjoy consistent results.
Produce Quality, Informational Content
The advice that you give your clients could be just what potential clients need to gain an interest in your law firm and put you at the top of their shortlist. Creating high-quality informational content for anybody to read when they visit your website shows that you are an authority in your field and gives potential clients an idea of the expertise that they will be paying for if they choose you as their lawyer. Starting a business blog that you use to provide potential clients with answers to common questions and solutions to common legal problems is a great way to showcase what you know and give interested visitors a taster of what they could get should they decide to take you on as their legal representation.
Engage on Social Media
Last but not least, social media is an excellent tool that every law firm should be using. Aside from being a platform where you can share your own content and any other content you find that you feel might be of interest to your followers, you can also use social media to keep your potential clients updated about any new services that you offer or special offers and deals that you might be running such as a no-win, no-fee option for a particular service. But more importantly, you can use social media to engage with your followers and start building a relationship with your potential clients even before they need a lawyer. By asking open questions, getting to know your followers, offering advice, and responding in a timely manner to all comments and queries, you can establish and nurture strong relationships with your followers, start building trust with them, and ensure that your law firm is the first one that comes to mind should they ever need legal assistance in the future.
Today, more and more people are looking for legal services online, so it makes sense for law firms to work on improving their online presence and reach. Boosting your website, online content, SEO and social media engagement are all crucial for any law firm looking to win more clients online.
