How does your law firm attract new clients? In the past, before the age of the Internet, word of mouth was the single most important way that legal practices gained new contacts, but nowadays, simply relying on satisfied clients to sing your praises isn’t enough. In fact, in a recent survey, 38% of respondents said they would turn to the Internet when researching a lawyer, as opposed to just 29% that would ask a friend or relative. That means if your website isn’t up to snuff, you could be losing almost 40% of your potential leads.
So what can you do to create a more robust online presence? A great first step is creating and optimizing your legal blog to include content that highlights your legal skills and experience while also providing increased SEO opportunities that make it easier for potential clients to find you through organic search.
What Do People Look For When Hiring A Lawyer?
What information do people want to see when they’re conducting research on hiring a lawyer? An overwhelming majority of searchers stated that their single most important consideration was how many years of experience that firm had, followed closely by prices, rates and the overall fee structure.
One simple way to deliver this information is with a custom-designed landing page that drives traffic and turns leads into conversions. Be sure to include how long your firm has been practicing and showcase prominent cases that you’ve been involved with successfully. Many law firms have no-fee consultations or contingency fees based on the amounts recovered. If your practice uses these or other types of low-upfront pricing schemes, be sure to highlight it, so clients know that their out-of-pocket expenses will be minimal – or at least, less than the competition.
Case Studies Can Help Show Off Your Expertise
Anyone reaching out to an attorney is likely going through an often emotional and highly personal experience, so it’s important to help reassure them that you have the skills and knowledge to see them through. Up to 66% of people searching for lawyers online report that past results in similar cases would influence their decision. Posting case studies of your previous successful outcomes can show off the different ways that you’ve achieved positive results in the past and demonstrate to searchers that you have the capabilities to provide them with a similar outcome.
An easy way to create a case study is to approach it as if you’re telling a story. Be sure to have a beginning, middle and end. The beginning should be where you introduce the client and the struggles that they’re facing. The middle is where you enter the scene and detail the steps that you took to resolve the issues, and the ending can highlight how the client realized their goals because of your help.
An important thing to remember is that the client is the hero of the case study, not you. A case study shouldn’t be a hard sell of your services. Instead, it should be about how the client was able to achieve a positive outcome and how you were able to assist in that.
Provide Searchers With General Legal Advice
Most people conducting Internet research on an attorney require help with a specific legal issue. After all, who needs a lawyer when everything is going great? Providing these searchers with broad advice based on typical circumstances can be an easy way to establish yourself as an authority on the issue. For example, if your main practice is family law, outlining the normal steps taken in an adoption or divorce proceeding can let potential clients know what to expect while also letting them know you’re able to provide them with expert knowledge and advice on the matter.
This is also a great way to boost your firm’s standings on the SERP (Search Engine Results Pages). Most search engines prioritize sites that are regularly updated, and these sorts of articles lend themselves very naturally to becoming a recurring series of posts on your legal blog.
One word of warning, however: You should make it clear that nothing you post in your legal blogs constitutes an attorney-client relationship, and that the blog should be taken only as general advice and might not apply to a reader’s specific circumstances. Blogging for lawyers is a way to nurture readers into becoming clients and should never be seen as a replacement for that professional relationship.
Client Reviews And Testimonials Can Make A Difference
A testimonial page filled with reviews from former clients is among the most effective forms of social proof, and it can be a powerful tool that helps turn clicks into legal consultations.
How effective are these sorts of pages? One study has shown that testimonial pages are the second-most clicked on interior website pages, behind only attorney biographies.
Testimonials are a great way to let a third party speak about your professional abilities without seeming boastful. Just as importantly, testimonials are a way to let others know how past clients felt about the way you carried yourself and how you treated them. Most cases have a certain amount of confidentiality involved with them, so it can be difficult to show specific results or case information, but if searchers know that you worked hard for your clients and treated them with dignity and respect, that can go a long way toward gaining their trust.
Testimonials are also an easy way to add video and images to your site, which can help drive engagement and increase interest. This can be as simple as scanning images from a few thank-you cards from former clients, or it can be as complicated as a fully produced video interview.
More people than ever are using the Internet over word of mouth to find a service provider. In fact, almost half of consumers aged 18 to 34 have used social media this way, and with the millennial generation’s growing spending power (an estimated $1.4 trillion by 2020), you might need to change the way your firm is marketing itself to make sure that you’re poised for future success.
Not sure if your legal blogs are being updated often enough? Professional content writing services could be the answer you’re looking for. Virtucom Group’s content packages allow you to create a custom amount of content that’s delivered on your schedule, so you can focus on what you do best: running your law firm.
