Trends and Tactics for Law Firm Digital Marketing That Converts
It’s no secret that many law firms have a digital presence that matches their office: formal, traditional, perhaps even a little stuffy. But your firm fully embraces the 21st century. Shouldn’t your website and social media match this modern approach? With the right marketing strategy, you can elevate your firm’s image to new levels and recruit more clients in 2023. Let’s take a look at the key tactics your firm should be focusing on.
A Responsive, Accessible, and Secure Website
By the year 2023, there are officially no more excuses: your website needs to have joined the 21st century. That means using responsive design, engaging and client-facing content, and headshots that don’t look like they were taken in the 1980s. Today, people are browsing the web at unprecedented speeds. They expect websites to load instantly, and they make snap judgments of what they see. If your website looks old-fashioned or is hard to navigate, that will not bode well for your firm.
In addition to modernizing the design and making it mobile-friendly, you must ensure that it’s accessible to users with disabilities. As a law firm, this is particularly important — especially if you’re a personal injury firm! You want to demonstrate that you fully comply with the ADA. An accessible website is one that can be parsed by screen readers, navigated without a mouse or trackpad, and designed in a way that visually impaired users can still read it.
While we’re on the topic of user-friendly and accessible design, don’t forget to make your website secure. Not only does Google prioritize sites with an SSL certificate, but also today’s users know how to identify an insecure site. Their browser may even throw up a warning when they visit. If your website’s URL doesn’t start with https://, you need to install an SSL certificate immediately.
Authentic, Engaging Content
Many law firm websites and social media accounts demonstrate one of the greatest marketing sins: talking about yourself rather than talking to your audience. Take a good, hard look at your content.
Are you speaking to your target clients’ pain points? Are you giving them valuable information and making them feel like you can help them? Or are you talking about your firm’s accomplishments, people, and approach in a way that only other lawyers will understand?
In 2023, expect that people will be consuming and judging digital content at a faster pace than ever before. They simply don’t have the time or patience to sift through dozens of websites and social media posts to find answers to their questions. That’s why your law firm’s marketing strategy for 2023 should include high-value, easily understood content across your digital channels. Here are some ideas:
- e-books and other downloadable content about your areas of expertise
- blogs and videos answering your clients’ common questions
- case studies showing what your firm has done for your clients
Before you start developing your content marketing strategy, though, you need to refine your brand. Yes, law firms need branding too! Many firms’ websites are not only internal-facing but also generic. They don’t position themselves at the crux of their target clients’ problems, nor do they leverage their unique value. When you look at the top law firms’ websites and social media channels, you see that they know their points of difference and deeply understand their clients. Before you start building out content, make sure that you can say the same.
Content for Law Firm Websites: 8 Valuable Tips for Attorneys
Local SEO
Achieving the first page of Google results is increasingly difficult. There is fierce competition for those top spots, and now that Google is pulling content from top-ranked pages, there’s often little need for users to dive deep into search results. Instead of trying to rank for those high-competition keywords, focus on keywords that connect to your unique value proposition (see above). Then, optimize your content to appear in local results.
These are what come up when people search “law firm near me” or something like that. Google wants its users to get quick results, and it’s changed its algorithm to emphasize personalization. By using local SEO on your website, you’re more likely to get in front of the right eyes. In 2023, expect local SEO to become crucial to your overall SEO strategy. Here’s what to include:
- use location-based keywords in your content
- set up a Google My Business account to manage your firm’s details in Google results
- regularly respond to Google reviews of your firm
- use schema markup to identify addresses, contact information, and other local information on your webpages
Smart Advertising
Advertising isn’t dead, but you could be facing a hefty bill with few qualified leads if you’re not careful. In 2023, more firms than ever before will be running PPC campaigns. While it’s true that more money equals more leads, you’ll get a better ROI if you target low-competition keywords. Invest in a good copywriter who can express your brand’s value proposition. Generic, boring ads are much easier to ignore.
With so many CRM and marketing automation solutions on the market, there’s no reason not to optimize your ads across channels. Try retargeting your website’s visitors on social media, or using Facebook’s powerful ads platform to create a lookalike audience based on your best clients. Running single-channel campaigns is the old way of advertising. By connecting with your audience across Google ads, social media, and web content, you can get more bang for your buck.
Wrapping Up
Make 2023 the year in which your law firm optimizes its digital presence. Once you’ve deployed the above tactics, it will be much easier to attract and convert your ideal clients. Plus, with so many opportunities for automation, your team can focus more on client care than on chasing leads or struggling with ads. Your firm is modern, innovative, and unique — make sure your website, social media, and ads reflect that!
Fletcher Digital specializes in helping lawyers build websites that turn visitors into clients. From custom website designs to conversion-optimized calls to action, we offer the tools to help your law firm stand apart from the competition. Contact us today to learn how our law firm web design can help your firm succeed in the digital frontier.
