How a blog redesign increased Grossman Law’s leads by 478%
Essential Online Marketing Advice for Small and Startup Law Firms
Small law firms face different marketing challenges than larger law firms. This is not a groundbreaking concept: Small businesses of any type tend to have smaller budgets than their larger counterparts, naturally making marketing and advertising more of a challenge.
This doesn’t change the fact that the ability to generate new clients for your law firm consistently is the code you must to crack to built a successful, sustainable law firm.
In this article, we will talk about surefire, slow, and steady marketing methods you execute to build the reputation of your small law firm and sign cases consistently through online marketing.
Note: This article is about marketing, and in it we make a major assumption about you: That you are dedicated to and passionate about your work and provide a great service to your clients. Great marketing can make up for a lot, but it alone will not ensure your ultimate success as a business. Only providing high-quality service can do that.
Here are a few topics we will be covering in this article.
Marketing for law firms can bring numerous benefits, including increased visibility and brand awareness, more qualified leads and potential clients, and improved overall business performance.
One of the primary benefits of marketing for law firms is increased visibility and brand awareness. By implementing a comprehensive marketing strategy, law firms can reach a wider audience and make their services more visible to potential clients. This can be especially important in a competitive legal market, where many firms are vying for the attention of the same pool of clients. By effectively promoting their services, law firms can differentiate themselves from the competition and stand out in the minds of potential clients.
Another benefit of marketing for law firms is the ability to generate more qualified leads and potential clients. Effective marketing campaigns can help law firms target specific audiences and attract individuals who are most likely to be interested in their services. This can help firms save time and resources by focusing their efforts on individuals who are more likely to become paying clients.
In addition, marketing for law firms can also improve overall business performance. By attracting more qualified leads and potential clients, law firms can increase their revenue and grow their businesses. In addition, effective marketing can help law firms build their reputations and establish themselves as thought leaders in their fields, which can further enhance their credibility and attract even more clients.
Overall, marketing is a crucial component of success for law firms. By implementing effective marketing strategies and campaigns, law firms can increase their visibility, generate more qualified leads, and improve their overall performance.
The firms that are most successful marketing their firms online have focus. Nobody wants to hire someone who is an expert in everything, as that typically means they’re not an expert in anything. Google treats SEO the same way.
In crowded and competitive online markets, Google rewards websites that are hyper-focused on a narrow topic. This narrow focus, beyond its benefits from a marketing and SEO standpoint, is also a necessity when resources are limited.
Let’s say for example I wanted to show Google that my website deserved to rank for keywords related to Denver Personal Injury Lawyer. A few ways I could do that would be to:
When you hyper-focus your small law firms’s marketing efforts on a single practice area and geographic market, you will see results faster, because this approach enables you to establish yourself as a clear online authority in your field.
When thinking about how to market your small law firm you should consider the following:
Marketing a small law firm requires a strong understanding of where your clients are coming from.
As a smaller firm you only have so many resources so you have to decide where it’s best to spend your time. Let’s take a look at a quick breakdown of some of the ways your firm can get new business.
According to a study, we conducted in 2017, 49% of people research their legal issue online before hiring a lawyer. This means that the law firms which are the most successful are ranking for searches for keywords that potential customers are looking for.
Someone injured in a car accident, for example, might use voice search, or their mobile phone to find various answers on the fly. Some of the common questions that come to mind are:
Potential clients come from all walks of life and backgrounds. Making information available to them is a surefire way to get more clients through online marketing. If you want a shortcut for this ask your existing and former clients what their biggest pain points were. They probably turned online at some point during their research phase and types those words into Google. If your firm does not have the best answer to that question or resource or online it’s an opportunity for growth.
If you’re interested in online marketing the biggest channel you should focus on is Google Organic and local search as this is where most of your traffic will come from.
Below I have put together a small marketing plan for law firms that you can use. By following these steps and tactics you can be sure that you’re moving your firm in the right direction and doing things the right way which is going to help your firm produce more leads in the future. Before we dive into the details it’s important that you know doing the work the right way is 100 times more important than taking shortcuts for quick wins. If you don’t start with a solid foundation a lot of this work will be for nothing.
One of the biggest mistakes I see often is people wanting to build a website quickly without any regard to SEO or thought given to conversions. If you take a shortcut on the foundation of your website you’re going to be re-doing it in the future.
At a minimum, for effective online marketing, your website should meet the following MINIMUM standards:
Pro Tip: If you have an existing website, ensure your Design and SEO company knows about links to older URL’s. If they don’t implement the proper redirects, this is a great way to tank your site.
Do not use Wix, Squarespace, or a bulky slow loading WordPress theme to power your website. You will lose out on organic rankings and more importantly the number of people contacting you will drop dramatically if the site load time is slow. Also, stay away from proprietary website platforms where you don’t own your website. Companies like Findlaw and Scorpion are notorious for this.
Another crucial part of your foundation is keyword research. You want your website to rank for keywords that will actually drive new business to your website. It’s important to focus your efforts on optimizing content towards keywords that get traffic. Starting off with a proper keyword strategy is important to the success of your website and the structure.
Great keyword research can be done using various tools like Ahrefs, Keyword Keg, SEMRush, and many others. Below is a screenshot from Keyword Keg.
It’s typically best to start with a list of keywords you know you want to rank for. For example, a personal injury firm might want to rank for Car Accident Lawyer or Dog Bite Lawyer. Here are a few more tips you can use to generate more keyword ideas:
Once you have a list of initial keywords (say 10-20), you can determine the proper site structure for your website. If you want to get an idea of what the search volume is for keywords as you search Google, make sure to download the free Chrome Plugin Keywords everywhere.
After you know which content you will write (based on the keywords) it’s time to write great content on the topic. This is where I see attorneys struggle most. They’re experts on the subject, but writing about it can seem daunting.
The easiest way to go about this if you have trouble writing is to think of a topic and brainstorm the most relevant sub-topics for it as well. Let’s take a practice area page for example, that might seem difficult, like “Dog Bite Lawyers”.
Those were just a few I came up on the fly. If you were writing about this, you would probably have enough subtopics to easily create a 500-1,000-word article on the topic. Make sure to answer topics thoroughly and think about the user intent of the article. Someone typing in the keyword “Best Personal Injury Lawyer” want’s to read about either a list of great PI attorneys or why you are the best. Spend time thinking critically about the intent of all the content you write.
Pro Tip: If writing still seems like a big issue for you, consider having your legal assistant ask these questions to you and record the answers. This can then be easily transcribed and edited for quick content.
Your Google business profile (formerly known as Google My Business listing) is a great way to get new market-qualified leads. If you rank well organically, your firm can also get a lot of business from the 3 pack and the local finder. Make sure you properly optimize your GMB listing to get maximum exposure.
Over 80% of small law firms have a presence on at least one online directory or review site. One of the Google 3 Pack and Local Finder Ranking factors is having your business information accurately listed in the major business directories. This means your business name, address, phone number, business hours, website, description, and photos should be consistent and non-duplicative in places where people might be looking for a lawyer.
A few of these are websites like:
I have curated a whole list of these, which you can find here under the top legal and business directories.
At the start of this article, I mentioned how potential clients might look for you in various places. This means you must be listed online with accurate profiles, up-to-date pictures, and positive client reviews and testimonials where available.
As a starting point, check out my article on increasing your Avvo Score to understand how to build your reputation there.
Here are the review websites you need to focus most on:
One thing we do for our clients is create a dashboard where they can track calls, live chat, contact forms, and email submissions. Having access to this data is essential to know which marketing channels are working and which ones are not.
Unfortunately, more often than not, people make marketing decisions based on emotional “feeling” instead of data. This is wrong and can create many long-term issues for your business.
Here are some software tools I use to provide me with great business analytics data as to what is working.
Nobody wants to put much effort into building a house on sand. Online marketing is the same way. If you don’t focus on doing things the right way first, you will end up putting the cart before the horse and starting over somewhere along the line.
Following my instructions above, you should have met the minimum requirements to start marketing your firm effectively online.
Successful online marketing for small law firms will accomplish two things:
Once your foundation is built you can focus on the basics. Here are some of the things you should be doing.
Since this guide is geared towards helping small firms succeed with their online marketing, the tactics are hyper-focused for organic and local SEO success.
Organic and Local SEO should be the main focus of your marketing efforts because they represent the free clicks.
Below is a simplified roadmap you can use to help plan your law firm marketing strategy for 2018.
Creating great content that is relevant to your audience and engaging is essential to your long-term success. Using the keyword research you did earlier, you can create an editorial calendar for the year.
Try to stick with it and be consistent, even if it’s only one article a week or one a month. Do a good job and produce great content. Here are some tips you can use to figure out what content to create and where.
Expand the link profile of your law firm (other authoritative website’s linking back to your firm) by using these tactics to build your link profile over time. A variety of efforts are going to have the strongest effect. Focus on links that are relevant to your firm by niche (E.G. Legal) or Local links (e.g.: local news stations).
Here are some ideas you can use today
Continue to boost your citation profile over time. Set a small goal, such as 10 per month. These are places where you can list your business Name, Address, and Phone Number.
A ranking factor and major reputation trust factor comes from reviews on Google My Business. You should strive to get these regularly from previous happy clients. You should also set up a system for getting these as cases finish in the future. This needs to be a cornerstone of your marketing.
Google allows you to post regularly in the search results using their new platform, Google Posts. You should post here at least once a week to showcase awards, results, or social proof to improve your conversions.
If you read our guide on Evergreen content marketing, you may have some ideas of how you can use paid social to promote your firm. Let’s say that you published a post, “Most Dangerous Intersections in [City Name]” that was based on actual accident data.
You could do a pretty sweet write-up on this and integrate a free Google Map. But if you create content and nobody see’s it, what good does it do? None.
To get some eyeballs on the article you wrote, build your brand, and create awareness in the community, you could take advantage of Facebook or Instagram advertising and promote this to people of legal driving age who live within your city.
This is a great and low-cost way to get your content to a relevant audience.
Another staple of any small firm marketing should be email marketing. Most law firm partners I speak with oppose it for one reason or another, but I assure you’re leaving money on the table if you’re not doing this. At a minimum, you should send out a monthly newsletter and consistently work on growing your list.
Smaller firms typically have lower marketing budgets. If my budget was less than $25,000 per year, the areas mentioned above are where I would put most of that budget. If the budget was expanded, however, there are other avenues you should consider as well.
Pay-per-click is a great way to get immediate traffic to your website. However for some lawyers, it can be cost prohibitive to get involved with. Remember that advertisers who rank organically and locally will see better results than those who only rank in the paid sections.
I love to hate legal directories. By themselves, I see them as a big waste, but as a supplementary marketing method, I see where they benefit a firm, especially if they have a lot of search share (AKA: They already rank for keywords you want to rank for). Sign up for these with caution and measure your results. You also have to remember these typically rank for important keywords too. So if it ranks, you should be listed there. It’s another opportunity for your get in front of another client.
Over the years I have gotten to speak with a lot of different attorneys that have different opinions on what works and what doesn’t. I have heard most of the horror stories, but I want to know the good stories. Are you doing something that I didn’t mention which you find successful at generating new clients?
If so, let me know in the comments below!
Before I wax philosophical, let me give you a straightforward answer:
If you intend for your law firm’s website to be a lead-generation tool that adds significant value to your business, you should expect it to cost somewhere in the $10,000 to $50,000 range. Where you fall in that range depends on the size of your firm, the amount of content you have, and the number of locations and practice areas your firm covers. Remember though that websites are not a “cost” or an “expense”, a website is an investment and it needs to be treated as such to maximize your return on investment.
There’s the quick and dirty answer. Now let’s get nuanced:
It’s 2023. Technology improvements have made it cheap and easy for anyone to put up a basic website. If all that mattered to you was getting a website up for as little money as possible, you could probably find the budget required in your couch cushions.
This is precisely why how much should a law firm’s website cost? is not the right question for you to be asking. The right question is:
What outcomes do I expect my law firm website to generate?
If all you need from your website for it to be a place where people who already know about you can go to read your bio, get your contact information, and find links to your social profiles, then you really don’t need to spend much at all. We’re talking less than $1,000 with services like Wix and Squarespace.
On the flip side, if your website is the centerpiece of your law firm’s marketing and lead generation efforts, you’re necessarily going to have to invest more in order to achieve that outcome.
You’ll also need to understand that this outcome won’t be achieved simply by making a one-off investment to upgrade your website. Though that’s certainly a good place to start, effective website marketing requires ongoing investments in content marketing, local marketing, and SEO. Set it and forget it won’t cut it.
So let’s dig into the specifics:
This is the big one. When firms need their website to have any sort of advanced functionality, they can expect to pay more. Examples of advanced functionality include:
Each of these functions requires advanced web development talent, and you can expect to pay for that talent.
Designing and then developing custom web pages requires the time of skilled web designers and developers, and that time will cost you more money.
The more custom you’d like your law firm website design to be the more you can expect to pay.
Without content, there is no website. If you’re starting from scratch with a new website and you intend for the website to function as a marketing and lead generation tool, you will have to invest in content with which to popular your site. This will increase the price you can expect to pay.
Conversely, if you are redesigning a website that has been well established and contains lots of content, this will also affect the price, as the website agency you hire must migrate this content into a new design and fully QA it to ensure that no errors were created during the migration.
Furthermore, if your website has a ton of content but it is especially poorly structured or optimized, the website agency you hire will have to create and execute a strategy for improving it. This requires time and expertise, both of which will impact the cost of your website.
A firm website that addresses multiple different languages may significantly alter the cost of your website. This is typically due to extra design elements and the cost of translating the content.
READ: Here are the Best Law Firm Website Design Companies Not Named Juris Digital
I know what you want. You want to know how much you should pay for your law firm website Here it is, broken down into three different circumstances:
I just need a website so that people who know about me can find me and get my information. I don’t need to generate new cases with it.
If this describes your situation, you can likely get away with spending less than $1,000 to get your website up. Don’t expect any custom design, functionality, or content. If you spend less than 1k, you can expect a templated website containing only the bear essentials.
At this price point, you should not expect to be able to work with the top legal marketing agencies. Rather, you’ll likely be looking at working with a freelancer or a low-cost turnkey solution.
I want my website to make my firm look great and maybe even generate new leads every now and then.
If this describes your situation, you should expect to spend between $6,000 and $10,000. Where you land on this spectrum will depend on how many custom webpage designs you want, how much new content you want, and how much content you already have on your site.
At this price point, the best legal marketing agencies will likely have an offering to meet your needs.
I want my website to blow people away. I want it to be superior to those of my top competitors. I want it to generate significant new cases for my firm.
If this describes your situation, you should expect to spend between $20,000 and $50,000. Where you land on this spectrum will depend on things like whether you require professional photography, how much new content you require, whether you require advanced content formats like videos and interactive graphics, and whether you require advanced functionality like payment gateways or CRM integration.
At this price point, reputable legal marketing agencies will be competing for your business.
[ READ: What Makes a Law Firm Website “The Best”? ]
The price you pay for your law firm’s website should be determined by your expectations for your website.
There are few truths in life as reliable as you get what you pay for. A reputable law firm website agency will work with you to land on a price that is fair and is based on your goals and the specific requirements for your website.
Last Updated: 06/30/2023
To get more new personal injury clients, you need to position yourself where people are already searching for your services.
Whether you own, operate, or work for a personal injury law firm, one of your top priorities in the business will always be getting more clients and signing valuable accident cases. If you want to be really good at this you also need to focus on getting the best cases.
The problem is that getting new personal injury clients is tough. In fact one of the most common questions we get asked is: How do personal injury lawyers get clients?
It’s tough to start out marketing and advertising online because the competition is fierce, and you’re usually up against well-established law firms with massive budgets. And you may not know where to start or how to get personal injury cases.
The days of being the first one in a Yellow Pages market are gone and the leads from Yellow Pages themselves have mostly dried up.
Almost all personal injury law firms have some sort of online presence, whether with their website, Google Business Profile, TikTok Ads, Google Ads, email marketing or other internet presence.
You can consistently sign more of the better new cases with the right strategy and execution. But how do you do this practically? This guide will show you how to get more personal injury clients for your law firm.
Let’s look at two areas that will have an impact on your results.
Honestly, ask yourself… are you REALLY different from all of the personal injury attorneys out there? If you’re looking to separate yourself long-term from the other law firms in your market, you need to consider your brand. More specifically, you need a brand that will stand out and stand the test of time.
The #1 biggest mistake I see with practitioners getting into the business of running a business is stealing their competition’s message.
But here’s the thing. If you are advertising your “no fee guarantee” or “99% success rate” and every other firm in town is doing the same thing…what sets you apart?
One method you can use is to narrow your focus.
The more narrow of a focus you can have, the easier it will be to build your brand and become recognized.
Starting off with a long-term plan for your brand will multiply the efforts of the tactics and strategies I have outlined below.
A few years ago I was working with a client that was a bit disappointed as he said he wasn’t signing the cases he needed. This made me scratch my head as I could clearly see people were calling, emailing, and live chatting with the firm.
This caused me to do a deep dive and I figured out that the way the firm was contacting potential clients was all wrong.
This particular law firm was slow to respond to inquiries and didn’t even answer their phone all the time. Thus, here are some best practices that can help ensure that your firm has a fighter’s chance of signing the cases you want:
The world is in chaos right now and people need comfort. You can help be a hero during this time by simply doing things on social media and your website that show you care.
Here are some things our clients are doing to give back to their communities and build their brands.
These types of things truly show that you care and the media is happy to report on feel-good stories. There are many benefits to these programs in addition to the most important one: Helping others in need.
Recently an attorney we work with settled a multi-million dollar personal injury case that he got simply because a friend referred him. According to a recent study, over 25% of people who have hired a lawyer in the past year turned to family and friends as a first step when looking to hire an attorney.
While I don’t believe you should spam or annoy your family and friends by reminding them you’re an attorney, you can use email to do this effectively. Don’t be afraid to send out a monthly email to your friends and family (if you have their permission of course) with a helpful safety tip.
A sample email title: “First Name, here are the 5 things you should do after an auto accident”. You can link to content on your website and remind people about what you do without being obnoxious. You can also ask them to send it to their friends and expand your reach all by helping people with useful content.
Top of mind awareness is key in marketing and it’s generally one of the easiest, yet most overlooked ways to generate more personal injury cases. When this question comes up “how to get personal injury referrals” I always start by making sure attorneys are top of mind with all of their contacts consistently (at least monthly). Keeping them engaged through email or social media contests is a great way to keep leveraging this benefit which will continue to pay dividends.
Share your case results and testimonials on Social Media to help build your brand.
Personal Injury Lawyers you could hold a presentation that covers the legal implications of businesses hosting in-person events where members get the virus. Here are some other ideas:
– Getting medical treatment when hospitals are full
– Where should you get treatment for an injury when hospitals are full?
– Tips to stay safe when you’re out and about
If you’re looking to grow the scope of your contacts in person, a great way to do this is to attend networking events.
Most cities have a chamber of commerce or other organizations that host business networking events. Making new connections and friends can help you increase your overall visibility fast. And why not ask them to sign up for your email list while you’re at it?
In most markets, there are many bar organizations that do their own advertising. You can get business and piggyback off of this just by signing up to work with the local bar associations. When you’re searching for ones that are the best fit you shouldn’t narrow your search to just the state level. There are city bar associations and specific ones like Women’s bar associations.
Another benefit to joining these organizations is you can network at their monthly or annual events. Don’t be afraid to ask other attorneys for work or referrals and be sure to refer any cases you can’t take to them. Stick with it for a year and see how many cases you signed from being an active member.
Good old-fashioned office visits are still a great way to get new personal injury clients. Building referral relationships with medical professionals is a great way to send business back and forth to each other. Find Doctors you trust and you can send them as much business as they send you which will sweeten the relationship.
Recently we ran a study where we interviewed over 30 successful personal injury law firms across the nation. 90% of them reported that the number one channel that was generating the most leads was online marketing and specifically organic SEO for attorneys. Digital marketing is where the volume of your cases will come from if you do it the right way.
Here are a few ways to market online. This is my area of expertise.
If you want to control the information online about your firm that potential clients find first, you need a website. If you want to participate in Pay Per Click or SEO you will also need a website that you own and can edit.
The best personal injury websites are fast-loading, mobile-friendly, and optimized for search engines and users. This means that search engines like Google can see your website and users find it visually appealing and they can easily find the information they’re looking for. Your website should also make contacting you on mobile devices easy with just one click (Click to call). Having a great law firm website design may be the difference between a potential client contacting you vs. your competitor.
Starting with your own website is a foundational requirement for being successful in online marketing. Once your website is up and running, make sure it’s printed on your offline marketing material and used in email signatures. Great websites with strong content can also be used for intake personnel to pass information to clients.
Sadly the old phrase “if you build it, they will come” is not true with online marketing in general. There is so much stiff competition out there with personal injury firms investing massive resources into online marketing that you really do need to be the best to be seen. The good news is that you can do that through law firm SEO.
Organic SEO represents the free traffic you get by ranking in Google’s search results for a particular search in the top 10 traditional blue links. We also help attorneys with Local SEO and focus on the top-ranking factors which display local results.
For Example, if someone searches for “18-wheeler accident lawyers dallas tx” they will get a page that looks like the example below:
The top results you will see are Local Service Ads, which Google began offering to law firms in 2020. Pay-per-click results (also called PPC) are next. We will look at these in the next section. Below that, you have local (map pack) results and then traditional organic results. Neither the map pack results nor the traditional organic results are ads. Ie. you cannot pay Google to have your firm show up in these results.
In our experience, Local and organic are the best-performing channels for getting new personal injury clients. Learn more about SEO at the Juris Digital Library. Here are some of the most popular SEO articles for free:
Pay Per Click is a way of advertising in Google’s search results. The issue with pay-per-click is that personal injury lawyers can get very expensive. For example, car accident-related keywords can run over $100 per click.
You pay each time someone clicks that ad and visits your website. Once they click on your website you still have to get them to contact you and you still have to figure out if it’s a case worth signing.
PPC can be very effective when combined with an organic campaign where you already take up 2-3 places on the search results page. This is where we have found the highest conversions.
Google now offers Local Services Ads for attorneys as well on a pay-per-lead model. Learn more about local services ads here.
Do you turn to Yelp to check restaurant reviews online? Just like consumers like to read reviews online for restaurants, some are also looking at reviews for lawyers.
The sad part is that it doesn’t really matter if you’re a great attorney with great results if your online reputation is bad. People can also use popular review platforms like Google Business Profile and Yelp to “sort” by the highest-rated attorney.
People judge based on arbitrary scores and star ratings. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to maintain a strong reputation online. Getting a 10.0+ Superb score on Avvo will increase your ranting on Avvo.com and open you up to more potential clients. Increasing the number and ratings of your Google My Business reviews and Yelp will also help attract new clients.
That being said I do recommend you avoid Yelp Paid Advertising services.
Typically if you’re looking for an attorney on a search engine and you type something like “Personal Injury Attorney” you will see local attorney websites along with listings on websites like Findlaw.com, Avvo.com, and other legal directories.
When consumers click on these directory listings, do you show up? If not you’re likely missing an opportunity and you’re missing out on a brand impression. If someone is researching an attorney and sees their website, high Avvo rating, and are listed on other 3rd party websites, they will be more inclined to contact that attorney. Each of these is a potential touchpoint for your brand.
In most cases, I recommend opting for the free directory listings. The paid directory listings will offer increased visibility but they are rarely worth it.
Check out our list of the top legal directories for law firms here. Note: Keep an eye on this! As generative AI pulls data from more sources, it will be more important than ever to get listed in important places!
This could also fall under website marketing strategies, but do you get many of the same questions from clients? If so, this could be your lead generation gold mine.
Although many potential clients are searching for head keywords like “car accident lawyer”, the vast majority are entering through a variety of long-tail or informational keywords.
Think about how many people have smartphones and use personal assistants. If they were just in an accident, they may have questions like:
If you start ranking for these keywords, you’re going to get a lot of new visibility. There are several ways you can go about answering questions like this. If you’re interested in the long term SEO benefit you should answer them thoroughly on your own website and create one topic per page.
If you’re looking to get in front of more eyeballs quicker, you may consider replying to the Avvo Q&A or reviewing Quora.com for questions people are asking questions related to personal injury. By providing a GREAT answer, you will come across as the expert, genuinely help people, and probably get a call out of it.
Another underutilized source to get new business is taking advantage of awards and recognition. Superlawyers.com, for example, has one of the best processes for validating good lawyers out there when compared to organizations like Avvo. These also represent PR opportunities that will allow you or your firm to be recognized in local publications once you get the award.
Creating and repurposing content for YouTube is a powerful way to increase your visibility, especially considering it is the world’s second most popular search engine. However, in today’s digital era, extending your reach beyond just one platform is crucial. Leveraging platforms like TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram is equally important.
Transform FAQ responses from your website or other platforms such as Avvo into engaging video content. Today’s technology makes producing high-quality videos easy using a smartphone and a microphone. By investing time in creating FAQ videos and uploading them to YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram, you are expanding your presence across multiple platforms where potential clients may be seeking answers.
Working from home doesn’t have to limit your client engagement. In fact, it’s an excellent opportunity to connect with potential clients through these digital channels. By creating informative and engaging videos, you can effectively get in front of potential clients, answer their questions, and establish your credibility in your field.
You may be asking yourself, how can I get personal injury referrals? Acquiring personal injury referrals requires exceptional service, relationship building, and effective online marketing.
You encourage existing clients to recommend your practice to others by delivering outstanding service. Networking with other lawyers and medical professionals can lead to referrals when your expertise matches their clients’ needs.
Enhance your online presence through a professional website, active social media engagement, and regular, informative blog posts. Consider offering a referral program that rewards those who bring new clients to your firm and maintain connections with past clients to stay top of mind. Lastly, seek reviews and testimonials from satisfied clients to bolster trust in your services. Patience and consistent value delivery are essential in growing your referral network.
When law firms approach us and ask “How to get personal injury leads?”, they are asking: How do I sign high-value cases regularly and make more money? At the end of the day a law firm is a business and your business needs to thrive. You can use the tactics in this guide to get started and after you find out what works for you it’s important to really think about your USP and put in processes that constantly attract more of the best cases.
I’m saying that you can use tactics to get cases, but they must be part of a bigger on-going strategy.
There are several ways in which personal injury attorneys should not advertise their services. For example, they should not make false or misleading statements in their ads, as this can be illegal and could damage their reputation. They should also avoid using language that could be considered aggressive or overly salesy, as this can turn potential clients off.
Additionally, personal injury attorneys should not make specific promises or guarantees about the outcome of a case in their ads, as this can be difficult to uphold and may lead to legal trouble. Finally, personal injury attorneys should avoid using images or language that could be seen as insensitive or offensive to their potential clients.
When it comes to SEO for law firms, there’s no better way to understand the potential impact than by examining real-world success stories. Welcome to our “Attorney SEO Case Studies” article. In this piece, we’ll delve into a series of compelling case studies from Juris Digital.
These narratives will not only illustrate the profound effect of well-executed SEO strategies on a law firm’s online visibility and client acquisition, but they’ll also provide valuable insights and actionable takeaways.
Whether you’re just starting on your SEO journey or looking to refine your existing strategy, these case studies will offer invaluable lessons on navigating the ever-evolving digital landscape.
So, sit back, read on, and let these success stories inspire your law firm’s next digital leap forward.
Each of these firms leveraged Juris Digital’s expertise to create a unique success story. Are you ready to write yours?
In 2018, a significant challenge faced Andy Gillin, of GJEL Accident Attorneys. Despite investing heavily in local content creation, blogging, and SEO, their return on investment was disappointingly low. Their digital presence was not attracting the types of cases the firm wanted to focus on – serious injury and wrongful death cases – and it was this conundrum that led Andy to approach Juris Digital.
Once GJEL partnered with us at Juris Digital, we immediately organized an in-person meeting to understand the firm’s goals and objectives. The meeting was a revelation: GJEL Accident Attorneys was not just another law firm looking for generic visibility. They were selective, choosing to focus on high-value, high-impact cases primarily in the realm of serious injury and wrongful death.
The specificity of their target was a challenge, but it was one we were excited to undertake. To address their needs, we crafted a multi-year strategy, keeping in mind the firm’s budget and objective. This plan was underpinned by creating a strong foundation and effective messaging for their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and focusing on their USP’s.
In marketing parlance, an ICP is a detailed description of a company’s perfect customer. It includes demographic, firmographic, and psychographic characteristics, among other things. By aligning marketing efforts to an ICP, businesses can ensure that they’re talking to the right audience, using the right messaging, and hence, bringing in the right kind of leads.
In the case of GJEL, their ICP was clearly people involved in serious accidents or relatives of those who had suffered a wrongful death. By tailoring our strategy to this ICP, we could assure that GJEL’s messaging hit home with the right individuals.
With the foundation and messaging in place, we proceeded to the next stage: a complete website overhaul. This was followed by an aggressive marketing campaign, aimed at establishing a commanding presence for GJEL in six major California markets. Our strategy wasn’t a one-off effort, but a progressive journey, and we have been continuously expanding the firm’s footprint over time.
This focused and strategic approach has led to spectacular results. GJEL Accident Attorneys has seen their leads quintuple and their website traffic skyrocket by an impressive 3,942.32%.
The journey with GJEL Accident Attorneys serves as a testament to Juris Digital’s commitment to understanding our client’s unique needs and formulating a bespoke strategy that not only meets but exceeds their goals.
Dive into the success story of Silva Injury Law, an exemplar of how Juris Digital’s comprehensive SEO strategy can ignite your law firm’s growth!
Silva Injury Law, a personal injury firm in California, partnered with us to revamp their digital presence. The objective was clear: increase visibility, drive website traffic, and generate more leads.
Leveraging our expertise in SEO and digital marketing, we embarked on a meticulously planned and executed SEO campaign. The strategy incorporated on-site SEO optimization, high-quality backlink acquisition, and localized keyword targeting. But that’s not all – we also revamped their website for better user experience and improved lead conversion.
The results? A tremendous surge in traffic – an impressive 411% increase in just one year! More importantly, this wasn’t just about numbers. This traffic translated into tangible leads, contributing to significant business growth for Silva Injury Law.
But don’t just take our word for it. The proof is in the data – and Silva Injury Law’s thriving practice. If you’re eager to achieve similar results and drive your firm to new digital heights, Juris Digital is ready to help.
Let us be your partners in growth, crafting an SEO strategy that aligns with your unique goals and drives measurable results.
You can read the full personal injury case study here.
Take the first step towards becoming our next SEO success story. At Juris Digital, we’re committed to creating tailored SEO strategies that align with your firm’s goals and budget. Connect with our team today for a free consultation, and let’s begin crafting your customized SEO blueprint.
Your journey to the top of the search rankings could start now. All you need to do is fill out the form below and we will be in touch to get started!
Personal injury lawyers face unique marketing challenges. Most markets across the United States are extremely crowded for injury and accident law firms, and high-impact cases tend to be few and far between.
At Juris Digital we’ve been helping personal injury lawyers market their services for the past 10+ years.
In this article, I’ve outlined a digital marketing program for personal injury lawyers, which, if executed properly, will produce a consistent generation of qualified leads over time.
At the post’s conclusion, I’ve explained 10 of the most essential things injury lawyers need to know to invest in the right marketing activities and understand common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid.
Before you venture into online marketing, it’s critical that you establish a memorable brand that your potential clients will find compelling. In my view, your firm’s brand is defined by the following:
Consider carefully what you name your law firm and what domain name you choose. While using your actual name in your law firm’s name can be effective, it can also be effective to incorporate relevant keywords or slogans.
For example, if yours is a brand new firm and no one knows about you, it may behoove you to add a keyword descriptor to your business name, for example:
Smith Law: A Personal Injury Law Firm
or…
The Smith Law Firm: Fighting for the Injured
In this case, the domain name you choose might be something like smithinjurylaw.com or smithlawfortheinjured.com.
This type of descriptor not only gives people an immediate sense of what you do, but it also can be beneficial for SEO and other digital marketing channels, as it injects relevant keywords right into your business name.
In order to create a consistent brand, online and off, it’s essential that you invest in a high quality logo design. Your logo ought to help you stand apart from the competition. It also must be adaptable to a variety of platforms; your website, your social media channels, legal directories, etc.
My advice is that you not cut corners. Don’t leave your law firm’s logo design up to your nephew who knows how to use photoshop. Hire a professional designer who has experience creating law firm logos.
Fonts and colors go hand in hand with your logo. A professional designer will define each of these elements and consolidate them in a quick-reference brand guideline document (here is an example of a such a document for one of our clients.)
Without a mission to guide your marketing initiatives, you’re not likely to have much success. All law firms, including personal injury law firms, ought to take the time to define a mission that goes beyond “our mission is to make lots of money”.
For example, this is Sutliff & Stout’s mission statement:
Our mission as personal injury attorneys is to make the communities we serve safer. In the courtroom, we pursue this mission by holding people and organizations accountable when their negligence results in devastating injuries to others. In the Houston and Austin communities, we pursue this mission by offering free cab rides on major drinking holidays. Online, we pursue this mission by providing information and research that helps people make smarter, safer choices.
As you can see, the firm’s marketing initiates dovetail perfectly with their stated mission of helping to create safer communities. This context adds authenticity to marketing campaigns, which improves the likelihood of producing strong results.
Make sure to identify your ICP and USP’s. At Juris Digital, understanding your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) form the crux of our strategic approach. Your ICP is not just a demographic profile, it’s a comprehensive description of your most desired client—capturing their needs, pain points, motivations, and decision-making behaviors. This ICP guides us in crafting a marketing strategy that precisely targets and engages your ideal client.
Meanwhile, your USPs are what sets your law firm apart from competitors, be it your unmatched expertise, personalized services, successful case history, or innovative approach. We take these USPs and amplify them through our digital marketing strategies, ensuring your unique strengths are communicated effectively to your potential clients. This dual focus on your ICP and USPs enables Juris Digital to create tailored, impactful strategies that deliver results.
If you’ve taken the time up-front to develop a strong brand with a powerful mission, the job of creating an effective website becomes much easier. The effectiveness of personal Injury Lawyer SEO starts with a great website.
If you’re serious about the long term online marketing success of your firm, it’s critical that you hire a reputable legal website design and development agency to create your website.
Again, it’s great that your nephew knows how to configure a WordPress theme and that he’s offered to build your site for free. But know this: If you go budget, you will get budget results. The same goes with working with someone who does not understand marketing for personal injury attorneys the intricacies of success.
The biggest mistake that firms make when creating a website is that they put too much stock into their own design preferences and not nearly enough stock into the long-term content strategy of the site.
Another common mistake we see is law firms using cheap services like Wix, Squarespace or cheap WordPress themes. These slow-loading websites will end up hindering your SEO efforts and also reduce conversions from qualified leads.
This is why it’s essential to work with a full-service digital marketing agency who’s capable of not only creating an elegantly designed site but also one that allows for marketing efficacy. Any Personal Injury Law Firm Advertising you engage in will typically direct potential clients to your website one way or another, so it’s essential that you get your law firms website right.
We’ve written extensively on website design and development for law firms so I’m not going to go into to much more detail here on particulars. For more specific information, please do explore the articles below.
Keyword research really needs to be done in tandem with the website creation. Any reputable digital marketing agency will ensure that your law firm’s website design is guided by a defined keyword strategy.
It’s important for personal injury lawyers to understand that not all keywords are created equal. When a human being goes onto a search engine and searches a keyword, that human has an intent, and the keyword that they search reveals a ton about their intent. This is the same for all types of law firms and it’s an essential step for any successful Online Marketing for Personal Injury Lawyers.
For personal injury law firms, navigational keywords are those keywords that people search in order to “navigate” to information about the firm.
In most cases, people who search navigational keywords to find your law firm have already heard of. They’ll search things like your firm’s name or the name of a specific attorney in your firm, in order to find your website.
While navigational keywords are important to optimize for, from an SEO standpoint, it should be relatively easy to achieve high rankings for your firm’s important navigational keywords.
At Juris Digital, attorney marketing is all we do. It’s one of the reasons we’re an award winning personal injury law firm digital marketing agency.
If someone searches [wrongful death statute of limitations in Texas] their intent is to find an answer to that very specific question.
In this case, the person may be searching this keyword because they are considering taking legal action, which would make them a qualified person that you want to have contact your firm.
Alternatively, she may simply be researching the topic for an article they are writing or for a school paper, or just for their own edification.
This is example of an informational keyword. It’s critical that your personal injury firm create an informational keyword strategy. Ranking for these types of keywords is essential for establishing your website as an authority on personal injury law.
Some keywords will produce qualified leads at a much greater rate than others. We call these transactional keywords. Here are a few examples of transactional keywords for personal injury lawyers:
Transactional keywords are highly valuable, and achieving high rankings in search results for them will produce new, qualified leads at a high rate.
However, these keywords are also highly competitive, especially in large markets. Injury lawyers must understand that, while they should certainly have the goal of achieving top rankings for these keywords, it will take time to get there.
Of course, once you nail down your target keywords, you’ll need to actually write, optimize, publish, and promote the content that will eventually rank for those keywords in search results. The last two articles linked-to below will help you with the content creation part of the process.
The overwhelming majority of personal injury law firms are local businesses. Accordingly, it’s essential that PI firms establish a strong foundation which will enable them to be visible when people search for their services locally.
The first step towards building your law firm’s local SEO foundation is to claim and optimize your listing on Google My Business.
For your Google My Business listing to “go live” you’ll have to go through Google’s verification process. This almost always involves Google mailing a postcard to your office 5-10 days after you submit your business information.
That postcard will look something like this:
As you can see, the postcard contains a 5 digit PIN number. This PIN must be entered into Google My Business. Once that’s complete, your listing will be live on Google.
Once your PI firm is live on Google, you need to create listing across the local search ecosystem. The local search ecosystem is made up by websites and apps like Yelp, Facebook, Foursquare, Citysearch, Tripadvsior, and many more:
These listings (or “citations”) provide Google with proof that your business is legitimate, and constitute one of the key factors for ranking local businesses in search results.
The easiest way to ensure that your firm is listed consistently and accurately on all of the foundational citation sources is to use local data aggregators Yext and Moz Local.
If you are in an especially competitive market, you’ll need to get citations beyond these foundational ones in order to compete, which a reputable digital marketing agency will help you accomplish.
Online reviews are an absolutely essential part of not only local SEO, but your injury firm’s digital marketing in general. In fact, our research on the question of what people care most about when hiring a lawyer indicates that Reputation and Experience top the list:
There is no more effective way for your potential customers to gain confidence in your firm’s reputation and experience than with authentic online reviews from your clients and your peers.
There is a ton of good advice on the web for getting online reviews for your law firm (I’ve linked to a few of our blog posts on the subject of reviews below), so I won’t go into too much detail here.
What I will do is give you my recommendation in terms of which site’s you should prioritize for online reviews:
Link building describes the act of executing tactics that will result in backlinks to your website.
A backlink is a hyperlink on a webpage that links to a page on your website. Here is a real life example of me giving a backlink to one of my clients, a company who provides pre-settlement personal injury lawsuit loans. This image likely makes it more clear than I just did:
Without gaining backlinks it is highly unlikely that your personal injury website will rank highly for your target keywords.
We have written extensively on this site about tactics that law firms can use to build links:
Simply put there is no specific fee on how much your law firm SEO program should cost because the SMART goals from firm to firm vary. If you have specific goals you want to achieve then you can get closer to a specific dollar amount. Typically we see agencies charge from $1,000 to $20,000 per month depending the market and competition. This number also varies by practice area.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a key element of any effective digital marketing strategy, particularly for law firms looking to increase their online visibility.
If you’re considering investing in SEO for your law firm, you might be wondering, “How much should it cost?” This blog post will guide you through the nuances of SEO pricing, what factors affect it, and how to ensure you’re getting the most value for your money.
At the end of the day your budget needs to fall in line with getting new customers and making more money. After all that’s the whole purpose of your SEO campaign to begin with.
SEO involves optimizing your website and online content to rank higher in search engine results, thus increasing your site’s visibility and traffic. For law firms, effective SEO can translate into more clients, improved reputation, and increased revenue.
Take, for example, a personal injury law firm that consistently appears on the first page of Google for relevant search terms – they’re more likely to attract potential clients than a firm that ranks poorly.
Your SEO strategy will significantly impact your budget. Many SEO agencies may propose comprehensive, costly campaigns without clear accountability or measurable goals. However, Juris Digital stands apart by focusing on strategic, goal-oriented approaches that align with your firm’s budget and objectives.
Often, firms spread their resources thin trying to rank higher for all practice areas across multiple markets simultaneously. This is generally an inefficient approach. We advocate a focused strategy that targets a single market and practice area initially, demonstrating ROI and success, before expanding to other areas. This strategic use of your budget ensures maximum impact and long-term value.
SEO services can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month, depending on various factors. These can include your law firm’s size and location, the reputation and size of the SEO agency you’re working with, and the scope of SEO work that needs to be done.
It’s crucial to understand the difference between local and national SEO when considering costs. Local SEO aims to target potential clients in a specific geographical area, whereas national SEO targets a broader, nationwide audience. Generally, local SEO tends to be less expensive than national SEO due to the smaller target area and less competition. However, the cost can vary depending on your market’s competitiveness.
To understand why SEO costs vary, it helps to know what SEO work entails. Keep in mind that a competitive market will change the cost of your SEO program. If you’re trying to beat out 100 firms in your same niche in the same city the effort involved is going to be substantially greater than if you’re the only one.
The breakdown of SEO costs will also vary whether you’re focused on Organic SEO, Local or Google Maps SEO, LSA’s, etc.
Some Key components include:
Each component requires significant time, skill, and resources, all of which contribute to the cost.
The costs of on-page and off-page SEO can vary greatly. On-page SEO involves changes to your own website, such as tweaking the content and meta tags, and is generally less expensive.
Off-page SEO, such as citation building, link building and social media promotion, can be more costly due to the need for high-quality backlinks and the time it takes to cultivate them.
It’s not just about how much you spend on SEO, but also the return on investment (ROI) you get.
A successful SEO strategy can lead to increased website traffic, more leads, and ultimately more clients. By tracking metrics like organic traffic, conversion rate, and client acquisition cost, you can determine your SEO’s effectiveness.
The cheapest SEO service might not offer the best value. Instead of focusing solely on cost, consider the potential return. High-quality SEO might require substantial initial investment but can pay off in the long run through sustained organic traffic and client acquisition.
Choosing the right SEO agency is crucial. Look for an agency that has experience with law firms, offers transparent pricing, communicates effectively, and has a proven track record. It’s worth investing in a quality agency that can deliver results, rather than opting for the cheapest provider.
At Juris Digital, we believe in making high-quality SEO accessible to law firms of all sizes. Whether you’re a small boutique firm or a large legal enterprise, we can tailor our services to fit your budget while ensuring your SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals are met.
We invite you to have a free consultation with one of our dedicated account managers today. Together, we can craft a strategic marketing plan designed to enhance your online presence, attract more clients, and grow your practice. Don’t wait – invest in your firm’s future with Juris Digital today.
As attorneys in an increasingly competitive marketplace, the need to continually grow your client base is not just an option—it’s a necessity. Yet, many law firms grapple with how to successfully and efficiently generate new clients. With traditional methods of customer acquisition becoming less effective, turning to digital marketing strategies can offer a crucial advantage.
This article will delve into various facets of digital marketing, from search engine optimization to social media campaigns, and explain how they can be tailored to the unique needs of law firms. With clear, actionable insights, it aims to equip you with the tools to not just survive, but thrive online.
Whether you’re a small, local firm or a larger, well-established practice, the strategies we discuss here can empower you to connect with potential clients and turn that connection into a profitable relationship.
Now let’s start by making sure we’re on the same page when it comes to leads.
When it comes to lead generation, a crucial understanding that sets successful law firms apart is recognizing that not all leads are created equal. Different leads offer varying degrees of value, and it’s essential to be discerning in your efforts. The time, resources, and attention you devote to cultivating a lead can often be better utilized elsewhere, if that lead is unlikely to convert into a profitable client relationship.
This is where the concept of Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) comes into play. MQLs are prospects that have been deemed more likely to become a customer compared to other leads, based on their engagement with your marketing efforts.
This might include their behavior on your website, responses to email marketing, or interactions on social media. These leads have shown a genuine interest in your services and are potentially a good fit for your firm’s specialization.
The most profitable and successful law firms understand the value of MQLs and direct their resources toward nurturing these leads rather than casting a wide net and hoping for the best. In doing so, they avoid wasting time on potentially unprofitable clients who will only drain resources, thereby optimizing their marketing efforts for maximum returns.
At the end of the day it’s not lead generation for law firms that’s important. It’s about generating clients that make your firm money.
Think of a “sales funnel” as a path that helps guide people to becoming actual clients of your law firm. The main steps of a sales funnel are:
There is no shortage of platforms or places to generate leads for your firm.
These channels, when used strategically, can create a constant flow of prospective clients, bolstering the growth and success of your firm. Here, we’ll delve into each one of these channels, providing examples of how they can be leveraged to your advantage.
By incorporating these various channels into your marketing strategy, you’ll be well-equipped to attract and convert a steady stream of leads, bolstering the growth of your firm.
A common misstep in the realm of digital marketing for law firms is trying to spread efforts across every available channel. In the quest to be omnipresent, many firms end up diluting their efforts, resulting in sub-par work across the board. Imagine trying to juggle multiple balls at once—each additional ball increases the chances of them all tumbling down. The same principle applies to marketing channels; being everywhere often leads to being effective nowhere.
Instead, a more strategic approach would involve concentrating on one or two key channels—like organic search and paid search—and honing them to perfection. By focusing your efforts, you can develop a deep understanding of these channels, tailor your strategies to maximize results, and then gradually increase your ad spend to scale up those results. It’s akin to digging a well; it’s more fruitful to dig deep in one place rather than shallow holes all over the field.
At Juris Digital, we’ve embraced this approach with our clients, and the results have been nothing short of transformative. We’ve found that streamlining focus not only yields better results but also saves valuable time and resources that might otherwise be wasted on channels that serve more as a distraction than a driving force for growth. Always remember, in the pursuit of growth, sometimes less is indeed more.
Once you’ve successfully navigated the intricacies of digital marketing channels and positioned your firm in front of the right audience, the next crucial step is to communicate effectively. It’s a natural inclination to speak about your own firm, its achievements, and strengths—we all love to share our success stories. But here’s where you might need to resist the urge and pivot your focus towards your audience instead.
To truly resonate with your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), your marketing message must be more about their needs and less about your offerings. Understanding their pain points and delivering solutions that directly address those issues is what will set your firm apart. Utilize your Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) to convey these solutions effectively. This approach can drastically improve your chances of attracting and retaining the best clients and signing the most rewarding cases.
At Juris Digital, we specialize in helping law firms to pivot from a self-centric to a client-centric marketing approach. Our expertise in digital marketing is dedicated to understanding your ICP’s pain points and aligning them with your USPs for maximum impact.
It’s all about transforming your digital presence to one that not just attracts clients but also resonates with them on a deeper level. If you’re ready to elevate your firm’s marketing strategy and sign clients on demand, contact us at Juris Digital. Let’s work together to take your client acquisition to the next level.
Link building has always been a controversial aspect of search engine optimization. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s the gist:
Google determines a website page’s ranking for a specific keyword, in part, by assessing the websites that link to it. Generally, the more and more relevant links pointing to a page, the higher it will rank in search results.
The common analogy is that links are like votes for your website, and more votes mean a higher rank. But does this hold true in 2023 the same way it did in 2013? Do Google and other search engines still prioritize links as a ranking factor? Here’s my argument:
Links can contribute to higher rankings for profitable keywords, but they are not the best path when compared to activities like publishing, content improvements, design enhancements, conversion improvements, and branding work. Here’s why:
First, let me provide examples that prove links are not necessary to rank highly for competitive legal keywords.
Throughout my career, there has been a clear correlation between links and high rankings for competitive keywords. It used to be impossible to rank for keywords that generate leads for lawyers without link building.
However, that’s no longer the case. I have achieved top-3 rankings, and often even #1 rankings, for highly competitive keywords without any link building.
I’ve accomplished this by focusing on:
Here are a few examples of rankings I’ve achieved for my clients without link building. These examples include both transactional keywords (e.g., “personal injury attorneys dallas”) and high-volume informational keywords (e.g., “Alabama divorce papers”):
These are just a few examples I could provide, demonstrating that you can rank for lucrative keywords without intentional link-building. For me, the debate is settled: Links are not necessary for positive SEO outcomes.
Now, how do you create content that ranks without relying on links? This topic deserves a separate blog post, but we can cover the basics here.
To rank a piece of content for competitive keywords without link building, the first and most essential step is to deliver the type of content that Google wants to display to users searching for your target keyword.
Let’s take the example of “personal injury lawyers [city name].” Every personal injury lawyer aims to rank highly for this keyword. Traditionally, firms would optimize their homepage or a practice area page for this term and aggressively build links to boost their rankings.
While this approach can work, it’s not what Google prefers. Google wants to rank pages that provide the best information on the top personal injury lawyers in that city. Take a look at this search result for “Dallas PI”:
The first three results on this page are not lawyer homepages or practice area pages. They are sites that list the best personal injury law firms in Dallas. In fact, among the eight results on page 1, only three are lawyer homepages or practice area pages. These are likely ranking due to brute-force link building, meaning they rank despite their content, not because of it.
People used to assume that sites like superlawyers.com and justia.com ranked for these keywords solely because they had more “link authority” than law firm websites. However, I believe they rank because they provide the content that Google is actually looking for.
Therefore, what I do for my clients is deliver what Google wants without relying on link building. Here’s an example:
This post ranks in the top 3 for “Chicago divorce lawyer” keywords, with no link building involved.
Of course, there’s more to ranking highly for competitive keywords without links than just creating the right content. But I won’t delve into the details here. Just know that you can achieve rankings for any keyword without links if you create the right content.
Any link building that doesn’t add value to your business independently of ranking improvements should be avoided.
Even if these activities don’t directly improve your search engine rankings, they are still valuable.
The same cannot be said for most link building. Guest posting on random websites solely to sell links has zero value if it doesn’t help your rankings (which it likely won’t), so it should be avoided.
On the flip side, any link building that creates value independently of improving search engine rankings may be worth investing in. Here are a few examples:
The long and short of it is that if you are investing in a given link-building campaign based only or even primarily on the goal of improving your keyword rankings, you probably shouldn’t be.
Up to this point, everything I’ve discussed has been focused on ranking in traditional organic results. However, for law firms, ranking in Google Maps (Google’s 3-pack) is crucial for attracting steady and qualified leads:
So, is link building essential for ranking in Google Maps? The answer is probably, but it’s not as vital as other factors.
Based on my experience, law firms can achieve strong exposure in the map pack, especially within a modest geographic area surrounding their office, without heavily relying on link building.
To rank in the 3-pack, you need to be listed on the most influential local listing sources, such as Yelp, Apple Maps, Facebook, and others. This practice, traditionally known as citation building, remains relevant and important for local SEO. Whether you call it citation building or local listing management, it’s essentially a form of link building.
The more competitive your market and area of law, the more links will generally be required to rank highly, particularly as searchers move further away from your office. However, according to the latest iteration of WhiteSpark’s Local Ranking Factors, the importance of links has been declining since 2015:
As link signals have decreased in importance, other content-related factors have gained prominence. These include optimizing your Google Business Profile (GPB), optimizing the website linked from GPB, and client reviews.
My advice is to consider link building as a last resort for improving your Google Maps rankings. In many cases, law firms can achieve solid rankings in Google’s 3-pack without significant link building efforts. However, in highly competitive markets, link building might still be necessary.
I used to believe in the power of link-building, but now I don’t. Based on my experience with clients, I no longer consider link-building necessary to achieve high rankings for profitable keywords. Moreover, the opportunity cost of building links is high, as it takes time and resources away from areas that offer more intrinsic value.
My advice for link building is to do as little as necessary to achieve your goals, which often means doing none.
As attorneys, it’s not uncommon to feel dissatisfied with the traction your website content or blogs is generating.
Let’s face it. You put in the time and effort, crafting well-researched and informative blog posts, yet they fail to resonate with your target audience and the case leads aren’t coming in.
One possible reason for this discrepancy is that you may be writing content at a level that is too advanced for your ideal clients. While you possess an extensive legal vocabulary and intricate knowledge of the law, your potential clients may only have a basic understanding, often reading and comprehending at an 8th-grade level.
I have seen content get held up by internal reviews, edits, and rewrites and usually when it starts touching too many overqualified people’s hands, we see the end product is something ineffective that won’t even resonate with your audience.
When it comes to producing effective content, it’s crucial to make it easy to understand. By utilizing plain language and avoiding excessive jargon, you create an accessible platform for communication.
Simplifying legal concepts and breaking them down into digestible pieces not only helps your readers comprehend the information but also establishes you as a trustworthy source.
Remember, your clients are seeking legal guidance, and by presenting complex ideas in a straightforward manner, you demonstrate your commitment to their understanding and best interests.
And the true mark of an expert is someone who can take complex ideas and make them easy to understand.
In addition to simplicity and clarity, another critical aspect of blog writing is addressing your client’s pain points. This happens when you make content all about you and not your clients needs.
Your potential clients visit your website with specific legal concerns, seeking solutions to their problems.
By identifying these pain points and tailoring your content to address them directly, you provide valuable information and demonstrate empathy for their situation.
This approach not only engages your audience but also establishes your credibility as a knowledgeable and compassionate attorney who can help them navigate the complexities of their legal issues.
To truly stand out from other law firms online, it’s essential to showcase your unique selling propositions (USPs).
Your USPs are what differentiate you from your competitors and give potential clients a reason to choose you as their legal representative.
As people search for attorneys online, they are not only looking for help but also conducting thorough research. By highlighting what sets you apart, such as your experience, expertise, notable case results, or personalized approach to client service, you establish a strong brand presence and position yourself as the go-to authority in your field.
In the digital era where content is king, imagery and videos have emerged as powerful tools to enhance user engagement, especially in the realm of legal blogging.
When it comes to digital marketing, visual content can become an equal or sometimes even a stronger player.
Why? Because it’s compelling, engaging, and digestible. Images and videos can convey complex information in a visually appealing and simplified manner, making it easier for your audience to understand and retain.
Consider this: a relevant image or a short video clip can transform a dense legal explanation into an interesting, user-friendly narrative.
Infographics, for example, can be an excellent way to break down complex legal concepts or processes. Videos, on the other hand, can be used to introduce your team, share client testimonials, or explain legal services in an approachable way. These visual elements catch the reader’s eye, invite interaction, and, importantly, they are more likely to be shared on social media platforms, driving further engagement and reach.
Remember, the more engaging your content, the more it appeals to both your audience and search engine algorithms, and that’s a winning strategy for your legal blog.
Don’t let your firm’s potential remain untapped. Discover how we at Juris Digital are reinventing digital marketing for legal professionals.
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As an attorney, your clients are your lifeblood. They not only keep your practice afloat but also provide the challenges and experiences that help you grow professionally.
However, what many attorneys forget is that their potential clients are often facing urgent, stressful situations, and timely communication is key to winning their trust, and consequently, their case.
And there’s a problem. Many firms are burning their digital marketing budgets (and wasting money) by not jumping on leads already coming in the door.
In this post, we’ll dive into why your response time is a critical factor in case acquisition and how you can improve it.
While it may seem trivial, not picking up the phone can lead to missed opportunities. If a potential client calls and doesn’t get a response, they’re likely to try the next attorney on their list. And by the time you call them back, they’re long gone.
Similarly, not returning calls promptly can have a detrimental impact on your practice. Here’s why:
Your availability shouldn’t be confined to the typical 9-to-5 schedule. Many potential clients may call outside regular office hours, and a good after-hours answering service can be your game-changer.
Following up more than once is a strategic move that many attorneys overlook. Here’s why it’s important:
In the digital age, the internet (and often your own law firm website) is often the first place potential clients will turn to when searching for legal representation. Given the wealth of options available online, your firm’s visibility and quick response are paramount to securing these leads.
When a potential client finds your firm online, they may know little or nothing about you and your services. They’re likely exploring their options and contacting multiple firms to find the one that best suits their needs. At this point, your quick and efficient response to their inquiry can make all the difference.
Remember, these individuals are typically in a situation that requires immediate legal counsel. By not answering their call or returning it promptly, you risk losing their interest. It’s not just about missing a call; it’s about the impression you’re giving to this potential client. If you’re not available when they need help, they may question your firm’s commitment and ability to manage their case effectively.
Swiftly answering calls and returning messages sends a clear signal that your firm is ready, willing, and able to assist promptly. This immediate response boosts the confidence of potential clients in your services, showing that you value their time and their case. After all, the key to securing a case often lies in the first few moments of interaction. Therefore, ensuring these moments are positive and reassuring can significantly increase your chance of signing the case.
This is one of the reasons we recommend texting services like Leadferno which allows you to stay top of mind with your potential prospects directly on their cell phone.
As an attorney, your response time to inquiries can directly impact the number of cases you sign.
Just a few weeks ago I needed to hire an attorney for a foreign immigration matter. I had to call three firms before anyone even answered the phone!
By ensuring that you’re easily reachable, responding promptly to inquiries, providing a reliable after-hours answering service, and consistently following up, you can gain a competitive edge and sign more cases. These actions communicate respect for your clients’ time and urgency, and they will appreciate it.
Remember, the key to growing your practice is not just about winning cases, but also about winning the trust of your potential clients – and that begins with the very first call.