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    content marketing for law firms

    Just twenty years ago, the yellow pages, TV, billboards, and mailers were the primary means of lawyer advertising.

    But with more people searching for legal information on the internet than ever before, investing in these channels won’t cut it for law firms looking to maximize their reach.

    So, how can lawyers stand out from the crowd, and ultimately attract more of their best cases? In our experience, it’s thorough, compelling, and strategic law firm content marketing.

    …extremely detailed and took everything I said into account when helping with my content. Efficient and responsive when I had questions or needed help. I highly recommend this company.

    Jennifer Pena

    What Is Content Marketing?

    Content marketing refers to the process of creating and publishing content to attract potential clients. While traditional advertising focuses on selling, content marketing provides relevant information that builds brand recognition and authority.

    The goal is to create content that focuses on the client’s needs, whether that’s through answering a question or guiding them through the different aspects of their claim or lawsuit. Ultimately, content marketing for law firms should build trust with potential clients by drawing them into your brand.

    Several types of content help achieve this goal, including but not limited to:

    • Practice area pages,
    • Blog posts,
    • Landing pages,
    • Infographics, 
    • Press releases, and
    • Videos.

    By utilizing more than one form of content, you can establish your firm as a reliable and trustworthy resource for potential clients.

    How Does Law Firm Content Marketing Help Attract Potential Clients?

    At first glance, content marketing for law firms may seem like a trivial form of advertisement. However, statistics show otherwise.

    According to the Content Marketing Institute, businesses that adopt content marketing have conversion rates six times higher on average than those that don’t. That’s because clients like to feel connected to a business before they seek services. This is especially true for legal services since the problems affecting clients are often stressful and life-changing.

    As a result, content marketing does something that paid search and advertisements alone cannot—it creates a deep trust between potential clients and your practice. That connection through targeted, useful content is what gets quality leads in the door.

    How SEO and content marketing propelled Vantage Group to 200+ leads per month learn more

    Content Marketing Enables Law Firms to Target their Ideal Clientele

    There are a variety of ways to establish a connection with your ideal clients using content marketing. However, the most common and effective method is by building your content around ideal client personas. 

    A persona is a specific, fictional representation of a client you want to serve. For law firms, it’s usually best to create a persona for each practice area you have. While some may have overlapping demographic or psychographic information, this helps differentiate content down the line. Be sure to include information like:

    • Age,
    • Sex,
    • Location,
    • Education,
    • Family structure,
    • Work experience,
    • Hobbies,
    • Etc.

    This data serves as the basis of your content marketing strategy and plays an essential role in topic selection, keyword research, and more. You know your clients better than anyone else, so use that information to your advantage.

    Even locale or the potential client’s “geo” comes into play. For example, someone who’s been in an accident would need an attorney who is familiar with the specific fault/no-fault laws in their state. Criminal laws are state-specific too. So are laws around dog bites and premises liability.

    So how does one go about marketing to individuals who find themselves in need of a local attorney who knows the intricacies of local laws? 

    It’s got to be the content. It’s the ways in which you skillfully arrange your messages so you draw your audience in. It’s how you understand where and how to use keywords throughout your piece. It’s about your connections with other authoritative sources on the web–linking, and ultimately, guiding the user toward the answers they need.

    [ READ: Google Shows Localized Results for Informational Legal Keywords 81% of the Time ]

    Content Marketing Increases Website Visibility on Search Engines

    When a potential client searches for an answer to their question, chances are they’ll use a search engine like Google. In addition, they’re likely to click on the first link they see. So, how do you get your firm to the top of search results? This practice is what’s known as search engine optimization or SEO. 

    SEO is perhaps the most elusive aspect of content marketing. Search engines update their algorithms frequently, changing their evaluation standards for content relevance. However, there are some basic principles that help make your website and associated content rank higher on search engines.

    Using keywords in content, creating unified business listings, and generating reviews all help improve search ranking if done properly.

    [ READ: 100s of SEO Tips for Law Firms ]

    Content Marketing Helps Turn Website Traffic into Quality Leads

    Once a potential client clicks on your content, they will immediately look for an answer to their question. For example, if someone looks up “California car accident statute of limitations,” your content should provide the answer.

    However, it’s also a chance to briefly show the unique qualifications of your firm, whether that’s board certification, years of experience, ratings, results, or testimonials. While these shouldn’t detract from the topic of your content, they often help convince the client to call and set up a consultation.

    Generally, this conversion is most likely to happen when the reader finds your firm through an organic search, rather than a paid ad. In addition, leads from organic searches are usually much higher quality than those from paid sources. 

    The Importance of Helpful Content for Brand Recognition and Authority

    When it comes to law firm marketing, quality is better than quantity. To create an authoritative online presence, it’s important to produce transparent, informative content. This not only affects your firm’s reputation with clients but also affects your search ranking. 

    Search engines like Google and Bing look at certain pieces of data to determine the quality of content versus comparable content from other sources. In many cases, these other sources are competing law firms. Since this evaluation is based on the search intent of the potential client, your content should be: 

    • Accurate—if you mention any statistics or laws, link to reputable sources. This helps build authority and ensure the integrity of your firm. 
    • Specific—try to avoid fluff or general content topics (i.e. Car Accident Claims vs. How to File a Car Accident Claim in Virginia).
    • Readable—edit and proofread your content for spelling, grammar, and readability. Try keeping sentences under 20 words and divide sections of content into headings and subheadings.

    By combining these practices, you can bring relevant traffic to your website and convert them into quality leads. That’s the power of helpful, targeted content. 

    Content Marketing for Law Firms: A Step-by-Step Overview

    Here at Juris Digital, we believe a sound content marketing strategy is vital to helping law firms get more clients. Every firm has its own challenges, so a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work.

    Instead, it’s important to focus on pain points and the specific results you want to see. Do you want higher-quality leads? Do you want to increase search engine rankings? Or, do you want to improve your presence in local listings? All of these and more can be accomplished through our services.

    Here’s a step-by-step overview of what that might look like.

    1. Audience and Topic Research

    Before we begin building a strategy, we want to get to know the ins and outs of you and your firm. Information about your experience, results, desired cases, and more help shape your firm’s brand and provide a strong foundation for future content. Identifying the strengths of your practice is an essential part of your content strategy since it helps create a value proposition that distinguishes you from competitors. 

    Once we get to know more about your firm, we can start identifying your target audience and topics they may be interested in. Maybe your potential clients need help finding a copy of their accident report, or maybe they want to know more about starting a business in their state. This helps inform future content creation and distribution.

    2. Content Creation and Development

    Before the pen hits the proverbial paper, determine what keywords you want to show up for in Google’s search engine results. In a perfect world, what words or phrases would a potential client type in to see your content on page one? This question serves as the basis for topic discovery. Ultimately, topics should be steeped in data. It’s not uncommon for attorneys, and virtually any would-be marketer to swear by a particular topic; they know that this is what people are looking for.

    But then we look at the search volume (the number of people Googling the topic within a given month). More often than not, the results are surprising. It’s not uncommon that we’ll see less than 10 people searching a keyword phrase–one we thought might garner a host of online searches. This is where we do the work. We seek out what’s drawing people in. And then create content around those topics. The bottom line is that we need to create the content that people want to see; not what we think they want to see. 

    Juris Digital creates content that’s optimized for search engine visibility, utilizing keywords searched by your target audience. These are the people who have been injured, wronged, or in some other way…stuck. They need your expertise and will only connect with you if you show you have what it takes. The right content will make the case for you and compel them to take action.

    At Juris Digital, all content is written by attorneys and other legal professionals with two or more years of experience. Every content writer receives extensive training in readability and on-page SEO, and every piece of content is reviewed by a barred attorney. It’s this marriage of legal expertise and digital marketing savvy that sets the stage for next-level online content marketing. 

    3. Distribution and Publication

    Once you approve your content, we get to work posting it to your website and various marketing channels. This includes any social media accounts tied to your firm. If you want to increase the number of backlinks to your website, we can do that too. Backlinks are an important part of SEO for firms that want to rank highly in competitive markets. There are several ways to build an impactful backlink profile, including:

    • Sponsorships,
    • Scholarships,
    • Local promotions, and
    • Guest posts on legal blogs.

    This is when we determine the best distribution channels for your firm based on your goals and budget. We utilize the most effective content promotion strategies based on content marketing tactics that have worked for hundreds of law firms.

    4. Evaluating Performance

    After publishing your content, we’ll provide you with monthly updates on performance. This includes any metrics or KPIs that matter to your firm, such as:

    • New case signings,
    • High-value case signings,
    • Keyword rankings,
    • Leads generated, and
    • Organic traffic.

    From there, we develop an agenda for the following month targeting any areas that need improvement.

    Real-World Examples of Successful Content Marketing for Lawyers

    At Juris Digital, we are in the business of helping law firms, both big and small, create an effective content marketing strategy that increases caseloads. The goal of digital content marketing for law firms isn’t just creating a strong brand. It’s about getting more calls, more emails, and more connections. Here are some success stories from existing Juris Digital clients and how we worked with them to grow their business.

    Silva Injury Law Increased Case Signups by 60% in Less Than 1 Year

    When Attorney Michael Silva reached out to us in December 2020, his growth had stagnated at 220 cases per year. Our first step was to assess the strengths and weaknesses of his firm’s current marketing strategy. After a few conversations with Michael and his team, we found that he needed a new website that highlighted the brand and its impact on clients’ lives.

    From the beginning, we saw the amazing potential of content marketing for Silva Injury Law due to their high-quality testimonials and reviews. At that point, we decided to highlight quotes from those reviews on landing pages, practice area pages, and more.

    This wasn’t the only step we took to engage with their audience. As we designed the website, the firm shared some insights about their ideal clients and their approach to personal injury law. Their clients wanted to see themselves reflected in the website’s aesthetics and mission. In addition, Silva Injury Law wanted to be seen as compassionate advocates for every client they serve.

    The resulting homepage captures all of these elements into one cohesive design.

    Finally, we optimized the firm’s Google My Business listings to increase local visibility and relevant site traffic. This includes addresses, hours, phone numbers, images, and postings for each office location.

    Once we launched the site in April 2021, Silva Injury Law saw an increase in leads. By replacing the old content with keyword-targeted pages, straightforward CTAs, and an elegant design, the firm saw a huge increase in accepted cases. How much to be exact? After five months, Silva Injury Law reported a 60% increase over the previous year. This meant that the firm had to be more selective with its cases. However, it also enabled them to set ambitious goals for future growth.

    [ READ: How Silva Injury Law Increased New Cases by 60% with Help from Juris Digital ]

    Massingill Law Increased Organic Traffic Over 200% with Digital Content Marketing

    In late 2020, Attorney Josh Massingill contacted us after another marketing agency couldn’t deliver consistent results. When we spoke with him, it became clear that he needed a content-focused approach to help improve organic traffic. 

    We began by revamping the Massingill Law website to focus on their unique practice areas, such as business law, estate planning, and healthcare. This helped distinguish them from their local competitors. In fact, Josh wanted his website to feel unique:

    “I was not interested in just slapping our logo on some kind of pre-made thing that looks like it could belong to anybody else. You guys really took the time to figure out what my firm’s image was. What is our brand? What are we trying to portray to the world? And then really kind of translating that into a design and a strategy.”

    The result of this branding is a clean, tailored look that highlights the firm’s values and goals. Take a look at the homepage here.

    Next, we took an aggressive approach toward content and SEO. This included updated Google My Business listings, content creation, and paid ads. When discussing potential topics with Josh, we found that many of his clients are doctors trying to sell or buy their practice. We immediately began putting blog posts together targeting this audience. 

    Just nine months after hiring Juris Digital, Massingill Law saw impressive growth. In total, the firm had a 214% increase in organic traffic, a 136% increase in phone call leads, and a 68% increase in contact form leads.

    [ READ: How Silva Injury Law Increased New Cases by 60% with Help from Juris Digital ]

    Content Marketing for Law Firms Creates Long-Term Value

    If you’re considering adopting content marketing as part of your overall strategy, remember that it is a long-term investment. Any content marketing agency that promises immediate results isn’t being honest. Building a great brand that ranks highly on search engines takes time and consistency.

    Without a strong library of content to back up your website, it’s unlikely that you’ll receive quality leads that turn into loyal clients. By consistently curating high-quality content, you’ll help establish your firm as a trustworthy source in your community and garner more business. 

    Max Harrison Maxine Harrison is the Director of Content for Juris Digital. “Max” is a purveyor of all things content, including writing, deployment, and ongoing optimization. She’s worked directly with attorneys to establish their brand voices online, implement SEO best practices, and contour channel-specific content for maximum conversion and success. As a seasoned copywriter and marketing strategist, Max understands the pivotal impact that SEO and effective messaging have on the success of a brand. Max brings over 15 years of content marketing experience to Juris Digital, promoting more efficient content throughput, quality, and diversification.
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