8 Law Firm Marketing Ideas For a Stronger Digital Presence

With over 823,000 lawyers in the US alone, standing out from the crowd and landing the right clients can be a challenge.

From content marketing to law firm SEO, we’ve put together eight top law firm marketing ideas to help you do just that by building a stronger digital presence. So follow along if you want more of the right leads from your online marketing efforts.

1. Optimize your website so clients can find your site on search engines

First and foremost, creating a strong digital presence for your law firm means you need a quality website that is optimized for search engines. If search engines can’t properly crawl and index your site, then it won’t appear in search results and that means fewer prospective clients.

That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. SEO will help increase your website’s visibility in search engines, which leads to more site visitors and consistent inbound lead generation.

To get started with SEO for your law firm try the following:

1. Evaluate your current website. First, you can evaluate your law firm’s current website using free tools from Google: Google Search Console and Google Page Speed Insights. These tools will help you build and submit a sitemap, which allows Google to more easily navigate and then index your site in search engines. If you’re having trouble using these tools, try our free SEO audit to discover SEO fixes that will boost your law firm’s web traffic.
2. Fix Site Errors. Fixing common site errors like 404 errors, duplicate content issues, internal server errors, DNS errors, etc. is vital to ensuring your site appears in top spots on search results. Google Search Console should help you find and eliminate these errors, but it can take some time.
3. Optimize on-page content. After you’ve fixed site errors, optimize on-page content for search engines. A good place to start is fixing title and header tags or compressing images, but on-page optimization isn’t easy. Referencing a DIY SEO checklist is a good place to start.
4. Optimize for mobile. Mobile searches make up 46% of all Google searches, so having a mobile-friendly site is critical to securing prospective clients. Google provides a free mobile-friendly test you can use to see if your site is up to par. If it isn’t, you might consider enhancing your site with Accelerated Mobile Pages.

Law firm websites should be fast and professional. More than that though, they should be properly optimized for search engines, otherwise, they won’t work as inbound lead generators. Thankfully, Google provides tools that can help even the beginners in SEO improve their website. And if you need help, you can always find an SEO expert.

2. Start a legal blog to educate potential clients and improve your organic web traffic

After you’ve begun to optimize your website for search engines with the basics, another top law firm marketing idea is to create blog content to draw in organic web traffic.

If you aren’t familiar with the term ‘organic traffic’, it means search engine traffic to your website that isn’t from paid advertising. The more organic traffic your law firm has, the more inbound leads you’ll receive. And because you don’t have to pay for each site visitor, the ROI can be incredible.

That’s why every major law firm has a blog from the giants like Kirkland & Ellis to small boutique firms.

Kirkland and Ellis is currently the largest law firms in the country in terms of revenue and their blog is continuously updated with quality keyword-research-backed content.

Smaller firms have recognized the need to create their own content to compete, as well. Here’s an example from Joye Law Firm.

Starting a blog is marketing 101 for law firms these days. No one wants a potential client looking online for criminal defense advice and finding the blog of a competitor. So capture those clients by spending some time creating informative, engaging blog content.

You’ll need to do thorough keyword and industry research, as well as competitor analysis, but it will be well worth your efforts for the consistent lead generation.

Struggling to find blog ideas? Read more about all the top legal blog topics!

3. Position yourself as a legal expert with an authoritative social media presence

Creating a strong social media presence can be a gamechanger for lawyers. In fact, the American Bar Association found that 35% of lawyers who use social media for their practice have been able to gain new clients from the practice.

From Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Linkedin, law firms should have it all these days. For example, Baker McKenzie has been able to amass over 28,000 followers and huge engagement in their posts by focusing on social issues and tying them to their services.

It’s not just large firms that get in on the social media action either. Every major law firm takes the time to create a strong social media presence. It helps to engage potential clients and improve brand awareness.

Here’s an example from the Sam Berenstein Law Firm. While this isn’t one of the larger firms in the country, they’ve managed to draw strong traffic to their Facebook page by regularly posting and sharing quality content from their blog.

White & Case, one of the largest law firms in the nation, has a very active social media presence. They do something similar to Berenstein, posting blog posts up on their Twitter, which has over 65,000 followers.

This helps redirect potential clients back to their site and positions their firm as informed industry leaders.

Posting quality videos is another law firm marketing strategy that is used to position firms as industry leaders. Here’s an example from White & Case’s Facebook page.

The videos attract consistent views and illustrate the professionalism of the firm.

Of course, social media isn’t always easy. If you’re struggling to keep up as it is, try using tools like Hootsuite or SproutSocial. They can help you schedule posts months in advance, track relevant data, and simplify the whole process.

4. Get published in association journals and other online publications

What better way to improve your online presence than to share the insights and knowledge you’ve learned over your years of experience in law?

Getting informative articles, not advertisements, published in association journals and other online publications targeting your client base can make a huge difference in improving your brand awareness and online presence.

Plus, if you’ve published online, you’ll get double the benefits. Not only will you get exposure via your publication that positions you as an industry expert, but you’ll also get a quality link back to your site which can help improve your website’s ranking in search engines.

Law firm marketing strategies can be difficult and time-consuming. Using the knowledge you already have to get published is a great way to improve your online presence without all the effort.

If you want to learn more about how effective sharing your insights online can be for lead generation, check out our digital PR service pages.

5. Land local customers with local SEO and a properly optimized GMB profile

Most criminal defense attorneys deal with local customers only. For these firms, having a properly optimized Google My Business (GMB) profile is critical to success.

GMB profiles allow Google to feature your law firm in local search results, which appear below paid ads, but above organic search results.

It’s a prime spot for lead generation. Plus, GMB profiles also feature your law firm in Google Maps when customers are looking to find lawyers near them.

GMB profiles are free, easy to fill out, and can bring in consistent inbound leads. However, they need to be properly optimized. You might have noticed there are pages of listings on each of those searches and only a few law firms appeared in the top spots.

Getting to those top spots is what local SEO is all about. Local SEO will help increase your law firm’’ visibility in local search results and in Google Maps by improving the three factors Google says affect local search: relevance, distance, and prominence.

If you want to learn more about local SEO as a law firm marketing idea check out our local SEO services page for the ins and out of GMB profiles.

6. Use citations to help search engines verify the legitimacy of your practice

In this context, citations are online references to a business or in this case, a law firm. They help to legitimize your practice by creating multiple places where potential clients can verify you exist, read reviews, information about your practice, and more.

Structured citations build law firms’ credibility and legitimacy. They’re especially important for new practices. For example, here’s a citation from the Better Business Bureau for the Law Office of DL Drain PA.

Diane Drain has a full citation here including the practice name, address, and phone number (NAP). Plus, the listing also includes a link back to her website, firm information, and reviews for potential clients to look through. A listing like this will help improve her credibility in the eyes of potential clients.

Law firm directories aren’t only great for legitimizing your firm, they also help to improve your visibility for local searches in Google Local and Google Maps. In the eyes of Google, the more quality citations you have, the better.

Another great place to land a citation is in the popular lawyer review site, Avvo. Avvo offers a complex citation with tons of information that acts as a lead generation tool, while also benefiting your ranking in local search results.

Here’s an example of Michelle J. Perkins profile, a lawyer in Scottsdale, AZ.

If you’re looking to build a stronger online presence, it’s not all about your website. With citations across the internet, no matter where a potential client looks they will be able to verify you are an industry expert.

7. Create video content to enhance your website and build brand reputations

Establishing your firm’s credibility in the industry and getting as many eyes as possible on your website involves using modern digital marketing techniques.

In 2019, 73% of adults in the U.S. used YouTube. So why not create video content and get additional exposure? It will take some of your time, but often creating video content has incredible results.

For example, Gustitis Law is a channel run by attorney Stephen Gustitis. He was able to amass over five thousand subscribers in just a year.

Plus, you can earn money for your content, too. Gustitis Law and most other lawyers use Youtube’s Adsense to make money from content that also promotes their firm.

For example, this video of Stephen Gustitis discussing Habeas Corpus got over 30,000 views. It has Adsense so Mr. Gustitis made some money from it, and it has a link to his website in the video description so anyone watching who needs services can reach out.

Creating video content may take time and effort, but it’s definitely effective. That’s why a whopping 85% of businesses are creating video content in 2020, according to HubSpot.

8. Ask for reviews and recommendations from clients

Asking for reviews and recommendations from clients isn’t always fun, but if you want to improve your online presence, reviews can help—a lot.

90% of prospective clients read online reviews before visiting a business, according to Forbes. Having too few, bad, or out-of-date reviews can hurt lead generation.

So don’t be afraid to ask clients for reviews on your GMB profile, Better Business Bureau profile, AVVO account, or any number of other places. According to data from BrightLocal, 68% of your consumers will leave a review if asked, and good reviews can keep you from losing potential clients before you ever get a chance to speak with them.

Plus, according to Google, the amount of reviews your firm has and how actively you manage them matters in local search rankings for important keywords. So if you want more local leads from your GMB profile, just ask for reviews!

Need some help building a strong digital presence?

Sometimes, building a strong digital presence is too time-consuming for lawyers or their marketing staff.

If that’s the case, feel free to contact us. We’d love to help you get started on your law firm marketing strategy by helping you build a strong digital presence.

Markitors is a digital marketing agency specializing in SEO. We help law firms rank higher on Google to get more traffic to their websites and increase revenue. Explore what’s in our SEO toolbox: audits and keyword research, digital PR, technical SEO, and local SEO.