Today, savvy law firms realize they need not only a strong marketing plan but one that has a progressive digital component. So what are some of the components law firms should be including in their internet marketing plan?
1. Website Function – Make sure your website is up-to-date and with clear functionality. Is there content on all of your pages, have your pages been optimized with specific keywords placed in the title tags, description tags and on-page, are your photographs optimized? If you have not done these simple tasks here is what will happen: You will not show up as well on local searches within places like Google Places nor will you show up well with review sites. And, most obviously, you won’t show up well in search engines for specific keywords – never mind the visitor who comes to your site might be turned off by dead pages and shallow content.
2. Website Information – When people visit your website they are evaluating your professionalism and knowledge. Does your website reflect who you are and why you should be trusted with a client’s case? Is there enough information about each of your staff, do you have a Frequently Asked Questions page, do you explain how you operate, are you showing testimonials from other clients or even what your participation level is in your community? What about a blog? Do you have one and are you keeping content fresh on your site with new information you are gleaning, or showing what your company is up to? A blog serves many purposes beyond informational and is critical if done right. All of these tidbits inform the visitor or potential client as to what you stand for.
3. Website Returns – In the industry of online shopping, it often takes person 3 to 7 visits to your website before they commit to making a call or purchase. With this said, capturing the visitor’s information so that you can steer them back to your site over and over is important. Today, many companies are using offers in exchange for a visitor’s email address. In the old days of three years ago, it was good enough to just put up a Newsletter sign-up box, but today you should be giving something to get. This giving can simply be a well-composed white paper, an informative video or a study. It has to be something your visitor can’t live without and is willing to give you personal information in exchange for. With this email you can then put them into an email campaign sequence for receiving further information.
4. Social Media. How strong is your social media presence? Social media is primarily used to build awareness of your firm rather than simply conversing with people online. Targeted social media campaigns and even small paid advertising stints created by professionals and put into place in a strategic way can put your brand and name in front of the right people consistently enough that you will begin to notice more visits to your website, phone calls to your firm and walk-ins.
5. Places Listing. As mentioned above, if your website isn’t optimized you may not show up in places listings such as Google Places as well as you would like. Second, putting your listing up correctly is also important in beating out your competition.
6.Link Building. Then there is one of SEO’s strongest components and that is building links back to your site from reputable companies. You can start your link building process by simply making sure your company is listed in law and local directories. Writing blog articles with keyword rich anchor text and links back to your site for other website owners will also help build links to your site which in the end pushes you up in the rankings.
7. Adwords. Last, putting together a well-crafted Pay-Per-Click campaign can do wonders. By advertising on search engines like Google, Bing or Yahoo, you can target your ads to only show within your community and only for specific well researched keyphrases which can save you a lot of money and bring measurable results.
As attorneys continue to pull marketing dollars front print-ads and put them into digital, when done correctly, these firms are seeing amazing results aimed at generations of people who only gather information and do business on the Internet.