Marketing for Lawyers
If you want to have a successful business as a lawyer, you are going to need clients. While you may have some repeat ones, most of your business is going to be dealing with new clients.
While many lawyers rely on word-of-mouth advertising, it isn’t enough. In fact, you are going to need to do plenty of advertising in order to get new clients on a regular basis. You should be thinking about using search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, advertising on Facebook, using AdWords, and even doing some local advertising.
Unsure about where to start? Here are some tips to help.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Unfortunately, most lawyers don’t really think about search engine optimization (or SEO) when they are marketing themselves and their business. However, this can be a big mistake. In fact, you need to think like the search engines if you want your business to get in front of as many potential clients as possible.
Here are some tips to help you get started with SEO.
Really think about what keywords you need to use. Keywords are essential for SEO. You need to do your research to see exactly what words and phrases (long-tailed keywords) your clients are looking for. There are many tools to help you come up with the keywords that you need to be using, though a simple Google search may be enough to point you in the right direction.
While writing keywords, don’t be afraid to think local. Add your state, town, or general location in front of your keywords to attract more people in your vicinity (who are more likely to visit your office)!
Blogging regularly is essential for SEO. Search engines like to send people to websites that are changing regularly (and growing). Because most people don’t want to add pages and pages to their website on a regular basis, they can rest assured that blogging does the same thing. If you add a blog weekly (more or less), they will notice that you are working on it regularly and be more inclined to send someone there!
Content Marketing
Though there is a place for traditional marketing, more and more lawyers are seeking other ways to connect with people. In fact, content marketing is becoming more popular.
When most people think about content marketing, they think about blogging, though it also includes any other content that you write, such as the pages on your website and even e-mails.
Here are some tips to help you on your blogging (and content marketing) journey.
Though keywords are important, make sure that you don’t overuse them. Keyword stuffing is a big mistake that is pretty easy to make. If you use too many keywords, your clients will have trouble reading your content and they will simply click away. They will go to another website that has similar information.
In terms of SEO, you should know that search engines look at how long people stay on your website. If your readers click away right away, they will quit sending people to your website.
After you finish your blog, you need to make sure that you fill out all of the descriptions and tags. If you want your blogs to be noticed by the search engines, you need to fill in the meta description and title tag. If you use images (which is highly recommended), you should fill out those tags and descriptions too! Use keywords if possible to help.
Facebook Advertisements
Though it may not seem like a lawyer’s office should be on social media, there is no reason why that is true! You should be using it to your advantage to try to reach as many potential clients as possible.
You don’t have to be on all of them. In fact, if you only have time to join one, it should be Facebook. You should also learn how to use paid advertising if you really want to grow your business.
Here are some tips to help.
Target your audience. Most business owners use Facebook advertising because you can get a lot of results for a decent price. In fact, because you can target your audience, you are only spending money on the people that you want to see it.
Take your time when you are working on your advertisement. Really think about the types of clients that you want. Decide on what ages, sex, and interests they have. You should also make sure that your ads are reaching local people by targeting your exact location.
Make it visual. Pictures and videos can really change your advertisements. In fact, they are much more likely to be noticed and get results (such as likes, clicks, and even shares)!
AdWords
If you are not ready to jump on the social media bandwagon, Google Adwords could be a great place for you to start! Usually people who are searching through Google are ready for action so these people can become clients quickly (instead of taking months of relationship building).
Here are some tips to help you use Adwords.
Don’t forget about negative keywords. Negative keywords can make you spend more money than you should for advertising. Because you are going to be reaching people who are not interested in your services, it can be a waste of money. For this reason, you need to make sure that you decide which negative keywords that you don’t want to be found in.
As with any type of advertising, you need to monitor your results. It is important that you watch and see how well (or bad) your advertisement is performing. By looking at the results, you can make changes before you waste a lot of money. You can also go forward, trying to focus on the advertisements that are catching the attention of your clients.
Local Advertising
Since you have a local office, it is important that you advertise locally. No matter how many likes you have on Facebook, most of them won’t turn into clients because they live too far away.
Here are some tips to help you start your local advertising.
Go to local networking events. These can be a great place to meet a lot of people. Even if most of them won’t need a lawyer, they may be quick to refer you to someone who does! Going to networking events is never a waste of time.
Even if you focus on online marketing, target your location and use local keywords to reach locals. You need to target locals any time that you do any advertisements. Your blogs should have your town and state sprinkled throughout in order to target local people also. These will make a difference when it comes to your results!
As a lawyer, your business is only as successful as the marketing that you do. By utilizing search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, advertising on Facebook, using AdWords, and even doing some local advertising, you are going to be putting your name out in front of more clients than you ever thought possible!
Contact us below to begin your search for the right marketing provider. We would be glad to help you grow your business!