Attorneys are busy people. Between meeting with clients, spending time at the courthouse, and preparing legal documents, there isn’t a lot of time for marketing online.
But it’s important to make time. You can get more clients and build your reputation by increasing your online presence.
It doesn’t have to be too complicated either! Here are our seven tips to increase your online presence that are perfect for attorneys.
Get to Know SEO
You probably already know that you’re supposed to have a website, but do you know how to make the most of your website?
That’s where lawyer SEO comes in.
SEO strategies can help you uncover keywords to use throughout your website, where to put those keywords, and how to develop a marketing strategy that uses those keywords to drive traffic to your website.
An easy way to get started is to think locally. Incorporate location-based keywords to attract the right audience to your site.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to a SEO expert if you need help. Getting SEO right can take a lot of time, but it’s well worth it in the long run.
Find Ways to Stand Out on Social Media
Social media is a great way to connect with potential clients, but everyone else is trying to connect with potential clients on social media too. If you’re going to be on social media, you have to find a way to stand out.
Skip the boring, blasé tone of voice and legalese. Use informal language in your posts instead. Being funny and clever can work too.
If that’s not really you, strive to offer truly valuable content that your followers can actually use, or create a series of interesting facts about lawyers and the legal system.
Don’t feel like you have to be present on every social media platform either. Pick one and stick with it.
The top three social media platforms for attorneys are:
- X, formerly known as Twitter
Publish Worthwhile Content to Your Blog
Lawyers aren’t very good at embracing content marketing. It is often at the bottom of their to-do list. If it is on their to-do list, the kind of content they churn out isn’t very good. When you read a blog article written by a lawyer, it sounds like it was written by a lawyer.
Try and do things a little differently when it comes to the content on your blog. Avoid using legalese and focus on writing in layman’s terms instead. Talk about what’s happening in the media or consider an advice column where readers can write in and you can give them legal tips on their situation.
The trick is to write content that’s interesting and engaging so your audience wants to return to your site to read what you post next.
Post Some Videos
Lawyers are great with the written word. They aren’t always so great when it comes to video, but that’s where the real marketing magic is. Users spend 88% more time on a website with videos, and videos generate 1,200% more shares than both images and text combined.
It’s well worth your time to create and post some videos. Try explaining common legal terms on social media or talk about famous cases in history on your YouTube channel.
You can also incorporate videos into your website. Consider posting an introduction video or create blog articles with explainer videos. You can even repurpose those videos on other platforms to drive traffic back to your website.
Get Serious About Online Reviews
More people are looking at reviews than ever before. That’s even true of clients who are referred to your business. According to one survey, 46% of people receiving a referral still read online reviews before making a decision.
If you aren’t getting many reviews online, ask past and existing clients if they would be willing to leave you a review.
Potential clients are also looking to see if lawyers are responding to reviews and comments. Whether on social media or a website like Yelp, take the time to leave a comment. It shows would-be clients that you take your relationship with them seriously.
Send Out a Newsletter
Although newsletters may seem better suited to job coaches and clothing businesses, it turns out they can be an effective way for attorneys to market themselves too.
The trick is to provide real value in your newsletter so subscribers actually want to open it when it lands in their inbox. Consider doing things like:
- Answering frequently asked questions
- Showing behind the scenes footage
- Sharing thought leadership
- Sharing workshops and live events
- Sounding off on current legal issues
You don’t have to overextend yourself with a weekly newsletter either. Consider a biweekly, monthly, or even a biannual newsletter to keep your followers in the loop.
Consider Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is also a good option to increase your presence online.
It allows you to display your ads to a targeted audience. It also allows you to set how much money you’re willing to spend, so you can choose a limit that fits your budget.
There are a few different types of paid advertisements like:
- Search engine advertisements that show up among organic results on sites like Google
- Social media advertisements that are interspersed with non-ad content
- Display ads that run across a network of websites
You can work through Google Ads, buy YouTube ads, or go through Meta to post ads on Facebook and Instagram.
You don’t have to post ads everywhere. Consider starting with one type of paid advertisement. Track your analytics and see how it goes before you try another paid advertising platform.
Having an online presence as an attorney can open a lot of doors and bring a lot more opportunities your way. It doesn’t have to be difficult either! With a few extra minutes each day doing things like writing a blog article or digging into your site’s SEO, you can reach more people out there on the internet.