Small law firms do not have the resources that larger law firms do, so marketing should look different for these businesses. Beyond stellar customer service and overall excellence, small law firms need to construct unique and powerful ways to grow their businesses. Despite limited budgets, small law firms emerge strong with the following key marketing moves.
Maintain a Strong Focus
For small law firms to be successful, they need to focus on their local area and their niche. No matter the experience or expertise, no law firm can claim expert status in everything, so focus is essential. This focused mindset resonates with potential clients and it lifts the burden from small law firms who have tried to be everything to everyone. The side benefit is that Google rankings favor businesses who focus on a particular area and stay there. Consider the following ways to concentrate on marketing within your niche:
- Choose long-tail phrases that are conversational
- Gather backlinks from local businesses
- Produce content in line with your niche
- Pick phrases and content keywords that reference local landmarks
Polish Up Your Marketing Strategy
Regardless of its size, any law firm must have a grasp on its audience. Expand this by zeroing in on your law firm’s ideal client. This allows you to invest wisely in advertising and concentrate your efforts where they will be most effective. Gathering leads has its challenges, but note the following ways to acquire more of them:
- Send email newsletters
- Write guest posts
- Buy local ads
- Use smart SEO
- Create helpful website content
- Produce regular blog posts
- Post client testimonials and reviews
- Display client stories
- Attend networking events
- Exchange referrals with colleagues
- Use voice search optimization
Construct A User-Friendly Website
A smart website is consistently updated, packed with valuable content, and tries to provide the best visitor experience possible. To build an engaging website that does not repel potential clients, consider these tips:
- Utilize a reliable website builder, like WordPress. They offer flexibility and many free plugins.
- Think mobile-responsive. Google’s algorithm is rolling out plans to prioritize mobile-friendly sites and site components. Sites that are not optimized for mobile devices may be compromised once the new update kicks in.
- Optimize your website speed by using Google Page Speed Insights. Set a goal to score 80/100 or more.
- Track your metrics with Google Analytics.
- Ditch bulky images and themes, which can slow down your site speed.
- Proofread your website copy for duplicate content, broken links, and spelling errors.
- Display client reviews and testimonials.
Insert Keywords
Solid keyword research should be an important part of your marketing plan. Your website must rank for keywords within your legal niche, and tools such as Ahrefs and SEMRush can help you research the ideal keywords.
Produce Helpful Content
Valuable content is one of the key components of a law firm website, and it can be a powerful way for a small law firm to rise above the competition. Your law firm’s website can add an FAQ page that answers common client questions about typical issues. Articles and blog posts can provide helpful legal commentary in simple, jargon-free terms. Creating rich content adds an incredible amount of value to your website and is one of the key moves to attract traffic and prospective clients. A legal content writing company can help you build a stash of exceptional content, and assist you with the following:
- Publishing regular, relevant content
- Establishing a consistent schedule
- Producing content that will last (evergreen content)
- Repurposing content for use on many platforms
- Sharing content on appropriate social media sites
Fill Out Your Google My Business Listing
Want free advertising space? Complete your law firm’s listing on Google My Business. This is a great way to get noticed by locals and will help you gain more traffic and leads. Asking clients for reviews and posting them here is solid social proof and will establish your reliable reputation. You may have started a listing, but be sure to fill out the profile completely, because this makes Google’s search engines happy. Your profile should contain consistent contact information, lots of positive reviews, photos of your business and specific services added to your listing as well.
Enhance Your Online Presence
Whether you are listing your law firm’s contact information on Google My Business, on the Contact Us page of your website or in a legal directory, it is critical to list this information identically each time. This tells both users and Google that you are a legitimate business with reliable credentials.
Monitor Your Goals
Your law firm can use software tools to analyze your incoming data, and use it to plan for future advertising campaigns. Track your calls, live chats, contact forms, and email submissions to discern where traffic originates and find out more about your audience. Helpful tools include: Google Analytics, CallRail, and the WordPress plugin Gravity Forms.
Insert Links
External links that lead traffic to your website are beneficial in building your website’s reliability. Also called backlinks, they tend to give websites a better organic search engine ranking. Backlinks that lead to your law firm website tell Google that your site holds value. Consider the following ideas for gaining more backlinks:
- Produce guests posts and place a link in your bio
- Utilize legal directory links
- Post your website in online directories and community publications
- Display links in the summary of a podcast or video interview
- Get involved with a non-profit or local event
- Write a press release for the local newspaper
Tend Your Social Media
Attracting billions of users, social media is a key platform for your small law firm. Essentially free advertising, social media brings your law firm a channel for gathering referrals and leads. Pick your social media platforms with care, and do not feel that you must jump in to each one. Go where your prospects and ideal clients would hang out. Be efficient by repurposing your content for sharing on a variety of platforms.
Use Email Marketing
Instead of being a trendy or flashy new platform, email is a solid way to deliver your message to an intended audience. With a 90% reliable reach to its recipients, email campaigns are inexpensive and they bring results. Publish an email newsletter to remind your clients of your law firm and its services, and share testimonials to gain those valuable referrals. Display updates about your law firm and invite people to upcoming events. Finally, consider the following tips about email marketing:
- Be brief, since most people scan emails. Skip small talk and jump right into your important message.
- Keep focused and direct on a central message.
- Make your email text and images mobile-friendly.
- Send value to the recipient, not putting more clutter in their inbox.
- Include a call to action. A call to action is the ultimate goal of any marketing move, and yours may be requesting clients to write a review, sign up for an event, or make an appointment.
Conclusion
Since small law firms are often working with a limited budget, their marketing strategy should be unique. First and foremost, give excellent, personable service, which can distinguish your small law firm from the rest. Small powerful steps to give your law firm a marketing boost include: using social media, sending strategic emails, using links and keeping a mobile-friendly, user-friendly website. Relevant content should be the shining core of your website and blog. Get help producing it from an experienced legal content company and bring value to your prospective clients. Even with budget boundaries, your small law firm may emerge strong and stay ahead of the competition.
This Week’s Action Step:
- Put three new marketing moves on your to-do list. Remember, even if you are a small law firm, David beat Goliath and you can too!
Annette Choti graduated from law school 20 years ago, and is now the CEO & Owner of Law Quill, a legal digital marketing agency focused on small and solo law firms. Law Quill is the only legal digital marketing agency that provides unique, SEO-optimized content, pre-packaged content, and courses for lawyers to learn SEO themselves through Law Quill Academy. Annette used to do theatre and professional comedy, which is not so different from the legal field if we are all being honest. Annette can be found on LinkedIn or at annette@lawquill.com
