There are many components to a solid digital marketing strategy. While many strategies look at website features like design and functionality, content quality, linking, and keyword usage, it is also essential to be aware of your competitors’ online presence. If you want to revamp your digital marketing strategy and get ahead, it is time to conduct a law firm competitor analysis.

What Are the Elements of a Law Firm Competitor Analysis?

If you are conducting a law firm competitor analysis for the first time, you need to understand what will produce quality research. To start, Google your own law firm’s name. You will populate a list of competitor law firms. Once you have a starting point for your analysis, you can evaluate those law firms based on components, including content types, end links, search engine rankings, website design, marketing techniques, and social media presence.

Links and Content 

Start by looking at your competitors’ internal and external linking strategies. Links are one of Google’s main factors to determine how authoritative a website is. Essentially, the more websites that link to your individual web pages, the better your reputation. Consider using Moz’s Link Explorer to compare link metrics among different websites. 

Once you have a firm understanding of your competitors’ linking strategies, start analyzing their content. The majority of successful law firm websites have pillar practice area pages, practice area clusters, and a regularly updated blog. But are your competitors doing anything unique? Determine if they offer additional content like infographics, e-books, white papers, or other downloadables. If they are varying their content more than you are, it may be time to consider expanding the content you provide.

You will also want to look at the structure of their content. Consider their focus keywords, whether they funnel their practice area content, blog topics, and how long their content is compared to yours. If you find that they cover more topics or that their content is significantly longer, you can start developing a new content plan.

Search Engine Rankings 

After you have analyzed your competitors’ linking strategy and content, you will want to start looking at their page rankings. Return to the initial Google search of your law firm, and figure out which pages outrank you. For those pages that do have better rankings than yours, answer the following questions:

• How many times is the primary keyword used?
• How many words are on the page?
• Is the content engaging and interesting?
• Is there a call-to-action directing visitors to contact or service information?
• Where is the primary keyword used?

Once you have answers to most or all of those questions, you can start comparing your website to determine the types of changes you might consider to improve your search engine rankings. Remember that enhancing rankings takes time, and you may experience some trial and error. In order to make the process easier, regularly research the latest search engine optimization (SEO) best practices.

Website Design 

Quality Law Firm websites hold the attention of the intended audience. There are certain factors that you are website should contain, even as SEO best practices evolve. Those elements include:

• Ease of navigation. Websites should be easy to navigate. Take a look at your competition, figure out how you navigate through their sites, and get the information a typical client needs.
• Interactions. Websites made up of only basic text blocks and minimal images are not going to be effective. Take a look at your competition’s web pages. Visitors should not only be able to get to their destination within three clicks, but the webpage designs should be attractive.
• Layout. Quality websites are interactive and encourage users to click around a website to learn more. You also want to ensure your most important information is at or near the top of the page.  
• Load time. A quality website loads quickly and does not freeze or lag. 
• Structure. The structure of a law firm’s website is crucial. Potential clients need to be able to find the information they need as efficiently as possible in order to stay on a website. 

Marketing Techniques 

If you want to learn about your competitors’ marketing techniques, take a look at their sales pitches. How are they explaining their services to potential clients? Are they discussing the benefits of seeking legal representation? What about discussions on the possible outcomes of litigation? Are they offering free consultations? Once you have the answers to those questions, you can start evaluating your firm’s marketing tactics and determine if you have any deficiencies.

Social Media Presence 

Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin are the most popular social media platforms for attorneys. The platforms allow attorneys to connect with potential clients more personally. The more engaged a law firm is on social media, the more likely it will see increased website traffic. When it comes to viewing competitors’ social media pages, look at how they promote their brand. Also, be sure to take a look at their website to see if, how, and where they are promoting their social media channels. 

How to Evaluate Your Law Firm Against Competitors  

Once you have collected and analyzed the components of your Law Firm competitor analysis, you need to consider what changes you can make to improve your law firm’s online presents. Ask yourself the following:

• Are you addressing any pain points your competitors are not?
• How does your website tone compare?
• Is there overlap among the target audience?
• Is your marketing direct?
• What are your primary selling points?

Depending on your law firm’s age, how long you have had an online presence, and your experience with digital marketing, you may find that you only need to make a few changes to your website, or you could decide to start from scratch.

Digital Marketing: Next Steps

Conducting a competitive analysis can help you learn not only more about how your competition works but how your own firm can improve. You can identify opportunities to our-shine them while staying on top of industry trends, site visitors’ expectations, and clients’ needs. If you are struggling to conduct your own law firm competitor analysis, there are professional agencies out there that may be able to help. 

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.