Every business wants to capture the attention and business of potential clients that are searching online. Law firms are certainly no exception. However, the legal field is bombarded, both online and offline, with marketing efforts. Many attorneys feel if their firm doesn’t appear on page 1 of Google search results, they have lost the battle for clients. Thus, a bidding war for PPC position, keywords, and search strings ensues. Does that then mean that firms who aren’t willing or able to pay upwards of $50 a click for online advertising are not able to compete online? Absolutely not.
In fact, law firms who focus their online marketing efforts on being first in one area of paid search or specific search string are missing the point. Clients are searching Google, of course. However, most of the people don’t stop there. They do independent research which can include Google reviews, social media profiles, websites of the firms, third-party review sites (such as AVVO), blogs, news articles, and many other information sources.
Any firm focusing entirely on ranking in the top three paid results for “criminal defense in NC” but has neglected to establish, maintain, and monitor social networking, solid & responsive websites, and informational blogs will lose. If social media sites, blogs, websites, and external information sources are continuously reviewed and monitored, there is a high probability the organic results for that same search string could feature the same firm more than once. That accomplishes a couple of things: solidifying your brand in the eyes of potential clients & eliminating ranking options for your competition.
Don’t ignore opportunities for quality paid search engine marketing (make sure you know who is running your campaigns & the results you are getting from their efforts). However, don’t restrict yourself from competing in all the other online arenas. Content marketing is not an option for any industry, though it can be particularly helpful for the legal field. Make sure blog posts are SEO-optimized (and loaded to a site that is responsive & also SEO-optimized). Produce videos, whitepapers, FAQs, and other helpful resources to help enhance your online credibility and capture leads. Ensure social media platforms are established, updated frequently (with a strategy behind the posts), and monitored.
Gathering all the information helps solidify and strengthen your online marketing strategy, and in turn, increases your firm’s client base. When you’re ready to do even more with your online presence, check out how inbound marketing can elevate your game.