What is the best ‘new media’ way for lawyers to market themselves?

Businessman, Men, Laptop, Computer, Document researching how lawyers market themselves

The internet offers an endless bucket of opportunities when it comes to marketing. Considering that 71% of adults with internet access use social media, this is a great platform to utilise to make yourself stand from the crowd as a lawyer. Blogging, making videos and optimising your content is another great way to use media to your advantage. 

Of course, if you’re hoping to expand your presence online, you’ll need to build a website before you can begin: Go Sitebuilder is a great site builder to use if you want an easy to use website builder with high quality results. 

However, luckily for you, most lawyers don’t utilise the internet properly. Developing your media marketing strategy might not seem that important, but it can completely change the way that potential clients view your services as a lawyer. We go through some of the best ways lawyers can use media to market themselves. 

 Share your knowledge

When marketing your services as a lawyer, you obviously need to show that you’re incredibly knowledgeable in your field of work – after all, no one wants a dodgy lawyer. One of the ways you showcase this is by providing informative resources which people can access for free. 

Perhaps you choose to record a podcast, where you share your thoughts on issues within a certain area of law, or maybe you write a blog explaining a particularly complicated area of law. 

A great way to reach out to a new market is by making videos on Youtube – however, even if you want to be informative, it’s important that you don’t overload your viewers with endless facts. Considering that most people lose interest within a video after watching it for two minutes, you’ll want to keep it on the shorter side. That being said, it’s important to not compromise on quality: try uploading videos which vary in length so that you can be as informative as possible, without boring your audience. 

Add a personal element 

Building a relationship with your audience is one of the most important aspects to consider within your media marketing strategy. As a lawyer, it is easy to be perceived as a straight-faced, serious person, who only has time for paperwork and court cases. Although this might be true on the odd occasion, this isn’t a good way to build a relationship between yourself and your client. By adding a personal element into your firm, you can show that you’re just as interested in building a relationship with a client, as you are with winning the case.

Social media is a great way to give off this impression: platforms such as Instagram give you the freedom to post images which are slightly more human. For example, whilst the photo might not be professional enough to showcase on the website you’ve built, it could feature on your Instagram, making your law firm engaging by showing a more human side. 

If you wanted to get really creative, you could turn to Tik Tok to market your law firm. Whilst this would have to be done tactfully, Tik Tok has a huge potential audience to target; in 2019, it was downloaded 738 million times. And, as it is a relatively modern app to emerge, it has yet to become saturated with other firms and businesses. 

Don’t overlook SEO 

Although you may have a successful media marketing campaign, producing top-quality content and getting as creative as possible, you must make sure you optimise your content for SEO so that Google’s algorithms can rank you on its search engine results page. 

Whilst this might sound daunting, SEO can be as simple as putting in commonly searched for keywords in the title of your Youtube video, or writing a blog about a popularly Googled question which relates to your field of work. What is the best ‘new media’ way for lawyers to market themselves?

A good way to work out what type of content ranks highly is by searching these questions yourself on Google. See what type of content comes up first, and then try to structure any future content you produce in a similar way. For example, if a lawyer has released a video covering how to survive a law degree, then take inspiration from this but make it unique to you – share your own advice or your own story to really set your content apart from others. 

Of course, you’ll also want to link social media platforms to your website – any content you’ve publicised on your social media should be linked back to your website so that people can learn more about your legal services. Our website builder already has this feature built in, so site visitors can follow your social media accounts within a few clicks. 

Our website builder also offers ready to go web designs so that you can build a website with a professional, attractive look, quickly and hassle-free . Go Sitebuilder is incredibly easy to use, but never compromises on quality – why not try it today, with our 14-day free trial?

How Can Law Firms Make Their Website Elements More Engaging?

Young and charming businessman is thinking about how can Law Firms Make Their Website Elements More Engaging

People want professionalism, accuracy, and consistency from the law firm that they’re going to trust to handle their legal affairs. This means that a polished, informative layout is all the more important for law firms’ websites than the average personal platform. An engaging site that reflects the quality of your service is key. You already know that you’re going to be giving your clients excellent legal advice, but they don’t!

We know that lawyers are usually busy with cases – they don’t have the time to spend hours building their own website from scratch. But by using a website builder such as Go Sitebuilder, with simple to use features and ready-to-go templates, you can quickly create a professional website that suits your branding.

If your website is the first part of your firm that clients see, you’re going to want it to convey your credibility, solid expertise, and importantly, stand out from competitors. Creating an engaging website is crucial to this, and making some small changes to make your website more effective should not be overlooked.

Choose a website builder that can handle web design

Aside from ensuring that your content is accurate and free from typos, one of the most important (and easy!) ways to improve a lawyer’s website is to turn your thoughts to your web design and make your website elements more eye-catching. This is simple to do with the help of a website builder that can handle the trickier aspects of web design like Go Sitebuilder, which lets you use different elements to highlight important aspects of your page. You’ll be able to create a striking website with infographics, images, and videos to suit your needs, with no prior design or coding experience required.

Use infographics to complement your legal advice 

Including legal advice on your website is a good idea that can be useful for potential clients, and shows that you want to help inform the public. For example, using facts and figures in an infographic to highlight a legal fact, such as the number of people that could be accessing a given legal service, will jump out to people visiting your page and may resonate with potential clients, highlighting the relevance of your firm to their legal needs.

Graphics can also be a great way to showcase personal testimonials to the quality of your service and references from large companies that you have helped in the past. This will add to the reputability that you convey to prospective clients, and give them confidence in the services that you can provide. In fact, law firm marketing company The Modern Firm’s research shows that the testimonials page is the most clicked on part of any law website. Big names and complimentary remarks can stand out much more effectively in a nice graphic, so make sure to include them on your website.

Use images for trust and credibility 

Include photos of the practicing paralegals, lawyers, and partners at your firm to add an approachable touch to your website. People value transparency from their law firm and want to know what they’re getting. By including a ‘who we are’ or ‘meet the lawyers’ page, you’re letting your clients put a friendly face to a name.

You’re inevitably going to be meeting your clients face-to-face. By showing the lawyers working at your firm, their qualifications and areas of expertise, not only will clients get an idea of who may be the best person to handle their case, they’ll know who to expect when they walk into the office for their consultation. People are attracted to companies with a human touch. Show your clients who you are, stand out from competitors, and let them envision working with you!

Add videos to inform and explain

By adding a video to your website, you can take this personal touch even further. Hearing you explain your services or the steps within a legal process can instil confidence in potential clients like nothing else! A well-edited, professional video showing your team articulating themselves clearly on relevant topics, thus evidencing a thorough grasp of their areas of legal expertise will make a client’s decision to work with you easier. It may even be able to answer some of their questions before they make the call or step into your office. This kind of video content can result in people staying on your website for 60% longer than if you had no video content at all, so it’s a good idea to invest some time in this area. 

A variety of informative videos, and infographics can give potential clients a greater understanding of the legal process, provide clarity on their concerns and influence how they approach you, ultimately making your job easier. Whether you’re an established firm, just starting out, or if you are thinking about making the move to becoming a freelance lawyer, having a website is proven to be a powerful business tool.

Have a look at our blog on why lawyers need a website to read more about the benefits – or why not register for a 14-day free trial with Go Sitebuilder, and see how our features can make your professional legal website the most appealing on the web!

Why do lawyers need a website?

Lawyer researching why he might need a website and to use Go Sitebuilder

Whether you’re an established law firm, a brand-new company or if you’re starting out as a freelance lawyer, a website could be an invaluable resource to expand your business. Although law firms traditionally provide very face-to-face service, there are multiple ways that switching to a more digital platform could bring you new customers and increase brand awareness. If you’re on the fence as to whether a website would be worth your time, a website builder with ready to go templates could make creating a beautiful web design easy and quick! 

A website means more people will find and contact you

According to Transaction.Agency, 85% of consumers conduct online research before making a purchase. That is a huge potential client base that you can tap into, that you would miss out on if you didn’t have a website for them to browse. Having a website means it is more likely for people to find you, without having to spend money on television or print adverts, which are swiftly losing their utility in our increasingly digital world. 

With these traditional adverts, people would have to pick up the phone to contact you. People are becoming much more reticent to call people directly without having done any research or if they aren’t sure whether you would be the right law firm for them. By adding a contact form or an email to your website, you’ll find that many more people send enquiries – and once you’ve got their contact information you can stay in touch with them reminding them of the services you provide. 

Your lawyer website will build trust and credibility

Imagine taking a call with someone and telling them all your qualifications and how happy previous clients are with your work – it might end up coming off sounding like a sales pitch. An easy way to show potential clients that you are a trustworthy and high-quality lawyer is to prove it on your website. You can show certificates of your qualifications, provide references from large companies or more personal testimonials from smaller clients. This will help when potential clients are doing their research and choosing between you and other possible lawyer websites – if you have better reviews and more qualifications, they are more likely to opt for your law firm.

This builds credibility not just among possible customers but also among peers. This could help you build connections with other lawyers, and create mutually beneficial agreements where you recommend clients to each other depending on your specialisations.

Gives potential clients useful information

Not only does having your credentials and client testimonials on your site build trust among visitors to your law firm website, but uploading relevant and useful content to your website can show that you are well-versed in your field. It also is a way for visitors to see your areas of experience and expertise and whether it aligns with their needs, without having to call or visit your office to find out. This saves both you and visitors time; they can make an informed decision depending on your specialities, and you don’t get requests for services that you cannot provide. 

A lot of people search for legal advice online before they search for a lawyer, so it’s a good idea to put in the effort to create a long-form piece of content on legal advice in an eBook or PDF format. You can then only allow access to this resource if visitors give an email address, which is a great way for you to get warm leads, and for potential customers to see that you have the relevant knowledge to help them. 

Your lawyer website is online 24/7

The traditional 9-5 office hours are becoming increasingly blurred, and most people only have time to research and contact companies outside of these hours. This is where a website comes in handy; it is online all the time, so even if somebody sees your site and emails you at 2am, you can just pick up the email when you wake up. 

In fact, according to a study by Zahavian Legal Marketing, nearly 30% of conversions (in the form of email form submissions) happen between 6 and 8 p.m.

Ultimately, a lawyer website is a great – and cheap – marketing tool. People rarely search for lawyers unless they actually need one, so the people who are coming to your site are already receptive to your company’s services; with a website, you won’t let that opportunity go to waste. Have a look at our blog on how lawyers market and advertise themselves for more inspiration

Still not sure? With Go Sitebuilder, you can set up a site in minutes with our ready to go lawyer website templates, and you can track how useful it is to you with our integrated analytics software. We know you’re busy with your business, which is why we’ve made our website builder as simple as possible, and you can even update it on the go on a mobile or tablet. Try our 14-day free trial today!