Lead Generation For Law Firms

Some clients have ongoing needs for legal services over months or years. Others need the help of a legal practice once and then never again. For your legal practice to be sustainable, you need to bring in new legal clients regularly. A steady flow of leads that can be converted to paying clients is critical to your law firms success. But, the legal marketing landscape is changing and continuing to change. Where traditional advertising methods like direct mail and display ads were once dominant, newer, more targeted strategies are now available in the digital realm. However, it can be hard to compete in the cluttered digital landscape without the right lead generation strategies and tools.

Having a robust lead generation strategy means you can stand out from the competition and win clients’ business. We have years of experience developing digital marketing campaigns for firms like yours. As a 100% digital-focused company, we use our expertise to ensure success. Our strategies deliver high ROIs, minimize wasteful spending, and generate a steady stream of new business.

We can help develop the lead generation strategy your law practice needs. Reach out for a free consultation today by calling us at 757-333-3021.

Case leads are potential clients who express interest in your law firm’s legal services. Their first contact with you can start through a wide range of channels that include social, PPC, and organic search. Often, this is organic traffic that starts on a search engine and leads to pages that help educate visitors about your practice areas. For example, if your firm specializes in personal injury, your content strategy should include blog posts that discuss liability, the statute of limitations in your state, and other issues of interest to someone who may have a personal injury case. From those posts, an interested party can use your response form to enter their contact information so someone from your firm can get in touch.

Law firms employ a variety of different digital marketing strategies to generate new case leads for their practices.

While definitions of a lead vary, the end result, gaining a new client, is the same. Some marketers include anyone who has visited your website to get more information about a legal issue as a lead. When we build digital marketing strategies for law firms, our focus is on generating leads that are likely to become clients. These prospective clients become qualified leads when they willingly share their contact information so that you can follow up and potentially offer them legal services. They aren’t just looking for general information; they have specific questions that apply to their personal circumstances. They have a current need for the services of a law firm.

Understanding what a potential client wants helps to determine your overall lead generation strategy. In the SEO world, we call this, “search intent”.

We recommend that law firms have multiple sources of leads to keep new clients flowing in. This provides a steady source of prospects that can be converted to new business for your firm. While an informative, frequently updated website is the source of leads people think of first, it is not an instant solution. It takes time for your site to index well in search results. Luckily, you do not need to wait to get traction in search to start getting fresh leads from your digital marketing.

While a complete lead generation strategy has multiple facets, combining a strong SEO strategy with PPC advertising, social media, and more, it can take time to create an effective flow of leads for your firm. This is why we recommend law firms never solely rely on one source of leads, as digital marketing methods nearly always work better together.

This multi-prong strategy is the most effective way to bring in a steady stream of potential clients who are seeking legal help. Your legal website is the centerpiece of this sustainable strategy. With the right content and visibility, you can take potential leads from initial interest to choosing you to handle their legal needs. High-quality content continues to give you benefit for weeks, months, or even years after it is first posted. When paired with offsite content and carefully chosen paid strategies, it becomes more valuable over time.

We help our clients develop a sales funnel that starts with that high-quality law firm website, built to convert traffic into leads. When your website content indexes well, it will bring in people with legal questions who are considering seeking legal services like yours. Content should be oriented toward the sorts of questions that potential clients may have before seeking out legal services. A firm that specializes in auto accident cases can have blog posts and articles, for instance, that document the latest changes in car insurance laws in your state, along with other information like determining fault and deciding when the help of a lawyer is needed.

Your firm’s website is the most important digital asset you have. But, it can only do its job with the right design and content. A professional, user-friendly design will result in quality leads. Your site should load quickly and be easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile.

Well-written SEO content, high-resolution photos, and a clear value proposition are all essential for success. Think of the questions that potential clients like yours will have, then provide answers that help them understand how your firm can serve their needs.

Utilize calls to action to galvanize clients into action. Every page of your law firm website should have at least one CTA button. This makes it easy for potential clients to take the next step on their buyer’s journey.

Make sure that there are multiple points where a client can learn about your services and reach out to you. You should have at least one landing page for every specialty you offer. Tie these landing pages into social media and email marketing campaigns to funnel fresh traffic to your site.

Legal websites that convert leads

Your digital presence should also include landing pages designed to convert with professional design and relevant information. The more landing pages you have, the more specific searches for your services will be, and the more exclusive leads that arrive through these channels. If you are a firm that offers several types of legal services, at least one landing page should be made for each service you offer. A family law firm, by example, may have landing pages dedicated to estate planning, divorce, child support, and other relevant topics.

While you are building your presence online, do not underestimate the value of a strong digital reputation. Earn trust by including testimonials and encouraging happy clients to make referrals. Ask current and past clients if they would be willing to add reviews on sites like LegalMatch, FindLaw, or Nolo-Martindale or write testimonials you can display on your own site. Generating reviews can be highly beneficial, especially when it comes to your firm’s local SEO rankings. Every single review your firm generates will help your website presence, especially in organic and local SEO rankings.

Use online marketing strategies like search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. SEO is a long-term strategy that gradually increases your position in search engine results. PPC, by contrast, can start bringing in leads right away. Using them together means a more sustainable flow of prospects and a lower client acquisition cost over time.

Write strong CTAs that convert traffic to leads

Do not neglect calls-to-action on each page of your site. Clear calls-to-action (CTAs) make it easy for potential clients make the decision to reach out to you. What do you want your client to do when they arrive at your page? Call for a consultation? Download your ebook or report? Have a clear objective for every page, then ask the visitor to perform that action.

A PPC advertising strategy is invaluable for providing a constant flow of new leads. However, campaigns need to be well-managed to ensure that you are getting a good return on your advertising investment. Without careful targeting, it is easy to blow your entire budget without getting the sorts of quality leads that will convert into clients.

Target specific groups of potential clients by geography, language, times of day, days of the week, search keywords, and type of device. You can even use negative keywords to eliminate the prospects who are not in your target markets. For instance, a law firm that handles commercial real estate transactions may wish to eliminate queries that would send people looking for help with residential real estate law.

PPC allows you to target exact search queries

By employing a PPC advertising strategy for your law firm’s website, you can generate leads almost immediately for the exact things your prospective client is searching for.

Part of the beauty of PPC is that you are still getting search traffic from people who are actively seeking legal advice. Your listing will appear above the normal search results. This helps you stand out at the top of the search engine results page even before you have achieved the search engine optimization results that would put you there organically. And, your ads are not subject to the changing whims of search engine algorithms. With paid search, your bid and your keyword targeting are what matter the most.

PPC also gives you a great deal of information that can be applied to all of your lead generation efforts. Learn which keywords potential clients are most likely to use in their search engine queries. Easily track conversion rates to learn what sorts of language are most likely to lead a prospect to click and visit your site. Find the keywords that have lower competition, and are thus less expensive, but that still bring in people who are seeking services like yours.

To get the most out of law firm’s PPC strategy, continually hone your ads and your bids to find the most effective strategy. Perform A/B tests to determine which ads result in the best leads. Elements to test include your headline, the body text of your ad, the link, and the keywords you associate with your ad. Over time, you will learn what works best, getting you better results with every click.

It can often take several touches for someone to finally reach out and engage your services. An email marketing list keeps your firm in a prospect’s mind and can continually remind them of your expertise and the services that you offer. Building a quality email list is an ongoing process that starts with each prospect opting to receive messages from you.

Create lead magnets to capture emails

A great way to cultivate qualified leads is by offering incentives, or lead magnets. For instance, a family law practice may offer a short ebook on negotiating custody agreements. The prospect enters their contact information and agrees to receive periodic emails from you in order to get the book.

Other common lead magnets include free newsletters, guides, or white papers. A variety of valuable content can keep people interested and start them on their way toward securing your legal services.

In addition to these lead magnets, periodically reach out with a more direct outbound strategy when appropriate. Target potential clients with personalized follow-up messages to improve conversion rates. These emails can be either drafted for a specific client or for a buyer persona.

While pay-per-click advertising can bring quick results, it should ideally be paired with earned traffic brought in through quality content. Content marketing efforts may include an email newsletter alongside blogging, videos, social media marketing, webinars, or downloadable white papers. While not every type of content is appropriate for every sort of practice, firms should diversify and use at least a few of them. For instance, a transactional law firm that assists with the purchase and sale of small businesses may host webinars about common pitfalls to avoid when doing your due diligence about a business you wish to buy, alongside leadership posts on LinkedIn, and presentations on a site like SlideShare. A firm that focuses on criminal defense may focus on social media marketing on consumer-focused outlets like Twitter and Facebook, alongside informational videos on YouTube.

Go beyond traditional content marketing methods

This strategy can generate legal leads by improving search rankings and providing incentives for people to sign up for more information. As an example, a firm that handles DUI cases may offer a short ebook about the 10 things a driver should do the day after a DUI arrest. Gate the ebook behind a sign-up sheet that asks for some general contact information. Someone from your firm can then follow up to see if the site visitor needs legal representation.

Build content that resonates with your ideal customer

When you are first developing your content marketing plan, start with the most general content before going highly specialized. Your first content should be interesting and useful to new clients in the legal industry. Avoid legal jargon and explain everything in the plainest language possible. This way, people who are new to researching legal issues will not be overwhelmed or turned off. As you develop a larger body of content, more can be added to reach more sophisticated users and those with more specialized needs.

All of these efforts can lead up to a full-time commitment. We know, and it’s why we dedicated ourselves specifically to digital marketing strategies for law firms. Our digital marketing specialists have deep knowledge of both the needs of the legal field and the strategies that get firms visibility online.

We can develop a digital marketing plan that includes PPC, SEO, and the sorts of content that show your expertise and abilities to potential clients. We can help you position yourselves as the right firm for the job by showcasing the value proposition that sets your practice apart.

We’re excited to discuss your specific marketing needs and how we can generate a sustainable flow of new leads to keep your practice thriving and help you grow. Ready to learn more? Fill out the online contact form below and we’ll connect you with one of our digital marketing experts here at Array Digital today.

Call 757-333-3021.