Attorney web site marketing –
promote your law practice

Need a better marketing plan? Attorney web site marketing is one of the best ways to promote your practice and bring in quality clients—and do it cost effectively. Further, having a quality site is one of the top ways for attorneys to acquire multiple income streams.

Most attorneys believe that in order to have a quality site that brings in clients, they have to spend thousands of dollars. The reality is that a solid, professional site that reflects you, your firm, and your practice is a necessity in this day and age. And it does not have to cost thousands of dollars.

What makes a web site successful? Particularly, what makes a site successful for a service such as the one attorneys provide? In a nutshell: content, search engine optimization (for visibility), and a clean, simple design that makes sense to the user. People on the internet are searching for quality information. If your site does not provide quality information that helps potential clients with their immediate needs, then: 1. your site is not providing what they want, 2. your visibility on the internet is low, and 3. your chances of converting that visit to your site to an actual client meeting and representation agreement are slim. Attorney web site marketing only works when the content is valuable to the client.

It is no secret that today attorneys are faced with more and more competition. Law schools are churning out record numbers of graduates with each class. Firms are expanding and contracting all the time. Many firms are outsourcing their legal research and writing needs to lawyers in other countries, such as India. Without an established client base, attorneys are faced with spending massive amounts of advertising dollars to stay ahead…and even those with established clients are always seeking to expand their business.

To have a successful website, you need to understand what your clients are looking for. Therefore, you need to understand how clients think—not how other attorneys think, or how you think. Here, online research plays an integral role. A fundamental rule of attorney web site marketing is simple--if you are not able to capture through research-- and then provide --what clients are looking for, they are not going to find you, and you are losing income.

Example: in doing keyword research relating to Michigan lawyers or Michigan attorneys, I noticed an interesting thing. The keywords “Michigan lawyers” had a value demand index (demand=client search) of 5354, with a supply index (supply=attorney or related websites) of 4372. Conversely, the keywords “Michigan lawyer” (without an “s” at the end) had a value demand index of 3259, with a supply index of 21,559! Here is a great example of how doing research and thinking of your site from the client’s perspective can put you at a competitive advantage, but following the herd is a tactical mistake.

Think about it this way—potential clients get online. They are searching for something, possibly a lawyer, or possibly a legally related issue. If they can find a site that provides them with enough information that the potential client feels comfortable that you and your firm are the best representatives for them, then your chances of getting the call and hired are much greater. This is different from the typical lawyer website which simply talks about the firms practice areas and the attorney’s accomplishments.

(Take a look at attorney websites with this thought in mind. If you were a client, who did not know a lot about the law, and nothing about that firm or that attorney, would you find their website compelling enough to call them? In most cases, you will find your answer is no. Nothing distinguishes these sites….most of them are, at best, pro forma versions of each other.) When talking about attorney web site marketing, we are talking about providing truly relevant information that makes the client’s decisions more informed.

Some attorneys are hesitant to do this. “Give the client information, and why will they hire me?”, they think. If this is you, turn your thinking around: if you cannot provide a certain amount of relevant, unique information to help the potential clients’ decision making process, they will seek it elsewhere. The client is lost forever.

Yet, how to have a site that is professional, comprehensive, and provides the potential client with the quality information they are looking for? Where to do the research to find out what clients are searching for on the internet? More importantly—how to have a site that accomplishes this without spending thousands of dollars? It is possible!

Attorney web site marketing—get a website that achieves your marketing goals without breaking the bank. Click here to learn more!

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