About 77% of law firms had their own websites in 2018. On top of that, investing in SEO services might cost your law firm well over $2,500 a month in low-competition areas. Yet, you might assume that your firm’s education and experience are enough to speak for themselves.
Your law firm needs a website and SEO because 90% of Americans use the internet. There’s a better chance your clients will find you via Google search than looking through a phone book. Using SEO on your website can set you apart from your competitors and guarantee more web traffic.
If you’re a member of an old-school law firm, you might be hesitant to create a website, let alone invest thousands in SEO. So, we’re going to review the reasons every law firm needs a website and why SEO is important.
Since your law firm doesn’t have a website, that probably means you depend on outdated methods of advertising and marketing. Maybe you’re sending out monthly flyers, airing 30-second ads on TV, or setting up a massive billboard.
If each of these advertising methods didn’t work, then they wouldn’t still be in use.
The problem is that most of your potential clients are using the internet to search for a law firm. As a modern-day lawyer, you know that you have to go where your clients are.
Thanks to the availability of laptops and smartphones, there’s no denying that just about every American uses the internet at least once a day.
Let’s take a look at the stats:
Now, let’s go over what this all means for you.
Based on the data above, you can see that a majority of Americans use the internet, and a good portion would depend on Google (or other search engines) to find a law firm.
That doesn’t mean that every potential client is finding you via the internet.
What it does mean is that not having a website means you’re missing out on a good percentage of leads or clients. If a potential client doesn’t even know your law firm’s name and can’t find your website, then they’ll turn to another local firm.
A law firm is a great way to get your firm’s name out there and recruit clients.
Your website isn’t just meant for advertising and hoping potential clients read your blog or review some of your testimonials.
Your website is your first interaction with a client – meaning it’s your chance to make a good first impression.
That means your website can provide your clients with the following information:
Law firm websites help potential clients to filter out which law firms are ideal and which aren’t worth their time. That also means that your website is the perfect way to convince your clients that you’re worthy of their time and money.
The internet also gives prior clients the opportunity to give you reviews and testimonials.
This allows potential clients to read about the experiences that others have had when working with your firm. If the reviews are positive, you’ll probably be getting even more calls.
In fact, about 89% of users would want their law firm to have at least an average of a 4-star review or higher.
So if your law firm is known for doing a good job, then your online presence (website and reviews) helps to guarantee positive experiences with clients in the future.
You don’t have to spend $100,000 designing a personalized website for your law firm.
Yet, you should be doing a bit more than using the basic plan on WordPress and hoping it sparks local interest in your firm. Your website needs to be up-to-date, factual, informative, and even visually appealing.
Here’s a look at a few things your law firm’s website should include and why:
Most importantly, make sure your website is easy to navigate and displays important information visibly. That means your clients shouldn’t have to search endlessly to find your contact information to give you a call.
Creating a website for your law firm is a great first step. The problem is that very few people will actually end up on your website unless you make it search engine friendly.
That means you should invest in SEO (search engine optimization) services.
Let’s talk about what SEO is first.
Think about the last time you used Google. You typed in a few words or even a sentence and then clicked on one of the first websites that were listed.
The words you entered into Google are known as “keywords.”
In order to entice people to visit your website, you need to include keywords on your website that help your site to show higher up on Google searches. The higher up on Google your website appears, the greater the chance users will visit.
Yet, it’s much more than including a keyword once or twice on your site.
SEO takes months of hard work and effort to see results, which is why most law firms will hire SEO professionals to take the bull by the horns.
Adding a few keywords to your website every now and then sounds easy, but there’s a lot more to SEO than just that.
SEO also includes:
The more persistent you are, and the more skilled your SEO professionals, the greater the results. Your goal is to see your website as one of the first spots on Google for at least one keyword related to your firm.
You might be spending well over $2,500 a month for this service for probably more than a year.
But, the results you see will help to drive traffic to your website, generate a larger number of leads, and guarantee greater revenue.
A crucial aspect of this process is conducting regular link audits. These audits help you assess the quality and relevance of your backlinks, which play a significant role in your site's authority and ranking.
Understanding the importance in SEO of maintaining a clean and robust backlink profile cannot be overstated.
By identifying and disavowing low-quality or spammy links, you protect your site from potential penalties and ensure that your link-building efforts contribute positively to your SEO strategy.
If you want your law firm to continue thriving as the technological age continues, then it’s in your best interest to create a website and invest in SEO.
Not only will this give your clients information about your firm before reaching out, but it’ll also help to guarantee that more people end up visiting your website.
The more people that end up visiting your site, the more likely you are to get calls or emails from interested clients. This translates over to higher income and revenue with due time.
