When you run a solo law firm, you aren’t just doing billable client work. You are also responsible for growing and managing your business. This means that in addition to being an attorney, you are also the number one salesperson, marketer, customer support rep, website designer, and a bookkeeper in the business.
The most important role to prioritize in your firm, in addition to working with your clients, is sales. After all, if you can’t bring in consistent work, you won’t be in business for very long. One of the best ways to drive new business is through your website.
In this post, we’ll break down the benefits of having a website for your law office, how to create a great one, and the different digital marketing tactics you can implement for your practice.
- Why do you need a great website?
- 3 benefits of having a great website
- How do you make a good law firm website?
- What are some marketing tactics you can use?
Why do you need a great website? [ps2id id=’title1′ target=”/]
In 2020, a great website is a necessity for a solo firm’s marketing strategy. A website isn’t just a digital brochure or a static business listing.
An effective website for your law office has the potential to:
- Explain your services and processes
- Track incoming leads and marketing campaigns
- Generate traffic through SEO and content
- Build your brand awareness
- Establish credibility and trust
- Share your contact information
- Become a 24/7 sales representative on your behalf
Remember that your website is up and interacting with potential clients at any time of day, even after business hours. You should never just set it and forget it. Keep your website fresh by adding new content and updating existing content as needed.
Pro Tip: Not sure how much to invest in building your website? Check out our guide.
3 benefits of having a great website [ps2id id=’title2′ target=”/]
There are many advantages to having a website for your solo practice. Here are the top 3 benefits of having a great website for your firm.
Benefit #1: Attract new clients
Whether the lead comes from client referral, organic search, or paid digital advertising, your site can be used as a tool to bring in new clients. Through various tactics and messaging, you can use your site to point the clients to the next step. For example, ending your about page with a button to call for a free consultation.
Benefit #2: Showcase your expertise
Your website is just the right place to demonstrate your credibility. You can share awards, credentials, and news stories anywhere that makes sense on your website or blog. Additionally, you can use the content on your site to share your legal knowledge with clients.
Benefit #3: Reduce your marketing budget
Having a website can be more cost-effective than other forms of traditional advertising, like TV commercials and newspaper ads. Not to mention, how many people under the age of 50 still receive the print version of their local newspaper? And, even if your target client is over the age of 55, print ads have limited reach and a short shelf life. Once the paper is published, that’s it. The ad is done.
On the other hand, you can spend the same amount of money – if not less – on an in-depth blog post and then run targeted Google and Facebook ads promoting it. This content can stay up on your site for as long as you’d like, and you have more control over who sees it.
How do you make a good law firm website?[ps2id id=’title3′ target=”/]
Each website is unique, and you’ll want to make sure yours doesn’t look like every other firm in your area. While you should inject some of your brand personality into your site, here are some of the main components that all solo law firm websites should have.
Strong headline or tagline
Your headline or tagline should spell out exactly what you do and who you help. For example, the top-rated real estate attorney in Tampa. This is simple and clear. Visitors will know immediately what you do when they visit your site.
Simple navigation
Your site should be easy to navigate. Make sure your menu includes all of the most important pages, such as about us, services, resources, and contact information.
To make sure your navigation is user friendly, ask someone outside of your office to take a look at your site and let you know if they had any trouble finding information.
Helpful content
Good content is the backbone of any business website. Make sure the information you provide is beneficial to your viewers. Don’t just add content to fill a word count. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and ask yourself what they would be searching for. It helps to think of the most common questions you get at your firm.
For instance, if you are an estate planning attorney, do people often email you asking about when they should create their will and how long it takes? If so, create a blog post or FAQ video that addresses the question and prompts the user to contact you if they want help filing the paperwork.
Works across all devices
You should never make a website for just desktop or just mobile users. The fact is that visitors will see your site from a variety of different devices. Your website should be optimized for each. Make sure your site is responsive so it can adapt to any screen that it’s displayed on for a seamless user experience across different devices.
Pro Tip: Looking for some extra design and copy inspiration? Check out these 16 solo attorney website examples here.
What are some marketing tactics you can use? [ps2id id=’title4′ target=”/]
From social media to email marketing and strategic partnerships, there is no shortage of marketing strategies and tactics that solo attorneys can use to attract new clients.
However, It is ultimately about choosing the strategy that you are most comfortable with and can do consistently. Consistency leads to results.
In this section, we outline three of the most popular marketing strategies that solo attorneys use.
Email marketing
Email is one of the few marketing channels available where you aren’t at the mercy of algorithms. Landing in your audiences’ inbox lets you stay top of mind, establish your firm as an authority, and helps you generate new business.
For example, you can send out a weekly newsletter that includes links to blog posts you write, industry news, legal updates, notable recent cases, new awards, guides, and even team bios.
SEO
What happens with SEO is that search engines crawl sites looking for data that reveals if the content on a specific website is relevant to the user’s search query? If your site is optimized and relevant, then it’ll show up higher in the search results.
Pro Tip: Want to learn more about SEO best practices? Check out this post to learn how to rank on page 1 of Google (and how this can lead to more sales).
Content marketing
In addition to boosting SEO results, posting fresh content to your website is a good way to share information and establish yourself as an expert with potential clients. A blog is a common way to publish new content, but it isn’t the only way. You can also post YouTube videos, tutorials and guides, podcast episodes, and live streams, to name a few possibilities.
Pro Tip: Looking for more marketing strategies and tactics? Check out our post on landing more clients.
No matter what direction you take with your website and digital marketing strategy, it’s important to stick with it. Many tactics like SEO are a long-term endeavor. It can take time to see the results from your digital efforts. However, it could be the most important time and financial investment you’ve ever made for your solo law firm.