Seven Digital Marketing Mistakes Law Firms Should Avoid

The evolution of digital marketing trends has brought in rapid changes or unprecedented competition in different business sectors. The legal sector is no exception in this case as this is a highly competitive field. Promoting a law firm is undoubtedly a time-consuming and challenging process. As location-based searches for legal questions or services are quite common, one cannot expect to invest in promotional methods and start expecting the results overnight. Showing up in the most relevant results is important when it comes to strengthening a law firm’s online presence.

Choosing the perfect online marketing strategies will help advertise a law firm to relevant clients. However, even after investing in digital marketing methods, some law firms fail to generate higher ROI. In such cases, it is important to revamp their strategies and identify some common digital marketing mistakes that can be made by a law firm. A quick digital revamping of organic SEO tactics can help law firms to get featured in top search results and thereby build trust and credibility among clients. Legal marketing services provided by a professional company can help attract more targeted audiences to a business and improve brand visibility.

SEO Mistakes to Avoid on a Law Firm Website

Here discussed are seven common digital marketing mistakes that need to be avoided when marketing a law firm –

• Having an Outdated Website – A website that looks backdated, non-functional, and visually unattractive will send a negative message to the visitors. When the content of the website is old and non-informative, not mobile-friendly and difficult to navigate, it becomes extremely difficult to convert website visitors into prospective clients. In fact, the viewers will leave without even considering the quality of services offered by the law firm. In certain cases, the design of a website is not applicable for generating more leads. Lead generation is an imperative aspect for any business. Many law firms don’t have the time to consistently draw insights from their website analytics and make changes based on what they are learning. They may think that their website is good and running, but it is important to pay close attention to the functionalities and other related aspects. Always make sure to utilize your website as a key marketing tool for your company. Make sure to constantly upload new and fresh content while implementing conversion rate optimization strategies to generate more leads.

• Not Having a Clearly Defined Target Audience – Despite the significance of legal marketing, many law firms make this common mistake of not having their ideal clients identified. The traditional marketing techniques may not apply in this modern technology- driven world. Today’s digital avenues involve highly targeted marketing – the opportunity to reach individuals who are in need of the services, at the right time. If a law firm doesn’t identify the relevant clients, their advertising and marketing efforts may not help them achieve success. Focusing on specific targeted audiences is the only way to pinpoint the ideal clients for your law firm. Take time to develop a robust buyer persona, which will help determine the perfect clients as per the market research as well as real data about the existing clients. Then, consider or keep those personas on top of mind when developing any digital marketing strategies.

• Refusing to Request (or document) Online Reviews – Word-of-mouth publicity plays a significant role in legal marketing. Over a couple of years ago, law firms used to be dependent only on word-of-mouth marketing to attract clients. Even though referrals still play a huge role, nowadays, most referrals take place online. Consider the positive reviews, testimonials, and digital referrals as the updated and modern version of traditional word-of-mouth marketing. Therefore, gathering positive online reviews is important. Ask or request your clients to provide online feedback, at the end of service. If the clients are happy, they will give positive feedback without a second thought. Include case studies and add positive and top-quality testimonials to your website. Getting positive reviews on your Facebook or Google pages also helps build brand credibility.

• Not Evaluating Marketing Data – The term “data-driven decisions” is quite significant in marketing for a reason. However, many firms do not use the data available to them to improve their efforts. On a regular basis, firms should pull data from their Google Analytics account, any social tools, inbound marketing programs, and paid campaigns. They should evaluate progress against any specific marketing objectives that they have set, and look for trends. A thorough evaluation will help find areas where a firm needs to spend more resources. Test everything right from email subject lines to PPC ad copy. Lastly, those test results should be used to decide on the next steps.

• Not Investing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – One of the most common digital marketing mistakes law firms make is not investing in SEO. If a law firm website is not optimized for search engines, they are missing out on potential leads that are searching for legal services online. Optimizing a website for search engines is an important part of your online marketing strategy. The higher a website appears on a search engine’s results page, the more visible the law firm becomes and generate more leads. Law firms should ensure that their website is updated and looks professional in order to convert viewers into clients. When it comes to SEO, content is king. That doesn’t mean simply creating content can help a firm achieve their goals. By considering the target audience group, develop a content strategy and do thorough keyword research to incorporate the right terms and phrases that can help rank on page 1 of Google. In addition, law firms should also have an effective social media strategy in order to reach a larger audience group. Relying on the services of an expert digital marketing agency for law firms can help in this regard.

• Lack of Client-centric Educational Content – Providing top-quality educational content is one of the best things a law firm can do to connect with their audiences. Creating content that offers solutions to their target audience’s pain points help law firms to represent the fact that they are leaders in their industry who realize potential clients’ needs. If a law firm does not post any educational content on their website, this will lower their credibility and their knowledge and experience in the areas of practice.

• Not Having a Solid Social Media Strategy– Not having an effective social media strategy is another common digital marketing mistake law firms make. Social media platforms are great tools for building relationships with potential clients and expanding a firm’s reach to a larger group of audience. However, law firms that are not actively using social media channels or promoting their content on social media, are losing out on a great opportunity to expand their reach.

As digital marketing strategies are constantly evolving, there is a relentless need to re-evaluate the strategies and review analytics while avoiding common mistakes. Optimizing a law firm website will give potential clients a better idea about it, the services offered, the areas served and help attract new clients. Learning to avoid the above mentioned common digital marketing mistakes can help a law firm attain a significant improvement in marketing ROI and online lead generation. Relying on the professional services of organic SEO companies can help effectively avoid these common mistakes and thereby improve rankings and conversions.