The past few years have not been kind to any business, and law firms have, by and large, been no exception to the rule. A bad economy does not alleviate the need for attorneys, but it does mean that many people are more reluctant to spend what little money they have on legal services. I know that you’re probably aware of the state of things. You may yourself be struggling to find clients. What I find most lawyers and law firms don’t know is how to go about finding new clients. Unfortunately, this is a class that never gets taught in law school.
If you own or operate a law firm and haven’t had as much new business as you would like, then I want to introduce you to the concept of law firm search engine optimization (commonly known as ‘SEO’). SEO is a spectacular way to find new legal clients, but it’s not the only method you should use. I think it’s the best way, but every lawyer should look down multiple avenues for new clients. Here’s why more law firms should pay attention to search engine optimization:
1. A New Style of Marketing: Traditionally, marketing is divided into 2 categories (inbound and outbound). In general, outbound marketing is an effort by the company in question to reach out to a potential client and initiate a client-relationship (think, for example, of calling a contact who you know might need your legal services). On the other hand, inbound marketing is marketing that aims to make a company visible to any potential clients who are actively looking for services or products offered by that company. If you see a lot of types of advertising and marketing as fitting into both categories, that’s because they do. Law firms have traditionally stuck to outbound attorney marketing, preferring to reach out to people who they think might need their services (ambulance-chasers are a good example). Search Engine Optimization allows you to reach more potential clients more quickly.
2. Cost: This may be the most important reason. You simply don’t want to spend your hard-earned money. Advertising – even in print, but especially on TV – gets very expensive very fast. Don’t read this as meaning that I don’t encourage online advertising. To the contrary, it can be very profitable for your firm. However, SEO is often money better spent. The rankings and traffic that result from good SEO can last for a very long time and can continue to benefit your law firm down the road.
3. Competitors: Your main goal is to take a bigger share of the market, which means you need to be better than other law firms. Many of my clients have found that their businesses are set apart just by the fact that they are at the top of the search engine rankings. There are law firms that already engage in SEO, but there are not as many as there could or should be, and you can take advantage of that fact.
Working at a law firm or by yourself as a solo practitioner, either way, can be daunting and stressful. Marketing, as one of the primary non-legal parts of your practice, should be taken care of first and then essentially forgotten. As I mentioned above, search engine optimization is by no means the only way to get your law firm in front of more potential clients. Given the sheer number of daily searches, it’s no wonder that more businesses and firms are now tapping into that stream of potential customers.
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