Most lawyers would like more clients. However, it’s not easy to drive leads in such a completive space. Digital marketing is very effective and can make all the difference in building your practice. We have identified the following Top 10 Digital Marketing Options that in any combination can serve as the foundation for your legal marketing strategy. We hope you find them useful in your practice.

1. Online Presence / Website: Your website is at the forefront of your online presence. Make sure your website reflects the professionalism of your firm and level of service you offer. Having a website that is more than a year or two old can be obvious to your users. Website designs are like the fashion industry and change annually. Also, the site architecture used to create your site can have a big impact on your visibility in Google and other top search engines. Note: Google loves WordPress as your CMS (Content Management System). Stay current, relevant and visible to your local market and update your site every 18-24 months.

2. Legal Blog Posts: Writing blogs or articles and guest posts are a great way to share your expertise in your area of law and drive prospective clients to your website. If you don’t have time, hire a legal copywriter to create 1-2 posts per month on specific topics related to your practice. Google loves the new content and will help to drive more targeted traffic for your firm.

3. Engage Social Media: Today, social media is critical when it comes to informing your community of your legal expertise. Creating organic posts on a single network or all the leading platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google My Business, LinkedIn and Instagram will increase your visibility and reach in the markets you serve. Social Media Marketing is generally a hyper local marketing effort and can generate prospective client leads with a higher close rate. Connect with your local market and engage with your community through Social Media.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Nearly 70% of all internet traffic comes from the organic space of the top search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Driving that traffic to your website generally requires an effective SEO campaign. For lawyers, focusing on Geo-Targeted search terms based on location and specialty tend to achieve the greatest results. For example, “Chicago Tax Attorney” would be far more attainable and deliver more valuable leads than “Tax Attorney”. SEO involves keyword research, link building, blog and article submissions, website modifications including content optimization, metadata Modifications.

5. Local Listings Management: Invest in a Local Listing Management Program to ensure your business profiles are published and accurate on local search engines (Google My Business, Bing, Yelp) and other key search sites including maps, local directories, lawyer portals and voice search. Nearly 73% of all high-intent local search traffic comes from this network of sites (Local Search Ecosystem). This local ecosystem is where the Yellow Pages went and it is where many local search queries end up. Managing so many profiles across so many sites is a difficult and frustrating endeavor. Fortunately, you have many platforms options to choose from and in most cases, it is a low costs marketing investment with instant results.

6. Create Your Brand: Create a logo and a tagline for your firm and get the word out in social media, on your website and all of your stationary, pens etc. If your logo is simply the name of the firm, it is not memorable. Create a professional yet simple logo that will help people remember your firm.

7. Professional Photography: Update the images on your website and social media with professional headshots, group / team photo and action photos that your prospective clients can relate to. Its affordable and will have a big impact on your overall image.

8. Pay-Per-Click (PPC): PPC is any auction-based media platform including platforms like Google AdWords. There are a lot of competitive keywords that can be very expensive. However, if you use the right keywords words (Geo-Targeted or Long Tail) you can drive traffic to your website for less resulting in leads for your practice.

9. Video Marketing: Adding videos to your website or publishing videos regarding your legal services can drive brand awareness, improve search engine visibility and generate more leads for your firm. More than 87% of professionals are using video as a marketing tool today. Why should law firms be any different? Video marketing is effectively preceding traditional approaches such as direct mail, word of mouth, and print. Creating quality videos is not complex and is more affordable than you think.

10. Offer Free Consultations: Who doesn’t love free stuff? Offer a few free minutes of your time as a free consultation and promote this on your website, in social media and as a long-tail keyword in your SEO campaign. Makes for a great introduction to your firm and a chance to generate new leads for your practice.