15 Smart Ways to Generate More Leads for Your Law Firm

Lawyers and law firms are increasingly turning to the online world for lead generation. Luckily, there are many ways to acquire leads quickly and effectively online. The following 15 lead generation tactics can be used by law firms of all sizes and practice areas. The key is to test and modify to make them work for your target audience.

Here are 15 foolproof ways to generate more website leads for your law firm:

Lead Generation for Law Firms

In the past, law firms could easily generate leads and bring on new clients through word-of-mouth strategies and networking. While these are still great options, they shouldn’t be a law firm or lawyer’s only approach if they want to remain competitive. Now, lead generation strategies should involve well-thought-out marketing tactics. As we studied law firms last year in the Social Law Firm Index, we found that the vast majority had a social media presence, an active blog, and were using SEO tactics. Now it’s essential that law firms get creative with their lead generation strategies.

1. Optimize Your Web Page Layouts for Conversions

All your online lead generation efforts must start with your website. It’s no good generating traffic to your site if those visitors then decide to leave without taking action. There are certain best practices that all of the pages on your website should follow to maximize your visitor-to-lead ratio:

• Use simple language instead of over-complicating your copy.
• Make your copy visually appealing by laying it out in bullets and shorter paragraphs.
• Use a judicious mix of images and videos.
• Keep the page brief, and prioritize value over length.
• Place prominent call-to-actions (CTAs) above the fold.

2. Use Heatmaps to Pinpoint Conversion Barriers on Your Website

Website heatmaps are a popular conversion optimization tool. They gather all the data on how visitors behave on your site and help you make informed optimization decisions. They eliminate the confusion caused by numbers and represent data in an easy-to-understand manner. Heatmaps can report on:

• Whether or not clear friction points exist. For instance, site elements that seem to be clickable but are actually static.
• How visitors interact with calls-to-action.
• Which areas visitors interact with the most, as well as which page elements prevent them from following the conversion path.

3. Personalize Your Calls-to-action with Dynamic CTAs

Call-to-actions (CTAs) are a tool used to prompt your visitors, leads, and clients to take action. For instance, encouraging users to “subscribe now” or “download now.” 

CTAs used to be the same for every visitor that clicked to your site. Now, user data is constantly being collected, transforming how we utilize call-to-actions. Law firms can pinpoint a visitor’s location, browsing history, whether they’re already a client or a lead, and much more. This information can then be used to serve varying CTAs to website visitors, called dynamic or “smart” CTAs. Dynamic CTAs work just like regular CTAs, except for one major difference: the ability to dynamically change the text based on the type of user viewing it. According to HubSpot research, personalized calls to action convert 202% better.

4. Offer Gated Lead Magnets Throughout Your Website and On Social Media

A lead magnet is something of value that you offer your website visitors for free in exchange for their contact information. They typically consist of digital, downloadable content, such as a free PDF checklist, eBook, whitepaper, survey, etc. The main purpose of a lead magnet is to convert an unknown reader into a point of contact that you can market to in the future. As for the download form, make sure you request only essential details to avoid making the visitor feel like they’re filling out a long application. You can promote your gated content in multiple ways, such as pop-ups on your website or as calls-to-action (CTAs) within your blog posts.

Promoting gated content on social media is one of the easiest ways to generate leads for your law firm. Social media is a great megaphone to get your content out in the world, and by developing posts that direct to landing pages where prospects are prompted to fill out a form, you can generate new leads and nurture existing ones in your marketing database.

5. Offer a Free Consultation

Often what holds people back from making contact with a brand is the idea that they must be ready to commit to your service or that the sales cycle will move too fast. Instead, offer a free consultation. You can promote this on your website, in the CTAs of your blog, and in your social media bios. People will be more likely to make contact, and then you can focus on nurturing them from there.

6. Host Webinars

Webinars are a great opportunity to generate more leads for your law firm. Webinars are to online lead generation what conferences and events are to offline lead generation. In order to attend your webinar, people must submit their contact information during the registration process. A successful lead-generating webinar all comes down to picking a timely and unique topic that your target audience is interested in, getting the right presenters on board, and effectively promoting it.

Related: Account-Based Marketing (ABM) for Law Firms

7. Set Up a Lead Generation Campaign on Google Ads and Personalize Your Ad to Match Search Intent

With Google Ads, you can instantly appear on page one and be in front of prospects searching for your solution to their problem. And to increase the likelihood of generating leads even further, you can use dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) to customize an ad to a searcher’s search query. People are much more likely to click on a headline that reflects more closely what they were searching for.

For example, you can have a Google Ad Group for your personal injury firm that includes keywords such as car accidents, construction accidents, and slip and falls. With dynamic keyword insertion, you can show people who search for “car accidents” the words car accidents, people who search for “construction accidents” that phrase, and so on, in the ad text itself.

8. Create Remarketing Campaigns to Keep Website Visitors Engaged Until They Convert into Leads

If you have strong site traffic but aren’t seeing the conversion rates you’d like, remarketing (also referred to as retargeting) can help. Oftentimes, people don’t fill out a lead form on their first visit. But that doesn’t mean they’re not interested; it just means they’re not ready. By serving display ads to this highly qualified audience, you keep your law firm top of mind and create additional opportunities for conversions.

9. Use a Live Chat Tool

Having a live chat tool increases an organization’s conversions by 3.87%. Now with AI, having a live chat tool is easier than ever. Live chat can be used to make contact with a website visitor early on and helps move them down the marketing funnel so that they can turn into a lead.

10. Get Featured on Guest Blogs 

Guest blogging is the act of writing an article for another website. Unlike ghostwriting, this blog will include you as the author and will most likely link back to your site. This is a great creative option for lead generation, as it gets your name and information in front of a whole new audience.

11. Focus on Reviews and Directories

Gaining positive reviews on Google and different legal directories is a great way to generate leads. Start by filling out your Google My Business profile and reaching out to different legal directories to get your firm posted. Entice your clients to leave reviews by offering something in exchange. As people leave reviews, make sure to respond.

12. Conduct Surveys

People love to feel like their voice is being heard. Conducting surveys helps you accomplish a couple of things. On the one hand, you’ll be able to learn more about your audience and their preferences. On the other hand, this survey will entice people to engage with your firm. After they’ve engaged with your firm in this new and exciting way, you can focus on nurturing them with other points of contact like emails.

13. Answer Legal Questions

Many lawyers have gained traction by answering questions online. Conduct social listening by looking at industry social media groups and trending hashtags. You can create blog content or social media videos where you answer common questions or engage directly with users by replying to their posts. Some great platforms for this include LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter.

14. Add Exit Intent Pop-Up Forms

Pop-up forms based on exit intent are a great way to decrease your website bounce rate. Determine which of your web pages have high bounce rates. Then, consider what content that user may be looking for. Whether it’s a lead magnet, blog, or free consultation, have your pop-up form promote that offer.

15. Leverage Testimonials

Testimonials are one of the greatest social proof items out there. Client testimonials offer your audience tangible proof that you can get the job done well. You can include client testimonials on your website, social media posts, emails, etc. Get creative and consider putting testimonials into videos.

Takeaway

These are just some of the most effective lead-generation techniques for law firms. The truth is, what will work best for you depends on the individual factors of your practice. Whichever method you choose, never stop looking for leads, even if business is booming.

Let us help you determine what lead-generation methods work best for law firms like yours. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you generate more leads.