A Beginner’s Guide to Online Lead Generation for Lawyers

Is your website driving leads for your law practice — real leads that turn into clients?

Online lead generation is the number one challenge for most lawyers and law firms. Leads are getting harder and harder to come by using traditional marketing techniques like print ads or speaking engagements. With fewer quality leads coming in, and many marketing budgets remaining frozen, the cost per lead is increasing. Lawyers and law firms are increasingly turning to the online world for lead generation.

Yet, using the web to generate leads is still something of a mystery for many lawyers. How does a lawyer begin to navigate the complex world of online lead generation and digital marketing? There are so many buzzwords to learn (inbound marketing, outbound marketing, impressions, conversions, bounce rate, etc.), and so many acronyms to decipher (SEO, SEM, PPC, CTM, CPC, etc.).

Where do online leads come from?

It all starts with your website. Your website should be the hub of all your online marketing and online lead generation activities. If you don’t have a professional-looking website that is set up to attract and convert leads, it will be difficult to generate leads online.

With a proper website in place, the next step is to employ digital marketing strategies to drive qualified traffic to your website. Once you have traffic, it’s your website’s job to turn visitors into leads. This is called “converting.” A website converts a visitor into a lead by getting that visitor to provide their name and contact information via a website form or by getting them to call you on the phone and provide this information.

How do I increase my website traffic?

You increase your website traffic through digital marketing tactics. These tactics include:

• Blogging — Writing blog posts that provide valuable information to your prospects and clients and features your target keywords is a great way to attract visitors to your website and help your website rank in search engines for those keywords. These posts are also great for sharing on social media and sending out via email. In fact, research shows that websites with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than those without a blog (HubSpot).
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) — The goal of SEO is simple: Drive traffic to your law firm’s website and raise your search rankings so that prospects can find you. But effective SEO takes time, attention and skill. And the process needs to be implemented every time you publish new content on your website. Review our SEO Checklist for Law Firm Websites.
• Social Media Marketing — This enables you to share your content and engage in conversation with your clients, prospects, and influencers on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. By posting helpful content on social media, you can help drive those social media users back to your website and convert them into leads.
• Email Marketing — Sending helpful, informative emails to a qualified email list will keep you “top of mind” with your target audience and drive people to your website to learn more information. The trick here is to make sure you are sending the right content, to the right people at the right time in order to generate leads.
• Content Marketing — Content is at the core of any successful digital marketing strategy. Without valuable and engaging content, you cannot succeed in generating online leads. When you create helpful content (such as blog posts, videos, webinars, or eBooks), and you tell the world about it (via social media and email) visitors will flock to your website and share that content with others. One added benefit of good content is that other websites may then link to it (as a reference which will enable you to receive traffic from their websites and links!).
• Online Advertising – Advertising online is the most effective and fastest way to drive traffic to your website and generate leads. Using online advertising to retarget website visitors is also one of the best lead-generating advertising tactics out there because it engages people who already know who you are. Unfortunately, most lawyers don’t understand how to properly optimize their online advertising and end up wasting a lot of money without seeing any results. Google Ads (also called Pay-Per-Click) and social advertising on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn provide lawyers with incredible abilities to target their prospects and measure their results.
• Measurement & Analytics – Digital marketing is more of a science than an art. But as with any scientific endeavor, it requires a lot of testing and experimentation. Without data and a method to measure your results, you cannot determine your return on investment nor can you glean actionable insights that you can use to enhance your methods.

Related: 8 Smart Ways to Generate More Leads for Your Law Firm

Takeaway 

These tactics, implemented successfully, can increase the quality of traffic visiting your law firm’s website. The key here is quality traffic, because not all traffic is created equal. Quality traffic and a properly built website with rich and engaging content is where you start. Digital marketing is how you succeed. Once you have qualified leads flowing in, you can then focus on what you do best – practicing law.

If you need help creating quality traffic and a properly built website with rich and engaging content, get started by contacting us today! We’re happy to assess your current website and marketing efforts, listen to your lead generation and business goals, and provide recommendations for how to achieve them.

Updated and Republished from Jul 30, 2020