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The legal field is crowded, particularly in Florida. In the Sunshine State alone, there are more than 78,000 practicing attorneys. And it can seem like you are competing against every last one of them for clients! The question of how to market your law firm isn’t just academic; it’s key to survival and growth.

Here, we have a five-step law firm marketing plan filled with top tips for marketing your legal services and achieving your business-building goals.

1. Leverage Your Law Firm’s Website

Your website is one of your most potent marketing and advertising tools; use it to act as an all-day, everyday sales rep. To do this effectively, it must be:

• Fast. If your site doesn’t load completely within three seconds, visitors will simply give up. Short attention spans and busy lives mean that your website needs to be lightening fast. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to see how quick your site is - and how you can make it leaner and meaner.

• Mobile-Friendly or Mobile-First. More searchers are looking for legal services on-the-go or use mobile first or only. If your site doesn’t display across all devices optimally, again, you will lose visitors to competitors’ sites that do.

• User-Friendly. Build your website for searchers - not search engines. It should be easy to navigate, clean, simple, and intuitive. People shouldn’t have to wander around aimlessly or wonder what to do. Make it easy for them to engage with your firm and to contact you. The bonus here is that Google rewards such sites with higher search rankings. Win-win.

2. Use Content Marketing

People need to feel confident in and comfortable with placing their trust in an attorney. How can they do that if they are not sure of their credentials, of their experience, of their insights or expertise? Content helps you demonstrate your authority, your mastery of the law, and your key differentiators.

Develop blogs, articles, whitepapers, videos, webinars, podcasts, infographics, and other content that delves into the questions that potential clients have. Pose solutions. Position yourself as the answer for which they have been searching.

Again, this has a two-fold benefit. You convey your leadership in the law to searchers, and you gain higher search rankings because you are relevant, informative, and authoritative.

3. Develop a Search Engine Optimization Strategy

Content marketing and SEO go hand in hand in today’s digital landscape. SEO is the art and science of making sure that your website (and thus, your firm) has maximum visibility in the search engine results pages. Techniques like utilizing carefully searched keywords that reflect the searches potential clients are conducting, using Google Featured Snippets, optimizing images, and targeting people by location can boost organic traffic.

But also consider paid search. For example, PPC ads can target people in your location and during specific stages of their customer journey. When your ad pops up at just the right time, it increases your clicks and conversions.

4. Optimize Your Presence In Legal Directories

But first, claim your business on Google My Business and make sure your profile is accurate and complete. This will help boost your search engine rankings, as it includes key information (e.g. contact details), client reviews, images, videos, directions, maps, and more.

Now find relevant legal directors and claim your listing. Again, make sure your profile is complete and the details are accurate. Some options to consider:

• FindLaw

• Nolo

• Lawyers.com

• Avvo

• Justia

• Best Lawyers

These are top directories, and searchers often visit them when trying to find a lawyer or conducting research to help them make a decision regarding hiring an attorney.

5. Track and Analyze Progress

How do you know if your law firm marketing plan is working? You won’t unless you track key metrics, such as:

• Ad clicks

• Search engine traffic

• Cost-per-Lead

• Booking rates

• Conversation rates

• Leads

• Revenue

• Total new clients

• Referral sources

Analyze the performance of your initiatives (e.g., PPC ads, display ads, social media profiles) and identify areas where you can strengthen or revise your strategy to gain more traction.

Marketing a law practice is a full time job in itself! Ask THAT Agency how to market your law firm, and we'll help develop an effective strategy and begin implementing the techniques and tactics you need to grow your client base and your revenues. We are here to work for you - so you can get back to work for your clients.