Peter Boyd is the founder of PaperStreet Web Design, which helps law firms improve their reputation one website at a time.
He recently offered his expert insight on special considerations those in the legal profession should make when designing their websites. Here's what he had to say:
In the late 1990s I was a self-taught computer geek and aspiring lawyer. I noticed that many law firms had, to put it mildly, crap websites (and some still do). I started helping law firms one website at a time. I eventually grew the business from just myself and a dog, to over 25 employees.
Lawyers are typically a bit behind on marketing trends. This is due to regulation on their methods and modes of advertising. However, with the advent of the internet, firm brochure websites began appearing a lot. Firms simply needed help to improve their reputation online and put forth their best image possible. Moreover, lawyers actually advertise a lot. There are no national brands, like in other industries. However, the competition for clients is very strong in all cities. Thus, the need for good internet marketing tactics has evolved for both PPC and SEO.
I see several bad trends:
1. For design: Poor artwork and lack of message on the home page (and subpages). Firms still go with cheesy three word tagline, that really do not offer a key benefit of their firm or value proposition.
2. For SEO: Firms still rely only on links to try to rank high and this won't work. You need to produce the best resource in your particular practice area.
3. For content: Firms still write about me, me and me. They need to produce content that helps their clients. If they give away educational materials, then they can set themselves apart as an expert.
When working with law firms you need to understand if there are any regulations on their advertising, as some states require submission of their website for review (or ads) and cannot use certain language in the copy like, the word "specialists," for instance. Moreover, you need to understand the law, which is why it works out nicely that I am an attorney who practiced, along with our entire writing team and content director.
We have been helping clients create a valuable resource section on their websites for nearly 15 years. The firms that do typically rank higher, get more clients and set themselves out as an expert. We call this idea a Law Hub of information.
1. Figure out your target audience.
2. Set a goal for your website or internet marketing campaign.
3. Organize your existing content and figure out what you need to write next.
4. Create a value proposition based on what you offer the best and how you can differentiate from your competition.
5. Write. This is the hard part.
6. Create an overall brand that includes your website, social, SEO, pay-per-click and even offline means of marketing.
7. Finally, analyze your efforts and see what you want to concentrate or revise next.
We meet with some clients on a monthly basis, but for most it is a quarterly or six-month basis.
Aside from our own team and their ideas, we use the following tools:
Connect with PaperStreet on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+.
Are your marketing strategies measuring up to their full potential? Do you think your organization could benefit from an inbound approach? Reach out to us to get your free inbound marketing assessment for some valuable insight into your current marketing practices.
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