Aside from dealing with difficult clients and long hours, lawyers say that the most challenging aspect of their job is generating new clients (source).
The lack of new clients is not due to a lack of trying.
Law firms spend millions of dollars on marketing and advertising campaigns to try and generate new business.
The reason why so many law firms struggle to get new clients is because so many are deploying the wrong strategies.
This graphic above is proof. None of the strategies listed up there are effective.
If there’s anyone that understands the power of marketing and advertising, it’s lawyers.
Without it, no one will know your law firm exists, especially if you’re just starting out. Relying solely on word-of-mouth would require folks to know others who went through a similar ordeal — what are the odds of that?
With all the resources today, it’s easy for lawyers to attract a ton of traffic. The problem is converting them into qualified cases (aka NO tire kickers).
The problem isn’t the marketing, it’s the strategy. Most lawyers have issues with two things:
Using channels that require a ton of effort that you simply don’t have time for
Wasting money on expensive methods that should be redirected to efforts with higher result
Let’s investigate this further.
Expensive BBBs (bus, bench, and billboard ads)
It seems the legal industry has a monopoly on bench ads — everywhere you look in metro areas, you’ll find a lawyer on the back of a bench or cruising by on the side of a bus.
Makes sense to use these mediums because these items are seen by thousands of people each day.
However, there’s 2 reasons why you should NOT:
They’re expensive
They don’t work
Sure, it may help your law firm’s “brand” to be visible to so many, but very few (if any) of those people will ever seek your services.
Also, just being visible doesn’t mean people are actually seeing your ads.
Studies show that very people people pay attention to these types of ads, because they are almost always buried in their phones when present.
Social media (paid and organic)
Social media is the virtual version of cities that might generate visibility for law firms. However, social media platforms don’t make this easy.
You see, social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn use algorithms that prioritize certain types of posts published by certain types of profiles.
If you don’t understand the algorithm and how to rank on it, then your organic social media posts will go unseen.
So unless you have a large following — which can take months or even years to achieve — you’re stuck with low reach and engagement.
Most lawyers lack time to dilly and dally on social media to grow an engaged audience. So unless you’re a natural content creator and have an audience, then it’s not ideal to start with.
But what about paying for visibility?
That’s a valid option — you can pay social networks to boost an organic post (aka sponsored posts) based on your targeting options. And you can use social media ads.
There’s nothing wrong with paid social, but it should be something you invest in after dominating Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). After all, that’s where people go to look for legal help…not social media.
Where top law firm’s leads actually come from
Ask any successful law firm – they will tell you Google plays a critical role in generating leadsandclients.
Instagram, billboards, FB Ads are all casting a wide net, hoping someone who sees it is “in market” for legal services.
Marco Brown owns a family law firm that will generate $8m in revenue this year. He cites Google as the source of 80% of their signed cases.
Google is the opposite. There’s thousands of people in your city actively searching to hire you. The law firms who get found generate hundreds of phone calls each month.
But…You already know how important Google is. You’ve probably hired an agency to help and they over-promised and under-delivered.
It’s not their fault – they’re trying, but they’re pushing a boulder up a hill.
“Traditional” SEO is dead – it simply does not work like it used to.
“Traditional” SEO?
Traditional SEO means optimizing a website the same way it’s been done for the last 10 years, with the goal of trying to rank your website in the organic listings in Google.
This is where most law firms find themselves – aware that they need search engine traffic, but unable to get the results from SEO or PPC campaigns.
Let’s break down why so many law firms struggle with search marketing by taking a look at Google when searching for an “miami divorce attorney”:
There’s a million things happening in Google that fracture the searchers attention.
All of these sections attract eyeballs and clicks – if you’re not attacking all of them, your campaigns will fail.
The key to generating more leads from search engines in 2024 is to be hyper present in all elements of search…aka a “Blended Search” approach.
“Blended Search”: The key to more cases (and fewer tire kickers)
Dominating the search results sounds like a master plan. But how does it actually work? We use a proven strategy to help law firms appear in all areas of the SERPs.
But enough talk — here’s how we do it.
1. Local service ads (LSAs)
Local Service Ads are the first thing you’ll see when you search for your target keywords.
Any search that’s localized (i.e. Miami, near me, etc) these ads will show.
LSAs are a newer ad placement from Google. They were launched to help democratize advertising and make it more accessible to more businesses. LSAs are great because they are pay per lead – meaning you only pay Google for a connected phone call. These are different than your traditional PPC ads, LSAs run through their own platform and require their own separate setup and maintenance.
This is the first placement we use to attract the eyeballs of your best prospects. They include a photo of you and important details about your law firm:
All the factors people care about when hiring an attorney. We help your law firm appear in these results by:
Optimizing bidding strategies to ensure you show up on top of searches
Testing service areas and locations in your target markets
Generating new reviews to showcase on your profile
Tracking and monitoring results
This process helps you get quality clicks that are most likely to convert into big bucks for your firm.
Struggling to get your LSAs to work? Here’s 5 hacks you can try that will get them dialed in.
2. Paid search (Pay Per Click Ads)
The next result type are almost always paid search ads (aka PPC Ads). PPC Ads offer much more flexibility in terms of targeting, as LSAs will only show up for localized queries.
PPC Ads also have a different model – you pay for every “click” your ads receive, with LSAs you pay per phone call.
Depending on the keywords you’re bidding on, the cost per click varies. It can range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars.
While we always recommend both PPC and LSA, the biggest benefit to PPC Ads over LSAs is targeting.
PPC ads open the door to finding what we call “winning keywords”, and also excluding bad keywords with negative keyword lists.
Continuous maintenance and testing of your AdWords account will produce higher quality leads at lower costs.
Getting your PPC ads profitable is a process that takes time. That process includes:
Tracking: Setting up conversion tracking so you can see which keywords are driving leads and signed cases at the best cost
Keyword research: Analyzing the search terms in your market, building offers, and prospective clients to determine the best keywords to test
Landing page design: Creating a custom and optimized landing page where all ad traffic will go (and a major key to converting visitors into leads)
Ad copywriting: Designing an ad with only two sentences of text and no visuals (where copywriting expertise is critical — we work with the best)
Setting up an ad campaign: Building your Google Ads campaign to run and monitor ads (this is where you’ll monitor what’s working and what’s not)
A/B testing: Experimenting with elements to see what converts best (e.g., different headlines, calls to action (CTAs), and offers)
Scaling winners: Seeing what works to zone in on those keywords and maximize results
Watch out detailed guide on PPC Ads for Law Firms.
3. Local SEO (aka Google Maps Pack)
The next placement in search is the most powerful – our data shows that over 50% of our client’s leads come from The Google Maps Pack.
Unlike the first two tactics, this isn’t a paid strategy. The goal to appear in the top three results for local queries organically.
This placement is so powerful for a number of reasons:
People prefer organic listings over paid ads
The Maps pack takes up a ton of real estate in the SERPs
The Maps pack features reviews, pictures and information on multiple law firms without clicking to their websites
Searchers can see proximity to where they are
Ranking in the Maps Pack is tied to your Google Business Profile. You need to have a physical office that’s verified with Google in order to compete here.
When optimizing your GBP, be sure to do the following:
Include critical business details (e.g., business name, address, hours of operation, URL, phone number, and business description using target keywords)Select your business categories (e.g., family law, DUI, etc.)
Add a cover photo (e.g., law firm’s interior, exterior, or even yourself and partners)
Create localized content and landing pages on your website
Solicit reviews from happy clients to boost your credibility (and ranking)
Your GBP isn’t something you do once and forget about. You must consistently update it, such as when your number or address changes or you add more locations.
The final piece of the Google puzzle are the traditional SEO results.
Now I know we originally downplayed their importance, but the fact is ranking here will still have a positive impact on your law firm’s leads.
However, there’s less importance on your website – this is why so many law firms struggle with SEO. Your agency is following a strategy that used to work 5 years ago, but Google’s algorithm has changed significantly in recent years.
Inside of the traditional organic results, you will see:
Review aggregator websites like Super Lawyers, FindLaw and Avvo…
User generated content from forum sites like Reddit and Quora…
People also ask content pulling from informational articles on websites…
Each of these present another opportunity to capture attention and win leads, but you have to modernize your approach in order to do so.
You can’t just “create great content” on your blog and expect leads, you need a more holistic approach to traditional SEO.
Some the things we focus on here are…
Creating accounts on major review sites like Avvo, Find Law and Justia
Fill out your profile completely, including soliciting reviews.
This will help your profile to rank on top of the search results inside those platforms, which in turn will receive eyeballs from Google.
Creating content for People Also Ask
Blog posts, guides, and videos can improve your odds of getting ranked on the first page of Google.
For example, in each blog post, we recommend having an FAQ section that targets People Also Ask questions box.
Content marketing is another “free” marketing strategy that can land you spots in the PAA box, snippets, and #1 spot in the search results.
To achieve these positions, you can use various forms of content, including blog posts, guides, and videos. The idea is to use your winning keywords to optimize your content.
These keywords should appear in your title, one or two subheadings, and sprinkled throughout the post.
Here’s an example that targets the term “slip and fall lawsuit”:
You see the title at the top uses an exact match keyword, then the H1 at the bottom uses a related keyword “slip and fall claim.” Using a mix of keywords helps your content rank for multiple search terms (not everyone searches the same).
Plus, it tells Google your content is super relevant to the target audience.
This covers ranking high on organic search — what about getting the snippet?
Capturing more snippets (and eyes)
There are tactics you must use to capture to gain a snippet.
For one, you must structure your blog post or landing page a certain way.
For instance, if the question is “What is the common sentence for DUI offenses?” then you’ll create an H2 or H3 sub-heading that asks this question. In the paragraph beneath, it should answer this question clearly.
For example, the first sentence can start like this: “The most common sentencing for DUI offenses is between x and y, but depends on several factors, such as…”
This tells Google you’re answering the question, which will help their searchers. And that’s all Google cares about — making a great search experience for people.
Build quality content and backlinks
Content marketing is another area that requires consistency to reign supreme.
In other words, you need to publish quality content regularly to show Google your site is relevant and fresh.
When building client content machines, we select the topics and use legal professionals who understand your industry to write your blog posts. This exudes authority and trust, which is vital for turning visitors into leads.
Watch how to generate more leads with SEO right now.
Results from using “Blended Search” marketing
“Blended Search” marketing is an in-depth approach to dominating the first page of Google. But how well does it work for converting high-quality traffic into leads…and leads into sales?
Cueto Law Group, a legal client of ours, saw its monthly visitors grow from 40 to nearly 7K within one year. That’s a 12,947% increase.
And another one of our clients, Brotman Law, saw its monthly visitors grow by 248%, from 8,609 to over 30K.
Every time we run a sprint (three in all), we see massive gains:
But how will you know it’ll work for you?
Well, our engineering team built a tool that predicts the results of lawyer SEO campaigns based on your site’s data, past performance, and competitive market. So before we begin working on PPC for lawyers, they know exactly what outcomes to expect.
Like law, marketing is best left to the experts
Cases to read. Motions to file. Consults to give. There’s a lot on your plate as a lawyer — why add another side?
Marketing isn’t something you can jump into and learn overnight. It requires many years of experience learning the craft and building proven processes.
So avoid the learning curve and continue doing what you do best: winning cases. Allow us to manage lead generation so you can avoid tire kickers and get more high-quality leads calling your office.
Our Traffic Projection Tool Will Show Your Website’s True Potential (aKA How Much Money You Should Be Making).
Using data from your website, our Traffic Projection analysis can accurately forecast how much traffic (and revenue) your website could be getting from Google.
