Good content is essential to any law firm’s website. But the need for good content is especially important for a law firm that handles several different practice areas. The fear of diversifying your law firm’s practice areas is likely founded on the idea that providing different law practices portrays you more like a jack-of-all-trades and not an expert in a specific area. The latter is an honest fear, and if you do not establish yourself and your law office right from the very beginning, it can be hard to undo the perception as an attorney who knows a bit versus an attorney who has expertise in each practice area.
The distinction between the latter two is founded on good written content on your law firm’s website.
Content Creation for Different Practice Areas
There is no reason you can’t portray yourself as knowledgeable and adept in all the areas of law you practice. To establish yourself as knowledgeable and experienced in each practice area, you need to show it. And to show it, you need to provide lots of information, especially the kind your potential clients want (and are searching for).
For example, imagine you have three main practice areas: criminal law, personal injury, and family law. You can present yourself as an expert (without naming yourself as such unless you are board certified by your respective state) by providing a stream of information. Below is an example of the content pages (and navigational structure) you could implement.
For each content page:
- Develop it by answering common questions clients have;
- Clearly discuss the topic in language the potential client understands;
- Provide internal links to other pages within your website to provide additional context;
- Use the right tone and style for each specific area of law, e.g., criminal defense may require a more aggressive tone while personal injury and family law require a more compassionate tone — whichever tone you choose, make sure it is consistent with your brand and with the approach your law firm actually takes, and in this way, you can continue to promote your brand in the minds of potential clients who may need you one day for a personal injury, one day for a divorce, and another day for a DWI charge.
Key Takeaways
- You can market yourself in several different areas of law, you just need to do so strategically.
- To present yourself as experienced in any given practice area to your potential clients, you must develop and build-out content for each area of law.
Developing Your “About Us” Page
The “About Us” page is critical to your brand. On this page, you’ll provide information on your law firm, why you exist, and how you approach law. Make sure that not just one practice area is explored on this page, but all practice areas are explored.
Some lawyers have the tendency to focus on their primary interest. For example, referring to the above three practice areas again, an attorney who prefers criminal defense may focus only on criminal defense. If you are trying to expand your legal services into other practice areas, you should not focus solely on your primary interest because that may give the wrong impression.
Imagine: A potential client arrives on your website via an organic search and is interested in filing a lawsuit for a car accident. That potential client happens upon the “About Us” page to get to know your law firm a bit more and sees information only on criminal defense. What will this potential client think? Might they think it indicates your personal injury practice is secondary to your criminal defense practice? For someone serious about getting compensation, he or she wants to retain an attorney serious about personal injury law.
Key Takeaways
- The “About Us” page is used to elaborate on — and substantiate — your brand.
- If you want to provide legal services in different practice areas, you have to market each practice on the “About Us” page where your brand comes to life.
Developing Attorney Profiles
As the “author(s)” of your website, you must provide “proof” of your legal abilities and authority. The attorney profile page(s) is where you prove your authority in the law by outlining your experience.
The same is true on this page as it is on the “About Us” page: each practice area should be mentioned. You can intermix the experience or you can divide the page into sections to discuss your experience or interests in each practice area.
If you are a small law office with several attorneys, make sure that a visitor can easily identify which attorneys practice in which areas of law. You should make sure, too, that each area of law you offer in your practice is represented by an attorney.
Key Takeaways
- Attorney profiles establish your authority to speak about the specific area of laws you practice.
- Make sure each area of law in your practice is represented and easily identified either within an individual attorney profile or among a set of attorney profiles.
Developing Law Firm Website Blog Posts
Blogs are an excellent marketing tool for any law firm website. They are used as a great way to employ longtail questions that potential clients naturally ask and that search engines provide in response to clients’ questions. They are also used to discuss current topics or trends in the law or to elaborate on specific nuances of any given practice area.
One thing you may not think about blog posts is this: they can be a great unifier. You can use the blog to bring together all aspects of your website. For instance, using the same three example practice areas above, you may write about domestic violence and divorce and how the two impact each other and the benefits of a law firm that can represent you in both areas and has specific insight into the issue.
That’s where the strategy comes in. Make sure your blogs are organized appropriately by topic so that a visitor can easily search them. But you also want to cross-market your practice areas to identify the special insight you have versus an attorney who only practices in one area, and as a result, has not had the opportunity to develop the same competencies as you have.
Key Takeaways
- Blogs can be organized according to topic for ease of searching.
- Blogs can provide valuable opportunities for SEO by developing posts around longtail keywords.
- Blogs can be used to strategically identify your unique qualities, including the insight you gain above other attorneys by providing legal representation in different practice areas.
Organizing a Law Firm Website With Multiple Practice Areas
Each area of law must have its own home on your website. Distinct practice areas should be treated as such.
The more practice areas you have and the more content you provide, the larger your website becomes and the more complex the navigation system also becomes.
Good website organization does many things. First and foremost, it allows for a user-friendly experience due to the ease of navigation and visitors ability to find the information they seek. Keeping your website organized is requisite to a good marketing plan for multiple practices.
