Attorneys who are already busy with clients, dominate their local competition with referrals, or have impressive interaction on their social media pages may assume their firm doesn’t need a website in 2022. They may see the benefit in having a digital presence, but these lawyers aren’t sure how a website can serve their already profitable practice and current marketing efforts.
Below, we go into detail about why a website is essential for your firm in 2022 and why your other marketing funnels can’t stand alone to attract and convert clients.
Seriously, I Don’t Need More Business!
Even if your firm has all the business you need and can handle today, the work your local competition is putting into their website can change the outcome of your business in the future.
The more time spent weighing the pros and cons of a website for your firm is more valuable time your competition has to improve their rankings on Google and develop trust with potential clients through their web presence. It’s worth any attorney’s time to throw their hat in the ring when it comes to competing for leads. Even if you’re at capacity and cannot assist new leads who contact your firm, you’ll have several great leads to send to other attorneys who can return the favor later on.
What If I Already Dominate Local Competition?
If you’re consistently ahead of your local competition, congratulations! This is even more incentive to drill into your brand awareness and solidify your firm as the best, most credible choice to potential clients through your website.
Brand awareness keeps your firm top of mind when it counts the most. If your new leads are primarily referral-based, this means you have great brand awareness and people know who you are, who you help, and that you do a great job doing it. However, it may be more difficult for the good word to spread without a website address to give to a neighbor or a friend in this digital age.
Social Media Alone Isn’t Cutting It
Social media is an excellent tool for law firms who are looking to build brand awareness and connect with potential clients. While social platforms are excellent ways for attorneys to drive more business, social media can’t replace the function of a website for your firm. Here’s are four reasons why:
You Can’t Own Your Content
The biggest issue with relying on social media to fill in for your website is that you don’t own your social media pages. If Facebook were to suddenly dissolve, so would your firm’s page and any content, testimonials, and media that was posted to your page. This may be unlikely for a social media superpower such as Facebook, but as a reasonable attorney and business owner it’s risky to depend on a social media platform for your entire digital presence.
Websites are a worthwhile investment in your digital presence because you own the content and because the site can continue to drive business to your firm long after it has been created. The content you create for your firm’s website can’t suddenly disappear as it could on a social media platform and it will gain integrity with search engines over time.
You Miss the SEO Advantage
Solely relying on social media for an online presence will not necessarily help your firm perform well in local searches. Consider the search behavior of your potential clients. They’re dealing with serious legal issues and it’s more likely they are turning to Google to find their answers rather than scrolling through Facebook. Potential clients typically use a combination of keywords in the form of complex questions, which Google will then match with the best result. Unless they were to search your firm by name, it’s unlikely your firm would show up before your competition on Google search results without a website.
Also, while it may be difficult or impossible to compete with a larger firm’s substantial paid marketing efforts on social media platforms, your firm’s website is capable of competing with these firms on search engines.
Google emphasizes that informative, well-written content is the best way to appear further up in relevant searches. Potential clients are using search engines more often than social media to seek answers to their legal questions, making this a clear choice when deciding whether or not to invest in a website.
Social Media is Fleeting
Social media operates differently than a website in that it will typically grab the audience’s attention with a single piece of content only temporarily before they move onto the next thing on their feed. This means your posts, ads, and other efforts need to be constantly replenished to remain top of mind and deliver consistent messaging. This can get expensive, especially if you do a lot of paid ads or need to outsource your social media to a marketing agency.
Unlike social media posts and ads, content efforts for your website appreciate over time and work to validate your firm’s website to search engines as a reliable resource for searchers. With LawLytics, you have complete ownership of your content, with each new contribution building on the last to strengthen your firm’s SEO.
Don’t Lose Control of Your Narrative
Attorneys can exercise control over their website in a way they cannot with social media platforms or other marketing efforts. Controlling your firm’s narrative is especially important. Your firm’s website is likely to be the only space on the web where you are in complete control of how you deliver messaging for your practice. A website is also the best place for your highlight reel– no bad reviews, unflattering photos, or irrelevant tags here. Without a website, you may be missing out on the opportunity to effectively communicate your practice and build necessary trust with leads.
Your Potential Clients Expect A Website
Almost every successful business in 2022 has their own website. It’s the most efficient way to show up in Google’s search results and it makes it easy for potential clients to get in touch to hire you. Your firm’s website can set you apart from your local competitors and provide the credibility potential clients seek when making the decision to hire you.
Drive Brand Awareness
Your firm’s logo, colors, and messaging can all become familiar assets to your clients with consistent branding. Brand awareness helps drive business to your firm by keeping you top of mind when someone needs an attorney for themselves or a loved one. Your website is an excellent tool to deliver consistent branding through content, images, and design that are tailored to your firm.
Improve Customer Service
If you’re already a busy law firm owner, you probably know the impact of good customer service. Satisfied clients are more likely to leave glowing reviews and refer you to their friends, both of which have significant influence on potential clients.
If your firm has a website, it can act as a bank of knowledge and resources for clients where they can get in touch, locate your office, get answers to their questions, and even pay their invoices. You can also use your website as a platform to post any important updates or announcements for your firm. Having a “homebase” for clients to return to helps your firm improve its productivity and helps your clients save time. Bottom line: This added efficiency results in happier clients.
Invest in the Long-Term
Your firm’s website yields better ROI over time compared to any other marketing funnel. Website content can be carefully curated for the long-haul, but it can be consumed by clients on-demand, as needed. You can also organize your content in a way that works best to guide potential clients to the answers to their legal questions in a way that is not available on social media platforms. An investment in your website as a reliable source of information to clients is the most effective way to rank higher in search results and convert more leads sustainability.
If you’d like to see a LawLytics site in action, watch our new, five-minute mini-demo. Or, schedule a quick interactive demo to see how LawLytics can help you grow your firm’s digital presence in 2022 and beyond.
