The Most Common Law Firm Internet Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
When it comes to marketing your law firm, there are countless options available. However, not all marketing positively impacts your firm’s bottom line or case acquisition. Especially in a social media-first world, marketing efforts can often look great without really making a difference to your firm’s growth. This means that you’re potentially wasting time and money on marketing that you could be using much more efficiently and strategically. These are the most common law firm internet marketing mistakes and how to avoid them:
Mistake 1: No strategy alignment
The fastest way to waste your time is to not have a strategy with your marketing. If one day you’re posting about one topic and the next day you’re focusing on something completely different, you’re not helping grow your firm. You’re likely confusing yourself–and your potential clients–while not moving the needle in any particular direction.
Instead of proceeding with chaos, take a moment to create a strategy. What are the topics you’ll focus on, why are you choosing to highlight them, and how will you communicate them? These are basic questions you can start to ask yourself to form a plan that not only makes sense to you, but that will appeal to your clients and provide a sustainable way to market your firm. It may take slightly more time to get started, but those upfront time costs will save you both time and money in the long run.
Mistake 2: Weak website foundation
Your website is the first touchpoint your clients will have with your firm. As a result, it’s important that you establish your law firm website as a solid foundation for your practice. Ensure that pages are optimized for loading speed and SEO. Double check that the navigation makes sense. Confirm all links and contact forms actually work, and that the user experience is clear and easy to follow. These very basic steps will help you avoid the pitfall of a website that serves as a barrier to entry as opposed to a superhighway to your firm’s front door.
Mistake 3: Poor lead tracking
If you’re not tracking your leads, you’re leaving money on the table. Where do potential clients come from? How do they contact you? What services specifically are they looking for? All of this is vital information you can use to better position yourself and your firm in your marketing.
Website analytics can provide much of this information for free, to make it even easier to gather data on your leads. However, you can also maintain notes after receiving inquiry forms, or having a call with a potential client. Use whatever method works best for you, just make sure you have a system in place that allows you to leverage this data, instead of leaving it on the table.
Mistake 4: Inconsistent messaging
As an attorney, you likely have a lot to say. This is often an asset. However, when it comes to your messaging, it’s important that you remain consistent. Even the best lawyers can fall into the trap of inconsistent messaging on their websites. While it’s understandable that you want to demonstrate everything that you know, your law firm website needs to exude polish, professionalism, and clarity. So before you make any edits to your site, take the time to decide what your core message is and how you can translate it to your website copy.
Fix the fundamentals before scaling
The best way to avoid these common marketing mistakes is to go back to the basics and fix the fundamentals before you focus on growth. Although the mistakes may be common, they don’t have to be, especially when you know the available alternatives. Ultimately, shoring up the foundation now will put you in a more stable place as you acquire more cases and naturally emerge as a leader in your niche.
