The total number of lawyers in the U.S. has grown exponentially over the last 100 years. Back in the late 1910s, there were only about 120,000 American lawyers. Today, there are more than 1.3 million.

As a result, there are also a lot more law firms than there used to be. If you want to hire a law firm to provide you with legal services these days, you’ll have around 50,000 firms to choose from.

This is what makes law firm marketing so important to all the law firms out there. No matter how good your law firm is, the number of available law firms can make it difficult for your firm to stand out in the crowd.

If your law firm is having trouble attracting new clients, increasing your firm’s brand presence online will help. Here are a few law firm marketing ideas to consider.

Create a Website That Lays Out Your Legal Services

If your law firm doesn’t have a website in place right now, you’re behind the times. It’s absolutely essential for all law firms to have responsive websites up and running.

Your website is going to provide people with the first impression of your law firm. Make sure they get a great first impression by having your website designed by professionals who know exactly what they’re doing.

Additionally, make it a point to lay out the legal services that you can provide for your clients on your website. And do more than just list them on your homepage.

Each legal service that you’re capable of providing to clients should have its own page on your website. The pages should feature in-depth explanations of your services so that people know exactly what they can expect from you.

And of course, updated contact information for your law firm should be strategically placed in different areas of your website. Make it as easy as possible for people to get in touch with you if they decide they want to take advantage of your services.

Make an Investment in Search Engine Optimization

In 2018, you need to do more than just set up a website for your law firm in order to attract attention from potential clients. You also need to ensure your website shows up in searches when people Google law firms in your area.

The only surefire way to do this is by investing in search engine optimization, which is better known as SEO.

You can attempt to learn how to stay ahead of the search engine algorithms and put your website on the first page of Google searches if you want. But it could be a very time-consuming process. You also might not get the results you want if you try to master SEO on your own.

Rather than going that route, bring an experienced SEO company on board. They’ll be able to add keywords to your site and take other steps to make sure your site starts showing up in searches more often.

Set Up Social Media Accounts for Your Law Firm

Your website is all set up. Your SEO is under control. You’re well on your way to doing effective law firm marketing for your company.

But you shouldn’t stop there. In addition to having a fully functioning website that ranks well, you should also use social media to your advantage. It’s the simplest way to connect with potential customers without spending a fortune.

Your law firm should have social media accounts set up on:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• And more

People will have an easier time finding your law firm if you have social media accounts. They’ll also be able to interact with you easily and even browse through any reviews you might have from past clients on social media.

The one thing you do want to keep in mind when it comes to social media, though, is that it can be tough to keep up with it. Updating social media can turn into more trouble than it’s worth when you have a million and one other things going on.

A social media management company can take care of this problem for you. They’ll keep your social media sites updated so you don’t have to worry about doing it yourself.

Set Up a Pay-Per-Click Advertising Program

It can cost you a fortune to advertise your law firm through the traditional methods like TV, radio, and even newspapers.

Why take that approach to advertising when you could take one that will allow you to get your law firm in front of those who need it most for much less money?

Pay-per-click advertising has become a popular advertising option for law firms that want to establish their presence online. A knowledgeable PPC firm can show you the ropes and let you know how to get more eyeballs on your law firm and your law firm’s website.

Establish Email Lists to Stay in Touch With Potential Clients

As your law firm grows, one of the things you should do is get into the habit of asking clients and those you meet out in the field for their email addresses.

This will allow you to use email marketing to promote your business. Every week or two, you can send an email to those on your email marketing list and let them know about any special services you’re providing.

By doing this, you’ll be able to generate new leads and find people interested in your law firm’s services. It’s one of the most cost-effective ways to build up your law firm’s online presence.

Let Law Firm Marketing Take Your Firm to the Next Level

If your law firm isn’t bringing in enough business at the moment, it’s probably a sign that you need to make law firm marketing more of a priority.

By marketing your law firm more effectively, you can ensure that people know about your business. You can also encourage them to call you instead of your competitors the next time they need legal services.

Contact us to find out more about how law firm marketing works.

Imagine a day like any other day. You arrive at the office, a cup of coffee in hand, and sit down to check your company’s Twitter account.

As you peruse your timeline, you see you’ve received a mention! Excitedly, you click the notification to see what your new friend has to say.

To your horror, it isn’t nice at all. In fact, they’ve concluded their message with a hashtag to boycott your brand. Worse, the tweet already has 200 retweets and it’s starting to go viral!

You’ve got a crisis on your hands and no idea how to solve it.

Reputation management is such an important part of running a modern business. And yet so many businesses neglect it and suffer as a result.

But you can learn from their mistakes. Here’s a brief overview of online presence management along with some tips to help you improve your presence.

Amy’s Baking Company: A Lesson In Why Online Presence Management Matters

Suffice to say, managing an online presence and reputation can a difficult task. Especially in a world comprising of almost two million unique websites.

For a perfect example of why your reputation matters — even when there are two million live websites — let’s look at a perfect example of what you should never do.

Amy’s Baking Company was a small, unassuming restaurant located in Arizona. The struggling restaurant wasn’t known for its food, but it’s owners’ explosive tempers.

The owners would often engage in hostile interactions with their customers, crippling their already hobbled business. These interactions weren’t limited to in-person conversations, either.

In fact, Amy would make a habit of responding to every negative Yelp review in a hostile and angry manner.

Following their appearance on Kitchen Nightmares, customers flocked to review websites and social media to read the reviews and create their own. Following months of online back-and-forths between Amy and her customers, Amy’s Baking Company had to shut its doors for good.

So what can we learn from the disaster known as Amy’s Baking Company?
That your reputation matters so much more than you think. Sure, the restaurant had tons of other problems, but it was ultimately sheer rage and combativeness expressed online that caused the store to shutter.

Ways To Improve Your Online Reputation

If the story about Amy’s Baking Company left you reeling, you’re not alone. It was an eye-opening experience for business owners and served as a perfect example of how a brand’s online reputation can either help or hurt a company.

You can avoid becoming the next Amy’s Baking Company by implementing these reputation monitoring strategies.

Research Your Current Web Presence

In order to improve your reputation, you’ll first need to see how you stack up and how much work you’ll need to do. For now, a simple Google search will suffice, though analytics can help more if you have the time and money.

Type in your brand’s name and scroll until you find it. If your company isn’t located within the first three results, you’re missing out on 61.5% of all search traffic.

It isn’t a death sentence if your company isn’t on the first page of Google, but it does mean that you’ll need to boost your presence significantly.

Generate Reviews

Our prior example is a paramount example of the significance of online reviews. Imagine if Amy and Samy contacted the customer calmly and privately or let the online reviews be altogether.

There’s a good chance they’d still be around today.

As dreadful as the fear of negative feedback can be, it’s more important that your customers have a platform to discuss your company.

You’ll want to focus your efforts on generating as many online reviews as possible. Sites like FourSquare, Yelp, Angie’s List, and the sidebar of Google all allow for free or low-cost business citations and reviews.

Track Your Mentions

Once you’ve completed a bit of rudimentary research, it’s time to better control the conversation about your business. Set up a Google Alerts page for your company as well as your competition.

Whenever someone mentions your business, you’ll receive a notification and can best decide how to handle the comment.

Revamp Your Website

Part of boosting your online presence requires you to make peace with Google. If you’re not adhering to current SEO standards, your website could be in need of an overhaul.

As you begin your redesign, place yourself in the shoes of your customers. Google prioritizes usability, so a simple, elegant website will rank higher than a complicated mess any day.

Use Your Web Presence To Address Customers’ Needs

A large percentage of consumers rely on social media to connect with their favorite brands and seek assistance. As a result, your social media channels are now a hybrid between a marketing tool and a customer service platform.

Always make sure to respond to customers as fast as possible. Remember, customers have more choice than ever. It won’t take much for them to turn to your competitor. But a fast remedy to their problem could boost your customer retention.

If it isn’t abundantly clear by now, you’ll also want to remain kind and patient — even if the customer isn’t. Take the issue offline as fast as possible and work with them to solve the issue in a private manner.

Finally, don’t remove the initial comment, even after the problem is fixed. Responding to their comments shows that your company is listening and that your brand is willing to make things right.

Don’t Fight Negative Reviews

No one likes getting criticized, but the fact remains that the Internet is much like the Wild West. People can more or less do and say what they want with little to no consequences.

It’s up to you to react accordingly.

There are only two circumstances in which you should ask a site to take down a review: If the review qualifies as harassment or if it’s outright false and you can prove it.

Otherwise, leave negative reviews be and address them as discussed in the previous section.

Should you attempt to remove a negative review otherwise, customers may see your attempt as a way to silence them, thus making a bad situation worse.

Get Your Reputation Back With These Online Presence Management Solutions

As you can see, your online presence management can have a massive impact on your brand’s success. Once you’ve managed to grow that presence, don’t forget to do your best to keep hold of the conversation.

It may take some time, effort, and a whole lot of deep breaths, but it’ll be worth it once you’ve increased sales and conquered every search engine.

If you’re looking for ways to grow your brand’s presence or manage its reputation, we’d love to help. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can take your brand from invisible to the top of Google.