How Do Small Law Firms Advertise?

Gone are the days when a law firm could simply rely on billboards and daytime television advertising. Although these do generate some clients for larger firms that can afford a great deal of exposure, small firms typically don’t have a huge advertising budget. Especially in a very competitive market, a small firm must get serious about its online legal marketing presence. 

Although web presence conjures visions of a website overhaul in the minds of many attorneys, your website is only the beginning. Your web presence also relies on how search engines rank your website in terms of its online “authority.” There are many legal marketing strategies you can use to build and optimize your website so it consistently drives clients to your website today but also well into the future. 

Build Your Best Website

Building good websites for purposes of online legal marketing means more than slapping a quick website together. Google looks for quality in the bones of your site. What you will need is:

• A well-known, quality platform (we recommend WordPress)
• An SSL certificate ensuring data security 
• A navigation structure that is responsive and easy to use
• Quality hosting that is highly responsive
• A site that can be found easily by phone as well as computer
• A website that loads quickly
• The ability to analyze where your traffic comes from
• A correctly-optimized site with no spammy keyword stuffing or duplicate content
• Information that is consistent for the name, address, phone number, etc., across the board for all your web presence. 

Ensuring that your site has good bones and your navigation and information is authoritative and user-friendly is one of the fundamental ways your online presence will shine.

Focusing In on a Niche

Small firms do better when they are focused on one area of expertise, not trying to be “all things to all.” Clients look for an expert, and so does Google. Google likes focus and rewards firms that adeptly do this with higher rankings. This is especially critical when a firm has limited advertising dollars. 

Especially in a very competitive market, a small firm must laser-focus on one practice area and geographic market in their online efforts to get the results they need. 

Keyword Research

Driving traffic to your site depends on how you optimize your content for focus words, or “keywords.” These are words and phrases that searchers will use to find you. Although there are the obvious ones, there are also multiple variations. Some will be far less competitive and provide you with better page rankings than more commonly searched terms. It is essential to have a legal marketing strategy that can understand and use keyword data to your advantage as it applies to your particular market and geographic area. 

Use Google My Business to Your Advantage

Legal marketing is very geography-specific. Clients look for lawyers in their own backyard. Using a Google My Business listing is a perfect way for you to get geographically fine-tuned exposure and for potential clients to find you. Never underestimate the power of showing up on the first page of a search, complete with photos, hours of business, and even Google maps showing where you are located. 

Posting consistently on your Google My Business listing, offering relevant and keyword-driven information, is a simple and powerful way for local clients to find your services. 

Get Professional Help

Legal marketing takes time, knowledge, and diligence.

At BSP Legal Marketing, we use time-honored, industry-proven strategies to help your clients find you when they need you most. As experienced legal marketing professionals, we help make your law firm stand out from the crowd. Contact us to see how we can help you.