There are, of course, different strategies for marketing a business but the core consideration is identifying what strategy will work best for a given line of business, while limiting costs and barriers.
The majority of law firms have their operations within their locality based on local laws and practices within that geographical area. What this means in effect is that a lawyer’s best way to market their firm is through local marketing. This article is aimed at highlighting the importance and effectiveness of local marketing for lawyers and the best strategies to make it cost-effective.
The effectiveness of local marketing to lawyers
It is worthy to note that for a marketing campaign to be effective, it has to be relevant to the target audience. This means the message has to reach the required set of people at the required time. When the wrong people receive your marketing message no matter how relevant it is in itself, they dispose off the message because it has no relevance to them. Now it is well-known that people prefer to work with a lawyer that is within their area of residence — one that is conversant in the laws and statutes effective in that specific area. They also prefer proximity because it gives them the chance to meet in person and discuss their personal issues that need legal handling.
However, the most solid reason why local marketing is best effective for your business as a lawyer is that people who search locally have more intention of actually patronizing rather than merely searching. In fact, a research conducted showed that almost 80% of mobile local searches consequently converted to an actual purchase. It becomes obvious that the best sets of people who you should be reaching out to are the residents of that locality wherein your law firm is located.
But the truth is there are different strategies by which you can launch a local marketing strategy as a lawyer. So what are the top strategies that have the potential of giving you the best results?
Top 3 local marketing strategies for lawyers
1. Local marketing by local SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the act of optimizing your site or page to rank higher on search engines. For example, when a user types in “probate attorneys near me” and your law firm comes up among the search results because you practice probate law, it means your site is well optimized. Since your law firm comes up on the result, it means you have a huge chance of winning more clients when they search for you.
There are tried and true techniques to optimize your site, and they are as follows:
- Make use meta titles and page descriptions using keywords of your business and target location
- Add your company’s address, name and phone number on each page.
- Content is king, so publish quality content using keywords specific to your law practice.
Try to get your back-links on other popular websites.
2. Local marketing by GMB
GMB (Google My Business) is essential to giving your firm a presence on Google Maps that appear at the top of SERP. When users search for a “probate attorney near me” and your location appears on the Google Maps, clients can then easily locate you, and that means more business. There is a listing beneath the map showing list of law firms and their reviews. GMB is how you include your law firm in that listing.
Google developed this plan to help local businesses gain presence and exposure in their locality. So when users make local searches, businesses within that vicinity pop up. GMB is free.
Tips for using GMB are as follows:
- Log on to your Google account and create your My Business account. Include all information regarding your law firm. Your firm’s name, address and contact information should be made available.
- Include your area of specialization as a lawyer. This helps your SEO.
- Create a field where clients can leave reviews. When you have positive reviews, you build the trust of prospective clients.
- Create quality content and blog posts with keywords specific to your service.
3. Local marketing using Yelp
Yelp has become such a powerful digital platform on which local businesses can be located, especially in advanced cities. From coffee shops, beauty salons and law firms, Yelp covers immense data about the business. To top it off, their desktop site and mobile app are highly user-friendly. Your reviews will be clearly seen on Yelp and this will also help to build prospective clients’ confidence in your services.
Use the following tips to get the best of local marketing on Yelp:
- Add quality photo, relevant information and link of your website. Ensure all these are the same with what you have on your GMB profile for consistency. This helps Google track your specific business.
- Build lots of positive reviews.
- Add keywords specific to your services just like on Google. Also include quality content to target the demands and searches of users.
