Ask SLS: How Do I Get Leads from My Website?

The legal landscape is one of the most competitive on the Internet. Whether you’re a solo practitioner or multi-location law practice, it’s important to build your website to bring in leads. How do you do this, you may ask? Easy – think of what the user wants and start building from there.

Think of your website as a house that you’re trying to sell in a competitive market where a lot of similar houses are also for sale. Now, you can look at other homes in your area and simply model your house after those, but that’s not really going to do much in terms of helping you stand out from the competition. Instead, you need to focus on the elements that are unique to you alone and highlight those things so that potential buyers can clearly see what sets your house apart from the rest.

Starting to make sense? The law firms that are most successful are the ones who have effectively positioned themselves within their given markets. They’re the firms who, while they may feature a similar look and content compared to their competition, advertise the elements that are uniquely their own: case results, client reviews, community involvement, and individual personality.

So, with the above analogy in mind, the question is…

Q: How can I get more leads from my website?

A: You can get leads from your website by differentiating yourself from your competition. If you can stand out in the crowd, you’re going to get noticed more. The more attention your website grabs, the greater the likelihood that you’ll be able pull in leads from the website.

Additionally, there’s another critical component that needs to be addressed – SEO. Unfortunately, if your website isn’t ranking well, you’re not going to get much traffic to your site, at least not organically. The less traffic your website receives, the lower the possibility that the site will convert. So, unless you have a well-optimized site that ranks well and stands out from the competition, you’re likely not going to get leads from your website.

Quick Tips for Getting a Lawyer Website to Rank

While partnering with an experienced marketing agency is your best bet – SLS has been in business for over 20 years – there are definitely some steps you can take to help improve your rankings and get more leads from your website.

• Provide users with content that quickly satisfies any needs the users are likely to have. In other words, talk to your target audience about the things that are most important to them when they’re in a “buy” mindset. Assume that people visiting your website are looking to retain an attorney and be sure to meet users halfway when it comes to answering questions those users are potentially asking themselves at the moment.
• Provide users with a clear path from Point A to Point B. In other words, if you want users to visit a particular webpage and contact your law firm after visiting the page, be sure to provide the user with different ways to do that. Make sure your phone number is prominently displayed, or that your content form is both easy to find and easy to fill out. If your site structure is confusing and it isn’t abundantly clear how to get from one page to the next, users are going to leave your website and look for another that delivers a better overall user experience.
• Take the time to highlight your case results in a way that users will find beneficial. If that means taking the time to provide users with an easy-to-understand summary of the details surrounding each case, then it’s best to do that. One of the more common issues lawyers face when trying to connect with potential clients is unrelatability. That is, if a potential client is unable to place himself in the shoes of someone discussed in a case result, it’s going to be difficult to get that potential client to start feeling a personal connection with the law firm.
• Don’t just feature client reviews on your website; instead, encourage past clients to provide your law firm with feedback on some of the more popular online reviews sites, particularly Google My Business (GMB). Unlike other review platforms, regularly receiving new reviews on GMB will have an impact on how well you show up within search results, specifically Map listings. If you want to give your website the best chance at securing new business, be sure to supplement it with a steady stream of online reviews from satisfied clients.
• Make sure you’re active on social media platforms, particularly if your competition already is. While simply having a presence on social media sites certainly won’t help your website rank better, user engagement will potentially help – if you’re driving referral traffic back to your website. Remember, if you can leverage your social media platforms to a.) brand yourself as a trustworthy source of information, and b.) drive traffic over to your website, search engines will take note of that traffic. It’s a positive sign that may improve your overall search placement, help distinguish you from the competition, and lead to greater opportunities for conversion on your website.

So, there you have it! It might sound simple, but converting site traffic into potential leads isn’t always easy. However, by always highlighting your law firm’s personality and connecting with users on a more personalized basis, you’ll improve your website’s overall conversion rate and start bringing in qualified leads from the web.

For more information about how you can improve your law firm’s search placement and conversion rate, give the team at SLS Consulting, Inc., a call. We partner with law firms across the country to improve overall user experience on their websites and provide a positive impact on their digital marketing ROI. Call us today at (323) 254-1510.