Did you know that 96 percent of people looking for legal advice start their search online? To capture these potential clients you need a strong online presence to ensure that clients find you. The best way to gain online visibility and increase your presence is through a high-quality website.
Top 10 Reasons Why a Legal Website Works
There are 1.3 million lawyers in the United States of America, making the legal services industry extremely competitive. With so many people looking to Google and other search engines to find legal services it only makes sense for your law firm to have a website.
Your law firm’s website can help you in a variety of ways but here are the top ten ways that having a website can help you.
1. Helps to Make Referrals Easier
Your former clients are an invaluable source for referrals, and having a website with an easy-to-remember or catchy domain name will make it easier for them to refer you to friends, family members, and coworkers who are in desperate need of your services.shar
With 88 percent of all business cards ending up in the trash within a week, don’t count on them still having it when they need to give your information to a friend. Having a website means you don’t need to worry about circulating business cards. Potential clients can simply search your name online and you’ll appear.
2. Helps You Show Up in “Attorney Near Me” Searches
Over the past few years, “near me” searches have grown by 150 percent. With so many people searching for nearby services, clients looking for local attorney’s will be better poised to contact you if you have a website attached to your Google My Business results.
While you don’t need a website to have a Google My Business listing, it is helpful to potential clients. It allows them to better determine who you are and what you offer in more detail. As long as your website is intuitively designed and has a smooth UI, you can easily connect with clients looking for local legal services.
3. Easy to Use in Connection with Online Reviews
Having a website enables you to easily attribute online views to your brand as a law firm. Testimonials can be added to your site, and users can backlink to your website when leaving positive reviews elsewhere. Your site will also be attached to Google My Business, meaning Google users can quickly view how professional and high-quality your services are.
Providing social proof to your potential clients can be exceedingly helpful in improving your client base. For instance, while the average person reads 10 online reviews before making a decision, including testimonials on your website can help to improve your conversion rate by 34 percent.
4. Can Host Your Law Firm’s Blog
Hosting a legal blog means you can post quality content that showcases the talent and expertise of your firm. It can answer useful questions potential clients may want to ask, creating a feeling of professionalism and trust. A blog can also incorporate useful target keywords, driving organic traffic to your website and optimizing its SERP rankings by 434 percent.
The SERPs are your law firms key to success, at least 62 percent of internet users click on an organic search result on Google. If you want 62 percent of the people searching for legal services to choose your law firm, you’re going to need a legal services blog for your law firm and that will require you to have a well-designed website.
5. Can Help You Gather Quality Leads
70 percent of law firms cite their website as the main source for generating new cases. If you have a high-performing website, you can convert 10 percent of those visitors into callers. A call will typically mean that they are ready to do business with your law firm.
It is important to note that 50 percent of online purchases occur after the prospective client has engaged in some online research. This means that by providing your prospective clients with a website, you can help clients perform their research and find your law firm to help them with their problems. You can also capture the details of potential clients who have stumbled on to your website by adding a lead capture mechanism.
Hold It. What’s A Lead Capture Mechanism?
Lead capture mechanisms are things like eBooks that help explain a process to a potential client. In exchange for the free eBook, the potential client will give you their contact information and often will agree to subscribe to your law firm’s email marketing list.
You can later use this acquired contact information to reach out to prospective clients and see if they are in need of your services. This provides them with a personal touch from your law firm and will help them see you as trustworthy and personable.
6. Helps You Attract Big Clients
Big clients expect you to have a website. A well-designed, custom-built website can improve your law firm’s reputation. In fact, 75 percent of website visitors will base their opinion of your law firm’s credibility on your website design.
As a result, a website will make you appear trustworthy, professional and ready to take on all types of clients. However, your site must be accessible to all, meaning it needs to be ADA compliant and mobile-responsive. This will also improve your SEO and SERP rankings.
7. Is an Indispensable Marketing Tool
A website acts as the hub of all your services and digital marketing. Not only can you direct potential clients there for more information, but you can further entice them into purchasing your services. This is done through several methods:
- Creating a blog highlighting your legal specialties
- Linking to social media
- Including client testimonials
- Creating explainer and introductory videos
- Create Lead capture mechanisms
- Targeted ads using website cookies
Your marketing escapades are not restricted to this limited list. A website is a blank canvas on which you can make your mark and build a brand. It should be the centre of all your online activity.
8. Expands Your Social Media Outreach Potential
Having a website for your law firm can help you to expand your social media outreach. Not only can you link to your social media profiles via your site, you can also create backlinks through social media. This means you can direct your social media followers to your website to learn more about your services.
With the increased organic web traffic generated by your social media, you can increase your SERP rankings. This is because search engines will see your website is growing in popularity and will therefore increase its authority. Social media and your website go hand in hand, creating an ecosystem of self-promotion.
9. Required for Google Adwords Advertisements
In order to produce and promote your product using Google Ads, you need a website. 75 percent of people believe that paid search ads are helpful in finding the information they need and Google Ads are good for business. You stand to double your money on any Google Ad that you run.
Doubling your money means that every dollar you spend on building a mobile-friendly, well-designed website for your law firm, will help you to increase your revenue exponentially. Furthermore, if you also include an email marketing strategy with your website you stand to gain $42 for every dollar spent.
10. Helps You Show Off Your Legal Expertise
You went to law school to help you build up a bank of knowledge that can be used to help people out when they are facing legal troubles. Why not use your website to show potential clients how smart you are at solving legal problems.
With over 37 percent of clients using the internet to find lawyers, your website can help them to see you as an expert in a large field of possibilities. Your law firm may specialize in one or more legal fields and by showing off your legal expertise on your blog, you can help them to see you as a trustworthy and useful source of information.
Build A Website Today with Idea Maker
After reading this article, you should have an understanding of why it’s necessary to have a website as a law firm. Now all you have to do is find a first-rate web developer. Luckily, you’re in the right place.
At Idea Maker, we specialize in website development. Our team of experts are dedicated to building high quality, intuitive websites that meet your requirements. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more.
