Ways to Generate Sales Leads Online for Your Law Firm.

Transcription

1 Ways to Generate Sales Leads Online for Your Law Firm. BY CALIN YABLONSKI

2 Table of Contents About the Author 3 Introduction 4 Who is this ebook for? 5 1. Local SEO: Gaining Visibility in Google s Search Results 6 2. Google Adwords: Matching Visibility to the Buying Cycle 8 3. Google Remarketing: Reactivating Previous Website Visitors 9 4. Landing Pages: Increasing Conversions Review Acquisition: Managing Online Reputation 11 Wrap Up 12 2

3 About the Author Before we get to the good stuff, I think it s only fair that I introduce myself and explain what makes me the right person to talk about the intricacies of online marketing. My name is Calin Yablonski. I m the founder and lead digital marketing strategist at Inbound Law Marketing. I am a Google Certified Individual in Google Search and Display. And, an Unbounce Certified Partner. Since 2009, I have been providing digital marketing services to attorneys across Canada. About Inbound Law Marketing I created Inbound Law Marketing with one objective in mind: To help entrepreneurial attorneys and law firms generate more revenue for their firms using the Web. Inbound Law Marketing works with leading attorneys and small to midsized law firms to create highly effective lead generation campaigns. We do it by developing actionable website traffic strategies. Improving your practice s visibility in Google s search results. Optimizing the performance of your website and landing pages. And, automating your sales and marketing processes. To find out more, visit our website at: Or send me an at: info@inboundlawmarketing.com. 3

4 Introduction The web has completely changed our behavior. We use it to solve everyday problems, find answers to questions, connect us with local businesses and communicate with our friends, family members and colleagues. It s no surprise that it has changed the way people search for and hire attorneys as well. In fact, a Google Consumer Survey from 2013 found that 96% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine. What s more important is that this first interaction with customers shape their perception of your firm and directs them to take an action - whether that is to contact your firm to inquire about your services, learn about your firm s capabilities or simply to find your contact details and location information. From an attorney s point of view, the Web provides an opportunity to generate visibility in a geographic area, for the specific services a lawyer provides. Not to mention, it also provides a means for attorneys to convert visibility into measurable sales leads. But I bet you know all this already. What you may not know is how this actually happens in tangible terms. With this ebook, I intend to show you how to use the Web to generate leads for your legal practice. I will highlight the major components in the process and help you understand what makes a successful lead generation campaign possible. 4

5 Who is this ebook for? Entrepreneurial Attorneys If you are a leading attorney in your practice area and are searching for opportunities to increase your qualified leads and sales revenue, this ebook is for you. Partners at a Small to Mid-Sized Law Firm If you re a partner at a small to mid-sized law firm (2-50 employees) who has been tasked with increasing the number of online sales leads generated for your company, this publication will help you as well. Marketing Managers for Law Firms If you re employed by a law firm or run a marketing agency that services the legal industry and you offer services to the client types listed above, you ve come to the right place. Let s begin! 5

6 1. Local SEO Gaining Visibility in Google s Search Results Every day customers turn to Google for help. Be it finding answers to their legal questions, researching attorneys to hire, reading legal blogs or reviewing case results. Today, customers rely on search engines to provide solutions to their legal challenges. What s more telling is that while searching for an attorney the vast majority of customers believe it is important to find one who is local. In fact, according to a study conducted by FindLaw 71% of people looking for a lawyer think it is important to have a local attorney. Needless to say, being visible to these customers is the cornerstone of generating qualified sales leads for your practice. Customers also show more positive attitudes towards firms ranking on top of the results page. Companies ranking on the first page of Google s results tend to receive the majority of clicks. According to various studies, websites on pages 2-3 receive only 5.59% of total clicks per keywords % of searchers however never click results beyond page one. 6

7 It comes as no surprise then how much effort law firms put into making their websites and business details visible in the local search results. The process of optimizing and positioning a website in local search results is called SEO (short for Search Engine Optimization). It involves optimizing the structure of the site, its content, speed and other technical aspects. As well as increasing its authority. A few of these items include: Keyword Research: The process of identifying the most searched terms and phrases related to the services your firm provides. Onsite Optimization: Optimizing your website s content, code and location information in an effort to make your web pages relevant for what your customers are searching. Content Creation: Development of content to target your ideal keywords. Google My Business (GMB): Configuration of a GMB account to send location signals to Google and to display your firm in Google Maps. Citation Building: Creating references to your business s location information in a variety of directories, media websites and social media websites. Link Building: Establishing authority for your website through the creation of hyperlinks which act as indicators of trust on the web. How does SEO fit into a lead generation campaign? Helps to increase a firm s visibility to prospective clients. Increases a firm s visibility in the search results at a time when a prospect is ready to purchase services. Delivers qualified leads at a higher rate and lower cost than its traditional outbound marketing counterparts. 7

8 2. Google Adwords Matching Visibility to the Buying Cycle Look closely at a Google search results page and you ll notice that it in fact comprises of a variety of listing types. Results positioned at the very top and in the right sidebar for instance are paid ads displayed through Google s Adwords platform. Google Adwords is the paid advertising network allowing businesses to display ads (on a Cost-Per-Click basis) for specific keywords that they can select. The platform offers an opportunity to control your firm s visibility for specific phrases and match your marketing message to relevant stages of your prospects buying cycle. Just imagine that you offer impaired driving services. With Adwords you could advertise to anyone searching for relevant key phrases (i.e. DUI Lawyer Boston) in your area. You can customize the time of day your ads will show and be specific to a zip code or postal code. In the example above, you could create a campaign to display between 1 am - 4 am to a location in the city that experiences higher than average instances of impaired driving. This would likely result in a high conversion rate. How does Adwords fit into a lead generation campaign? Allows you to customize time of day and location, Display relevant messages depending on the prospect s buying cycle, Allows you to customize your ad copy and keywords which trigger it. 8

9 3. Google Remarketing Reactivating Previous Website Visitors On average, less than 3% of your visitors will convert on a first visit. Others might require a couple of visits before finally becoming sales leads. Luckily you can ensure they come back with remarketing to remind previous visitors of their interest in the unique qualities that differentiate your firm. When someone visits a website that uses remarketing, it places a cookie file in their browser that identifies the person as a former visitor and allows Google to target them with relevant ads as they navigate the web. Each time your previous website visitor lands on sites that display ads from various remarketing platforms (i.e. Google Adsense), they will see your ad reminding them of their interest in your services. Best of all, remarketing works! According to Wishpond, remarketed visitors are 70% more likely to convert. The average clickthrough rate of remarketing ads is also 10 times higher than a typical Adwords campaign. How Remarketing fits into a lead generation campaign? Reminds previous visitors of their interest in your offering, Re-activates visitors who abandoned the conversion, Keeps your firm top of mind until they re ready to buy. 9

10 4. Landing Pages Increasing Conversions Attracting qualified website traffic isn t enough to generate leads. You also need to direct these visitors to pages that will help them become customers we call these pages landing pages. A landing page is a web page that serves as an entry point for a user. In the simplest terms, it s a page you direct them to once they click your ad or organic search engine listing. Typically, a landing page is designed with a single objective. This could mean inquiring about your services, downloading a lead generation asset like an ebook or Whitepaper, or scheduling a free consultation. A major aspect of working with landing pages includes optimizing them for conversions. Using various strategies like A/B or split testing, you can improve a landing page s conversion rate and thus, generate more leads without having to significantly increase its traffic. Landing pages are also a cost effective solution because you aren t paying for new website visitors, you re simply getting more sales leads from your existing traffic or paid advertising campaign. How Landing Pages fit into a lead generation campaign? Provide an entry point for visitors, Display relevant information specific to what the person is searching for, A solution for increasing the number of sales leads you generate without having to invest heavily in attracting more website visitors. 10

11 5. Review Acquisition Managing Online Reputation Today, reviews are an important part of any firm s lead generation strategy. 88% of people searching for legal services say they read reviews to determine the quality of a law firm. Therefore, a major aspect of any lead generation campaign focuses on building online reputation and soliciting positive reviews. Reviews help build your firm s credibility. Since Google displays star ratings from Google Reviews, having a minimum of 5 positive reviews immediately makes your firm stand out from its competitors. Reviews can also increase the number of clicks to your listings, since star ratings will naturally make your listing more visible. As part of your campaign you should develop strategies to gather positive customer feedback: Ask customers for reviews on Lawyer.com, Avvo & directly on Google. Include a link to your Google+ Page in s. Ask customers for a review after the delivery of your services How review acquisition fits into a lead generation campaign? Builds your firm s credibility, trust and authority, Convinces more customers to inquire about your services, Attracts higher search rankings and click-through rates. 11

12 And, that s it. Hopefully you now have an idea of what s included in a typical online lead generation campaign. The next logical step then is to implement this advice and start growing your law firm through digital marketing strategies. If you ve found this information valuable, don t forget to visit our blog at blog.inboundlawmarketing.com where we share tons of useful advice about marketing a law firm. Finally, if you have any questions regarding this publication, make sure you connect with me and the Inbound Law Marketing team at: info@inboundlawmarketing.com Phone: (403) Looking forward to hearing from you. Calin Yablonski Founder & Lead Strategist 12