Many family lawyers do not know why their websites fail to generate quality leads – much less how to fix what’s wrong. For those firms, these tips could be game-changers.
By Dan Couvrette, Marketing Expert
Most family lawyers know a good in-person consultation will increase their chances of getting a client. While the consultation is important, there are ways to secure more clients before they even step foot through your family law firm’s doors – and that is by “stepping” through your website. If you want to secure more clients with your website, here are the top ways to make that happen.
6 Secrets to Secure More Clients With Your Website
#1. Display Positive Client Reviews on Your Website
Good client testimonials are critical because most people prefer and read third-party endorsements before they hire anyone these days. If someone refers a prospective client to you, and the prospect reads glowing reviews on your website, they are much more likely to contact and retain you. According to BrightLocal’s 2019 “Local Consumer Review Survey“:
- 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses.
- The average consumer reads 10 reviews before feeling able to trust a business.
- Among consumers who read reviews, 97% read businesses’ responses to reviews – so make sure someone from your office is tasked with checking and responding to reviews thanking the client for their positive testimonial.
There is an art to asking for feedback on your service that will lead to great testimonials. Consider asking the following questions:
- What kind of issue/case brought you to our office?
- How have we helped you and what are you able to do as a result?
- What do you value most about your relationship with our firm?
- How would you describe the quality of service and interactions with your lawyer?
- If a friend or colleague were looking for a family lawyer, how would you describe your lawyer and our firm?
Here’s a little-known secret: most clients choose and evaluate a lawyer based more on how the lawyer and their team make them feel than on technical skill and academic achievement, so testimonials that appeal to potential clients on an emotional level will greatly increase the chances of their contacting you.
There are also technology/services that can help automate asking for testimonials and ensuring that the positive ones are posted on Google, Yelp, etc.
#2. Use High-Quality Images
You only have one chance to make a positive first impression; don’t blow it with dated, irrelevant, or poor images.
- Hire a Professional Photographer. A lot of terrible pictures end up on websites with no thought about the firm’s branding. Whether it is an unprofessional, outdated, or blurry photo of yourself or your team it all comes down to using the right professional.
- Tell Your Photographer About Your Branding. Make sure the photographer look at your website so they understand where and how your pictures will be used, who you are, what you do, why you are doing it, and what makes you different from your competition. Ask for their advice on location, staging, your outfit, and your pose.
- Take Individual and Group Shots. Make sure you take individual photos of everybody in the office for your website: from partners to associates to paralegals to your receptionist (who, after all, is the first person a potential client hears on the phone and sees in your office). This sends a message to your team that you value them – which is crucial for staff morale and client experience – and allows potential clients learn more about your firm.
#3. Record Relevant Podcasts
In my 25 years of experience of working with family lawyers, creating a podcast is the easiest and quickest way to create highly relevant and current content for their websites. If I ask a family lawyer to write informative answers to 10 frequently asked questions (FAQs) their ideal clients would ask, the chances of their completing this task are small to none. However, if I ask them to schedule a 15-minute phone call with us during which they will answer 10 pre-arranged questions, the chances that they will follow through are very good. We will record the phone call, transcribe it, and turn it into a podcast.
Having a transcript of your podcast is great for many reasons. For starters, they are great for search engine optimization (SEO) because it gives you the opportunity to add text – which Google loves – to your website. The transcript can be posted along with your podcast on your website. We also post our clients’ podcasts on our consumer websites – www.divorcemag.com and/or www.divorcedmoms.com – for a much wider reach. (These two websites receive 4,000,000 visits a year.) We frequently turn the transcript into questions and answers on a client’s FAQs page on their own website.
When posting the text from the transcript, create a title that will appeal to the needs of your ideal client and include keywords your prospective clients are looking for. For example, “Divorce Lawyer Brian Smith on High-Net-Worth Divorce in Illinois.”
Podcasts and transcriptions can be promoted in your newsletter, on social media, and your own podcast channel. They can also be used to produce videos or the start of an article. By sharing your podcasts and transcriptions on multiple channels, you will be able to build/enhance your reputation as a thought-leader in the field.
#4. Add Relevant Videos
When it comes to content, video is king. Quality information-packed videos beat text every time because they are easy to consume. According to Cisco’s “Annual Internet Report (2018–2023)”, online videos will account for more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022 – 15 times higher than it was in 2017.
Consider this:
- 96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.
- 84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.
Well-produced short videos allow you to provide just enough information to offer value to viewers and to convince them that they need your services. You can post them on your website and YouTube, and share them via eNewsletters and social media.
Zoom videos are easy and inexpensive to create, and they allow you to discuss highly relevant and topical issues just when people are searching for them. You can record these videos on your own or you can work with a professional marketing company to create them.
Professionally produced and edited videos shot in person have a different look and feel; think movies you watch in a cinema vs unedited homemade movies. Due to COVID-19, we are not currently recording professional videos in person; but when it is safe to do so again, we will do a lot of preparation before we arrive at our client’s office. We handpick the questions based on our client’s business goals and help the lawyers script their answers. We upload the scripts to a teleprompter for the lawyers to follow while they are being filmed. Our experience shows that very few lawyers are good at winging it in front of a camera. Lawyers appear so much more authoritative when there is a script on a teleprompter: it keeps them concise, on topic, and eliminates “Ums” and hesitations.
Few family lawyers have quality videos on their website, even fewer have media interviews. As the publisher of Family Lawyer Magazine and Divorce Magazine, we do video interviews with our clients via Zoom and in person. Media interviews on your website and the interviewers’ websites can distinguish you as the authority in family law.
#5. Written Content is Still Vitally Important
If people visit your website and don’t find the information they are looking for quickly they will go elsewhere. You need to offer information to address the FAQs that your ideal clients have. You can create pages for every practice area, or write FAQs, articles, and blog posts on those topics. You can write your own content, or you can have outside professionals create it for you. These writers should have a solid understanding of family law in your state; low-quality articles and blog posts that offer no substance can do you more harm than good.
Having just stated that “video is king,” why is text so important? If you want Google to find your website, you need to have text. If you want to rank high in Google, that text must be highly relevant, updated regularly, and contain keywords that an ideal client would use to search for the kind of service you offer – all of which will help them find your website instead of your competitors. Text can be better optimized for search engines than videos.
#6. Get Technology on Your Side
Consumers want what they want and they want it now – and in a divorce, all questions are urgent.
Do not make your prospective clients have to overcome an outdated website with poor navigation, that is not mobile-friendly, or one that looks like it was either designed by an eighth grader or a pretentious “visual artist” who neither knows nor cares about family law. A chat function that offers no useful information but keeps prompting viewers to request a consultation can do more harm than good.
The faster you respond to inquiries from potential clients, the more likely you are to secure a consultation – especially since people are online more than ever due to COVID-19. Having multiple ways for prospective clients to get what they want 24/7 will greatly improve their experience. This is where having plenty of helpful information that positions you as an expert – as well as tools like interactive chatbots and an appointment calendar – can help.
Dan Couvrette is a marketing expert for family lawyers and divorce professionals. He is the co-owner and CEO of Family Lawyer Magazine, Divorce Magazine, DivorcedMoms.com, and Divorce Marketing Group: a marketing agency 100% dedicated to promoting family lawyers and divorce professionals. www.DivorceMarketingGroup.com
Related Articles
Branding for Family Lawyers: What You Must Know
Branding is a way of declaring who you are to the people that matter: your clients and prospects, colleagues, judges, and your community. Here’s what you should know about branding.
Does Your Website Get You Clients?
Does your website get you clients and deliver on your business objectives, or does it merely look good? Consider these factors when (re)designing your website.
