While the past year was one of great upheaval for everyone due to the coronanvirus pandemic, 2021 looks to be a bit more stable on account of greater vaccine distribution and our acceptance of Covid safety precautions. As a result, law firm marketing will continue to evolve as the internet has become an integral part of the buyer’s journey for potential legal clients. Regardless of whether a firm favors traditional or digital media, effective law firm marketing can raise a legal practice to a new level while transforming the careers of its partners. For this reason, we expect the following legal marketing trends to gain even more traction throughout the rest of this year.
Building Awareness with Educational Content
Traditionally, law firms have connected with potential clients through television ads, billboards, and client referrals. Nowadays, however, the most successful firms build awareness with informative content on their websites. By adding authoritative advice and information about topics such as the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies, a law firm can educate potential clients while boosting its name recognition. In this way, a savvy law firm can transform its site into a one-stop resource for people searching online for legal advice.
SEO Becoming More Important Post-Covid
With so many businesses operating remotely right now, targeted SEO will be more crucial than ever for law firms to thrive in 2021. Because of Covid, clients are relying more and more on internet search to find the right law firms to represent them. If your firm is not developing content to rank on the first page of search engines, your practice will be at a serious disadvantage.
Local SEO, for example, is an area that small to medium-sized law firms need to focus upon to stay competitive. Since these firms generally cater to clients within their geographic areas, they need to expand their reach generate leads within their local markets. Indeed, some estimates put the amount of Google searches with local intent at nearly 50%. Clearly, law firms can set themselves apart by targeting local audiences with their content.
In other words, your firm needs to rank highly whenever people search for legal help in your geographical region.
Content Creation for Voice Search
Although voice search has been trending the last couple of years, the popularity of smart speakers like Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Nest has pushed it into the mainstream.
Because search engines will select content that directly answers voice queries, law firm marketers must incorporate phrases and keywords that mimic natural conversations into their site content.
Essentially, law firms need to make sure that their content is compatible with the kinds of voice commands people use to search on their phones, tablets, smart speakers, and even personal computers.
Mobile First Indexing
Even though you may have heard whispers about it for a long time, mobile-first indexing will finally arrive next month. Last October, Google announced that they would roll out their mobile-first rule in March 2021. This phrase refers to Google considering mobile websites first and foremost.
In other words, content that does not appear on a mobile website will not be considered when indexing a website for Google’s search engine. Therefore, law practices have no choice but to take this into account when building their sites and deciding what information to display on mobile.
For the rest of 2021, look for these trends and more to continue to redefine the way law firms reach out to potential clients in their bid to remain competitive in a marketing landscape transformed by a global pandemic.