Law Firm Marketing & Web Design

Digital Marketing That Works for Law Firms

Law firms help their clients reduce risk and navigate uncertainty in the turbulent seas of the business world. So, it makes sense that lawyers who are hired to provide stability and guidance to clients might be naturally reticent to engage in the ever-changing world of digital marketing and communications.

Why are lawyers in particular so reticent at embracing digital marketing? We believe one reason stands out:

The internet is at the same both a beautiful source of high-quality information and also a sewer of gossip, triviality, and misinformation. No wonder many take a hands-off approach!

When “old school” business development and marketing techniques are combined with “new school” digital technologies, the results are normally the same: lawyers boost their profiles to the right audiences, expand their referral network, and win new business. Every week we counsel lawyers in applying the practices that always worked with these new digital tools.

Helping Lawyers Make Smart Use of Digital Tools

At Open Road Digital, we help smart lawyers make smart decisions about their use of digital technologies, from websites to social media to email marketing. Done right, digital engagement helps lawyers engage more meaningfully with their target audiences and prospective clients. This includes:

  • Designing or “optimizing” their websites so the sites do what they are supposed to do: reassure prospective clients about your expertise and win new business
  • Leveraging social media to truly “engage” with peers and clients – am activity that is as old school as they come
  • Ensuring that the technical aspects of firm websites are top-notch, including enabling HTTPS connections, cleaning up code, and creating powerful metadata to boost digital marketing activities
  • Linking business development efforts with digital publishing and marketing
  • Creating substantive, “niche” content that resonates with target audiences and improves SEO
  • Improving and extending law firm branding across all digital communications, from websites and social media to emails and infographics

Website + Social Media = Effective Marketing

In our experience, we see too many law firm websites that are not optimized for effective digital marketing:

  • poor SEO,
  • websites that aren’t structured to match a firm’s strengths, and
  • marketing content that doesn’t appeal to target audiences.

Social media channels such as LinkedIn are also underused sources of networking and thought leadership.

Whether it’s a law firm website or interaction on social media, it normally takes just a few “light bulb” moments to help intelligent attorneys to realize that they can and should be getting more out of their digital assets.

We assist attorneys in developing and connecting both halves of their digital communications: their website and their social and digital media.

Owned Media: Your Website

A website is arguably your most important digital asset: much like a house that you own, it is the digital base of your professional life. Unlike social media, you own your website – a digital property that should be the basis for how prospective clients and referrers get to know you. Our website design, optimization, and maintenance services help your site perform at its best. By investing in your website, you increase the likelihood that the right people will find you – a process called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Social Media: Engagement with Your Network

While your website is the “home base” of your digital professional activity, social media is a place where you can

  • distribute the content (such as blog posts and articles) that you write and publish
  • engage with your network, including attorneys and professionals who are in a position to refer work to you, and
  • engage with existing clients, prospective clients, and other peers and professionals.

It is important to note that social media is not simply a “broadcast” tool where you only promote your own work and ignore others. Gone are the days of “broadcast.” Rather, social media requires a mindset of paying attention to others that is commonly called “digital engagement” – just like business development was successfully accomplished in the pre-internet days. When “old school” approaches are combined with a savvy use of social and digital media, good things happen.

Open Road Digital has two decades of experience working with busy attorneys who don’t always have the time to focus on marketing and digital communications but who want to produce better results for their firms. We optimize websites and social media use and counsel attorneys on how to get the most out of the digital world.

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