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18 Digital Marketing Stats Every Lawyer Needs to Know

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What can digital marketing do for your law firm? These 18 statistics show you how you can attract more clients by improving your legal digital marketing efforts.

You just might find that what they prove most is that digital marketing will help you break away from the pack and, in turn, become the go-to law firm for your specialty.   

96% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine.

Source: Google Consumer Survey, Nov 2013

That’s why advanced search engine optimization (SEO) strategies give you a competitive edge over other law firms. When you play by Google’s rules and complete all the steps necessary to ensure a strong foundation for your website, you get rewarded.

While a competitor analysis gives you a better understanding of what you’re up against, keyword research lets you know which search queries you should be targeting. And by completing citations and filling out consistent directory listings, you increase brand credibility with Google’s algorithm.   

After implementing optimized website content, you’re able to spread brand awareness and increase keyword relevancy by stirring engagement across a variety of online platforms. By doing so, people can easily find you when searching for the type of legal counsel that your firm specializes in handling.    

Only 35% of law firm website designs have been updated in the last three years.

Source: Rocket Marketing, Feb 2015

Regularly updating your website gives you the confidence of knowing that your brand is making a great first impression, every time. The key is to keep visitors on your site for as long as possible, as it increases the possibility that they will end up becoming a client.  

So, if you aren’t frequently refreshing your website with optimized content, performing maintenance or keeping tabs on its performance, chances are it’s time for a complete redesign. In the digital marketing world, three years might as well be a decade.     

Perhaps you have been making upgrades though, but your digital marketing efforts haven’t been giving you the ROI that you had originally expected. In this case, there might be other elements of your website’s architecture that are not up-to-date with the latest trends. Keep this in mind as we highlight other statistics.

40% of small law firms don’t have websites.

Source: Rocket Marketing, Feb 2015

Considering how essential digital marketing is for lead generation, customer acquisition and branding, the percentage of law firms without websites is staggering. Nowadays, the foundation in which almost all your marketing and advertising efforts should stem from is your website.

Driving traffic to your landing pages with engaging and educational content, PPC advertising and social media is how you move consumers to the bottom of the conversion funnel. So, without a website, you’re easily outdone by your competitors.

And since Google Analytics and other tools allow you to evaluate your online performance, you’re stuck in the dark ages if you don’t have a site, with results that aren’t nearly as measurable or trackable. However, just think: if you were to build and constantly improve a high-performing site for your law firm, you could essentially rule-out about 40% of your local competitors.

Only 53% of law firm websites have organized site content.

Source: Rocket Marketing, Feb 2015

Bill Gates once said “content is king,” meaning content is vital to the success of a website. By writing high-quality content that is structured in an organized, easily readable manner, visitors will be less likely to abandon your site.

A clean presentation can make all the difference between a conversion and a bounce. Once a person lands on your site, the clock starts ticking—which is why you need to make sure that poorly structured content, or even an awkward design layout, is never the reason for a user leaving.

The perspective that visitors will have on your brand will be greatly influenced by the written content on your site. That’s why it’s crucial to invest in quality writing that effectively engages readers, as well as provides a comprehensive overview of your services that can be understood by the average person, and especially skimmers.    

97% of law firm websites fail to deliver any kind of personalized content.

Source: Rocket Matters, Feb 2015

To personalize your content, you can create landing pages for each of the areas of law that your firm is experienced in handling. Whether it’s corporate, criminal, personal injury, DUI/DWI or employment and labor, describe your legal experience, the process of hiring a lawyer and what they can expect when receiving counsel.

It’s important to present scenarios that your firm is familiar with and to show how you can provide the advice and guidance that people need to feel more comfortable about the outcome of a particular legal matter. Considering how effective personalization has become across social media and search platforms, it is now a luxury that users almost expect while searching.

That being said, describe your background and break down all the services that your firm offers on your homepage, and then create landing pages that go into extensive detail about each one. By developing content around relevant search queries, service pages will optimize your website for personalized experiences.

74% of consumers visit a law firm’s website to take action.

However…

  • 27% do not have a phone number on their homepage.
  • 68% do not have an email address on their homepage.
  • And 70% do not have a call-to-action (CTA) on their homepage.
Source: Google Legal Services Study, Sept 2013

If you’re not telling visitors how to put in a request for your services—or you’re not providing the information they need to contact you—you’re making a serious mistake. PPC, SEO, social media and content marketing can, of course, create engagement and drive visitors to your site, but it’s crucial that you explain the next step moving forward once they are there.

Let them know that they can fill out a contact form for a free consultation, or send you an email or give you a call to learn more about your services. Without easily accessible contact information or an incentivizing CTA, users will have less initiative to contact your firm, even if they were initially interested in the help you could provide.

The last thing you want to do is make it difficult for someone to contact you after they had already explored your website and made a decision. All a person would have to is click the back button on their browser to find a firm that they can submit an inquiry to or call more easily.

To prevent that from happening, place your phone number and other information near the top of your landing pages, along with a CTA near the bottom that can help move potential clients from the awareness phase to conversion. This way, they are just a click away from becoming a client.    

31% of all law firm related website traffic comes through mobile search.

Source: FindLaw Aggregated Hosted Site Data 2014

With so many people currently using mobile for search, your website needs to provide a satisfying user experience for people on those devices. Especially since Google now gives priority to indexing mobile websites, law firms that ignore the shift away from desktop will have a difficult time appealing to a significant portion of their online audience.   

A fast, engaging and responsive website design that offers easy navigation will help keep users on your site. A disordered layout, on the other hand, will contribute to a higher bounce rate. With 42% of those people seeking legal advice switching between different devices when researching, your marketing efforts must be designed for cross-channel experiences.

To capitalize on the mobile micro-moments that encourage people to begin researching legal topics, you not only need educative content but also a website with the proper format and speed to deliver it quickly. By staying on top of the latest digital marketing trends, including the rise of mobile, and integrating them into your campaigns, you ensure your marketing and business goals are being met.       

25% of people researching legal topics visit YouTube during the process. 

Source: YouTube Internal Data 2012

Video marketing offers many benefits for law firms by allowing them to create educational content for their targeted audience. In fact,

videos increase a viewer’s understanding of a product or service by 74%.

Since watching a video is almost effortless, it makes learning more information about a specific area of law an easier, more enjoyable experience.

Whether you introduce your firm and describe the services you provide, film a client testimonial or give tips on different legal matters, videos will build credibility, increase brand authority and allow you to share essential information that prospects want to know.

With 1.5 billion logged-in users visiting YouTube every month and 5 billion videos watched every day, it’s clear that this platform hosts the most popular form of content marketing (YouTube Stats, 2017). With the incredible insight that lawyers can provide for those less informed on legal matters, your firm can quickly take advantage of and see results from this platform.  

Even further, you can create YouTube ads that target users who are searching for relevant queries, and use remarketing to display those ads to those who have already interacted with your brand. That’s why video production can open doors of opportunity for those firms looking to put their online exposure into overdrive.       

Law firms with a video on their profile pages increase consumer emails by 127% and click through rates to the law firm website by 138%.

Source: Local Lawyer Guide, Jul 2014

Uploading videos that promote your law firm on your social media pages or website will give visitors a better understanding of the legal experience and services you can offer. This is your opportunity to essentially have a brief, one-on-one consultation with anyone that visits your site, making the end-user experience that much more personal.

When you feature associates in videos where they are discussing important legal topics, it demonstrates transparency between your firm and the visitors on your site. When people watch videos promoting law firms, they gain more insight into the personalities and motives of the attorneys that they could potentially hire.

Moreover, videos offer an honest, more straightforward way of describing your legal practice that simply isn’t possible with written content. Plus, your audience will respect you for letting them see what goes on behind the scenes, therefore, encouraging them to explore your website even further.    

Here are four more stats to help you gain even more insight on the value of video marketing:   

  • 96% of business that attach a video in their email receive a visit to their website.
  • 80% recall watching videos at least once a month and 46% take action after viewing the ad.
  • 75% of executives watch work related videos on business websites once a week.
  • Your website is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of a search results page if it includes a video.

Summary

Your website is supposed to be more than just “a website.” It should be a living, breathing entity that is constantly growing, changing and improving. Presenting your law firm online should be no different than how you would want to present yourself in person.

Your marketing and advertising efforts need to reflect the professionalism that you offer clients, or else the credibility of your brand will suffer—and credibility in the legal field means everything. If you’re missing any of the essential elements of a website’s architecture that we discussed, it is time to modify the blueprints.

After cleaning up your site, you can implement a custom digital marketing campaign that drives traffic, leads and conversions to your law firm. No matter what area of law is your specialty, quality content dispersed over a variety of popular platforms and a responsive site that helps close the deal, will play an essential role in helping you win online.  

Sources:

  • http://blog.reachlocal.com/7-of-the-most-essential-marketing-tips-for-legal-services
  • http://infographicjournal.com/the-value-of-video-marketing-for-lawyers/
  • https://www.rocketmatter.com/legal-marketing/law-firm-websites-infographic/

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