How many people see your website and then click on it? Knowing this number is essential for determining whether people are interested in your business’s presentation.
Although more relevant to paid advertising, it’s still a ranking factor in organic traffic. This is why paying close attention to it on Google Search Console is vital. Let’s discuss what CTR is and what a good CTR looks like.
What is Click Through Rate (CTR)?
CTR is a marketing term that denotes the number of people who see a link divided by the number of people who click on it. Within an organic search context, it’s how many people see your website vs. how many people click on it.
Google monitors CTR closely because if you’re lower than average, it’s a sign that you’re not worth a higher ranking. Ultimately, CTRs tell Google whether their results serve a user’s search query.
Unfortunately, it’s one of the most demanding metrics to improve. However, succeeding in improving it can also be one of the most impactful. Within an SEO context, you’ll be surprised at what counts as “good.” According to one study, a 3% CTR is considered a decent performance.
Of course, your CTR will depend on various factors, including search volume, industry and where you appear in SERPs.
What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console lets you track your website’s performance from an organic traffic point of view. Extract reports directly from the Console to gain a complete view of the consumer’s journey from performing a search to clicking on your website.
However, note that this isn’t the same data if you also run Google Ads. The Console only tracks your organic traffic, not paid.
What is considered a good Click Through Rate?
Everyone wants a good CTR to have a baseline against which to rank their website. Unfortunately, there’s no firm answer because it largely depends on where you rank.
According to a report from Smart Insights Digital Marketing, here’s what an average CTR looks like based on rank in 2024:
- Position One – 39.8%
- Position Two – 18.7%
- Position Three – 10.2%
In other words, you must reach the top three search positions to acquire a double-digit CTR.
Positions nine and ten gain CTRs of under 2%, so if you have a CTR of anywhere from 2% to 30%, you technically have a good CTR. In short, due to the nature of search in 2024, reaching the first page of Google SERPs is no longer good enough.
Can you increase Click Through Rate?
CTR is among the most difficult metrics to improve. However, we know that the higher you rank, the higher your CTR. This is why brands shouldn’t get too hung up on CTR alone and instead concentrate on their overall SEO strategy.
But how do consumers decide to click a link in the first place?
Google – Google is the most trusted search engine on the planet, controlling 91% of the search market. Users intrinsically click the first link because they trust Google to provide them with the most relevant result.
Brand Recognition – Users are likelier to click on a link if they’ve heard of the brand before.
Reading – Titles and meta descriptions matter. Searchers may be implicitly encouraged to click on a site because the description is most relevant to their query.
These three factors all go back to implementing SEO best practices and rising up the rankings. If you can gradually build a sustainable SEO strategy that yields results, you’ll also see your CTR rise.
What is expected to change in CTR due to Google’s algorithm?
The March 2024 core update is Google’s most recent update, following its Helpful Content Update last year. It’s considered the most impactful change to the search landscape in years.
However, it’s also transformed what SEO means for brands. Adjusting accordingly is vital if you want more visitors to your website.
Let’s begin with the biggest threat to CTRs: Google’s pivot towards incorporating AI into its search experience.
AI has changed the world like never before, and Google has already entered its fray with the Search Generative Experience (SGE). The basic premise is that Google is integrating generative AI into its search engines to provide overviews of search queries.
What this means for businesses is that searchers can get straight answers to their questions without clicking on links at all. In other words, it removes an opportunity for brands to sell and could eventually see the death of traditional search.
But it’s not the only thing that could impact CTRs. We also must examine how Google ranks websites, as where you rank in SERPs is the most important factor in your CTR.
Google Ranking ‘Leak’
In May 2024, Google experienced one of the most profound leaks in its history, providing more insight into how Google Search (potentially) works than ever before. This leak has offered a lifeline for businesses looking to negotiate the new SEO landscape and increase their CTR rates.
In particular, the role of click data has put to bed something that Google had always denied – that user data from Chrome had no bearing on its rankings.
The leak revealed the potential that Google relies heavily on click data and user behaviour through the Chrome browser to rank sites. Unfortunately, this heavier-than-expected reliance could open the way for artificial CTR strategies, such as clickbait and browser manipulation.
What could this mean for the SEO community in the future? It could mean nothing, or it could mean Google scrambles to unveil new updates to prevent its algorithm from being exploited in light of the leak.
- It’s important to note that the latest Google ‘leak’ was incredibly insightful, but is in no way an exact indicator of Google’s behaviours. Our advice? Take everything you see from Google with a pinch of salt, and work for your audience first, always.
How should businesses prepare for a changed SEO landscape?
We know very little about what could happen regarding the overall SEO landscape. However, what is clear is that SGE is causing huge fluctuations within rankings. This level of volatility hasn’t been seen in over a decade, making it challenging for businesses to adjust.
It’s why countless stories of businesses seeing their traffic wiped out overnight have appeared online. Although many have already declared the death of traditional SEO, this is far from the case.
SGE is designed to provide a mere overview, not to eliminate the need to click on websites completely. Much like the race to acquire Featured Snippets, brands seeking to improve their CTRs may alter their content accordingly to be that AI-generated overview.
In the meantime, the best defence against Google’s volatility is to team up with an agency to manage it. At Tao Digital Marketing, we steer our clients through the turbulence to enable them to rank higher and increase their CTRs. To learn more about how we can do the same for you, contact the team now.
Is your content struggling to perform? Is your Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) brand finding it challenging to attract new customers through organic traffic?
Google’s March 2024 core update changed the game again, forcing UK businesses to redefine their SEO strategies. If you’re unsure what to do, it starts with a comprehensive site audit.
So, how do you conduct an audit that yields results?
What is a SaaS SEO audit?
SEO audits uncover the issues that prevent your business from featuring higher for your target keywords. Google has always kept its cards on the table regarding exactly how its algorithm works, meaning SEO has always been primarily a game of trial and error.
What we know is that Google uses over 200 factors in its algorithm to rank websites. The problem is you can’t assume that one aspect or another is holding your band down. This is why SEO audits are so crucial. They give you a clear understanding of where to focus your efforts to:
- Rank higher than before.
- Prevent unexplained ranking drops.
- Being outranked by your competitors.
Remember, 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, so audits should be a regular facet of your marketing strategy.
Do SEO audits need to be conducted differently for different types of websites?
Most of the top SEO factors people discuss apply to every website. Whether it’s keywords, mobile responsiveness or optimised content, they apply to everyone, but different types of websites must think about specific factors applying to them.
For example, an eCommerce website must optimise its product pages, including images, descriptions and schema markup. Blog-based websites are more focused on building authority, such as through backlinks, and keeping their most important posts evergreen with constant updates.
As a SaaS business, you’re a service-based business with a service-based website. In this case, your SEO audit would focus more on keyword optimisation, long-tail keywords, case studies and portfolios.
Overall, although there are differences, SEO audits follow a similar mantra for all businesses.
Why is an SEO audit important for a SaaS site?
SEO audits matter for any business for the same reason you take your car to the garage for an MOT every year. Audits analyse performance and ensure the long-term viability of your business’s SEO strategy.
Remember, you’re constantly swimming against the tide. Google alters its algorithms constantly, meaning what worked five years ago may not work now. Plus, your site is constantly being compared against your competitors. If Google deems their site more helpful for a searcher, they’ll rank it above yours.
Regular audits check that your SEO strategy is current and still has the same impact as before. Likewise, if your SEO tactics aren’t working, an audit tells you what you need to work on to improve.
How to perform an SEO audit for SaaS
SEO audits can be as basic or as in-depth as you want them to be. Technically, there are four types of SEO audits you can perform:
- Technical Audit – Focusing on the technical aspects of your site, such as page loading times, mobile friendliness and duplicate pages.
- On-Page SEO Audit – Ensuring every page is optimised for ranking higher. Examples of on-page elements include titles, meta descriptions, images and schema markup.
- Off-Page SEO Audit – Checking the factors influencing your ranking away from your website, such as backlinks and social media activity.
- Content Audit – Reviewing the content on your website, including blogs, sales pages, images and more.
We’ll introduce you to some main elements within each audit type to provide the baseline information needed to analyse your SaaS site.
- Scan your site using tools like Ahrefs and Moz to ensure Google can crawl and index it.
- Audit your site’s architecture to ensure all your pages link together logically and hierarchically.
- Eliminate duplicate pages to prevent indexing issues. One option is to delete said pages outright or use 301 redirects.
- Fix internal linking issues to distribute link equity across your website. Again, tools are available to identify issues like orphaned pages or broken links.
- Optimise your title tags to avoid duplicates, and ensure they’re optimised using your target keywords.
- Go through your meta descriptions to check for duplicates, poorly written ones, missing ones or those that are too long. Remember, these are important for Google and anyone who decides whether to click on your site.
- Include relevant images alongside alt tags to provide context to Google’s crawlers.
- Add schema markup to help Google understand your page. Proper schema markup code within your page could win you a featured snippet. They win approximately 35.1% of all traffic, so they’re worth pursuing.
- Use tools like Ahrefs to get an inventory of the quality and authority of your backlinks. They can even highlight backlink profiles from your closest competitors.
- Use social media management tools to track your engagement. While not a direct factor, Google does notice the extra engagement.
Register for Google My Business/Google Business Profile to claim your local search profile. Although this might not be as relevant to SaaS businesses, it’s still a way to generate extra traffic from local searches.
- Rework poor-performing content.
- Update outdated content.
- Improve existing pages and relaunch them.
Which tools are best for SaaS SEO audits?
SEO audits can be done manually, but with so many tools to power in-depth audits, you can make your audits faster and more impactful. Here are our top picks:
Ahrefs – Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO audit tools, and it’s what we use internally at Tao. It offers site audits, backlink analysis, keyword research and competitor activity insights. In short, it does just about everything.
SEMrush – SEMrush offers the same all-in-one package for SEO auditing as Ahrefs, including competitor analysis and an array of content optimisation tools. It also tracks keyword performance, which is always beneficial for high-growth SaaS firms.
Moz Pro – Moz Pro includes rank tracking, link analysis and on-page SEO optimisation within a single intuitive interface.
Screaming Frog – Screaming Frog offers free and premium site auditing options. This tool crawls your website and pinpoints issues like duplicate content and broken links. Even better, it integrates with Google Analytics.
Google Search Console – Gain insights directly from Google itself. The Google Search Console supports your auditing efforts with index coverage, mobile usability reports and URL inspections.
There’s no single best tool for auditing your website. It depends on your goals and what you want to achieve through your audits. However, what matters the most is the insights you gain and how you use them within your SEO strategy.
And that’s where an SEO agency comes in.
At Tao Digital Marketing, we support SaaS businesses that are serious about their SEO to achieve the high-impact results they expect from their online marketing efforts. If you’re ready to get started, contact the team today.
Your website is your digital shop window, the heart of your online presence. Yet, surprisingly, just 78% of small business owners in the UK have a website. If your law firm doesn’t have one or you’re not impressed with its performance, it’s time to consider design.
Everybody knows the importance of first impressions. Putting as much time into your website as you do your practice is always a recipe for success. But where should you start?
Let’s dive into some website design inspiration to help inform the newest incarnation of your website.
Why should law firms have a website?
Investments are never guaranteed, but a well-designed website is as close as you will get. For example, according to HubSpot, did you know that web design improves time-on-site by 84% and year-on-year revenues by 132%?
If that’s not a good enough reason, here are some other reasons why your law firm must have a website:
- Increase brand exposure.
- Draw in your target audience.
- Provide helpful legal resources.
- Make it easy for prospective clients to find you.
- Tell your law firm’s story.
All this adds up to an increase in the bottom line. Without a website, you don’t exist in the digital realm.
Law firm website design best practices
Approximately 59% of people prefer to browse beautiful and well-designed websites, but before you can get into specific design choices, it’s vital to adhere to best practices.
Best practices have changed somewhat over time, so what do people expect as a minimum today?
- Keep things simple. Avoid adding unnecessary design elements and overwhelming your visitors.
- Build a visual hierarchy. In other words, structure your site so that information flows.
- Ensure you have an intuitive navigation system. So visitors can find what they need.
- Maintain consistency. Across every page too.
- Invest in a responsive design. This is so your site adapts to any device it’s accessed from.
- Follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This is to make your site accessible.
- Conduct user testing. This helps to gauge what people think.
These are the basic concepts every website should have. However, they concentrate on the abstract, so what should your law firm website design include?
What should a law firm website design include?
Every industry follows its conventions regarding design, and the legal industry is no different. Every element should convey a particular message or flavour. Let’s examine what every good legal website should include.
Real images of the team
It’s no secret that the legal industry is stereotyped as cold and impersonal, and that’s not what the average client wants.
Break the mould by showing who you are. Avoid using stock images of lawyers and opt for professional photos of the people behind the brand. It’s one of the things that distinguishes your firm from someone else’s.
Accessible service pages
The law is confusing to the average person. One aspect legal websites suffer from is information overload without any clear direction. Your website’s job is to quickly get your visitors to where they need to be.
Make your service pages loud and clear. Whether this is linked on the main navigation bar or within boxes on your homepage, your various service pages should be visible and neatly divided.
Clear testimonials/reviews
A solicitor’s reputation is everything. Lead with the reputation you’ve spent years of your life building. Include testimonials on your website in prominent places rather than hiding them away.
Even better, if you already have reviews on Yelp, Google, or any other channel, put them first. This helps build trust and proves they’re from legitimate people.
Simple contact forms
Legal clients naturally have many questions. During stressful periods, people search for lawyers, so make them feel relaxed at every opportunity.
Too many law firm websites use complicated contact forms asking a million different questions that should be kept for the initial consultation. Whether you’re using a WordPress plugin or coding a site from scratch, use a simple, clear contact form.
You may even want to consider including an embedded contact form in the footer of every page.
Well-designed Calls to Action (CTA)
Informative and educational pages provide value, but without an indication of what you want the reader to do next, you’ll lose them. Every page should include a clear CTA to direct them to a particular action.
Examples of CTAs could include:
- Schedule a free consultation.
- Sign up for the newsletter.
- Read this page for more information.
- Follow us on social media.
CTAs are remarkably effective, yet 70% of B2B websites alone don’t use them. View your website as a journey, with each page having a CTA that will lead your visitor to their next destination.
Strong multi-channel branding
Consistency across your website is crucial; the same applies to other channels. Many lawyers assume that branding isn’t relevant to them, but your brand is your story. It’s what separates you from every other law firm.
Your brand should extend to your website and your newsletter, how you speak to your clients, and social media channels.
Understanding how SEO works with website design
Web design isn’t just about aesthetics. It also has a massive impact on SEO and, therefore, where you rank in SERPs. Google incorporates design into its ranking signals to create a benchmark for what it believes a great user experience is.
Opting for SEO web design optimises your site for Google, ensuring that your website helps rather than hinders your SEO. A site design can look great on paper, but Google will penalise you if it lacks the appropriate nuts and bolts.
Some of the most common mistakes businesses make with their web designs include:
- Poor mobile optimisation.
- No responsive design.
- Low word count pages.
- Duplicate content issues.
- Slow load times.
Remember, web design isn’t just the colours on the banner. It’s also the content on the page. Content is as fundamental to good web design as anything else, so neglect it at your peril. Google’s standards define what they believe to be a high-quality website for its users.
Let Tao Digital Craft a Lead-Generating Powerhouse
Your website is the key to attracting and converting leads. At Tao Digital, our team blends website design and development to supercharge your law firm SEO strategy. Our designers help you turn your vision into something tangible so that you have a digital presence your law firm can be proud of.
If you’re ready to start your journey to online success, reach out to the team today.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) vs. Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) has recently been a subject of heated debate. Many businesses ask, “Which one should I invest in?”
Truthfully, there’s no comparison between the two. They’re on the same side of the equation, meaning you cannot have one without the other. Understanding both SEO and CRO is crucial for success in any industry.
So, with that in mind, let’s jump into everything you must know about SEO and CRO.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) 101
SEO is crucial if you want to be found in Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Think about how often you start your search for the right brand based on Google. Yet only 71% of businesses have a website in 2023, showing how much value the UK’s business community misses out on.
But having a website isn’t enough. Businesses need an SEO-optimised website. You appear in Google SERPs by creating a website and optimising your pages by following Google’s algorithms. Techniques include targeting relevant keywords and acquiring backlinks. Rank higher in SERPs, and you’ll attract more traffic.
SEO is simple to understand as a concept, but executing an impactful SEO strategy is easier said than done because you’re competing against millions of other websites.
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) 101
On the other hand, CRO is the process of optimising your website for conversions. In other words, once someone visits your website, your site is set up to encourage action from your visitors.
Different elements you might focus on include landing pages, menu bars and content. Excel in CRO, and your sales-to-visitors ratio will increase.
What does an excellent CRO look like? According to Forbes, an eCommerce website’s average conversion rate ranges from 1.84% to 3.71%. It may not sound significant, but this can have a massive impact on your bottom line over thousands of visitors.
Key differences between SEO and CRO for business growth
SEO and CRO are essential for driving traffic to your website and landing new customers. Although they work in tandem, they have several key differences that mark them out as distinct, including:
- SEO focuses on increasing traffic quantity and quality.
- CRO improves the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as contacting your sales team, subscribing to your newsletter, or making a purchase.
In short, SEO is focused on encouraging people to visit your website, whereas CRO’s purpose is engagement.
How SEO and CRO Work Together
SEO and CRO are not the same, but they are interdependent. For example, your SEO may have ranked you on the first page of Google SERPs, but if people land on a low-quality website, they’ll click away.
Likewise, you can have a website geared for conversions, but if your SEO isn’t on-point, nobody will see your brand’s site in the first place. Moreover, Google’s algorithms increasingly account for the on-site user experience for SEO purposes.
Over time, SEO and CRO have become more closely entwined, meaning you can only succeed in one if you succeed in the other.
Why are both SEO and CRO important for business growth?
Establishing that both impact business growth is one thing, but why do they combine so well to drive results?
Sites that fail to rank will not result in conversions or business revenue. In contrast, if your plan solely focuses on ranking, you will unlikely acquire the desired results. The key to achieving business growth is to ensure that every element of your site answers the searcher’s query.
Let’s focus on content as a means to drive business growth. Here are three points to consider to generate business growth:
- Create Content to Match Intent—Which content best answers the searcher’s query? Google asks this question every time, but it also includes the caveat that the page must offer the best possible user experience.
- Optimise Content for Conversions—Strategically telling people what you want them to do turns informative content into converting content. Again, this increases click-through rates and creates action, which Google recognises for SEO purposes.
In other words, SEO and CRO optimisations inform each other. Succeeding in one area will enable you to succeed in another area. Moreover, if we examine SEO principles, time-on-page and click-through rates are as important in SEO as in CRO.
How to find the right balance between SEO and CRO
Achieving optimal results means striking the right balance between SEO and CRO. But what does this look like in the field?
- Align Your Goals —Your SEO and CRO goals should complement each other and be aligned with your overall marketing objectives. In other words, they shouldn’t compete; they should collaborate.
- Keyword Optimisation for CRO – Bring high-converting keywords into your landing pages and other content to deliver synergy between SEO and CRO.
- Operate on the Data – Data analytics should be at the heart of your online marketing decisions. Don’t separate your SEO and CRO data or examine it in isolation. Combine both to make informed decisions, whether improving the user experience or optimising your landing pages.
- Make User Experience Your Number One – The user experience is everything. Focus on what makes your business more appealing to users, such as fast loading speeds and persuasive content writing.
- Test and Repeat —Make A/B testing part of your typical marketing schedule to determine what works and what doesn’t. Likewise, constant testing ensures your website doesn’t get stale and tumble down the rankings.
- Personalisation —Personalisation is a powerful tool for targeting different customer segments. Tailoring your messaging increases the odds of making an impact on each segment. Combining your personalisation strategies with SEO can also inform landing page optimisation, which will only boost your rankings.
As you can see, countless options exist for combining SEO and CRO. It’s less about finding a balance and more about understanding that you cannot have one without the other.
Tracking the impact of SEO and CRO
Any marketing campaign requires monitoring to understand whether it’s achieved success. Some examples of both SEO and CRO impacts include:
- Organic traffic
- Keyword rankings
- SERP visibility
- Click-through rate
- SERP visibility
- Bounce rate
- Conversions
- Website authority
Which metrics you focus on must be defined before you launch your campaign. Every marketing effort is different, meaning no two businesses will draw the same line between success and failure.
Achieve SEO and CRO Synergy With Tao Digital Marketing
Managing SEO and CRO can be complicated. Even if you understand how both work, running these campaigns takes valuable time and resources away from your business.
Kickstart your next online marketing campaign by working with a team of experts who understand what works for you. We incorporate your goals, expectations and niche to provide the best possible solution. To learn more, contact Tao Digital today.
Winning a big client who decides to keep your law firm on retainer is the dream. Realistically, most of the UK’s 208,000 law firms must continually generate new business to thrive. Although many firms continue to rely on traditional marketing, the true rewards are online.
According to the latest stats, over a third of clients start their search online before examining any other channel. This is an opportunity, and lead generation is one of the most impactful ways to snag this group.
Want to know how to make lead generation work for you? Let’s dive into everything you need to know about lead generation in the legal trade.
What is lead generation for law firms?
Leads are anyone interested in using your law firm’s services. For example, if you specialise in helping your clients through messy divorces, anyone searching for a divorce lawyer would be a potential lead.
Leads can come from anywhere. They could be someone local Googling for a “business lawyer in Manchester” or someone asking about a “road traffic solicitor in Durham” in a local Facebook group.
Lead generation aims to acquire those leads and get them to choose you as their lawyer. In other words, it’s the business of attracting and selling to clients who can benefit from your services.
The benefits of lead generation for law firms
Lead generation is viewed as a priority for marketers in every sector. According to one figure, 53% of marketers sent 50% of their total budgets to lead generation, which shows how powerful it is.
So, what’s the benefit of doing this in the legal sector?
- Grow your client base.
- Increase your conversion rates.
- Reduce your marketing costs.
- Turn to precision targeting.
- Gain a competitive edge.
- Save time and resources.
- Build brand awareness.
Finally, strong lead generation campaigns can establish yourself as the go-to legal authority in your niche. Whether you help clients with speeding fines or criminal law, lead generation positions you as the number one brand in your playground.
The lead generation process for law firms
Lead generation isn’t about throwing up a few ads and hoping for the best. In the past, this was marketing’s best-kept secret, but times have changed. Today, 61% of marketers claimed generating leads was now their biggest challenge.
Most guides treat lead generation as an abstract concept. Let’s consider what it might look like for a solicitor in the field.
- John is being sued for libel and needs legal advice. He discovered your firm through Google and signed up for a free consultation. This makes John a lead.
- You already know John is interested, but he’s probably taking free consultations with several solicitors. During your call, you learn about his case, which is scheduled for next month.
- Throughout your call, your rep found out he can afford you and lives in the same city. This makes him what’s known as a “qualified lead”, meaning John is worth pursuing.
- Your firm will then “nurture” John as a lead. This could be through personalised offers, discounts, or something else. If successful, John will convert from a lead into a customer.
Successful lead generation relies on your marketing and sales team working in tandem to bring in leads and guide them down the sales funnel. The problem is your competitors are also doing the same thing.
How can you ensure that the leads generated are high-quality?
Not every lead is worth your time. Just because someone needs legal services doesn’t make them a good lead.
For example, if you’re based in Southampton and someone in Edinburgh has found you, that makes them a low-quality lead because most lawyers aren’t going to travel the length of the UK for a single client.
Here are some simple ways to ensure the leads you’ve generated are worth pursuing:
Add more fields to your lead generation forms. Not only does this provide more information, but it also scares away people who aren’t serious about hiring you.
Make your lead generation questions more thoughtful. Again, it’s all about separating the serious people from the window shoppers. The last thing you want is to waste your secretary’s time on free consultations that won’t lead anywhere.
Although providing more hurdles to jump through and reducing the number of people you target may seem counterintuitive, it’ll actually increase your success rates while reducing the drag on your resources.
Plus, you might even find a relatively sparse niche and gain a competitive edge!
Generating leads for multiple legal practice areas
Generating leads for multiple legal practice areas is often a point of contention among both marketers and solicitors. However, since law firms may address several areas of law, you’ll need separate lead-generation campaigns for each.
It all begins with your law firm’s website. Since you’ll drive 90% of your traffic here, you need individual landing pages for each practice area. Furthermore, this will likely mean running multiple paid marketing campaigns, including SEO, PPC and social media advertising.
SEO is especially pertinent because growing your brand’s visibility as a whole will support each practice area’s lead-generation campaign. This is where hiring an SEO agency that can build these foundations proves its value.
Ultimately, you must also consider resource allocation if operating in multiple practice areas. Does it make sense to allocate half of your resources to individual libel when most of your business comes from business libel? Of course not, so campaigns must be tailored to your firm.
Measuring the success of law firm lead generation
How do you know if your lead generation campaign has been successful?
Measuring any campaign’s success is critical to optimising future campaigns. Directly attributing new business to your lead generation efforts tells you whether you need to continue with what you’re doing or change.
Follow these tips to measure the success of your lead generation campaign.
Focus on the right metrics
Concentrating on core metrics provides actionable insights into what’s working. Here are the top metrics to use:
- Conversion rate
- Cost per lead
- Revenue per client
- Return on Investment (ROI)
Set up analytics and tracking
Analytics and tracking tools are essential to working out where your new business is coming from. Without certain tools, you’re entirely blind to your marketing efforts.
Basic tools like Google Analytics will tell you about the performance of your website and its landing pages and offer insights into how your visitors are behaving. In terms of lead generation, you also need conversion tracking tools. Several platforms have native tools, such as Google Ads Conversion Tracking and Facebook Ads Manager. However, all-in-one suites are also available.
Use a reliable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
CRMs are essential for tracking and managing your leads. Some of the benefits include:
- Tracking interactions.
- Centralising lead data from each channel.
- Analysing lead behaviour.
Some of the most common CRMs law firms use include HubSpot and Salesforce. Some firms may prefer niche-specific CRMs, though.
Launch A/B testing
A/B testing is a technique for measuring lead generation ROI. It involves creating at least two variations of your landing pages, copy, campaigns and more. Each variation is tested against the other to see which performs best.
Constant A/B testing will tell you what works, but it relies on making incremental changes to see which alterations have the most impact. After all, the secret of lead generation is that you’ll never get the best possible results from your first campaign. It’s a long-term process.
How to generate leads for your law firm
There’s no getting around the fact that lead generation is time- and resource-intensive. Get it right, and you will see your leads increase exponentially. The transformative potential of mastering lead generation is undeniable but requires expertise.
Legal professionals are busy people and may not have the time to learn about and run lead-generation initiatives, and that’s where Tao Digital comes in. In the past, our efforts have led to one law firm increasing its leads by 174%.
If these types of results are what your firm is looking for, reach out to the team today.
Paid advertising is one of the most effective ways to get your law firm in front of prospective clients. Retargeting ads are among the most impactful ways to grow your brand’s footprint, but you need to know how to do them, or you risk spending a lot of money for little return.
In fact, one in five marketers admitted to having a dedicated retargeting budget, with most marketers focusing on Facebook and Instagram. If you want to supercharge your firm’s growth, here’s your guide to retargeting ads and how they work.
What are retargeting ads?
In an ideal world, potential clients would visit your website and hire your law firm. In reality, 96% of people who visit your website aren’t ready to act on their first visit. It’s not a slight on your website. It’s just the way it is.
This is where retargeting comes in. It’s an advertising strategy that keeps your law firm in front of potential clients after they leave your website. Retargeting ads are explicitly shown to visitors based on their activity on your website.
In other words, display ads target people who have never heard of you, while retargeting ads target those who’ve already “touched” your business. Studies have shown that retargeting ads have a 70% higher conversion impact than ordinary display ads. Why is this the case?
It goes back to the traditional marketing principle of the Rule of Seven. The Rule of Seven states a company must touch a client at least seven times before they convert.
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How do retargeting ads work for law firms?
Retargeting ads make it possible to show ads to your website visitors based on a range of metrics, including:
- Number of times they visited your website.
- Time spent on your website.
- Pages clicked on.
- Other behaviours displayed on your website.
This can be done by tracking pixels embedded on your website or holding the visitor’s email address. The tracking depends on the type of retargeting campaign and the action you’re looking for.
Let’s run through the step-by-step process a visitor to your legal website might follow with retargeting:
- A potential client visits your website.
- They show interest in your legal services.
- They leave without taking action.
- Later, they visit other legal websites.
- Your retargeting ad appears and recaptures their interest.
- The client then clicks on the ad, returns to your website and contacts you about your legal services.
Some clients may return to your website when they see one of your retargeting ads. Others may need to see multiple ads or multiple repeat visits to act. It all depends on the client.
What does a retargeting ad look like in the field? Here’s an example of what an effective retargeting ad looks like, from our own retargeting project!
Do retargeting ads work in the legal sector?
Dive into the statistics surrounding retargeting ads, and you’ll see big claims. For example, one study says retargeting ads are 76% more likely to be clicked on than ordinary display ads. The problem is most of these numbers come from eCommerce, which is by far the biggest market for retargeting ads.
So, do they work as well within the legal sector?
Although research into retargeting and the legal sector is sparse, no evidence states that it shouldn’t work. Although the needs of legal clients may differ, marketing principles remain the same. Principles, like the aforementioned Rule of Seven, don’t change because you sell legal services instead of retail items.
Finding the right platforms for legal retargeting ads
Retargeting ads can be delivered across several common marketing channels. Most lawyers will use three primary platforms:
- Social Media—Facebook and Instagram are the easiest platforms to run retargeting ads on because of their built-in platform capabilities, including features like the Facebook Cookie Pixel. However, solicitors can also run retargeting ads via X (Twitter), LinkedIn and YouTube.
- Google Display Network—The Google Display Network displays side-of-site and banner ads on sites that are part of the network. This retargeting platform is effective because it features ads on websites your audience will likely visit, meaning your message follows your prospect.
- Google Ads—Google ads follow the same principle, but they show up on the search engine itself.
These three avenues should form part of every lawyer’s retargeting campaign, but they’re not the only platforms where you can display retargeting ads. It all depends on where your audience typically is.
Setting up a successful retargeting campaign for your law firm
Marketing professionals rave about retargeting campaigns. Approximately 92% of marketers said retargeting platforms are just as effective or better than search marketing. However, no form of paid advertising can deliver guaranteed results.
Setting up successful retargeting campaigns is both art and science. Nailing a great campaign from the start requires time and constant optimisation. Here’s what you must know about creating impactful campaigns.
Firstly, you must build the infrastructure to capture and retarget those who’ve already visited your website. This includes installing the Facebook Pixel on your website and setting up Google Analytics.
These tools inform you where people spend time on your website and what they do. It’s this data you’ll feed into each of your retargeting campaigns. Over time, you can also segment these visitors to produce laser-targeted retargeting ads.
The right platform is the platform where your audience is. You need to know which platforms your ideal client uses.
For example, lawyers specialising in business law can reasonably assume that a professional social media network like LinkedIn would be a happy hunting ground. On the other hand, if most of your clients deal with motoring law, Facebook could be the better option. Market research is the only way to find out.
Retargeting ads focus more on direct conversion than other types of ads. Your targets already know your brand and what you do. The point is to create an ad that reminds them of your law firm and encourages them to get in touch.
Like any ad, it needs excellent copy, a solid call to action and imagery that draws the eye. This is where working with a digital marketing professional really pays dividends.
Ensure your audience doesn’t see your ad too many times. Too many appearances can annoy and push people away. For example, SurveyMonkey reveals that 74% of users believe there are too many ads.
Overexposure is as harmful as underexposure, so you must use frequency-limiting features. Practically all major platforms have these features to limit how many times your targets will see your ads.
The final step in any successful campaign is using the data you generate to optimise your campaign. Examining your retargeting data is an opportunity to make informed decisions to enhance the effectiveness of future ads.
Metrics to follow for worthwhile retargeting include:
- Emails sent.
- Direct calls gained from ads.
- Contact forms filled out.
- Cost per client acquisition.
Ideally, you should begin tracking these metrics before launching retargeting ads to establish a baseline to compare.
Why retargeting is a key strategy for law firms
Retargeting ads take time to perfect, but it’s a journey well worth embarking on. If you’re not sure whether adding them to your digital marketing strategy is right for you, here are the benefits:
- Highly Targeted – Retargeting delivers ads to an already engaged audience. This is effective for solicitors where clients tend to take time to research and compare different options before committing to a solicitor.
- More Visibility—These ads provide extra visibility for your law firm even after prospects leave your website, keeping your name at the forefront of their minds.
- Improve Conversion Rates – Retargeting ads are a proven method of improving conversion rates. They’re several times more effective than ordinary display ads, which you might already be running.
- Build Your Credibility – Retargeting ads contribute to improving your credibility because your name will appear on other websites. Over time, this will establish your practice as a trusted source of truth for legal matters.
Despite the benefits, mastering retargeting ads and boosting your ROI is a challenging feat. That’s why turning to an experienced digital marketing firm is essential for acquiring results and avoiding wasted funds. To learn more, speak to one of the Tao Digital Marketing team about launching your retargeting campaign today.
Marketing your law firm is essential to your survival in today’s digital world. Currently, the UK’s legal market has seen the number of registered law firms falling, with the Solicitors Regulation Authority counting 9,334 firms in February 2024.
The legal market remains abundant despite the number of operators falling from record highs. Remember, 96% of people said they started their search for legal advice online. Everyone looking up legal advice is a potential lead, but how do you target them?
It’s all about your target audience, and this guide will discuss how to reach them online.
The importance of a target audience
Your target audience is your people. If you think about all your current and former clients, these are your target audience. Yet even professional marketers often don’t know their target audience. According to HubSpot, just 42% of marketers had basic demographic information for them.
Without that information, you’re flying blind. You’re making assumptions and hoping for the best, which means wasted time and money. So, why should you know your target audience?
Of course, knowing your target audience is one thing, but targeting them successfully is quite another.
What is the typical target audience for a law firm?
Solicitors can serve every adult in the UK. Your law firm’s target audience comprises the likeliest people to become your clients. The easiest way to figure this out is to examine your current client base and find what binds them. Basic demographics include age, education level, income and occupation, but law firms must dig deeper.
According to Spotify, poorly targeted ads waste an estimated $37 billion USD annually. Avoiding wasted marketing pounds means going deeper. Some examples include:
- Values
- Pain points
- Lifestyles
- Needs
Never make assumptions because the target audience for a road traffic lawyer will be very different from a business lawyer serving the needs of companies.
How to define and segment your law firm’s target audience online
Defining your target audience leads to segmenting that audience. Remember, many law firms operate in multiple practice areas, meaning they may have several target audiences – or segments – to consider.
Here are some tips to begin learning about your target audience.
Here are some tips to begin learning about your target audience.
Analyse your current clients with data analysis
The story is in the data. Solicitors nationwide are embracing technology, with the Law Society Gazette revealing that a quarter of lawyers use generative technology. So why wouldn’t you use data analytics to learn about your target audience?
Focus on your current and past clients and identify their patterns and characteristics. This will give you a benchmark against which to continue your research. Remember, this is an ongoing process because you’re constantly acquiring data.
Moreover, you can do the same thing with your competitors’ audiences to identify gaps in the market.
Research the broader legal market
Keep sight of the broader legal market, or you risk not seeing the forest for the trees. Explore the market landscape to spot the trends and opportunities within your practice area.
Keeping up with the market doesn’t require reading dry market research reports. Instead, surveys should be conducted on current and potential clients to learn more about their needs and preferences.
Invest in psychographics
Psychographics focus on psychological variables and offer a way to understand the minds and motivations of your target audience. Examples of psychographic metrics include:
- Motivations
- Values
- Interests
- Lifestyles
Again, this is where data analytics comes in handy. Acquiring this data helps you craft the targeted marketing messages that compel your audience to act.
Segment based on behaviour
Segmentation divides your target audience into different groups. This enables you to target campaigns based on the characteristics of groups within your target audience.
Tracking what your target audience does provides clues as to what’s likely to resonate with them. Some examples of behavioural metrics to track include:
- Time spent on your website.
- Number of times visiting your website.
- Pages clicked on.
- Downloads.
- Newsletter opens/clicks.
Analysing your audience’s behaviour can help you make better choices regarding every aspect of your marketing campaign.
Continue gathering and analysing
No person was the same ten years ago as they are today. The same goes for your audience. What worked a few years ago isn’t necessarily going to work now.
Law firms must continually analyse their clients and activity across all their marketing channels. This enables them to spot any client changes and adjust accordingly.
Creating audience personas for your law firm
Did you know that 44% of marketers used audience personas in their business? But what are audience personas?
Your target audience defines a group of people, whereas audience personas zoom into individual members of that audience. Personas drill down to define what an ideal looks like within the various segments of your target audience, making them powerful tools.
Here’s a short guide for building out an audience persona:
- Begin With Demographics – The foundation of any audience persona is the demographics. Understanding this provides the high-level data needed to continue.
- Know Their Pain Points – The next step is to know their pain points. In other words, what’s the problem they need you to solve, and what do they expect from you?
- Research the Noise – Noise in the marketplace stops them from acting. This is where analysing your competitors comes in useful. Understanding what others say to influence your target audience helps you find the gaps to undermine these efforts and win the client.
- The “Why”—Why should they hire your firm? Conceptualise your unique selling points to help understand why someone would hire you over your competitors. Every law firm should know this because it’s what makes you special. Without those points, you’re just another law firm.
- Finish With Emotions – People don’t always purchase based on cold, hard truths. They make them based on emotions. When creating a client persona, define the journey of working with you. Moreover, map out the emotions of that persona in both win and lose scenarios. This will help you customise your marketing messaging.
Companies worldwide spend billions of pounds on finding their target audience and building audience personas in every industry. But you don’t need to cripple your cash flow to find your target audience and boost your marketing success rates.
At Tao Digital, we specialise in helping the UK’s lawyers branch out online and achieve their goals. In one case study, we collaborated with one firm and they experienced a 174% increase in leads.
If you need a partner who can find your target audience and win them over to your brand, contact the team today.
Whether you are a sole practitioner or a nationwide brand, law firm marketing is essential to your practice’s growth. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the UK legal industry is growing with an average 8-10% growth in fees, with firms remaining largely resilient in the post-pandemic landscape.
On the other hand, claiming your piece of the cake requires marketing campaigns that excel beyond your competitors. According to an assessment from Thomson Reuters Legal UK, too many law firms still only see marketing rather than trying to understand the dynamics of each market.
This philosophy shows that it’s time to level up your game. One way of sharpening your legal marketing efforts is digital marketing tools. Let’s look at the most effective solutions for the year ahead.
Should law firms use tools for their marketing?
Online marketing is where the money is. Today, over a third of potential clients begin their search for a solicitor online.
Although you can carry out your marketing processes manually, this isn’t the best way of handling it. Using tools increases accuracy, efficiency and performance. In one study from Think With Google, marketers using five or more tools for analytics alone were 39% likelier to see a performance improvement.
Taking advantage of cutting-edge technology can save you time while delivering better results. However, not all tools were created equal, so choosing your tech stack carefully is vital.
How digital marketing tools can help law firms
Despite the clear benefits of digital marketing – and marketing generally – UK law firms spend just 2% of annual gross revenues on their marketing efforts. This is evidence of an industry that’s still somewhat edgy about throwing money at marketing.
However, digital marketing tools deliver positive ROIs when wielded correctly. Some of the advantages of investing in these solutions include:
Better Understand Your Audience – Digital marketing tools deepen your understanding of your target audience. Acquiring detailed real-time data helps you refine your marketing strategy by understanding what your prospective clients really want.
Maximise Your Reach – Use tools to reach as many people as possible with your marketing content. This is especially helpful for UK law firms operating nationwide or looking to expand into new regional markets.
Measure and Optimise – Stop fumbling in the dark using a costly trial-and-error strategy. Instead, use state-of-the-art tools to determine what’s working for your firm.
Save Time – Time is precious in the fast-paced legal trade. Digital marketing tools automate many tedious, time-consuming tasks like social media scheduling, lead tracking and email marketing.
Reduce Your Spend – Switching your focus to technology-led marketing can enable you to cut out many of the usual expenses associated with traditional marketing. Plus, it’s not uncommon for tools to offer flexible plans, mitigating your costs.
Intelligent Segmentation – In the past, digital marketing focused on hitting a broad market and hoping some of them become future clients. Today, tools are helping lawyers to initiate hyper-targeted campaigns, increasing their returns.
It’s easy to shirk away from spending hundreds of pounds on building your marketing tech stack, but think about the big picture. Digital marketing tools are a proven way for legal eagles to reduce their outgoings while increasing their returns.
Ultimately, the firm that uses marketing tools will always beat the firm that doesn’t.
Best digital marketing tools for the legal industry
Thousands of marketing tools exist for every task and process known to man. If you’re unfamiliar with legal marketing, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the options available.
This is why many lawyers bury their heads in the sand and continue managing everything manually. If you’re confused, we’ve compiled a list of the best digital marketing tools specifically for the legal industry.
Legal Marketing Strategy Tools
Before you can launch a marketing campaign, you must plan one out. Strategising is where your marketing efforts rise and fall.
Here are our favourite tools for constructing your next campaign from the ground up.
Google Search Console
The Google Search Console is part of a suite of Google-made tools for improving your SEO efforts. With the Search Console, you can conduct an initial analysis or refresh an existing strategy with an updated set of keywords.
This tool aims to do more with keywords, find errors on your site, and test how mobile-friendly your platform is. It’s also where you can see how your pages are doing on Google.
Plus, Google Search Console integrates with all other Google tools, including Google Analytics.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
By far, the best web analytics platform is GA4, the fourth iteration of Google Analytics. Lawyers can use this tool to acquire a comprehensive overview of how users interact with websites, apps and other platforms under your banner.
Ahrefs
Law firms looking for paid SEO tools with more advanced capabilities should look to Ahrefs. The value of this tool is that it examines your website to produce a range of actionable data, including:
- Keywords and search volumes
- Link profiles
- Ranking profiles
Other features include a site and content explorer to enable you to evaluate the performance of everything you’ve ever produced on your website.
AlsoAsked
Question-based long-tail keywords can provide opportunities to demonstrate your expertise and capture niche markets. The AlsoAsked platform gives you all the most commonly asked questions from real searchers.
For example, we typed in “personal injury law”, and some of the questions we got back included:
- How long does a personal injury claim take?
- What’s the average payout for personal injury claims?
- Should I get a solicitor for personal injury claims?
LowFruits.io
Finding keywords is one thing, but the key to good SEO is discovering high-traffic keywords with low-competition signals.
Designed for website owners, LowFruits is a bulk SERP analyser that uncovers those signals, helping you to find blue-water zones to build your authority through.
Google Trends
Evergreen content is essential, but plugging your firm into current legal trends can help you join the conversations and address real people’s concerns.
While Google Trends doesn’t offer granular data, it effectively shows the legal topics and ideas people are currently exploring.
Website and Hosting Software
In the online world, your website is your most valuable asset. This is the digital equivalent of your office. Since it’s often the first thing prospective clients see, you’ve got to get it right.
Let’s examine the best way to get your site up and running.
WordPress
In 2023, WordPress continues to reign supreme. It’s the engine behind approximately 43% of all websites on the Internet – and for a good reason.
WordPress has millions of free templates, customisation options and plugins to create the ideal legal website without coding experience.
Even better, WordPress is completely free.
Kinsta
Free web hosting doesn’t work for every business. We recommend Kinsta because of its high-end performance using Google’s C2 cloud platform (our Kinsta review gives more details!).
Kinsta’s infrastructure includes state-of-the-art security features and world-class support. Moreover, it’s highly flexible, with starter plans costing less than your monthly coffee budget.
Its lowest-cost plan includes 10 GB of storage, a premium migration and a 14-day backup.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective avenues to explore. According to one study, email marketing has a 4400% ROI, meaning for every £1 invested, the average return is £36.
However, you need the right platform for email. Check out these two options.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is an excellent email platform choice for most law firms because of its fair pricing system. It has all the features you need to send out highly targeted campaigns to your list.
Plus, you can customise your campaigns and split-test email subject lines with ActiveCampaign to determine what engages your list the most.
MailChimp
MailChimp is another prominent email marketing platform for lawyers. Like ActiveCampaign, it possesses all the features necessary to create custom emails and gain detailed analytics from each campaign.
Moreover, building custom templates is simple due to its drag-and-drop interface. However, beware that MailChimp tends to get expensive with larger lists.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
CRM software streamlines how you interact with current and prospective clients. With a solid CRM in your tech stack, you can simplify building client relationships and supercharge the processes that lead to more business.
In our opinion, there’s only one choice for CRM software.
HubSpot
HubSpot isn’t a dedicated legal CRM, but it works equally well for all professional services. Some of the standout HubSpot features that make it the most effective CRM on the market include:
- Automated execution
- Well-configured databases
- Marketing source capture
- Marketing channel evaluation
- Full integration with other systems
Social Media and Youtube
Social media is critical for growing your legal practice. As you’d expect, plenty of tools exist for managing your social media channels, including ones designed around specific platforms.
Here are our top social media tools:
- Linkinbio – Share all your most important links in one URL to maximise your bio space.
- Actual Platform Analytics – The fact is that all of the most prominent platforms have built-in analytics tabs that provide all of the data you could ever need.
- TubeBuddy – YouTube SEO, analytics, keywords and tags. TubeBuddy is specially built for the world’s largest video-sharing platform to help with law firm video marketing.
Link Building
Getting backlinks to your content signals that your content is relevant, trustworthy and authority-led. Even today, backlinks are among the most effective ways of getting your content to the top of Google SERPs.
Other than reaching out to known bloggers directly, we recommend:
- HARO – HARO allows journalists to ask questions of professionals. If they choose your answer, they’ll reward you with a link to your website.
- Directories – Backlinks from general directories also provide some juice for your website. Ensure you’re listed on Yelp, Yellow Pages, DMOZ and others.
Supercharge your Law Firm Marketing with Tao Digital
Building your tech stack with legal digital marketing tools is the first step to accelerating your law firm. With Tao Digital, our team can help you assemble everything and gain the competitive edge you need.
If you want to learn more about the secrets of digital law firm growth, contact the team today.
Getting your firm in front of your audience is the hardest part of gaining clients in today’s digital world. In the UK, the average marketing cost for law firms ranges from 0.5% to 5% of annual revenues, far below that of other industries.
It’s no secret that law firms often find themselves behind the curve in digital marketing, but in that lies tremendous opportunities for forward-thinking legal professionals to take advantage. One such avenue to explore is email marketing.
With 59% of marketers claiming that email is their most effective channel, harnessing its power can supercharge your bottom line. But starting an email list isn’t enough. You need to go about it the right way.
Do law firms use email marketing?
Law firms are gradually discovering the benefits of email. Although stats from UK firms are unavailable, the American Bar Association revealed that 41% of law firms were using email newsletters for marketing in 2021, up from 26% in 2020.
This is far below other industries, meaning that unlike other forms of marketing, such as PPC and social media ads, this is a blue-water zone to be exploited.
What can you expect from adopting an effective email marketing strategy? According to the Digital Marketing Association, email marketing has an average ROI of 42:1, meaning for every £1 spent, you generate £42 in business.
How can law firms benefit from email marketing?
Email marketing is yet another channel solicitors must add to their marketing mix. Unlike other channels, email marketing offers several unique benefits.
Understand that an email is a personal conversation. It’s an intimate communication technique that allows you to speak directly to prospects. This is why it’s so effective at building relationships: the message can be customised and delivered to the right people at the right time. It’s an alternative to the legacy scattergun approach.
Mastering email marketing is an opportunity to humanise yourself while demonstrating thought leadership. It’s the action that builds trust and formulates genuine relationships between you, your prospects and your existing clients.
Ultimately, this results in more brand awareness, leads and business.
Considering the low-cost barrier to entry of email marketing, this is a cost-effective marketing option requiring little investment. You can benefit from email marketing, whether you’re a large firm or a one-man operation.
Creating an email marketing strategy for your law firm
Gathering emails and blasting out corporate news is no strategy at all. People want information that’s relevant to them. For example, if you specialise in tackling unfair dismissal cases, there’s little point in sending out a newsletter on human rights.
Understand that despite the high ROI of email marketing, MailChimp research reveals average open rates for the legal industry are a relatively low 22%, with a paltry 2.81% click-through rate. So, it’s vital to avoid being disheartened.
You need a strategy that reflects your firm and the interests of the future clients you’re targeting. So, what aspects make up an optimal email marketing strategy?
Target Audience – Who are your target audience, and what do they care about? This will be specific to every law firm. Typically, you should begin with your primary practice areas when divining content for your newsletter.
Competitor Research – What are your competitors sending? One of the easiest ways to conduct competitor research is to sign up for a few of their newsletters and create a database of the subjects they’re tackling.
Goals – What is the purpose of your email list? Not every firm’s primary goal is generating direct business. Some use them to create brand awareness and generate industry authority. Defining your goals establishes the line between success and failure and the KPIs you prioritise.
Content Type – What sort of content are you planning to send? This could be anything from promotional emails and legal guides to invoices and special offers.
Frequency – The frequency of your emails is another defining factor. Setting expectations early is crucial to avoid annoying/abandoning your audience. Make it clear what your subscribers can expect from you.
Thankfully, email marketing strategies don’t require a budget because of the minimal startup cost. The primary challenge for law firms is setting aside the time to write newsletters and measure the results.
Email marketing best practices for law firms
Email marketing requires constant learning and development to master. After all, the habits of subscribers change over time. However, certain best practices remain. Let’s discuss some top tips for law firms getting to grips with email marketing.
- Set Clear Goals – Every email marketing campaign should have its own goals. Whether it’s acquiring more clients, retaining existing ones, or increasing awareness of your legal niche, you need a goal because this is what influences your measurables.
- Keep Your List Pruned – Building your email list is always a priority, but so is keeping your list clean. Only 56% of email subscribers stay on a list for 12 months, meaning you may be swayed by results from emails that are no longer monitored.
- Offer Value – Your emails are not a place to discuss why you are the best solicitor in the country. Instead, seek to offer value in as few words as possible. Stay away from complex legalese and leave your subscribers coming away feeling like they’ve learned something.
- Monitor Your Performance – Pay close attention to your metrics for each campaign, and don’t be afraid to change if something isn’t working. A/B testing is as relevant to email marketing as any other channel.
- Beware of Legal Compliance – The legal industry has more stringent policies to protect client confidentiality. This extends further than legislation like GDPR. Familiarise yourself with what you can and cannot feature to prevent potential problems.
Best email marketing software for law firms
Countless email marketing platforms exist to help you write newsletters, consolidate lists and launch campaigns. Let’s look at some of the leading options law firms use today.
Active Campaign is widespread across multiple industries because it integrates email and marketing automation. Although it’s often used for B2B clients, it’s also perfectly serviceable for B2C clients.
It allows you to tag contacts based on their behaviours, enabling you to drill down into different subscriber segments for more targeted communications.
MailChimp is one of the largest email marketing platforms in the world. It’s mainly designed for small and medium-sized businesses and offers several unique features.
For example, you can build landing pages in minutes, deliver personalised email postcards, and even send surveys to gather client feedback. However, beware that MailChimp gets expensive as your list grows, so some prefer MailerLite.
Most email marketing platforms’ fees are based on how many people you have on your list. However, Sendinblue is among the few that charge based on the number of emails sent.
Newbies to email marketing will love their drag-and-drop editor to design their emails, and their customer support team is proficient in helping with things like GDPR compliance.
If you’re ready to step into the law firm email marketing world, Tao Digital is waiting to support you in growing your firm. To get started, read our Beginner’s Guide to Digital Marketing now.
In an evolving world of video marketing, PPC and social media, it’s easy to forget the humble blog. Although no longer the go-to marketing option, the written word remains an effective tool for generating new business.
With the UK legal industry seeing dramatic falls from the market’s peak in 2022, solicitors must work harder than ever to take on new cases. For example, property lawyers alone handle 40% fewer cases today than in 2022.
However, pumping out legal blogs won’t yield the results you want. Although companies that blog gain 67% more sales opportunities than companies that don’t, there must be a method to the madness.
The benefits of having a legal blog
Active legal blogs are a long-term asset for your firm. According to HubSpot, websites with active blogs receive 434% more indexed pages.
In short, the more useful content on Google from your firm, the larger your footprint; and with over a third of potential clients beginning their search online, blogging just makes sense.
Legal blogs have other benefits for your firm, too. Here’s a rundown of some of the advantages of taking the time to blog:
Improved Rankings – Blogging is part of your overarching law firm content marketing and SEO strategies. With the latter being crucial in driving traffic to your website, blogging represents one of the pillars of successful law firm SEO.
Demonstrate Expertise – Approximately 96% of people seek legal advice online. By commenting on trending topics and addressing commonly asked questions, you can provide value and establish yourself as an authority.
Hit Your Target Audience – The digital revolution shifted the initiative from traditional marketing. Although these tactics are still relevant, blogging is often the only way to hit a considerable proportion of your potential client base.
Increase Your Brand Awareness – Law firms are brand-led. People don’t just choose you because of your services, as all your direct competitors offer the same services. They choose you because of your brand. Blogging is an opportunity to stamp your brand’s unique values and story on the minds of your target audience.
Grow Your Revenues – Ultimately, marketing is about growing your business. Both through direct business and brand awareness, blogging, directly and indirectly, empowers your firm to explode its revenues.
Types of blog post content for a law firm
Starting a blog is one thing, but not every blog is the same. Solicitors have various blog content they can publish for one reason or another.
So, what are the most common types of blogs law firms publish?
- Core topics related to your practice area.
- Mythbusting posts.
- Changes to the law.
- Trending case reviews.
- Frequently asked question posts.
- Success stories.
- How-to posts.
The above is a general overview of some areas a legal blog may cover. However, having a mixture of trending posts and evergreen content is vital. Likewise, many blogs write so-called “super guides” as landing pages.
Finding blog topics for your law firm
One of the sticking points solicitors experience is determining blog topics. Traditionally, this was a trial-and-error process, which is why some law firms spent years trying new things. But time is money, and writing a series of poor-performing blogs is a net loss.
Instead of fumbling around for blog topics that may or may not work, here are a few pointers on tried-and-tested topics known to accomplish different goals.
- Understanding common legal terms.
- Legal FAQs series.
- Addressing some of the most significant legal challenges in your practice area.
- Practical advice for handling situations your clients may encounter in their daily lives.
- Legal checklists for given situations, with downloadables included.
- Promote upcoming webinars.
- Exclusive offers for your practice.
- Case studies.
- Success stories.
- Analysis of recent legal developments.
- Breaking down new laws.
- Talking about legal trends.
- Predictions about what’s in store for the legal landscape.
- Short pieces of legal trivia.
- Infographics to simplify complex legal concepts.
- Legal humour.
- Story-based blogs.
The importance of SEO in blog writing
Write the most fantastic blog in the world; none of it will matter if nobody finds it. This happens when you write a blog without heed to SEO. Optimising blogs for Google is pivotal to driving traffic to that blog and is where much of the marketing value comes from.
At the heart of SEO lies comprehensive keyword research so you know what your target audience is searching for. Tailoring your content accordingly enables you to rank, which results in clicks and potential new clients.
Likewise, backlinks and on-page SEO lend credibility to your blog and your brand as a whole. High-authority backlinks to your content signal to Google that this is trustworthy content that provides value to searchers, resulting in a higher ranking.
It takes time, and there are no shortcuts, but consistently adhering to core SEO principles in each post will elevate your law firm.
Tips and guidelines for writing law firm blog content
Writing law firm blog content requires extensive research. If an experienced legal professional writes the blog, most of the effort will be spent choosing the right angle for a particular topic.
Here are some tips for writing impactful legal content.
Identify topics of value
Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and ask, “Why would I want to read this?”
Answering this question enables you to find the value angle in your content. It could be the answer to a single question or provide clarity on how the legal process works. Whatever it is, the topic must be relevant and interesting to the people you’re targeting.
Write with authority
Above all, you must project your authority. The only way to make your particular perspective on a subject stand out in a crowded market is to lead with your experience.
Create engaging titles
Your title is the sign in the shop window. If it doesn’t make sense, nobody will click on your post. On the other hand, it must get right to the point.
This is where competitor research and looking up high-ranking blogs on similar subjects come into play.
Write for easy scanning
Long-form blog posts can be highly effective for SEO purposes, but not everyone wants to spare 15 minutes to read every word.
Creating a table of contents at the top of your post and being specific with your subheadings makes it easy for people to scroll quickly to the section that interests them.
Ask the audience
Are you struggling to determine your next subject?
Ask your existing audience what they would like to know. If you already have an email list, send out an email blast asking them what legal topics they would like to know about. Law firms without an online presence should rely on competitor research to guide them.
Measure your success
Look to the data to discover what works. You can dig into the results once a few months have passed and enough blogs have been published.
Figure out what got the biggest response and then review that blog against other hits. Find the consistencies between your top performers to uncover patterns you can apply to future content.
However, the best way to supercharge your growth is to consult with the SEO and content marketing experts at Tao Digital. If you’re not getting the desired results or don’t have the time to learn the skills yourself, speak to the team to find out what we can do for you.
