Content marketing has become an essential strategy for law firms looking to attract new clients in the digital age. Developing high-quality, relevant content and distributing it online allows law firms to showcase their expertise, build credibility and improve their search engine rankings.
But how exactly does content marketing work for law firms? What types of content should you create? And how can you use content to support your overall marketing goals? This guide will explain the key principles and best practices of law firm content marketing.
Defining Content Marketing for Law Firms
Law firm content marketing refers to creating and sharing valuable, relevant content to attract and retain clients. Unlike traditional advertising, effective content marketing focuses on informing and educating potential clients, rather than just promoting your services.
For law firms, content marketing typically involves creating blog posts, videos, infographics, eBooks, podcasts, and other formats that provide useful legal information. This content is shared and promoted across multiple online channels to raise awareness and position your firm as a trusted source of legal guidance.
The goal is to use content to build relationships with potential clients over time. By consistently publishing helpful information, you can establish your firm as an authority in your legal niche and geographic area. Then when readers need legal representation, they will already be familiar with and confident in your expertise.
Benefits of Content Marketing for Law Firms
There are several key benefits that make content marketing well-suited for law firms:
- Improves SEO & increases organic traffic: Quality content can boost your rankings in local search results, driving more organic visitors to your website. This is key for attracting potential clients researching legal issues online.
- Highlights attorney expertise: Letting your attorneys share their insights through content is an excellent way to display your firm’s capabilities and experience.
- Provides value to potential clients: Publishing legal guides, FAQs, checklists and other useful content shows you are focused on educating prospects, not just selling to them. This builds trust and credibility.
- Generates leads: Calls-to-action within blog posts and content offers allow you to collect contact information from interested prospects to follow up with directly.
- Enhances reputation: Positioning attorneys as thought leaders in their practice areas adds to your firm’s prestige and influence locally.
- Cost-effective: Creating original, relevant content is typically more affordable and sustainable for driving traffic than paying for online ads long-term.
Optimizing Content for Local SEO
A major goal of most law firm content marketing is improving local SEO, which refers to optimizing your website and content so you rank higher in local search engine results. Ranking well for searches like “personal injury lawyer San Diego” or “family law attorney Austin” is critical for attracting clients in your geographic service area.
There are several important local SEO tactics to focus on with your content initiatives:
- Include your city and state: Mention your precise geographic service area throughout blog posts and pages. This signals to search engines that your content is locally relevant.
- Target localized keywords: Research terms and questions potential local clients are searching that relate to your practice areas and location. Create content around these topics.
- Get listed on online directories: Create complete law firm listings on directories like Google My Business, Avvo, and Yelp to improve local visibility. Link these profiles to your website.
- Feature structured data: Use schema markup so search engines can recognize info like your business name, address and opening hours. This helps you rank for local searches.
- Cite pages with location: When linking internally on your site, point to pages that mention locations to your contact page or location content to improve relevance signals.
- Encourage reviews: Ask happy clients to leave online reviews on Google, Facebook and other platforms. Reviews build local trust and connections.
By publishing locally focused content and optimizing technically for local SEO, law firms can greatly improve their discoverability and conversions from local online searches over time.
Types of Law Firm Content to Create
Here are some of the most effective types of content for law firms to produce as part of their content marketing strategy:
Blog Posts
Publishing legal blogs should form the core of your law firm content production. Blog posts allow your attorneys to share advice and insights around legal topics and issues your clients commonly face.
Ideally aim to publish at least 2-3 blog posts per week for the best SEO results. Make sure to optimize posts for keywords and include location references. Promote new blogs through your website, email newsletters and social media.
Some blog post ideas include:
- Recent changes to local laws or regulations
- Q&As around common legal situations
- Checklists/guides for legal processes like estate planning
- Analysis of a relevant court judgement
- Tips for choosing a family lawyer
Videos
Many people engage more with video content than plain text. Recording short videos of your attorneys discussing legal issues allows you to expand your reach.
Post videos to your law firm blog and share them on social media. You can also create a YouTube channel to house your videos. Useful types of legal videos include:
- Attorney profiles introducing your legal team
- Quick law firm overviews/case study examples
- 5-10 minute interviews or presentations breaking down complex legal topics
- Videos of attorneys presenting seminars or workshops
Infographics
Infographics simplify complex legal concepts through attractive visual representations and minimal text. These appeal to visual learners and are highly shareable.
Infographic topics could include laying out the personal injury claims process, overviewing family law divorce options, or comparing business entity structures.
eBooks
Creating in-depth guides around legal practice areas as eBooks or whitepapers is an impactful law firm content marketing lead generation strategy. Offer these gated resources in exchange for contact information.
Examples of law firm eBook topics:
- “The Utah Guide to Buying Your First Home”
- “Everything You Need to Know About Filing for Divorce in Minnesota”
- “Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid With Your Texas Will”
FAQ Pages
Build out frequently asked questions pages addressing common legal issues your clients face. These provide helpful self-service resources while also showcasing your expertise.
Optimizing these for local SEO can help drive organic traffic. For example, target keywords like “California child custody FAQs” or “construction law FAQs NYC.”
Podcasts
For a more in-depth content format, develop legal podcasts with your attorneys. These could highlight updates in your practice areas or interview clients about their cases.
Publishing podcast episodes on your website and promoting them across platforms expands your audience reach. Over time, high-quality legal podcasts can enhance your brand visibility and recognition.
Optimizing and Promoting Your Content
Creating exceptional content is only half the battle. You also need to properly optimize and promote your content to maximize its impact:
- Include target keywords in titles, headers, image names, alt text, URLs, and meta descriptions. This boosts SEO.
- Insert internal links across your content to relevant pages and materials on your site. This signals to search engines that those pages offer related content.
- Leverage social media by sharing content across your law firm profiles. Encourage attorneys to share content with their own networks.
- Promote new content in your email newsletter, on your homepage, and through customized posts to relevant online legal communities.
- Monitor analytics on your content to see which pieces perform best. Double down on creating more content like your top performers.
- Update old content by freshening it up into new formats, adding related resources, and promoting it again. This extends the value.
By taking the time to properly optimize and promote your law firm’s content, you will see considerably higher engagement, visibility and conversions from your efforts.
Contact Us Today
Developing targeted, valuable content and distributing it effectively provides law firms with an affordable strategy to attract new business in today’s online marketplace. With these best practices in mind, law firms can build upon their expertise through content marketing.
If you’re a law firm ready to expand your online reach and generate new client leads, our expert team of legal content writers and marketers can help. Contact us today to learn more about our content solutions tailored for the legal industry. We look forward to helping your law firm grow through the power of high-quality content!
