According to a recent study, prospective clients evaluate lawyers (and other professionals) before they hire them in a few common ways.
81% go to your website. (Do you have an effective website? Does it show what you do? Does it tell visitors why they should hire you instead of any other lawyer? Does it invite them to take the next step (i.e., call for an appointment or to ask questions? Does it capture their email address so that if they’re not ready to take the next step you can stay in touch with them?)
63% google you. (Is your website and/or blog optimized so that they can find you? Will they find favorable ratings and comments about you on sites like Yelp and Avvo? Will they find articles or guest posts by you on reputable blogs? Will they find interviews of you and articles about you? Will they see that you have received awards or been mentioned for your achievements?)
62% ask friends or colleagues if they’re heard of you. (If someone knows you or your reputation, will they say good things about you? Will they say you work hard and care about your clients? Will they say you provide added value beyond your core services? Will they say you are good at what you do? Will they say you are fair and honest? Are you asking your satisfied clients to rate you on these sites?)
60% use social media to research you, and 70% use LinkedIn. (Do you have a complete LinkedIn profile? Do you have a presence of any kind on other social media platforms? Do your social media accounts invite people to visit your website? Are you asking your clients to Like your page and share your content?)
So, you need an effective website and a decent LinkedIn profile. (Your profile will show up in search results, so don’t dismiss it’s importance if you have a consumer practice.) And, you need to do a good job for your clients so they will say nice things about you.
What do you think? Marketing isn’t really that difficult, is it?
How to build an effective website
