5 Content Marketing Mistakes to Avoid if You’re Hoping to Grow Your Law Firm

As you focus on improving your law firm’s digital marketing strategy, look out for these common mistakes to maximize the success of your efforts: expecting immediate results, relying too heavily on AI for content generation, and neglecting the power of client reviews.
June 17, 2024

As an attorney in solo practice or a member of a small law firm, you depend on a steady stream of clients in order to keep your business running. However, investing in an effective digital marketing strategy can be a considerable expense, which can be daunting for smaller law firms that do not have the luxury of a generous marketing budget that larger law practices often have. Unfortunately, the intimidating cost of content marketing can cause smaller law firms to cobble together a DIY digital marketing approach or neglect to develop a long-term content marketing strategy–both of which can prevent your law practice from achieving your goals and connecting with a wide range of potential clients. It’s essential to recognize that an effective digital marketing strategy is not always the most expensive option; rather, the quality and customization of your law firm’s content marketing strategy are far more important than the digital marketing firm or content marketing specialist you hire.

Whether your law firm is just beginning to articulate your digital marketing needs and goals or you are hoping to make your current content marketing efforts more efficient and impactful, it’s worth discussing your goals with an established and trusted legal marketing professional who understands how to adapt and customize your strategy to address your specific needs. Let’s take a look at some of the most common legal marketing mistakes and what your law practice can do to avoid these pitfalls as you move forward with your digital marketing efforts to grow your practice and serve more clients.

Mistake #1: Ignoring Current Website Performance

Before you begin to develop or improve your law firm’s content marketing strategy, you need to understand how your current marketing practices are performing. For example, do you know how many visitors have clicked on your website in the past week or how many site visitors are on your home page at this moment? Are you familiar with the most common keywords potential clients use when searching for legal information or attorney services in your area? Without the answers to these questions, it will be difficult to identify targets and set measurable goals. However, there are several tools you can use to gather information about your website’s current performance. If your law firm is working with a content marketing firm or a search engine optimization (SEO) agency, you can contact them to discuss key performance indicators and metrics. Or, if you set up your law firm’s website on your own, you can use several tools to gather this important information. For instance, Google Analytics is a free and widely available tool that allows you to gather in-depth insights into your website’s performance. You can use Google Analytics to measure page views, user demographics, conversion rates, and other insightful metrics that you can use to inform your approach to tweaking and improving your digital marketing efforts.

Mistake #2: Anticipating Immediate Results

One of the most common pitfalls of developing a digital marketing strategy for law firms is expecting immediate results. You’ve spent valuable time and resources improving your approach, and it’s natural to want to see the impact as quickly as possible. However, the reality is that the SEO process takes time to develop, as search engine algorithms like Google need to evaluate the authority, quality, readability, and relevance of your new website or blog posts before they start displaying your site among the search results and ranking pages. Assuming that you will start receiving an influx of new client calls as soon as your improved and SEO-friendly website goes live will only lead to disappointment. A well-constructed, results-driven website will start to gather steam with a little bit of time, so try to be patient.

Mistake #3: Relying Too Heavily on Artificial Intelligence (AI)

With the ubiquity of AI-generated content tools like ChatGPT, companies in every industry are experimenting with using these tools to compose content for their websites, social media posts, and other marketing materials. Although these tools are cheap (even free, in some cases) and easy to use, it’s best to exercise caution before you post AI-generated content to your law firm’s website. In recent months, industry experts have identified several limitations to these tools, such as their propensity to use incorrect, outdated, or false information and their spotty record of citing original sources when they pull content from other sites. What’s more, AI-generated content just comes across as “off” to most people—the tone feels overly stilted, disconnected, or distant. For now, human-written content resonates with readers and maximizes the chances of a potential client reaching out to engage your legal services.

Mistake #4: Neglecting the Power of Client Reviews

When smaller law firms approach the process of digital marketing, they often neglect to recognize the power of cultivating client reviews and using these favorable comments to engage with potential clients. Now more than ever, consumers are turning to online reviews to help them decide which products to buy or which services to hire. Customer reviews wield considerable power over someone’s decision to buy a particular car or which law firm to work with when a legal issue arises. If you are wondering how law firms attract more clients, focusing on harnessing the power of client reviews is a great place to start. You can even display some of the most favorable reviews on your law firm’s homepage to give site visitors a glimpse of the high-quality legal services they can expect to receive when they enlist your services.

Mistake #5: Procrastinating

As a boutique digital marketing firm that specializes in serving clients in the legal world, we recognize how valuable your time is. We understand how easy it is to put off working on your content marketing strategy in order to focus on more immediate and urgent matters, such as serving your clients. However, procrastination can start to erode and impede your digital marketing efforts, which will make it harder for potential clients to hear about your services or recognize your brand. If you’re ready to take control of your law firm’s digital marketing efforts and start seeing the results you’re looking for, reach out to the LegalRev team as soon as possible to learn more about how we can help you achieve your goals.

A well-crafted digital marketing strategy will take your efforts to the next level and grow your law firm steadily and sustainably. If you’re looking for results-driven, impactful digital marketing strategies that attract more clients, give LegalRev a call today at (800) 893-2590 to get started with a knowledgeable and experienced legal marketing professional.

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