The Rise of AI in Legal Marketing: How Smart Law Firms Are Gaining the Competitive Edge

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Artificial intelligence is no longer coming to legal marketing. It is already here, and the firms that treat it as optional are already falling behind. From content creation and SEO to client intake and ad optimization, AI is changing how law firms attract, convert, and retain clients.

The question is no longer whether to use AI. It is how to use it wisely. For law firms, where precision and ethics are non-negotiable, the firms getting the best results are not replacing human judgment with machines. They are using AI to amplify attorney expertise, produce more content faster, and engage clients more effectively without cutting corners.

Here is what that looks like in practice.

What AI-Powered Legal Marketing Actually Means

AI-powered content does not mean letting a chatbot write your next blog post and hitting publish. It refers to a smarter, more efficient approach to content production where artificial intelligence assists at every stage: ideation, drafting, optimization, and distribution.

Ideation and research. AI tools can analyze trending topics, search intent, and competitor content in seconds. A marketing manager can prompt a tool for blog ideas targeting a specific practice area and jurisdiction, or ask it to summarize recent case law relevant to a particular client base.

Drafting and structuring. Instead of starting from a blank page, AI can generate outlines and first drafts with suggested headings, FAQs, and calls to action built around a stated SEO strategy. The draft still needs attorney review and refinement, but the time savings are significant.

Optimization for search. Platforms like Surfer SEO and Clearscope analyze top-ranking pages and recommend keyword and structure improvements. AI also helps predict what clients will be searching for next month, not just what they searched last month.

Distribution and repurposing. Once content is published, AI can break it into email summaries, social posts, and short video scripts. The same content engine that powers your blog can feed your newsletter, your LinkedIn, and your YouTube Shorts strategy.

Understanding Clients Better Than Ever Before

Successful marketing has always started with understanding the client. Most firms have traditionally relied on intuition or limited data. AI changes that entirely.

With machine learning and predictive analytics, firms can analyze behavior patterns, demographics, search trends, and engagement data to anticipate what clients need before they reach out. An AI-powered CRM can track how often a prospect visits a specific practice area page, how long they spend reading it, and which follow-up emails generate clicks. It then assigns a lead score so your team focuses on high-intent prospects rather than chasing cold contacts. The result is more personalized outreach, better audience segmentation, and smarter resource allocation.

Producing More Content Without Sacrificing Quality

One of the biggest challenges for law firms is maintaining a consistent content presence when attorneys are already stretched thin. AI addresses this directly.

AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Jasper can help marketing teams generate topic ideas, draft outlines, and produce first drafts far faster than starting from scratch. A personal injury firm, for example, can prompt an AI tool to create an SEO-optimized structure for a blog post, then have an attorney refine it with real case insights and jurisdiction-specific accuracy. The machine accelerates the process. The attorney ensures the content is trustworthy.

The firms getting the most value from AI content treat it exactly this way: AI as a capable assistant that drafts and organizes, with attorneys providing the credibility and nuance that no algorithm can replicate.

Personalized Client Communication at Scale

Personalized communication builds trust. Doing it manually for hundreds of prospects is not realistic. AI makes it scalable.

Using behavioral triggers, AI can determine when a prospect is most likely to engage and automatically send a relevant, personalized follow-up. If a visitor downloads a guide on workers’ compensation claims, the system can schedule a follow-up email offering a free consultation. If a past client leaves a positive review, it can trigger a referral request. This kind of consistent, timely outreach would be impossible to maintain manually at any real scale.

AI and Video: A Natural Fit for Law Firm Marketing

Video continues to dominate legal marketing, and AI is transforming both how firms produce it and how they distribute it. Modern AI video tools can automatically add subtitles, generate short clips for Reels or YouTube Shorts, suggest which segments perform best based on engagement data, and even recommend which thumbnails and captions drive the most clicks.

For firms already producing video content, AI removes much of the manual work involved in repurposing that content across platforms. One recorded video can become a YouTube Shorts clip, an Instagram Reel, a LinkedIn post, and an email newsletter asset, all without starting from scratch each time.

Smarter Ad Targeting and Budget Optimization

Running ads on Google, Meta, or LinkedIn used to mean constant manual monitoring and adjustment. AI now handles much of that automatically. AI-powered ad platforms can dynamically adjust bids, identify high-converting audiences, and pause underperforming campaigns in real time. For law firms, this translates to a lower cost per lead, smarter use of ad budgets, and continuous improvement without requiring a full-time specialist to babysit every campaign. What used to be enterprise-level technology is now accessible to firms of any size.

Chatbots and AI-Powered Client Intake

First impressions in legal marketing increasingly happen online, often outside of business hours. AI-powered chatbots can collect case details, answer basic service questions, and schedule consultations directly on your calendar, 24 hours a day. A well-trained legal chatbot ensures your firm never misses a lead while freeing your staff to focus on qualified prospects. The key is choosing a chatbot built specifically for legal services, not a generic small-business tool that does not understand the nuances of legal intake.

Staying Compliant: What Every Law Firm Needs to Know

AI offers real advantages, but the legal sector faces risks that other industries do not. Knowing those risks and building systems to manage them is essential.

  • Factual accuracy. AI tools predict words based on patterns. They do not verify facts. A generated article may cite outdated statutes or misrepresent case outcomes. Every legal claim in AI-assisted content must be reviewed by an attorney before publication. Treat AI like a paralegal: fast and useful, but in need of supervision.
  • Originality. AI can unintentionally reproduce phrasing from its training data. Run AI-generated content through a plagiarism checker and always rewrite it in your firm’s voice before publishing.
  • Confidentiality. Never input client details, case numbers, or proprietary information into a public AI tool. Firms handling sensitive data should use private AI environments, such as Microsoft Copilot or OpenAI’s enterprise API, where data is not stored or used for retraining.
  • Unauthorized practice of law. AI-generated content that reads as legal advice rather than general education can create serious liability. Always include appropriate disclaimers and ensure published content remains informational, not advisory.
  • Transparency. State bars increasingly expect clarity about how firms produce their content. Disclose when AI tools assist in content creation, particularly when clients might assume the content is entirely human-authored.

A Practical AI Workflow for Law Firm Content

The most effective AI workflows in legal marketing keep humans in control at every critical step. Here is a practical framework:

  1. Prompt creation. The marketing team drafts a clear, specific prompt that defines the audience, tone, jurisdiction, and goal. Vague prompts produce generic content.
  2. AI draft generation. The tool generates a structured draft. This step saves time and ensures consistency across your firm’s digital channels.
  3. Attorney review. An attorney reviews the draft for legal accuracy, removes anything that could be interpreted as specific legal advice, and adjusts the voice to match the firm’s brand.
  4. Compliance screening. A final review checks for plagiarism, confirms confidentiality, and verifies compliance with ABA Model Rules and state bar advertising guidelines.
  5. Optimization and publishing. The approved content is optimized with metadata, images, and tracking links before being published across the appropriate platforms.

How to Get Started

For firms ready to begin, the right approach is to start small and scale deliberately:

  • Audit your current marketing to identify where AI can save the most time, whether that is content, ads, analytics, or client intake.
  • Choose one tool to experiment with. Options worth exploring include ChatGPT or Claude for writing and research, Surfer SEO or Clearscope for content optimization, Jasper for templated content production, and HubSpot AI for CRM and email automation.
  • Track results using concrete metrics: leads generated, conversion rates, and time saved per piece of content.
  • Train your team so attorneys and staff understand how AI supports their work rather than replacing it.
  • Treat adoption as an ongoing strategy, not a one-time project. The tools and best practices are evolving quickly.

The Bottom Line on AI in Legal Marketing

AI is not here to replace attorneys or the people who market their firms. It is here to make both more effective. The firms that win in the next few years will not be the ones that automate the most.

They will be the ones that combine AI efficiency with what only lawyers can provide: credibility, empathy, and sound judgment.
Let AI accelerate your process. Let your attorneys define the message.

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we help law firms build smarter marketing strategies, including the right use of AI tools, without cutting corners on quality or compliance. If you want to explore how AI can strengthen your marketing, contact us today for a free initial consultation and website evaluation.

How to Prepare Your Law Firm Marketing Plan for AI Search

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Google is now using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to answer legal questions directly on the search results page. While AI-powered search offers many exciting possibilities, it also presents some unique challenges for law firms that rely on traditional SEO methods. Integrating an AI search strategy for your law firm is becoming increasing imperative.

While the SEO best practices we’ve been using for years still apply, there are some additional variables to consider in this AI-driven environment. Here is how the search landscape has evolved to incorporate AI and how your search marketing strategy must adapt to continue capturing the eyes and interest of your target audience. Here are some thoughts on how to prepare your law firm marketing plan for AI search.

Legal Consumers Are Using AI Search Tools

Whether they realize it or not, today’s internet users are leveraging AI search tools more than ever. The explosive popularity of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools has drastically changed how we search for and consume information online.

AI tools offer a more streamlined and arguably faster way to find and consume relevant knowledge. It’s no surprise that these tools are outperforming the search engines that we’ve become comfortable using for years.

Even when legal consumers don’t turn to ChatGPT, their trusted search engine is now driven by generative AI. Google has stated that its new AI Mode is the beginning of a new era, with Search being driven by its Gemini 2.5 model.

Google’s AI Mode employs a query fan-out technique, which involves breaking down searches into subtopics, searching on each, and then compiling an AI-generated answer. For example, Google’s AI engine might access dozens of websites to compile its results. Currently, this type of search is only available in the U.S.. Still, it may eventually replace traditional Search, meaning businesses must understand how it works and figure out how to adapt.

How AI Is Disrupting Search Marketing for Law Firms

For several decades, search engine marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) have primarily focused on getting your website to the top of Page 1 on Google for relevant searches, such as “Atlanta divorce lawyer” or “Gulf Coast car accident lawyer.” But the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence is changing how and where people search, how search engines display results, and how businesses must adapt.

If you’ve been investing in legal marketing and SEO, you’re probably wondering how AI will impact your legal business. As consumers increasingly rely on AI-based tools and AI-powered search engines, this will have a profound impact on search marketing.

One of the primary goals of achieving high rankings for particular search terms is to have searchers “click through” to your law firm’s website so they can learn more about your brand. As they do so, they will potentially contact you for a consultation and become a client.

AI search engines are generating summaries, also known as “zero-click” results. These results enable searchers to find answers to their questions directly on the search engine results page (SERP). Consequently, the searcher doesn’t have to click on any links for more information.

An AI overview is a summary that appears at the very top of the Google SERP, where the search engine uses its AI engine to combine information from multiple sources to create a short, informative explanation. AI engines can also create custom graphs, pull bulleted lists, video content, images, and much more.

Google’s Gemini leverages its large language model (LLM) capabilities to create detailed answers and summaries from multiple sources. It may also list citations in the search results, which searchers can access by clicking on a link next to the information.

According to Bain & Company, about 80% of consumers now rely on these results in at least 40% of their searches. This is resulting in a reduction in organic website traffic by an estimated 15% to 25%.

Ways Your Law Firm Can Adapt to Leverage AI Search for Success

People have been proclaiming that “SEO is dead” for years. Even though AI has dramatically altered the search landscape, it’s not time to abandon traditional SEO efforts. At the same time, your law firm will need to make some adjustments to how it structures and presents content so it has the desired impact.

You can’t prevent Google from displaying “zero-click results.” But you can elevate your SEO strategy to capitalize on the opportunities available to showcase your brand, build trust, and get some traffic to your law firm’s website. Here are some ways your firm can adapt to begin taking advantage of AI search:

1. Adjust Your Keyword Strategy

While you want to offer a wide range of content that builds trust and credibility, the keywords you focus on in this new AI-focused world matter. For example, some keywords focus more on research and others on the decision stage. Your new keyword focus should be on high-intent queries or ones that are more likely to lead to phone calls.

2. Restructure Your Content

You need as much quality written content as you did before AI came on the scene, which is to say you need quite a bit. Your written content should be in a simple-to-consume format. Things that work include numbered and bulleted lists and structured FAQs. Because Google owns YouTube, there is a strong tendency for its AI engine to post video content, which continues to be an essential tool for boosting visitor engagement.

3. Focus on E-E-A-T to Gain Citations

Google is more likely to choose your content and cite it as a resource if the search engine believes it exhibits Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, or E-E-A-T. For example, you can post case studies that showcase your knowledge and results. Include quantifiable figures whenever possible, such as the number of favorable case rulings or high settlement figures.

4. Implement Schema Markup

Technical SEO is critical for making your website AI-friendly. For example, your robots.txt file shouldn’t inadvertently block web crawlers. You also want to use schema markup on your website, which is a type of structured data that helps search engines of every type understand your content.

5. Optimize for Natural Language

When users interact with AI-powered search engines, they do so more conversationally. For example, they will ask questions using common phrases and natural language. Your content should be optimized for natural language to provide clear, concise, and relatable answers. For example, instead of writing “Our firm specializes in no-fault divorce,” you could write, “Our caring no-fault divorce lawyer can help you.”

6. Spend Time on Local SEO

Law firms generally want to appeal to a local audience. By improving your local SEO, you have a better chance of appearing in knowledge panels, map packs, and featured snippets for local searches. Some of the items you should focus on include optimizing your Google Business Profile, building local links, increasing your Name, Address, Phone number (NAP) citations, and obtaining as many online client reviews as possible.

7. Measure Your Performance

There’s little doubt that Google’s AI strategy is in its infancy and will continue to evolve. As you adjust your SEO strategy to adapt to these new changes, track your results carefully and be ready to pivot. Monitor how you are showing up in zero-click results, even if your law firm isn’t named. Consider how you can adjust your content and SEO strategy to improve your results going forward.

Looking Beyond Google for Law Firm Search Marketing

While Google still dominates the search market, its share of searches has dropped for the first time in years due to the emergence of new AI-powered alternatives. Google now faces pressure from challengers like ChatGPT, OpenAI, Perplexity, Reddit, Medium, GitHub, and TikTok. In fact, Gartner predicts that search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026.

While Google and Bing are integrating AI into their search engines, the availability of open-source AI models has lowered the barriers to entry for other platforms to develop advanced search tools. The result is likely to be more competition for Google, as well as more opportunities for law firms to reach potential clients on other platforms like social sites, ChatGPT, and via AI-powered chatbots.

In November 2024, ChatGPT experienced a 44% increase in traffic. Perplexity AI now has 22 million monthly active users and processed over 780 million search queries in May 2025 alone. While these figures are still a fraction of what the major search engines experience, the AI search revolution is only beginning.

Let Us Help You Develop An AI Search Strategy For Your Law Firm

AI-driven search and AI chatbots are revolutionizing how people seek out and obtain information. This is also reshaping the way people connect with law firms and interact with legal websites. Instead of resisting this shift, your law firm can embrace a new opportunity to refine its digital marketing strategy to focus on building trust and credibility through thought leadership.

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we stay on the cutting edge of Google’s updates so we can pivot our strategies to take advantage of each change to the search algorithm. Our team specializes in creating and optimizing law firm websites that produce results for our clients. Contact us today to schedule a complimentary initial consultation and website evaluation, and discover how we can help you leverage AI search to your advantage.

Creating Content to Convey Your Legal Expertise

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With so many law firms and a limited number of prospective clients looking for legal services online, you must do everything you can to stay competitive in this digital age. Consumers will generally make decisions based on who they know, like, and trust. One of the most effective ways to convey your expertise in law and establish connections is by creating high-quality legal content.

Well-crafted content not only establishes your law firm as a thought leader in its community; it’s also great for search engine optimization (SEO). Instead of posting as much as possible about various topics, you need to craft a message that resonates with your audience and conveys your expertise. Here’s why this is important, along with some best practices that can help you effectively showcase your firm’s talent.

Why Content Marketing is Essential for Law Firms

Effective content marketing strategies are vital for law firms because it is the key to getting more clients. If you think about it, potential clients want their questions answered by a reputable source and will eventually research the bona fides of firms they may wish to hire. Underlying all of this is your legal content.

Online content is a somewhat broad term. Many different things qualify as legal content, such as your firm’s area practice pages, blog posts, case studies, social media content, videos, infographics, podcasts, and much more.

Understanding Google’s E-E-A-T Framework

Not all content is created equal, and you don’t want to create legal content just for the sake of doing so. If you’re not adding value, connecting with your target audience, being engaging, and maintaining consistency in your posts, you could be doing more harm than good. In fact, Google specifically rewards brands that add value and might decide to ignore those that don’t.

Google’s Search Quality Rating Guidelines are a set of criteria Google uses to evaluate the quality of web pages to ensure searchers find the most trustworthy and relevant content. According to Google, E-E-A-T is a strong consideration when determining page quality. Google’s E-E-A-T framework represents four principles:

  • Experience – The first “E” refers to the first-hand Experience of the creator. In other words, you should be able to demonstrate that your content is created by those with first-hand, direct experience with the topic.
  • Expertise – The second “E” relates to your law firm’s Expertise. You should be able to show subject-matter expertise through the accuracy and depth of your content. Expertise is also exhibited through citing reputable studies and sources and having thorough author credentials.
  • Authoritativeness – The “A” refers to the authoritativeness of the creator and your legal content. The next criterion is to build your law firm brand’s authority by consistently posting high-quality content and earning mentions from other respected experts or websites.
  • Trustworthiness – Finally, the “T” stands for Trust, meaning the extent to which your law firm’s content is honest, accurate, reliable, and safe. Even though it’s last, Google considers being trustworthy as the most vital factor in E-E-A-T. The search engine evaluates trustworthiness based on the intended purpose of the content. For example, a page that offers financial or legal information needs to be more trustworthy than one that recommends lunch spots downtown.

What Does YMYL Mean When It Comes to Legal Content?

YMYL stands for “Your Money Your Life,” which is a phrase Google established to distinguish any content that could potentially impact a user’s health, safety, financial stability, or happiness. Google has also designed YMYL as a critical concept in its Search Quality Rater Guidelines because YMYL pages that provide low-quality or inaccurate information could easily do harm to people.

As you can imagine, a law firm’s legal content qualifies as YMYL content. What does this mean for your business? Essentially, it means that there is a higher standard for your content when it comes to reviewing it against the E-E-A-T framework. If your content pages don’t meet the high standards of E-E-A-T, it’s unlikely to do well.

Ways Law Firms Can Showcase Experience and Expertise

Whether it’s through your website’s content or what you post on social media and other platforms, you can present information that showcases your experience. Your content should include:

  • Years in Practice – Including this simple statement in your content will give the reader and the search engines confidence that you’ve been around the legal block and know what you’re doing. You can include statements like, “with over 50 years of combined experience…,” ”for more than two decades, our lawyers…,” and “since 1995, our firm…”
  • Cases Won – Find ways to incorporate information about the number of relevant cases you’ve won, monetary damages you’ve recovered, laws you’ve been involved in changing, or other positive outcomes you or your firm has achieved.
  • Awards – Don’t forget to include any type of recognition your law firm or its attorneys have received to demonstrate that professional organizations and peers have noticed your work.
  • Case Studies – Detailed, insightful case studies are another way to show that you have enough experience in your field to break down complex material into simpler ideas for your audience.

While the American Bar Association doesn’t want lawyers and law firms to refer to themselves as “experts,” Google prefers that the material it features demonstrate “expertise” in a subject matter. To achieve this, focus on these items in your legal content marketing:

  • Practice Area Pages – Your law firm’s practice area pages should be comprehensive and kept up-to-date. They should include a detailed description of the services you offer, your attorney’s qualifications to practice in this area, and other reasons why potential clients should trust you with their legal business.
  • Legal Advice Topics – Create high-quality content within your legal practice areas. This should include content addressing each area of practice, various components of your practice areas, case law updates, and any informative graphics.
  • Explainer Videos – Produce short videos that explain different legal concepts and topics, such as how you handle initial consultations, your case management process, and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).
  • News Articles – Post any news articles that mention your law firm or press releases you create that detail your successes or involvement in the surrounding community.

Building Authority and Trust Using Ongoing Content

Another component of Google’s framework is Authority, meaning you must find a way to demonstrate your law firm’s authority within its legal practice areas. You can do this in several ways:

  • High-Quality Content – Everything you post should be readable and engaging. To build authority, you must back up your claims with references and data from reputable sources. Examples include citing statistics from government websites, data from recognized legal publications, and information from legal precedents.
  • About Us Page – Your law firm’s About Us page should be an extensive overview of your firm’s history, founders, partners, practice areas, key values, awards, and accolades. This page is commonly visited by people who are in the decision stage of their journey, and it can lend authority to your brand.
  • Attorney Bio Pages – Your firm’s attorneys don’t have to personally craft your website’s copy or blog content. Most law firms use legal content writers. However, you should have detailed attorney bios on your website that highlight your attorneys’ professional achievements and legal credentials to reinforce the authority of your content.
  • Domain Rating – Domain rating is a critical metric in website authority and improving search engine rankings. Strategies to improve your law firm’s domain rating and build authority include getting high-quality backlinks and ensuring your website is technically sound.

Trustworthiness is informed by three other elements of the framework—experience, expertise, and authoritativeness. It’s also about safeguarding your site’s visitors from potential harm, giving them confidence that you value their privacy and security. You should ensure that:

  • Your website is secure
  • You have relevant credentials and certifications listed
  • Users understand how to get help if they want and need it

There are other ways you can build trust off-site that can influence your results:

  • Social Media Marketing – Many consumers will search social media to get answers to their legal questions and find a trustworthy professional. Your social media marketing strategy can enhance your brand’s trust factor and significantly boost your online presence.
  • Online Reviews – A positive brand reputation goes a long way in establishing trust. As a law firm, you should focus on getting online feedback on your Google Business Profile and various legal directories that potential clients might use to locate your services. In addition to securing feedback, make sure you are responding to reviews promptly and appropriately.
  • Influencer Marketing and Guest Posting – Partner with others in your industry or related industries to promote your legal brand. You can also write helpful articles for other blogs or websites to gain additional exposure for your law firm.

Creating Trustworthy Legal Content for Zero-Click Searches

Effective content marketing and SEO can demonstrate your legal expertise and build trust among your target audience. However, the ticket to getting more clients continues to evolve thanks to artificial intelligence.

Google’s new AI-powered search is an algorithm that focuses on delivering helpful and trustworthy information to users directly on the search results page to save time and, frankly, keep users on Google’s platform for as long as possible. These are called “zero-click searches,” and they are significantly changing how businesses market to their target audience.

When a legal consumer enters a search query, such as “penalties for a 2nd DUI in AL,” zero-click information can be displayed through AI-generated overviews, knowledge panels, featured snippets, “People Also Ask” sections, and local packs featuring nearby attorneys.

The legal space is understandably seeing a sharp increase in AI-generated content. While you may receive fewer clicks from these searches, there are still some opportunities.

Instead of tossing your entire legal content marketing strategy out the window, you’ll want to continue to focus on optimizing your efforts for the E-E-A-T framework. In addition, you can take full advantage of zero-click searches by:

1. Prioritizing for Search Intent

Even if the zero-click content answers a user’s question, a person who is looking to hire a lawyer is still likely to click. Create answers and content that balance helpful content with reasons to trust your law firm.

2. Optimize for Zero-Click Features

If you want to appear in AI overviews or featured snippets, structure your legal content so it’s easy for Google’s AI engine to grab it. For example, use numbered lists, bullet points, and tables to present information. Provide direct answers to questions, and even feature FAQ sections on your pages.

3. Focus on Topical Authority

Google’s AI-powered search prioritizes trusted sources. If you want to gain a competitive advantage and show up in these search results, keep your content updated, include expert quotes and linked references, and showcase your firm’s relevant success stories.

4. Consider Local SEO

Assuming your practice relies on local clients, it’s imperative that you continue to optimize your website and other efforts for local SEO. For example, update and ensure your Google Business Profile is accurate. Encourage online feedback from past clients and respond appropriately. Additionally, focus on geographically targeted keywords in your content.

5. Diversify Your Content

Written content should still be a foundational part of your legal marketing strategy, but you should also diversify what you create and post. Google is increasingly featuring non-textual content in its zero-click results. Remember, Google owns YouTube, so video content such as short explainer videos will perform well.

Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing Can Help Your Law Firm Succeed

Law firms are engaged in intense competition for clients in just about every market, and Google continues to change the rules. Digital marketing is not a one-and-done strategy; it requires ongoing learning, revision, and optimization to achieve the desired results.

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we specialize in helping law firms of all shapes and sizes boost their online visibility and demonstrate their legal expertise to attract new clients. We stay on the cutting edge of changes in Google’s algorithm to work toward making our clients the law firm of choice in their respective markets. Call us today at 1-800-649-1764 or reach out to us online to schedule a free initial consultation.

Creating Quality Legal Content for Law Firm Websites

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The legal industry is so competitive that you can be the best attorney in your field and still struggle to succeed. The reason for this comes down to visibility. If potential clients don’t know where to find you or have difficulty learning more about your expertise, they’ll turn to a competitor quickly. You can solve this problem by creating quality legal content on your firm’s website.

The next challenge is that someone has to write it. If you plan to take a crack at it, here’s what you need to know about writing the best possible legal content that produces results.

How to Write Quality Legal Content for Your Law Firm Website

Creating quality legal content for your law firm’s website involves much more than putting words onto a page (or screen). Many legal marketing plans fail due to a lack of planning. Even if you have a list of ideas, you’ll get better results if you take a systematic approach to your content that includes:

  1. Understanding Your Target Audience
    Before you begin writing top notch legal content, you need need to know who you’re writing for. If you have several practice areas, you might have more than one target audience. In many cases, it’s helpful to create buyer personas as an ongoing guide.
  2. Investing Time in Keyword Research
    Keyword research is an essential part of legal content creation. It helps you identify the questions, phrases, and terms your target audience is likely to type into the search engine. This research can direct your content choices and help you create content that will rank well in the search engines. At the same time, you don’t want to “stuff” keywords into your content, making it unreadable or awkward.
  3. Creating Your Content Calendar
    Your next step should be to create a content calendar. This is simply a list of the topics and types of content you plan to create, when you’re going to write the pieces, and a posting schedule. You’ll want to create a mix of different types of content for your website, such as practice area pages, local landing pages, legal blog content, and in-depth guides or data studies.
  4. Producing Engaging Legal Content
    If you aren’t sure how to write an engaging piece of legal content, start reading what your competitors have produced. Take note of what you think works and what doesn’t. Successful legal content is written for regular people, not other lawyers, so you should avoid a lot of legal jargon. Using plenty of headers also keeps your content organized and readable.
  5. Considering Google’s E-E-A-T Model
    If you’re going to write legal content, you want it to perform well in the search engines so your law firm’s website gets the visibility it needs to attract credible leads. Google has specific guidelines for trustworthy content, which it has simplified with its E-E-A-T Model, which is short for:
    – Expertise — Your law firm should demonstrate its expertise in a specific subject matter to ensure readers are getting information from reliable sources.
    – Experience — You can demonstrate experience by sharing your firm’s history, testimonials, and related success stories when producing content.
    – Authoritativeness — This relates to the credibility of the content creator, which you can boost by featuring certifications and positive client reviews or by getting endorsement from reputable sources.
    – Trustworthiness — Your legal content will be seen as trustworthy if you are using reliable sources in your writing and securing your website with an SSL certificate.
  6. Include High-Quality Images & CTAs
    No one wants to read a wall a words. In addition to using plenty of section headers and spacing to organize your content, include some high-quality image that also convey your content’s message. Finally, don’t forget to include multiple calls-to-action (CTAs) so your readers know what their next steps should be.
  7. Promoting Your Legal Content
    Hitting “Publish” or “Post” on your first piece of content might be exhilarating, but you can’t click a button and expect the views to pour in, at least not initially. You’ll want to promote your content using social media sites and your email newsletter to pique interest and get clicks.
  8. Measuring Your Results
    Every digital marketing strategy, including legal content marketing, needs to be tracked so you know if your plan is working or requires adjustment. For example, some key performance indicators (KPIs) you can track include traffic volume received, conversion rates, and Google rankings.

  9. DIY or Outsource Legal Writing — Which is Better?

    There are two options for creating good legal content for your law firm website — do it yourself (DIY) or outsource it. Which one is better depends on your goals, skills, and resources. It may be preferable to handle your content in-house if you are on a tight budget or want to have the ultimate level of control over what gets posted. On the other hand, writing content can be more time-consuming than you realize, which may not save you money in the long-run if it is taking you away from more profitable activities.

    When you outsource your legal content writing, you can choose to work with an agency or writer with experience in legal marketing. Once you get the right team established, you create a diverse catalogue of content that appeals to your target audience. Finally, outsourcing allows you to scale your content strategy quickly without having to worry about a strain on your internal resources.

    Contact Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing to Learn More About Content Marketing Strategies

    Now that you know more about creating quality legal content for your law firm’s website, you might decide that it’s something you’d rather hand off to professionals. At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we can help you take your law firm’s digital marketing strategy to the next level. We are a full-service legal marketing agency that has helped law firms of every size nationwide achieve their goals through content marketing and other effective strategies.

    You never get a cookie-cutter solution when you partner with us. We take the time to learn about your law firm and your particular goals so you only get the services that we believe will produce the best possible results. Contact us today to schedule a free initial consultation and website evaluation.

The Importance of an Attorney Biography – Drafting the Perfect Attorney Bio Page

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To attract new clients and grow your business, you need a professional and engaging legal website. You might think that most visitors to your website are primarily checking out your home page, practice area pages, and blog. While they certainly go to these pages to learn more about your law firm, roughly half of all page views come from a law firm’s attorney biography section. Your firm’s attorney bios section can make or break your online presence and the importance of drafting the perfect attorney bio page cannot be understated. If the page is missing, people will think you have something to hide. If it isn’t done well, you may drive away valuable business before ever getting an opportunity to speak with a prospective client.  

Here’s what you need to know about the importance of attorney biographies and how you can draft a winning attorney bio for your legal marketing strategy. 

Why Attorney Perfect Attorney Bio Pages Are Important

Here are the reasons why you should invest time and resources in your law firm’s attorney biographies:

A Bio Breeds Familiarity

Most potential clients want to match a face with a name. Many people “Google” figures in the news or celebrities for photos because it adds perspective when they are reading about them. It’s often the same with the people we do business with. The easiest way to satisfy that curiosity is to have professional photos of yourself on your website so a potential client knows what to expect when they meet you for the first time. 

Bios Make the Relationship More Personal

In addition to having photos, an attorney bio gives potential clients the information they need to make an important connection with you. If there’s no connection, they may not move forward with signing on as a client. But, if you’re willing to share some information about yourself, they will likely feel like their legal matter will be in good hands if they can relate to you on some level.

Your Bio Establishes Credibility

Even if they decide they really like you, many clients won’t hire you if they don’t believe you have the knowledge and experience necessary to do the job. Your attorney bio gives you the opportunity to lay out your experience and credentials so a potential client has trust in your legal abilities. 

Attorney Bio Pages Help Your SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in the search engines, namely Google. This makes your website more visible to potential clients. Having the perfect attorney bio page is simply a good practice because it shows the search engines that you are a “real” business and are forthcoming with potential clients. 

Drafting the Perfect Attorney Bio Page

Think of your attorney bio as an opportunity to tell your story, not just list out a bunch of facts. You want to create an engaging piece of content that will connect with readers and show them why you are the best choice to handle their legal matter. Here are some things to consider as you draft your winning attorney biography.

1. Include These Key Components In Your Perfect Attorney Bio Page

While there’s no such thing as the perfect attorney biography, to create one that’s engaging, professional, and informative, it’s vital that you include some important elements:

  • Professional Photo — A professional and high-quality head shot on your law firm’s website can help you make a positive first impression. 
  • Experience and Background — Showcase your areas of expertise and qualifications to establish credibility and build trust. 
  • Achievements and Notable Cases — Continue to build credibility by highlighting your professional achievements and listing any notable cases. 
  • Clear Contact Info — Make contacting your law firm as easy as possible by clearly displaying your phone number and email address or linking to a contact form. 
  • Personal Touch — Don’t forget to add a personal touch to your attorney bio that aligns with your law firm’s brand identity. 

2. Understand Your Audience

To create a compelling attorney biography, you need to spend some time getting to know your target audience’s wants and needs. Specifically, what types of legal challenges will your ideal client be facing, and what concerns might they have when searching for a lawyer? If you can address these items in your biography, you’ll be successful. 

3. Write an Engaging Introduction

Part of the first impression you make with your biography will be in the strength of your introduction. If you don’t start out strong, your reader may hit the “back” button and move on to their next prospective law firm. Consider hooking them with a story or anecdote that showcases your background or passion about helping clients achieve success. 

4. Highlight Your Qualifications and Experience

At some point, you need to provide the details of your education, experience, and qualifications. If you don’t, people might conclude that you’re trying to hide something. List where you went to school, your years of experience, bar admissions, awards received, judgments and settlements for clients, and other relevant information. 

5. Showcase Your Values and Personality

It’s also vital that you give potential clients a way to connect with you by letting your unique voice shine through in your bio. Avoid legal jargon and overly formal language. Instead, try to be human and relatable without coming across as unprofessional. Consider sharing what drives you to practice your area of the law and other things you are passionate about, such as community service. 

6. Be Mindful of SEO

Finally, keep SEO in mind as you craft your attorney bio. While you are writing your biography for the benefit of potential clients, you also want it to appear high in the search engines when people are searching for the services you provide. An experienced digital marketing specialist can help you optimize this content so it performs well. 

Create a Winning Attorney Biography for Your Law Firm’s Website

Your law firm needs every advantage possible against the competition. One way you can set your business apart is by creating a strong online presence that highlights who you are through winning attorney biographies. 

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we specialize in helping law firms get found and chosen by their target audience. Our digital marketing specialists will spend the time to get to know your law firm. We will then provide you with a customized strategy designed to achieve your particular goals. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and website evaluation. 

Six Blogging Tips for Attorneys: How to Write Client-Focused Content

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There is wide agreement among online experts that blogging is one of the core strategies that should be integrated into an effective digital marketing plan. This is true for virtually every industry, but it is especially the case for law firms. People encounter all types of legal trouble, and these days, one of the first places they go to try to make sense of their legal issues and solve them is the internet.

Before a typical legal consumer contacts an attorney, they will want to read as much as they can about the issue that they are dealing with so they at least have a basic understanding of it, and so they will know what questions to ask a lawyer when they finally contact one.

Attorneys and law firms that take the time to produce content that answers consumers’ questions stand out from their competitors by sharing free information with the public and demonstrating their knowledge of the law. Done correctly, blogging will drive targeted prospects to your web properties, a certain percentage of which should become clients. Dollar for dollar, this is one of the most cost-effective ways to grow a legal practice.

Developing an effective blogging strategy is not really all that complicated. It does, however, require a time commitment and consistency. A small to medium-sized law firm should be willing to produce at least one to three blogs per month. This could take three to 10 hours or so of your time to write the articles, edit them, and post them to your website.

If you or someone in your office is willing to put in the time, then you can turn blogging into a winning strategy that will grow your clientele. The traffic will trickle in at first, but if you stick to it, your website visits will begin to multiply, and you will produce successful long-term results.

To help ensure that you write a good blog post every time, here are six steps to follow:

1. Understand your Audience

It is very important to understand who you are writing the blog for and what its purpose is going to be. Primarily, a law firm blog is written for legal consumers (as opposed to other attorneys, etc.) because they are the ones who may eventually become your clients. So, when you prepare to write a blog article, put yourself in their shoes and think about what they are going through. What are their pain points? What kind of resolution are they hoping to obtain by reading your post?

The best kind of content for a blog post is content that connects with your audience and speaks to their concerns. For example, someone who was injured in a car accident is likely to be under a great deal of stress about the medical bills they have to pay, being out of work, and how long it will take to resolve their legal claim. Someone who was arrested for drunk driving is probably worried about the heavy fines they will have to pay, losing their driving privileges, the possibility of jail time, and maybe even losing their job.

By identifying your audience and understanding what they are concerned about, you will be better able to produce content that is compelling and engaging. This will help you establish an emotional connection with them, which will keep them interested in what you have to say.

2. Write for Topics over Keywords

You have probably heard a lot about search engine optimization (SEO) and the role it plays in getting your content found on the Web. Ranking for keywords that your target audience is searching for is one of the major goals with blogging, but you should never allow the quality of your content to be compromised for this purpose.

“Keyword stuffing” is a practice from a bygone era, and thankfully, it is no longer an effective SEO strategy. Google’s algorithms are far more sophisticated these days, and they are better able to interpret the context of an article and its relevance to various keyword queries.

The best approach for writing legal blog posts is to choose topics that your target audience cares about. One way to do this would be to make a big list of the most frequently asked questions you get from your clients and write blog articles that answer these questions. You could also look in places like Yahoo! Answers and Quora to find some common questions that are being asked.

Create blog posts about topics that are relevant to your target audience, and do not worry as much about keyword phrases. If your content addresses their most important issues, the search engines will reward you for that and your posts will be found.

3. Make your Content Coherent and Understandable

As a lawyer, you need to project a professional image for you and your firm. As such, you need to make sure that the content you write flows smoothly and is grammatically correct. At the same time, however, make sure it is not overly technical. Remember, much of your audience is not familiar with a lot of the legal terms that are part of your everyday vernacular. When you write a legal blog that is geared toward average consumers, your job is to make complex legal concepts understandable to your target audience.

4. Make your Content Informative and Useful

Your readers should be able to understand your content, and further, they should find it interesting, informative, and useful. Sure, your ultimate goal is for them to contact you and become a client, but you should not be continually trying to sell that within your post. Instead, give your readers practical information that they can take away from the article and put directly to use, so they believe that it was worth their time to read it.

5. Show Yourself as an Authority

Avoid talking too much about yourself within the article and instead show your expertise by discussing the legal topic and providing helpful information to the reader. The place to talk in more detail about your credentials is on the area of practice (AOP) pages of your website. Blogs can direct readers to AOP pages when appropriate, and you should do this from time to time. But within the blog post itself, show readers your in-depth knowledge about the subject. This will help establish you as an authority in your area of practice, which builds trust among your target audience and makes them more likely to become clients.

6. Include a Call to Action

You should end your blog with a paragraph or two that moves the reader toward a desired action. This is one place where you could discuss your credentials while inviting readers to contact your firm for more information and to schedule a consultation. If you are writing a fairly long post, you could also insert a brief call to action in the second or third paragraph for readers who know they need legal help and/or do not have the time to get through the entire article. This is optional and it is entirely up to you.

About Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing

Now here’s our call to action. We know that for a lot of attorneys, even fitting in an extra five to 10 hours a month for blogging and other types of digital marketing can seem like an impossible task. And this is where we come in. Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing specializes in helping law firms by reviewing their current online footprint, developing a comprehensive internet marketing plan, and implementing every aspect of that plan.

We work with attorneys and legal practices in whatever capacity they need us. For some, we just build a professional lawyer website and host it for them while they do their own blogging and other web marketing activities. For others, we implement their entire marketing strategy – from website construction to SEO to content marketing to social media, paid advertising and beyond.

To find out how we can help your firm, call us today at (800) 864-1764 or message us online for a free website evaluation and internet marketing assessment. We look forward to serving you!

Creating Geo-Specific Practice Area Pages for Your Law Firm

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Geo-Targeted Content – The Difference Between 1st Page Rankings And Irrelevancy

The most important online content for law firms is the area of practice (AOP) page. These pages help give your website a strong foundation that you can build on with consistent monthly content. Practice area pages serve two primary purposes; to explain in detail what areas of law you practice, and to let legal consumers know which geographic locations you serve.

An attorney or firm should produce AOP pages for each area of specialty, starting with the most general and drilling down from there. For example, if you are a personal injury lawyer who does mostly traffic-related accident cases, you would want to produce pages for:

  • Personal Injury
  • Car Accidents
  • Truck Accidents
  • Bus Accidents
  • Motorcycle Accidents
  • Bicycle Accidents
  • Pedestrian Accidents

This is just a starting list. Over time, you might want to add pages for more subtopics, like “serious/catastrophic injuries” for example. In addition, will want to add several specific types of injuries that fall into this category, such as “traumatic brain injuries” and “spinal cord injuries”.

Once you know which area of practice pages you need to produce, it is time to decide which geographic locations to target. Creating geo-specific practice area pages for your law firm is extremely important, because consumers tend to prefer locally focused content, and search engines reward geo-targeted AOP pages with better search results. Ultimately, this means more prospects landing on your page, which in turn means more clients from your website.

Building Geo-Specific Attorney Practice Area Pages

The keys to an effective geo-targeted practice area page are to create pages that will be highly relevant to a local consumer search along with text and design that shows authority and professionalism and optimizes client conversions. The headline should include the keyword phrase you are targeting along with the local area in which you are marketing.

Continuing with the personal injury firm example, let’s say you are in the Chicago area. In this case, you will want pages with titles like “Personal Injury Attorneys in Chicago” or “Chicago Motorcycle Accident Lawyers”.

As you might guess, in an area like Chicago, there is going to be heavy competition for keywords such as “Chicago personal injury lawyer”. This is why it is a good idea to drill down to areas of personal injury law that you specialize in, like “motorcycle accidents” or “nursing home abuse”. Create the personal injury page as the “parent” page and create the more specialized pages as the “child pages” in your linking structure.

If you are in a medium to large sized metro area, another thing you should strongly consider is creating geo-pages that are targeted toward nearby localities that you practice in. For example, let’s say your office is in the northwest side of Chicago near O’Hare International. In this case, you would want to target nearby suburbs like Arlington Heights, Schaumburg, and Elmhurst. Making geo-targeted pages for these suburbs creates more potential doorways through which prospective clients can find your website.

Best Practices for Geo-Specific Practice Area Pages

There are a lot of variables that go into creating geo-targeted area of practice pages that drive results. Here are some of the most important guidelines to follow:

  • Develop a Consistent Message: It is critical that your message remains consistent across all of your web properties with regards to the name of your firm, the focus of your practice, your location, and similar information. When you are building an online brand, there needs to be congruency with the design, the images you display, and the messages that you convey.
  • Distinguish Yourself and Your Firm: Your geo-specific practice area pages should highlight why you are different from the hundreds or perhaps thousands of other lawyers in your area with the same or similar areas of specialty. Is it your extensive trial experience? Your success with high-profile cases? Recognition by reputable legal organizations? Large verdicts and settlements you have secured for clients? Highlight the things that distinguish your practice and set you apart from your competition.
  • Write with Authority: One way you can show that you are a good choice for legal consumers is by creating authoritative content that showcases your expertise. So, if you are a DUI defense attorney, for example, tell readers the important points about the DUI laws in your state, when they Are likely to face jail time, what they have to do to keep their driver’s license, and some of the most effective defenses. Content like this helps establish you as a thought leader in your area of practice.
  • Make Your Content Readable and Useful: Along with authoritative content, your content should be readable and include useful information. Use short paragraphs with lots of subheadings and bullet points to make it easier for your readers to scan the content quickly if they want to. Also give them information that will be helpful to them and make them feel like it was worth their time to read your page. For example, you could include a section like “What to Say and What Not to Say When You Speak to an Insurance Adjuster.”
  • Be Careful About Overusing Keywords: Focus on creating quality content and don’t worry as much about integrating keywords. Keyword stuffing is a disgraced practice that Google no longer rewards, and in fact, the overuse of keywords could actually hurt your rankings in some cases. As a general rule, if you write authoritatively about your area of practice, your targeted keywords and related keywords will show up often enough for Google to recognize your page as a relevant search result.
  • Make it Easy for Your Prospects to Engage: Your geo-targeted area of practice pages should include a call to action and a chat box in case the reader would like to engage with your firm right away. With these features in place, you will convert more targeted visitors into clients.

Don’t Have Time to Create Geo-Specific Practice Area Pages? Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing is Here to Help

Maybe you are saying to yourself, “all of this makes sense, but who has time to create area of practice pages?” We get it. A lot of lawyers are simply too busy practicing law to worry about building their online presence, and that’s where we come in. At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we specialize in helping law firms by reviewing their current online footprint, developing a comprehensive internet marketing plan and implementing every aspect of that plan.

We work with attorneys and legal practices in whatever capacity they need us. For some, we just build a professional attorney website and host it for them while they do their own blogging and other online marketing activities. For others, we implement their entire marketing strategy – from website construction to SEO to content marketing to social media, paid advertising and beyond.

To find out how we can help your firm, call us today at (800) 864-1764 or message us online for a free website evaluation and internet marketing assessment. We look forward to serving you!

The Importance of Content Marketing for Law Firms

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In recent years, law firms have begun to realize the importance of establishing their brand in the digital market. Historically, law firms received the bulk of their leads through networking events, referrals, and traditional ad space channels (billboards, Yellow Pages, etc.).

But the most successful lawyers are now dominating the search engines and social media with content and even establishing themselves as thought leaders in their field. This has only become possible through focused content marketing campaigns that deliver engaging content and follow a long list of legal content marketing best practices.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is the practice of creating engaging and useful content that is aimed at a particular online audience. For law firms, content marketing involves the creation of original content, such as blogs, white papers, and web pages. The content is posted on your website and shared in a way that promotes your legal practice’s services.

The goals of content marketing will vary. But to be successful, your firm’s content should aim to fulfill at least one of these goals:

  • Increase brand awareness
  • Establish expertise and thought leadership
  • Generate leads and new clients
  • Create an online community

The type of content you post will vary depending on your goals and the needs of your target audience. When done right, content marketing can be a valuable addition to your digital marketing strategy.

The Importance of Content Marketing for Law Firms

Content marketing is a big deal for any business, but it is particularly vital for law firms. The average consumer has become blind to traditional advertising methods like print, television, and even some online ads. This constant noise drastically reduces the chances that one of these tactics will sell your service to a prospect.

But content marketing can succeed where other methods fail. When a person has a legal issue that they need to solve (or any issue, such as needing last-minute dinner reservations), they are more likely than ever to turn to Google for their answer. This is where you have the greatest opportunity to connect with a prospect in the most meaningful way through your useful and targeted content.

Some of the ways content marketing can benefit your law firm include:

Content Marketing Improves Your Reach

Content marketing allows potential clients to find you who otherwise might not have. That person that is worried about the potential “DUI penalties in Alabama” or wants to know “How to appeal an SSDI rejection” might find your recent blog post and contact you.

If your content is useful and interesting, they might also share it with friends and social media followers. Someone that wasn’t searching for your law firm will see your name and remember it later when they do have a need.

Legal Content Can Improve Your SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is vital to the success of your online marketing efforts, and content marketing can help improve your website’s organic rankings. When you have a lot of informative content on your website that begins to pull in traffic, Google will notice and reward you accordingly.

Local search is essential for law firms that serve a limited geographic area. By adding your city, county, or other location data to your content, you can improve your local search rankings. So, when a person looks for a “personal injury lawyer near me,” you are more likely to get one of those top spots.

Blogging Establishes You as an Authority

People want to hire a law firm that knows what it is doing, and you can establish your authority through content marketing. A frequently updated blog gives you the opportunity to showcase your knowledge on a topic while you are addressing some of your target audience’s most pressing concerns.

A blog is also an effective way to promote your practice among your peers. When you establish authority in your field, you are more likely to get referrals from other firms that are outside your area of practice or geographic region.

Getting Your Law Firm’s Content Marketing Strategy Right

Content marketing differs a bit from traditional advertising. When most people think of law firm advertising, they picture a lawyer’s face on a billboard or bus stop imploring them to call some version of 1-800-ACCIDENT. Content marketing for law firms is a bit more subtle and can be far more effective than traditional advertising when approached correctly.

It is simple enough to produce a few blog posts and send out some tweets and then label that as your law firm’s content marketing efforts. But, to build your brand and get the most out of content marketing, you need a focused strategy.

Some of the things your legal content marketing strategy should include are:

  • Defining Your Audience – Who are you trying to reach with your content, and for what purpose?
  • Optimizing Your Website – Is the content already on your website optimized for your target audience and the search engines? Can you repurpose any of your best-performing content to extend your reach?
  • Producing a Content Marketing Strategy – Your content marketing strategy should include keyword research and a content roadmap to plan your approach.
  • Creating Compelling Legal Content – The next step is to research, write, edit, and publish content that targets a specific practice area, audience, and set of keywords.
  • Marketing Your Content – Some content ranks quickly organically, but you can also “share” content on social media sites and promote it to get it in front of the right audience.
  • Assessing Your Results – Every content marketing campaign should carefully track progress and assess results to determine what is working and what might require some adjustments moving forward.

Quality Legal Content That Sets Your Law Firm Apart

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we create content that helps our clients express their brand’s voice. While you focus on running your firm, the content our team creates for you will drive traffic to your website and convert visitors into new clients.

Some examples of the results-driven content our copywriters create include:

  • Practice area pages
  • Blogs
  • White papers and resource articles
  • Press releases
  • Staff biographies
  • Newsletters

Every piece of content you receive is well-researched, SEO-optimized, and 100% unique to address your needs and the most pressing concerns of your target audience. Contact Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing today at (800) 649-1764 or online to connect with us for a free consultation.

Marketing After A Natural Disaster

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News Headline – “There has been a terrible disaster – a wildfire, a flood, an oil spill, or a hurricane.” Sound familiar?

As the water recedes, the smoke clears and the winds die down, people begin assessing their situation. Neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers. There is nothing more resilient than the American spirit. Hard work is in our blood. In fact, asking for help is not something we are accustomed to doing. We will be ok, we have grit, and we have insurance!

So, imagine the surprise and disbelief when they hear that the insurance premiums they have been paying year after year are not going to help them get their life back?

Unfortunately, this scenario plays out across America every year. After every disaster, there are always disputes between insurers and the insured.

If you are a law firm that specializes in the representation of individuals who have been denied or underpaid for damages associated by these types of events, those effected by them need to know who you are.

In fact, most people don’t know they can hire an attorney to dispute their claims. But when do you let them know? You don’t want to be seen as insensitive or opportunistic. If you live in an area where hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, or flooding are not that much of a surprise, then the answer is easy; you should always be letting people know you represent homeowners in insurance disputes.

But what if you don’t live in those areas? When is the best time to let those people know you can help them? Well, from our experience, the best time is before they cash that ridiculously low check from their friendly neighborhood insurance agent. And those offers are made quickly, but rarely at the amount the insured thought it would be. So, what are they to do, not make repairs?  People tend to get desperate to get their lives back and that can often lead to hasty, ill-advised decisions. So, the sooner you let them know you are there to help, the better.

So now comes the question, as an attorney, how do I advertise my services?

Paid Advertising

There are a lot of options when it comes to advertising your law firm and pay per click (PPC) advertising is probably the fastest and most used. But be ready, PPC can get expensive very fast.

Pay per click advertising is based on setting a budget and bidding on keywords. So, you decide where you want to appear and when.  If the keywords are not very popular, say “hurricane claims attorney” for a firm in Idaho the bid price will be very inexpensive. At least until a hurricane barrels through the Midwest! That same search term will be much different if you are in Tampa in mid-August and the Gulf waters are churning out hurricanes like a Pez dispenser. That same bid will skyrocket as firms try and position themselves for the season. The keywords were the same, but the popularity of the location will drive the bid up and if an event happens, the sky’s the limit.

If you can beat the rush, you can get great placement on a modest budget. But, as more attorneys enter this space, it gets more competitive and more expensive. This means the earlier you begin, the better. As for hurricanes, think about advertising before hurricane season begins.

Social Media

Another way to get your name out is through social media. Both Facebook and LinkedIn are good places to let people know you are there to help. Business owners are a prime prospect in LinkedIn and Facebook is great for the general population. Facebook also allows you to target your message to only those areas effected, even if it is by neighborhoods.

Think of social media as an indirect way of advertising.  It is a good fit when you are trying to reach a person that isn’t aware of their options, kind of an educational tool. Like we mentioned before, a lot of people are not aware they can take legal action when the insurance companies aren’t playing fairly.  Business owners and individual homeowners will appreciate knowing there are people out there looking out for their best interest.

With social media you can “plant the seed” that legal action may be the best way to solve an insurance dispute in a way that is less intrusive and more understanding of their situation.  It becomes a “did you know” type of educational outreach that increases the odds of you earning their business.

Become a Resource

Updating your website and social media platforms with useful information is another way to become a resource for people. Create unique content and videos that explain their options and your expertise in these areas. Having information that can help them will be very well received. We tell our clients all the time, you aren’t trying to teach a class, but you do want to give enough basic information to be helpful. Once someone realizes they can’t manage the process on their own, they will turn to the original source of the information, your law firm.

Another option is to become a resource for a local news segment. Alert your local news organizations know that you are an expert on insurance issues and if they would like your opinion, you would be glad to give it. They will undoubtedly do pieces on the struggles of the local community and the underpayment or denial of insurance coverage will most likely be one of them.

Lastly – Contact your past clients. Let them know you are working with individuals who are having trouble with their insurance claims. Too often they will use another law firm because they were not aware you did this. They will usually think of you for what you did for them before.

For our clients, we do this in a newsletter. In fact, it is a good idea to put out a firm newsletter about once a quarter. We use blogs we write for their website as helpful information, but always remind them of the many areas of practice that your firm covers in case there is a future need.

Contact Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing Today

Does your law firm represent homeowners in natural disaster insurance disputes? If so, start targeting those prospective clients today.

Contact Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing for more information. Our phone number is (800) 649-1764.

Just How Long Should a Law Firm Blog Be?

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One of the best ways to boost your law firm’s online presence is through consistent content marketing. Specifically, when you create a blog and post the right type of quality content regularly, you can increase the traffic to your website as well as your engagement and conversion rates.

Blogs have been known to boost traffic to websites by as much as six-fold. In fact, a firm that has a website with good, quality content can produce growth much higher than a firm that doesn’t.

Assuming you already have a blog or have decided to add one, you probably still have a lot of questions about the best way to approach legal blogging. A top question to consider is: Just how long should a law firm blog be?

Why the Word Count of Your Blog Posts Matters

Your word count refers to how many words are in your legal blog post. Most word processing programs, like MS Word and Google Docs, will provide you with this information.

You need to know how many words are in your blog because word count can impact the user experience as well as your likelihood of ranking well in the search engines. When your blog post is longer, Google gets a better idea of what it’s about. The longer your post is, the more your targeted keywords and related keywords will appear in it.

You might also be able to cover several sub-topics with a longer blog post, giving you the opportunity to rank for multiple keyword phrases in Google. In some cases, you can also pick up Google’s featured snippet, giving you another opportunity to drive traffic to your website.

Finally, a longer post gives you additional linking opportunities. You can add internal links to relevant pages within your website, keeping readers engaged even longer.

Now, to be clear, your shouldn’t simply “add words” to add them. Word count only genuinely matters when you are including impactful information. The quality of the content is equally as important as the length, or word count, of the blog.

How Long Should Your Legal Blog Post Be?

If you have a legal blog, you’re probably wondering about the optimal length for a post. If you have a random thought, can’t you just post a few lines and be done with it? Or, do you need a 10,000-word dissertation every time you answer a question or write about a topic? The real answer lies somewhere in the middle.

A few lines are not enough to tell the reader much, give the search engines enough information, or keep your website’s bounce rates low. Generally speaking, your law firm’s blog posts should be at least 750 words to answer relevant legal questions and provide an effective call-to-action (CTA).

Depending on the subject matter, you could write a longer post. But, anything beyond 1,500 words could tend to get lengthy or intimidating. When deciding how long to make your posts, consider these two factors:

  • How many words do you need to convey your ideas clearly?
  • How much length is necessary so that your content is SEO-friendly?

Tips for Creating High-Quality Legal Blog Posts

It can be challenging to write blog posts that have significant depth. Writing high-quality content is tough, particularly when you want to reach a goal of 750 words or more with each post. No matter what your word target is, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  1. Write Original Content

It’s pretty important that your content be original. Sure, other attorneys have probably written on similar topics, but your explanations should not be verbatim to theirs. Check out the blog posts of your competitors. How can you create something that is more engaging and that more thoroughly covers the subject?

  1. Make Readability a Priority

One of the most important aspects of blogging is readability. In short, you must write for your audience instead of for yourself or the search engines. Think about the most pressing questions your potential clients have. Provide clear answers to those questions with as much detail as possible. This is not a legal brief, nor is it content written for other legal professionals. This is content written for your “typical” client. Everything you write should be with them in mind.

  1. Use Headings

When you structure your content, use plenty of headers so that people know what they’re reading. This not only helps with readers who like to scan articles but also makes your content easily accessible and readable by the search engines.

  1. Supplement With Images & Video

People are visual creatures by nature. A wall of words doesn’t work well for most. Make sure you include plenty of images, graphs, and/or videos with your blog content to break up the text and add an additional perspective to the topic.

How to Get the Most Fuel Out of Your Legal Blog Posts

Whether your posts are 750 words or 1,750 words, you’ll want to capitalize on what you’ve written. Instead of posting it and just waiting for the traffic to arrive, you can go after it in several ways:

  1. Share Blog Posts on Social Media

One of the best ways for your law firm to promote its content is through social media. Using your various social media platforms, lets followers know about your latest post or drop a link when the content contains the answer to a question you see posted.

  1. Send Blog Roundups in Law Firm Newsletters

Make sure you include your most recent blog posts in your law firm newsletters that you email to your client/former client list. This is an excellent way to get additional eyes on your content and increase your page views.

  1. Feature Guest Bloggers

Once your firm has its blog established, one of the ways you can expand your online audience is by featuring guest bloggers. Whether it’s a respected community member or another attorney, having a guest blogger can bring a fresh perspective to your blog. Another benefit is that they will often promote their work and drive traffic to your page.

Getting Started With Your Law Firm’s Blog Posts

Now that you have a better understanding of how long a blog post should be and what to include in your blog, it’s time to start writing! If you’re not sure how to get started or don’t have the time to devote to a legal blog, reach out to find out how we can help.

Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing helps law firms showcase their knowledge and experience through web design, SEO, social media management, and content marketing. Contact us today to learn more about how our firm can create an engaging legal blog that produces results.

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