Whether your firm represents employees, employers, or both, attracting new clients to grow your business should be a priority.

That requires a marketing strategy to reach out to your ideal clients.

“Sales” and “marketing” are terms that, traditionally, law firms are uneasy with but your competitors are all battling for online attention and winning new clients because of their digital sales and marketing strategies.

You don’t necessarily need to spend more money than them. You just need a better strategy that makes you more visible, more credible, and more approachable.

That’s not as difficult as it sounds. In 10 simple steps, this marketing guide shows you how to:

• Develop highly targeted marketing strategies that directly address target clients
• Implement best-practice digital marketing strategies
• Connect with more potential clients
• Generate more leads

Let’s get started…

Unless you know exactly who you are targeting with your marketing, you could be throwing money away.

Get very specific with your target audience. Everything that follows depends on it. There’s a great example above from an employment law firm in Houston, which targets oilfield workers who have not been paid wages or overtime.

Here’s one from an employment law firm in San Francisco that makes it very clear that they are on the employees’ side:

And this one from a firm in Washington DC is also admirably specific:

Finally, this one in New York target unions and benefit plans, as well as employees:

Whether you are targeting employees who have been wrongfully terminated, unpaid, harassed or discriminated against, employers who simply want to review their employment contracts and maintain compliance, or high-paid executives who need legal advice before taking up a new position, your messaging needs to be specific.

Being too general is the “enemy” of digital marketing as you will get lost in the crowd of other employment law firms. Define what you are to whom.

As you build a clear picture of your ideal clients, consider the following three major factors:

1. Demographics

Consider the following:

• What is the age/gender of the individuals?
• Where do they live?
• How much do they earn, typically?
• Do they have a specific job title?
• Do they work in a particular industry?
• What size of employer are you targeting?
• For employers, are there particular positions you are targeting? (HR? In-house legal counsel?)

2. Specific requirements

The more targeted you can be with demographics, the better you will understand the precise needs of your clients, the more relevant your messaging will be to them, and the better the quality of the leads that will be generated.

If you provide services for executives, employees and employers, like in the example directly above, you need to segment the information you provide – don’t be too general.

Before you work on what you will say, understand what they are looking for. There will be some requirements they will share (for instance, they probably all want a well-informed, experienced lawyer who can assist with their specific case).

However, other requirements will depend on which side of the employment “fence” they are on.

EMPLOYEES:

• Are they looking for help because of wrongful termination, inadequate severance pay, unpaid wages/overtime? Or another problem? 
  • Are they currently working?
  • Have they already accepted a severance package – or are they considering one?
• Are they looking for advice or representation?
• What are the main questions going through their minds?
• What are their greatest fears with their legal issue?
• What specific information do they need?
• What confuses them the most? Employment law can be complex!
• What are they hoping to achieve by contacting you?

EMPLOYERS:

• Which services specifically are they looking for?
• Are they looking for consultation, advice or representation in a case?
• What are the main questions going through their minds?
• What are their main problems and challenges?

EXECUTIVES:

• Do they need advice or representation in a case?
• What are the main questions going through their minds?
• Are they considering a new position?
• Are they considering filing a lawsuit against an employer?

The answers to these types of questions will shape your messaging and provide a roadmap for your future content. Taking time to consider the above is time well spent.

3. Online behavior

Your ideal clients’ online behavior should help to shape your marketing strategy.

In 2015, the ABA Journal noted that one-third of all legal consumers begin their search for a law firm by using online resources.

This figure is likely much higher now. Consider how your ideal clients are going to find and engage with you online.

If you are targeting employees, social media may an option for reaching out and engaging with potential clients, providing insight and advice:

• Are they using Facebook?
• Twitter?
• Instagram?
• Are they using mobile devices?
• Desktops?

Are they searching website FAQs, etc. for answers to questions or looking for reviews/testimonials to find the “best” employment lawyers in their location?

You need to be ready with the right messaging when they find you. See more about Facebook advertising in Step 10.

Before we get into the specifics of messaging, it is important to be in the right mindset with your marketing.

You’re in this for the long term. Build a brand, not simply a website.

What does that mean for an employment law firm?

Well, it’s what really separates your firm from the next. It’s the image you want to portray to the world.

• What do you stand for?
• What do you mean to your clients?
• What lasting impression do you want to leave on them?

Start by asking yourself a couple more important questions:

1. What makes your employment law firm unique?

It’s important not to say what all the others say. What makes your firm special? Is it your experience?

Have you been in business for 30 years like this lawyer in Alabama?

Or do you have a particular belief that you live by and which drives your firm, like this one?

2. What do you consistently do better than other employment law firms?

This firm in Washington DC has built a brand on helping workers fight for their rights for decades:

Further down the homepage, this message is reinforced:

Alternatively, you may want to build your brand around a bold promise or statement, like this firm in New York City:

Completing Step 2 should lead you automatically to the following questions related to your value proposition:

• What promises can you make to clients whom you represent?
• What’s the real value of what you will bring to their lives?
• Why choose you rather than one of your competitors?

This firm in San Diego is very clear that its lawyers protect workers who have been mistreated or discriminated against:

It doesn’t need to be long and complex. This one is a very simple but effective message:

This one from a firm in Miami is a little more focused and specific – with a value proposition focused on no-risk dollars recovered for victims of sexual discrimination:

Depending on your target audience, there may be a strong emotional element to the assistance you provide. If people have lost their jobs or are in the midst of an employment dispute, they may be looking for support at this testing and stressful time.

Think about this in your value proposition. This firm does:

This firm in Alabama simply focuses on the 40 years of combined experience in fighting for employees:

In summary, your value proposition should be compelling enough that:

• It convinces visitors that they’re in the right place
• It shows that you can help with a key problem
• It speaks directly to the needs of potential clients
• It convinces visitors to dig deeper and contact you

Potential clients want to know as soon as possible if they’re wasting their time – or if your firm can really help with their legal issue.

Trust is important in any industry but, with legal matters, it’s essential. People want a credible lawyer who gets results. Demonstrating this should be a cornerstone of your online marketing strategy.

Here’s how to do it:

Gather and feature reviews/testimonials

It sounds more genuine when other people say great things about your firm than when you do.

This national employment law firm includes reviews on its main banners on all its state websites (this one from Las Vegas). It is the first message a visitor to the home page sees:

Here’s another good example from a firm in Tennessee:

The following firm focuses on protecting whistleblowers and includes video testimonials high on its homepage:

Note that gathering Google reviews can also help your search rankings (see Step 8). In the following search for “employment lawyer Atlanta” note how all of the top rankings on the map have gathered plenty of reviews:

Being featured in these Google My Business sections for searches is marketing “gold” for law firms. There’s more about this in Step 9 but if you actively gather reviews from happy clients, you will stand a better chance of this free, lead-generating publicity.

Feature case results and statistics

If you can show a strong track record of success, it builds a strong case for hiring your firm. As this firm in California says, “results speak for themselves”:

See how compelling this one is from a firm in Philadelphia:

This labor law firm in California keeps it simple:

Demonstrate experience

Another great way to establish instant credibility with visitors is to let them know how long you’ve been specializing in employment law.

This firm in Chicago highlights the fact that it was established in 1993 -almost 30 years ago:

This is another good example from a firm in Boston of how you can use favorable statistics to raise credibility and trust levels with prospective clients:

Include trust badges and awards

Logos and badges showing memberships and awards you have received is another way to instantly demonstrate expertise, results, and credibility. Here’s a good example from a firm in Tennessee:

This firm in Vancouver includes accolades in its main home page banner:

And this New Jersey firm displays awards information in a smaller banner format right at the top of its homepage:

This Miami firm highlights the fact that it is “board certified” front and center on its homepage:

Media attention

If your firm has been involved in high-profile employment or labor law cases that have received media attention, this also helps to establish credibility and the reputation of your firm.

It’s a good idea to include links to articles or videos that feature your firm. This New York firm features videos on its “news and media” page:

This one, also in New York, has been involved in some high-profile cases and wants the world to know:

Here’s how a firm in Chicago does it:

Remember, even if your firm has not been featured on national news and can make no lofty claims to fame, local media counts too.

Case studies 

Real-world examples of how you’ve helped clients in the past help prospective clients understand your winning strategies.

Here’s a good example from a firm in Seattle:

This firm in Virginia presents its case results like this:

The size and capacity of your practice

Not all firms can handle multiple cases. Clients can work out pretty quickly if a firm is a one-or-two-attorney practice.

So, if you can look after many cases concurrently, let your visitors know that you have the capacity to help them within your team – as this firm in Saint Louis does:

On the following firm’s website, the main menu dropdown shows that it has a large team of lawyers to help:

Even smaller firms can make the point very quickly that they are not a sole attorney practice. This is a good example from the homepage of a firm in Maine:

Employment law is a vast area. Some firms cover almost every aspect of employment while others specialize in particular niches.

Whichever applies to you, break your practice areas down and create “power pages” for each one. As you will see in Step 7, the goal is to become an authority on your particular practice areas and build a library of resources.

This starts with your practice area pages. Firstly, detail all the practice areas you cover in your main menu. The following is the absolute minimum required:

This firm in New Mexico gets really detailed – and that’s great both for visitors and for SEO:

Some firms, like this one in Denver, highlight their main practice areas very clearly from the start on their homepages – another good idea:

Creating practice area “power pages” means going into a subject in-depth and answering many of the questions that your visitors will have.

This can demonstrate your expertise in each particular area of employment law.

The following example from a firm in Georgia does a great job. All the practice areas are listed down the right-hand side of the page. Each topic is covered in more than 1,000 words (this page is on overtime claims):

Focus on clear, compelling content that goes into detail about the information your visitors need to know about each topic.

If, for example, a client has a query about discrimination and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), your practice page should go into some detail, like this:

As well as with practice area pages, you can demonstrate authority and expertise with other content marketing strategies on your website, social media and so on.

Many individuals visiting employment law firm websites are looking to understand their options before taking the crucial next step with a complex situation. You are in a great position to help them.

Here are some of the best strategies to use:

Include FAQs

These might be featured on the homepage, as Taylor Janis in Canada does (instantly sending the message to visitors that this website is a library of resources):

Alternatively, you might include separate FAQ pages on your website like this firm in Maine:

One of the beauties of answering FAQs is that it gives you the chance for a free “ad” on Google. This firm in California wrote a blog post entitled “Can an Employer Fire You for Being Sick?”:

If a user types this (or a similar) question into Google, this is what they see:

What you see above is a “featured snippet”. Google features the best answers to common questions with a link through to the resource. You can see the link to Callahan & Blaine’s page and a snapshot of the answer to the question.

If you provide quality, long-form answers to questions with your FAQs, you too can appear in these featured snippets and get some free traffic from Google.

Build a knowledge center or library of resources

Some employment law firms build an entire knowledge center to help visitors find answers to their questions. Here’s a great example from a firm in Toronto:

This firm in Boston prefers to call their resource center a “library” but it’s the same concept:

Start a blog

If you’re not already doing so, write blog articles about your specialist topics, providing original and informative content for your visitors. That’s the least you should be doing to demonstrate authority and expertise.

According to a report by the American Bar Association in 2017, 43 percent of law firms that blog have had a client retain their services directly because of it.

Add articles regularly. Nothing looks worse than a blog page with no posts since 2015. Visitors may think you’ve gone out of business!

Here’s a good example from a firm in Missouri:

Here’s another good example from Taylor Janis in Calgary:

Your website will be the hub of all your marketing activities so it’s worth spending time on it. Consider how you will optimize the user experience for visitors.

Your efforts here will turn user interest into even interested followers and tangible leads. Focus on the following…

Include multimedia

Employment law can get rather “heavy”. You can break up the content and make it more “digestible” by using multimedia.

Many firms now use video to introduce the firm and the attorneys, answer questions, and provide how-to information – like this form in Toronto:

Sidney L. Gold & Associates in Philadelphia prefer podcasts to keep their audience informed:

Make your pages snappy!

A slow website will send potential clients, existing clients, and Google into a tailspin. Use GT Metrix or Pingdom to check the speed that pages load.

If a page doesn’t load within a second or two, visitors are likely to click away and try somewhere else. It’s important, therefore, to fix up slow-loading pages with your web developer – normally by optimizing images and videos.

Make your website mobile-first

Mobile and tablet internet usage already started to outstrip desktop internet usage five years ago, in 2016. Since then, the trend has only continued.

In other words, this no longer works:

Focus on making pages clutter-free, easy to read, mobile responsive (can display on any device) and with large call-to-action buttons that mobile users can easily navigate.

Take a look at this from Taylor Janis – I’m sure you will agree, it’s a big difference from the previous example:

Check the Google Mobile-Friendly Test to see how mobile-friendly your website is currently.

Add a live chat facility

Many law firms are yet to get their heads around live chat. It looks like it’s here to stay so you need to decide whether to add a live chat facility to your website to help people instantly (and potentially 24/7) with their problems and questions.

This firm in New York believes it improves the user experience:

The live chat option does not have to be intrusive. Clicking the “X” closes the chat window and all a visitor sees is this:

Tell visitors what to do next

If visitors like what they see, they expect to be guided through your website on a journey of discovery. That means you need to leave “signposts” for what to do next.

These are your calls to action, which should be on every page on your site, informing visitors what the next step is. This firm in Louisiana makes it clear from the start:

Gather leads with gated content

Some employment law firms only deal with cases that involve one-off representation of employees. Others represent employers and have many repeat clients or work on class actions that take a long time.

Depending on the nature of your firm, a great way to capture email addresses/phone numbers and build a marketable list of followers is to create gated content. That is, you provide useful downloadable content (e.g., an eBook, article checklist or industry report) that potential clients obtain by leaving their contact details.

This firm created an eBook on “How to Choose an Employment Lawyer” designed to generate leads by attracting employees with a legal issue:

Offer a newsletter signup

Newsletter signups are another great way to build a loyal following for your firm. This might be more applicable if you represent employers rather than employees, like this firm:

Create infographics

Infographics can communicate information quickly and in an easily digestible format – with the added bonus that they are easily shareable (and are, therefore, a great marketing tool).

This firm in Pennsylvania created an infographic about a survey they conducted with employees about a topic very much in the news:

It’s no secret that almost everyone seeking legal advice starts with a search engine. But did you know that 75 percent of people never go past the first page of Google?

Or that around 60 percent of clicks are generated by the top three SERP (search engine results pages) results?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential part of marketing for any law firm that wants to stand out from the competition. Here are a few areas to focus on for now…

Build content around the right keywords

Your clients may be considering their options, seeking information, or ready to file a claim against an employer or an employee. These different requirements should be reflected in the keywords that your content is based on.

What is the user’s intent?

Information?

If so, terms like “How do I file a claim for wrongful dismissal?” are great for attracting searchers looking for answers to specific legal questions.

Hire a lawyer?

If so, transactional terms like “Wrongful dismissal attorney Charlotte” will be better for attracting potential clients.

The practice area pages and FAQs you create should target one specific keyword e.g., FMLA disputes, employee retaliation, whistleblower protection, etc.

Base content around “body” and “long-tail keywords” as these are usually less competitive and easier to rank for than “head” keywords. So, rather than “Employment Lawyer San Antonio “, go for “San Antonio FMLA disputes” or something equally as specific:

Use Google Keyword Planner and KeywordTool.io to help you find keywords.

On-page SEO 

Optimize the content on your web pages to improve results in the search engine results pages but do not over-use keywords.

Make sure you:

• Include keywords in headers and sub-headers
• Include keywords naturally throughout the body text
• Use secondary keywords related to the primary phrase
• Write for the reader first and the search engines second
• Add images
• Optimize URLs around keyword phrases

Note in the following example how the keyword phrase “Severance pay in Alberta” is used in the sub-headers and related phrases are used in the copy. An image is also used to break up the copy.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO also improves rankings in the search results. To ensure results over time, focus on the following activities (important ranking factors for Google):

• Link-building – get backlinks from high-quality and related websites
• Citations – seek ‘mentions’ of your law firm in quality directories like Avvo
• Reviews – gather as many high-quality reviews as possible from clients

Here’s a good example from Avvo:

SEO takes time. Persevere and you will see results after months rather than weeks. Take a look at our comprehensive law firm SEO guide to find out more.

Unless you’re a national or international law firm with multiple locations, many of your target clients are likely found in the local area.

This means that you need to pay attention to local search – essentially three main areas:

Google My Business 

Optimize your Google My Business (GMB) account. It’s probably the second most important element of your web presence after your website.

Listings show prominently in the Google results pages – just below the ads. These three featured firms in Chicago have all optimized their GMB listing:

You want local searchers in need of an employment law firm to be able to find you easily. Ensure that you:

• Keep your account up to date
• Fill out all fields with the relevant information
• Choose the correct category e.g., wrongful dismissal attorney, sexual harassment attorney
• Include optimized images of your firm
• Gather Google reviews (minimum five)
• Keep your firm’s name/address/phone number (NAP) details consistent

Law firm directories 

The Yelp, FindLaw, and Justia directories can help you get found locally, as well as Avvo.

They provide both free and paid listing opportunities that can help your law firm reach out to prospective local clients.

A paid listing on FindLaw looks like this: 

Build microsites 

If you have a presence in multiple locations in the region, build small “microsites” in addition to your main firm website. This is great for local keyword targeting.

Taylor Janis provides the option to switch location from a dropdown menu on the main homepage:

Then, when you click on Red Deer, you are taken to this page:

Paid advertising for law firms generally takes two forms:

1. Google Ads
2. Facebook/retargeting ads

Your choice will depend on the type of law firm you run.

Employment law firms may deal with employees, executives, employers or other entities. Those that are business-to-business only firms may not find the need for Facebook ads (more about this below).

Google Ads

Most law firms are familiar with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising but past failures often put them off.

With ads taking up 85 to 90 percent of the space ‘above the fold’ on a Google search page, you can’t afford to ignore this type of advertising:

Law firm ads/keywords are some of the most competitive (and therefore expensive) around.

That makes it critical to manage and optimize campaigns carefully. You can lose money quickly if you are not paying attention.

Plan and set up Google Ads campaigns correctly, then budget and optimize them and you can expect a steady flow of targeted and relevant leads every month.

If the past has not been kind to you with PPC campaigns, it is likely due to:

• Poor campaign planning
• Poor targeting of keywords
• Poor monitoring and management
• Not stating negative keywords (which exclude irrelevant searches)
• Poor budgeting and spending guidelines
• Not hiring PPC specialists
• Quitting campaigns too soon
• Poor-quality landing pages

To make your campaigns work, focus on:

Creating ads based on intent

An individual searching for “best employment lawyer in (insert location)” is probably looking to hire. These keywords are generally highly competitive and expensive. But if someone clicks your ad, there is quite a high likelihood that they will contact you.

Target more specific keyword phrases that provide better value (less competitive). For instance, instead of “employment lawyer New York”, consider “FMLA dispute attorney Brooklyn” or another specialist service you provide.

Avoiding costly mistakes

Hire an experienced PPC professional to set up, run, and test campaigns (with a no leads = no fees arrangement) and be sure to:

• Target specific, niche keywords
• Target more of your local audience
• Be specific with location – target zip codes and postal codes
• Use dynamic keyword extension in your ad copy to precisely match client search terms
• Request regular reporting on PPC campaign performance

Using ad extensions

To stand out and increase click-throughs, use ad extensions, which provide extra information for users, such as:

• Your location
• Your phone number(s)
• URLs for other pages on your website (such as review pages)

In the above example for “wrongful termination lawyer in Omaha”, the ads use extensions for phone numbers, key pages on the website, address, etc. 

Building high-converting landing pages

Your ad is only as successful as the landing page that you send clickers to. That’s where you convert interest into paying clients.

Ensure that your landing pages are:

• Unique for every ad
• Professionally written
• Focused on the visitor taking one action
• Simple and uncluttered

Visitors expect copy that is relevant to the ad they’ve clicked. Provide a compelling reason to click the call-to-action button.

If someone is searching for an “employment attorney in San Francisco”, they are likely looking to hire imminently. You want to make it easy for anyone clicking on your ad to contact you.

This landing page is completely dedicated to that:

Check out these best law firm landing pages for other ideas.

Facebook/social media

Some law firms are undecided about their level of involvement in social media.

For business-to-business firms, it can seem like a waste of time and effort. At most, they go with a LinkedIn profile.

However, for some customer-facing law firms, social media is an opportunity to reach the target audience. With over two billion active users, it’s easy to see why seven million businesses have flocked to Facebook advertising.

It depends on your specific practice areas but employment law firms can connect with prospective customers through Facebook ads.

If an employee visits your website looking for help with a wrongful termination claim, for instance, it is unlikely they will arrange a free consultation immediately after landing on your homepage. They may visit competing firms or have other questions and click away.

Retargeting ads pop up in Facebook feeds and can entice visitors back to a landing page to arrange a consultation.

Another strategy is to use ads to inform your target audience about important updates related to their employment rights – like this from employment law firm Werman Salas in Chicago:

The same firm uses Facebook ads to target victims in a class-action lawsuit against an employer:

These ads pop up in Facebook feeds and can be a great way to establish a connection. Of course, law firms face some privacy issues that other types of businesses do not and these need prior consideration.

Facebook ads are a specialist area that you’ll likely need marketing assistance with.