For criminal defense attorneys, internet marketing provides reliable and consistent sources of leads from high-value prospects. When deployed correctly, a successful internet marketing strategy will build a strong organic web presence, working like a magnet to attract your ideal clients.
Year after year, a criminal defense practice can continuously benefit when new prospects are discovering the law firm organically. Even when a potential client is referred to you by name, your online presence needs to match your reputation in the courtroom.
In this article, we’ll look at several examples of phenomenal results we have achieved for our criminal defense clients. We’ll explain how we are able to achieve success organically without spending a penny on Pay-Per-Click. We’ll analyze the organic search visibility of some of our client’s campaigns.
We’ll demonstrate the value of the organic traffic that these websites generate continuously. We’ll show you how one piece of content about one particular crime can bring new business in the door for years into the future.
At Lawyer Legion, we build powerhouse websites that dominate Google search rankings. By dominating the search engines, our clients can pick and choose the cases they really want.
Attorneys can evolve well beyond the days of having to accept every case that comes through the door just to make ends meet. Success can be achieved in a way that will allow for a consistent and sustainable criminal practice that will provide the resources for your firm to be able to operate efficiently. The most important goals, of course, are financial freedom, reduced stress, and ultimately… happier lawyers.
Find ten (10) of the best criminal defense websites we designed.
To get results organically you have to build a foundation and then continuously improve upon it. The foundation must have a support structure which must also be continuously improved upon. The foundation is your website made up of hundreds of pages about specific crimes and criminal statutes. The support structure is your internet presence made up of hundreds of web pages on other websites across the internet that link back to your website.
A strong website must have strong content. Specifically, content that provides detailed information about specific crimes that answers some of the questions your ideal clients will have. The content must be organized hierarchically and linked together in a way that allows search engines to easily navigate and understand the subject matter. This content is the magic behind achieving strong organic search visibility.
Over time, an effective content strategy will result in the website racking up hundreds of pages about specific criminal statutes and crime categories. Each page will consist of detailed and unique information that answers the queries of your ideal clients as they scour Google for answers and possible solutions to their legal problem. By casting a broad net, your website will rank in Google for thousands of different search terms that will attract people who need your services.
The term “evergreen” refers to pages that will be just as relevant several years after they are written and published. This is an extremely important component of a criminal defense website. Types of content on a criminal defense website include:
1. Practice area content (evergreen content) – This is the content that will drive the vast majority of the traffic coming into your site.
2. Qualifying content – This is the content that prospects will look at to qualify you before they decide to call you. They want to know about your credibility, your experience, and your philosophy. Examples of this content include:
a. Attorney biographies
b. Case results
c. Videos
d. Home page copy
e. About page copy
f. Testimonials
3. Blogs and news articles – This content is about stories that relate to the areas of law the firm practices and about the people and things that happen in the law firm. This content should be written in-house and should express the viewpoints and perspectives of the attorneys.
When it comes to internet marketing, law firms tend to believe that regular blogging is absolutely essential. They think they have to publish blogs all the time just for the sake of posting recent content. Some law firms even pay agencies to publish blog articles on a routine basis.
Any is drafted by the agency with little to no collaboration from the attorneys and will turn out to be just generic fluff. This kind of content provides no benefit.
A high-quality blog should be very personal and should be written by the attorney. The blog is only as good as its content and the content should not be focused on SEO. The content should be focused on the reader and providing unique perspectives and insights about the criminal justice system, the politics, and the people involved. Each blog article should be thorough and should demonstrate a degree of thought leadership, but the articles don’t need to be posted super often. One article every couple of months is fine.
A criminal defense website can be optimized to generate thousands of dollars worth of traffic every month, organically. This means the law firm doesn’t have to pay for clicks, Google AdWords, or other paid advertisements because the website ranks organically for high-value keywords.
Law firms that receive valuable organic traffic will always have an advantage over law firms that rely on paid traffic. Some firms will utilize a combination of both paid and organic traffic as this strategy can work very well for some practice areas. However, for the criminal defense practice, it really isn’t necessary or worth it to spend any money whatsoever on PPC or social media ads once you have achieved strong organic search visibility.
Most digital marketing strategies rely on shortcut methods that will never yield organic results. For example, pay-per-click advertising requires paying for every click, most of them being from non-viable users (marketers, competitors) or low-value prospects (price shoppers). The few cases that you do sign up as a result of PPC will require you to do more work in order to make the money required to pay for all the other clicks.
A “high-value prospect” is charged with one of the specific types of criminal cases that you handle. The high-value prospect has enough money to hire you and wants to find the best attorney. This prospect has thoroughly research and weigh their options before picking up the phone.
When someone is charged with a crime and in immediate need of hiring a defense attorney, they will search online. A loved one of the accused, usually not the accused themselves, will start to research the issue by Googling very specific queries related to the crime. A criminal case that is considered high value will involve a very serious crime and a loved one determined to connect with the best possible attorney.
This type of prospective client isn't searching for vague keywords like “criminal attorney.” This prospective client does not click on pay per click ads. They are looking for attorneys who have handled that specific type of case in that jurisdiction. When they find an attorney with that type of experience, they begin looking at the attorney's credentials and professionalism.
When they pick up the phone, they already know they want to set up a consultation.
If you want to attract more high-value prospects, contact Lawyer Legion.
