Why content marketing is your law firm’s secret weapon

In the modern digital world, law firms are experiencing competition from all areas of the web. From rival law firms to AI content and influencers, the way people seek legal advice is ever-changing. To stay ahead of trends and generate those all-important leads, you need to establish your company as a trustworthy and reliable legal authority, but how is this achieved?

Content marketing, specifically SEO-optimised content, is your most powerful tool for transforming your law firm into a business that’s recognised, respected, and profitable online.

Before we jump into the hows, we need to understand the what and whys of content marketing, so let’s dive right in.

What is content marketing for law firms?

A textbook definition of content marketing is “the strategic production of content to attract and engage a target audience, to increase profits and engagement.” The bulk of this content is designed to be informative to potential customers and answer key user queries. This content can come in many forms, but for legal firms, you can expect to see:

• Informational blogs explaining complex legal issues with “what is” questions or instructional blogs on how to seek advice for certain claims.
• Glossaries of key legal terminology and jargon.
• FAQs with a list of common questions with up-to-date answers on legal changes.
• Visual tutorials like videos or image step-by-step instructions.
• Case studies highlighting the success of particular legal cases.
• Website copy, including homepage, location and category page reoptimisations.

Each one of these content types has a specific purpose, but the overall aim is to hit EEAT markers (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), which help to boost a website’s value on search engines. Once your content achieves this, your opportunities should grow.

Why does your law firm need content marketing?

Now you know what sort of content marketing to expect for your law firm, why exactly is it so important? To make it clear, take a look at these stats:

• 80% of users interact with blogs and social media sites, with businesses with blogs generating 67% more leads than companies that don’t produce blog content (DemandMetric).

This means if your website doesn’t have a blog, you could be missing out on more than half of the potential leads that can improve traffic and growth for your firm.

• Websites that have clear and compelling CTAs (calls-to-action) have 161% higher conversion rates (Wisernotify).

Quality content writing is, therefore, an invaluable investment that will help your law firm thrive.

• 95% of marketers prioritise content marketing strategies to drive traffic and engage clients (Rebootonline).

With almost all the competition in on the content marketing game, it’s clear your legal business can’t afford to miss out.

Content marketing is the tool that helps your audience understand legal procedures and challenges, with effective SEO techniques persuading users that you’re a trusted firm to help solve their problems.

Now you know why content marketing is so important, let’s delve into how it’s the key to your legal firm’s success.

1. Presents your law firm as the experts

Stating you’re “an expert” isn’t enough to convince users that you are, and instead, users are searching for content that demonstrates expertise through examples and explanations. When it comes to the online legal world, users are far more likely to seek advice from reputable legal firms rather than strangers or social media, and content marketing helps demonstrate your expertise clearly.

Longform content like detailed guides or “what is” blogs help to answer frequent legal queries and show the user that your team has the knowledge and know-how to create practical solutions to any issues. Through EEAT tactics like case studies of your success, client testimonials and displaying qualifications or awards, there’s physical proof on your site to show that you’re experts.

The more useful content you create, the more you establish your firm as a reliable service, not only to prospective clients but also to Google, which is ultimately in charge of how you rank in the SERPs.

2. Boosts your website’s visibility

Law and legal advice is an extremely competitive industry, and with this comes competitive keywords and high search volumes for key terms. Whether it’s local terms like “solicitors near me” or longtail keywords like “how to make a personal injury claim”, it’s difficult to rank for organic search results without effectively targeting legal keywords.

This is where SEO optimised content is so important. Creating content that specifically targets user-focused keywords helps to increase unpaid, organic traffic to your site. Even making small changes like adding keywords to a URL can lead to a 45% increase in click-through rates (AIOSEO).

Longform content, like blogs, is also brilliant for continuing to attract traffic as this content is “evergreen”, meaning it remains relevant over time.

Even non-written content like videos can prove an invaluable asset, with websites that use video content showing a 157% increase in organic traffic (Wordstream).

3. Generates leads as well as traffic

When it comes to content creation, creating traffic is great, but what you really want is those all-important leads for new clients.

When you create quality content using SEO best practices that answer users’ queries, this will naturally rank in the SERPs and attract potential clients. When reading the content, strategic CTAs like links to contact forms, free download buttons, and offers for consultation advice transform general interest into leads.

Even if the user doesn’t get in touch or sign up straight away, you’ve opened up a whole new world of opportunity through email marketing, like newsletters and further content that encourages and convinces. This, in turn, means that when the user needs a solicitor or legal advice, they know exactly who to turn to.

Let’s take a look at some supporting stats:

• 27% of marketers claim that organic search generates the most leads (Exploding Topics).
• 74% of marketers agree that content marketing helps generate leads (Content Marketing Institute)
• 61% of marketers say that SEO and organic traffic generate more leads than any other marketing channel (Digital Silk).
• The top result on Google’s organic SERPs has an average CTR of 27.6% and is 10x more likely to gain clicks than pages ranking at the bottom of the first results page (Backlinko).

4. Make your firm stand out in a saturated market

There are thousands of law firms competing for the top spot on Google, and you need more than just a professional site to make you stand out. Carefully crafted content marketing is the best way to grow your business, make your website unique and showcase your brand’s personality in a way that appeals to your audience.

Creating lawyer bios, showcasing client stories and adding expert quotes and interviews to your content is a brilliant way to humanise your law firm and create a deeper connection between you and potential clients.

Content marketing also helps you succeed where commercial success may be difficult. If your firm specialises in certain legal areas, you have the opportunity to corner a niche and make yourself a leading expert in specified fields. You could create a series of blogs on property law or create informative videos outlining new regulations or common mistakes.

Analysing creative ways for your business to succeed in the SERPs is a key part of content marketing. By implementing fresh strategies like a unique tone of voice and insightful and specially tailored content, you make your firm more memorable to users.

5. Help support your entire marketing strategy

Once you’ve created high-quality content, especially when it’s evergreen, you can repurpose it across a range of marketing channels.

• You can use snippets of content on your social media platforms, with links to drive traffic to the full blog.
• Draft email marketing and newsletters from relevant blog topics.
• Create onboarding guides for new clients.
• Create LinkedIn posts. This is incredibly valuable as 80% of B2B social media leads come from this platform, with marketers who utilise it seeing 2x higher conversion rates (LinkedIn).
• Generate video content or dedicated webinars based on successful blog topics.

Reusing evergreen content also helps your business save time, effort and money on generating new content ideas. Instead, you can create fresh material for a range of different channels with a single topic.

6. Measurable data on how your law firm performs

One of the most powerful things about content marketing is that your website’s performance is measurable. Using SEO tools like Google Analytics, Ahrefs and other platforms, you’re able to track your content and use this data to inform your content strategy. With these tools, you can measure important content marketing metrics, including:

• Keyword rankings and which pieces of content drive the most traffic and perform in the SERPs.
• The types of content people engage with before getting in touch or signing up.
• Which topics are gaining the most traction (and which aren’t).
• Return on investment.
• User data, including age groups, gender and location.

With this information, you’ll be able to see which pages are the most effective and increase traffic and leads. You’ll also see how long people stay on a page, where people sign up or the click-through rate on certain pages. From here, you’ll be able to adjust your content strategy to target areas that are underperforming or broaden your strategy to focus on successful keywords.

Final thoughts: Why your law firm needs content marketing

It’s clear from all the evidence that content marketing is an essential part of online business for any legal firm, and when carried out effectively, it is an asset that yields measurable results.

With the correct content marketing, you can:

• Build your name and make your business more discoverable.
• Create long-term trust and authority associated with your brand.
• Generate high-quality leads.
• Win more business opportunities.
• Save your company time and effort whilst increasing profits.

With recent advances in AI content polluting the online world, it’s clear more than ever that quality, relatable, human-made content is the best investment for your law firm.

Need help getting started?

Creating impactful SEO content isn’t always smooth sailing, especially if you’re juggling complex legal cases and liaising with clients. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, but with the right strategy, your content can do the hard work for you and drive traffic and generate high-quality leads.

If you want to stand out and position your firm as an industry leader, our team of content specialists at Embryo is here to help. From strategy ideation to writing and delivering content, our team of SEOs and dedicated content writers are here to uncover missed opportunities and transform tricky legal topics into engaging, digestible content.

For content that works as hard as you do, get in touch today.

Contact us