6 Family Law Digital Marketing Strategies

How To Improve Your Family Law Digital Marketing

It’s no secret that digital marketing has become a crucial part of any business’s strategy due to the value and reach that online channels provide. Search engines are the #1 source people use for information on virtually every topic, including finding the best family law attorney to handle sensitive legal matters. In fact, nearly 92% of all web traffic comes from Google. By not having a family law digital marketing strategy, you’re risking missing out on a massive amount of online traffic that converts to more business for your law firm.

So, how do you grow your law firm’s online visibility? We’ll cover 6 of the most significant family law digital marketing strategies that you can begin working on today. These strategies implemented alone can be very effective, and you may notice significant growth in the area each strategy targets. But when all 7 of these strategies are done together, the impact is magnified and can lead to your law firm’s online visibility and phone calls increasing. Let’s get started!

1. Create Valuable Content That Answers Questions

There’s a saying in the digital marketing community, “content is king”, and this couldn’t be truer for law firms. The best way to reach your clients and grow the traffic to your website is through high-quality content. You need to be able to create and provide fresh and valuable content on your website that satisfies and answers the questions your potential clients have. This means creating evergreen content that helps folks faced with family law matters like divorce and child custody issues. Those who are dealing with a similar situation will often turn to the internet for research and content from an experienced family law attorney can really help. This type of content is perfect for practice area pages or blogs and optimized correctly, can rank very well in Google searches.

There are many different types of content that can be utilized, but one of the more effective ways to write for your potential clients and improve your family law digital marketing strategy is through frequently asked questions. This is an excellent way to provide value to those who are seeking answers in the family law space. Additionally, those who are searching for answers are likely interested in family law services as well. These snippets of information are also a gold mine for family law SEO and can quickly begin generating traffic for your website. Frequently asked questions can be found through keyword research and also magnified using different technical SEO strategies like FAQ schema markup which can be seen on the Google results page. Once you’ve found the best family law keywords, begin creating a content and SEO strategy around them.

2. Local Search Engine Optimization

Local search engine optimization is a category of SEO that focuses on optimizing a website to be found in the local search results. For family law firms, local SEO will help you appear for terms like “divorce attorney near me” or “child custody lawyer in [city].” What this means is that local SEO is an online growth strategy that focuses on emphasizing the optimization efforts of local family law firms by targeting the specific people and geographical areas that are relevant to your practice. Need more convincing? Over 50% of ‘near me’ online searches result in a physical location visit. Through high-quality content creation, on-page optimizations, and local citations, you can improve your local SEO and take your family law digital marketing strategy to the next level. Some of the top of the best local SEO ranking factors include:

Google Business​ Profile (GBP)

As I mentioned above, your Google Business Profile is one of your law firm’s most valuable assets. Google relies heavily on the optimization, information, and reviews on your GBP when its algorithm determines where your website should be ranking for local searches. Google is adding new features to Google Business Profile all the time, so it’s vital to keep your GBP updated as often as possible. A few things in your GBP that you can improve right now are adding keywords to your GBP description, listing all legal services your family law firm offers, enabling GBP messaging, and regularly posting updates or promotions to your GBP. Enhancing these will help strengthen your family law digital marketing strategy and improve your online visibility. When done correctly, you can even start ranking for hyper-competitive keywords in popular markets like one of my personal injury clients, Hyatt & Goldbloom, in Baltimore, MD.

5 Star Client Reviews​

Google has said that high-quality, positive reviews from your clients will improve your law firm’s visibility and increase the likelihood that they choose you to represent their family legal matters. You can encourage past clients to leave feedback by creating a link they can click to write reviews. So how do you get more reviews from happy clients? It’s as simple as asking. It was found that 67% of consumers that are asked to leave reviews go on to do so. Be sure to incorporate a review generation strategy for your law firm.

On-Page SEO Signals​

On-page ranking signals come from the content on your website. For example, don’t just optimize your website content for “law firm” optimize it for specific and geographically accurate keywords like “Dallas family law attorney” or wherever your law firm is located. Similarly, update your meta titles and descriptions of your web pages with locational keywords that reflect the areas that you’re targeting. Using specific keywords in your content and meta data is a great combination and can quickly boost your website’s rank. Optimizing your law firm’s website for search engines remains a prime practice and can maximize your performance both organically and locally.

3. Optimize Your Google Business Profile​

First things first, if you haven’t claimed a Google Business Profile (GBP) for your family law firm yet, do so immediately. I can’t stress enough how important this asset is for any business and the benefits of optimizing your GBP. Google Business Profile is a completely free and easy-to-use tool for your law firm to manage your online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. To help clients find your business, and to tell them your story, you can verify your business and edit your information. Besides providing searchers with more information about your law firm, your GBP also shares the reviews people have left about your legal services. Reviews, particularly positive reviews, are used heavily by Google’s algorithm when ranking local businesses in Maps. In fact, some of the best real estate to have in search engine results is in the local 3-pack displayed for almost all non-branded searches like “divorce lawyer near me”.

Google’s Local 3-Pack​

As mentioned earlier, Google’s local 3-pack is a game-changer. When searching for any kind of local business or service Google’s search algorithm will display the top 3 results in your area based on the reviews and optimization from your law firm’s Google Business Profile. The local 3 pack is so valuable because it displays at the top of the page before any of the organic results. A new study found that searchers click on one of the businesses in the local 3-pack almost 50% of the time. 

Google Business Profile Optimization​

So, how do you get your family law firm to appear in the local 3-pack? Ensure all information fields in your GBP are filled out and utilize the optimal keywords in the family law industry. Keyword research for family law is a great idea to find out what terms your clients are most often searching for so that your law firm has a better chance of appearing as a result. Lastly, and most importantly, 5-star reviews are as good as gold in local SEO. Google uses various ranking factors for local businesses, but none are valued as highly as client reviews. Be sure to take every opportunity to not only ask for positive reviews from previous clients but also respond to reviews that have already been given.

4. Leverage Paid Ads

We’ve discussed some different way’s to generate organic traffic to your website through valuable content, search engine optimization, and your Google Business Profile. But one of the most effective ways to appear on the first page for family law-related searches is through paid ads. Paid ads are a great way for you to increase your firm’s visibility and generate high-quality leads.

As of late, Local Services Ads (LSAs) are one of the most effective paid ad strategies for family law attorneys to utilize. Local Service Ads are sponsored advertisements that appear at the very top of the search results. These relatively new ads have the benefit of achieving the “Google Screened” designation and incorporating a law firm’s Google reviews. Another noteworthy benefit of LSAs is that they are pay-per-lead, instead of pay-per-click. This means you only pay when you get a phone call or text message contact from your ad. With LSAs, you can choose to target specific states, counties, cities, or individual zip codes to make sure you’re only paying for leads that matter to you.

Although Google Screened for lawyers covers most primary categories of law, there are still some more niche areas of law that are not yet included. Before looking to become a Google Screened lawyer, be sure your area of practice is in the list below:

5. Well-Designed & Responsive Family Law Website​

A business’s website is one of its most valuable assets. Your law firm’s website is often the first impression your potential users will have of you. You want to make sure that you take care of your website just as you would your physical location. There are many family law digital marketing strategies you can deploy to increase your website’s credibility. But two of the most important are making sure your website is well designed and responsive on all devices (computers, tablets, and phones).

How Does Your Website Look?​

A well-designed family law website says a lot about your firm. It’s proven that people correlate the quality of your website with the quality of the legal services you offer. So the question is, what is your current website saying about your family law firm?

For the best results, you want to make sure that your home page radiates a trustworthy aesthetic that instills trust and credibility in those viewing it. After all, those who choose to use your family law firm are trusting you with personal family matters that can often be some of the biggest changes in their lives. You also need to make sure that your family law website design has individual pages (About Us, Contact, etc.) that detail your legal services in depth.

Responsive Website Design​

With a responsive website design, your family law website can adapt and provide the best experience to users, whether they’re on their desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Have you ever visited a website on your phone, and the text is too big, images aren’t loading, or links and buttons not working correctly? The chances are you have, and the reason for the website performing that way is simple; it was never optimized to be responsive on devices other than computers. The need to have a responsive website is so critical because of the surging number of users who access websites on their smartphones. In 2021, 63% of all Google searches came from a mobile device. More importantly, over half of mobile users admit to switching to another website after a bad experience on a nonresponsive mobile website.

For an example of a mobile responsive website, copy the address of this webpage and paste it into your phone or computer internet browser, whichever one you’re not currently using to read this. Pay close attention to how the website adapts to the device and provides different user experiences that best complement the device being used. You can view some more examples of responsive and engaging websites that I’ve designed in my portfolio.

6. Build a Strong & Interactive Social Media Following​

The significance of social media for lawyers is growing at a shocking rate with no end in sight. According to a 2019 study, 90.4% of millennials and 77.5% of Gen X are active on social media. Social media is everywhere. For many people, social media is used every day for entertainment, socialization, shopping, and news consumption. Forgetting to utilize social media platforms to your family law firm’s advantage is a tremendous missed opportunity. The reach and access social media provide for business owners are next to none. Start improving your family law digital marketing strategy through social media posts for lawyers.

Run Facebook & Instagram Ads​

Social media advertising is a must if you’re looking to reach your target audience directly. Although search engine optimization is organic and free, success doesn’t come overnight. But when you run social media ads, you can automatically reach potential clients in your area. Captivate your audience with well-designed and relatable advertisements that resonate with them. By running ads on the biggest social media platforms in the world, you have the chance to build your law firm’s brand awareness and be the first option people think of when they’re in need of family law services. And with the cost of social media ads being so low relative to the number of people you can reach with them, it’s a no-brainer when adding to your family law digital marketing strategy.

Facebook Ads​

Facebook is still the king of social media, although Instagram has been making up a lot of ground lately. Home to an active user base and a diverse platform, Facebook is an attractive option for advertisers to increase their visibility. The platform continues to grow with a 33% increase in advertisement impressions in 2019. Facebook is a fantastic choice for your family law firm if you’re hoping to increase foot traffic to your business, web traffic to your site, and maximize brand exposure.

Instagram Ads​

Remember, Instagram is all about visuals. People are looking to follow businesses on Instagram to get a better idea of your brand. 92% of Instagram users say they’ve followed a brand, clicked on their website, and made a purchase after seeing a product or service on the platform. When running Instagram ads, be sure to share high-quality images or short videos of your family law services that help people trust you as a business. Instagram has two options for ad placement, ads in the content feed and the stories section. Both are effective and can reach thousands of potential clients instantly.

Transform Your Family Law Digital Marketing Strategy Today

I’ve found my niche in the digital marketing industry by working with family law attorneys. I love taking a small-town law firm and helping turn them into the law firm that everyone in town thinks of and trusts when it comes to family law services. The secret is simple, online visibility. By utilizing these steps, I’ve helped countless lawyers exceed their own goals and expectations for their business. Having an effective digital presence for your business in 2022 is critical for success. Let’s start forming your family law digital marketing strategy today and turn your law firm into the #1 in town.