Marketing Tips for a Workers’ Comp Lawyer Marketing Tips for a Workers’ Comp Lawyer
The latest CDC research shows that 40 million injured Americans1 visit the emergency department annually. Moreover, unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in Americans aged 1 to 44. These shocking statistics have generated a thriving personal injury legal market, with just over 50,0002 practicing personal injury lawyers and attorneys in the US.
It can be challenging for smaller firms to break into this competitive market. With a limited budget for digital marketing, personal injury lawyers often become lost in the noise. This article discusses how legal professionals in the personal injury sector can use search engine optimization (SEO) to expand their reach organically.
The Unique Industry Position of Personal Injury Law and How it Affects Marketing
Like most sectors of the legal industry, personal injury attorneys deal with sensitive cases fueled by emotion. Unfortunately, some legal practitioners have used this to their advantage in arguably unethical ways in recent decades. In 1977, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of attorney advertising after banning it for most of the 20th century.
After this ruling, a wave of personal injury firms began advertising their services on TV with a mélange of ad campaigns that became known for sensationalism. While many of these advertisements successfully attracted potential clients, others diluted the industry’s credibility.
Today, consumers mainly desire authenticity, especially regarding personal injury. Digital marketing that offers people real value, whether that be education on their legal rights or a way to estimate how long their lawsuit might last, is quickly becoming first prize.
However, simply creating informative content is not always enough. Many law firms today are adopting SEO and other marketing strategies to bring that content to their audience’s attention. Remember, your potential clients cannot buy what they cannot find.
Table of Contents
Understanding SEO in the Context of the Legal Industry Understanding SEO in the Context of the Legal Industry
At its core, SEO is about optimizing web pages, blog posts, and other online media so they appear higher on search engine result pages (SERP). It generally relies on keywords to help search engine algorithms understand your content and present it as relevant research.
However, keywords alone do not equal efficient SEO. Google’s search algorithms rely on five factors: meaning, relevance, quality, usability, and context. These factors become even more crucial in an industry as highly regulated as law. Ideally, SEO for law firms should focus on providing value over increasing visibility.
SEO Versus Paid Ads for Personal Injury Firms
SEO digital marketing is the answer for personal injury lawyers to expand their reach and find new clients without investing in paid advertising. Overall, it can be cost-effective to generate leads through your law firm’s website. Conversely, most search ads use a pay-per-click (PPC) model, where you pay a set fee whenever somebody clicks on your advert.
While this may seem like a reasonable request, statistics show that paid adverts are not always effective at generating leads in the legal industry. According to Wordstream’s Google Ads Benchmarks 2023, the average cost per click for attorneys and legal services is $9.21 – more than double the general average across all industries.
A higher CPC generally means fewer clicks on your ad. While the reason for this metric is unclear, many law firms have turned to SEO to guide potential clients toward their website and social media platforms more gently and genuinely.
The Value of SEO for Personal Injury Lawyers
SEO can help lawyers reach people who have recently suffered a personal injury. This digital marketing strategy is cost-effective and versatile, often enabling you to achieve diverse business goals simultaneously. Here are three ways SEO can benefit personal injury attorneys and firms.
1. Attract Higher-Quality Leads 1. Attract Higher-Quality Leads
Traditional advertising channels like TV, flyers, billboards, or buses can produce mixed results, especially in a specialized industry such as personal injury law. SEO and digital marketing can help personal injury lawyers run more targeted ad campaigns focused on niche market segments.
For example, optimizing your website to target the keywords “dog bite lawyer Wichita” will help you attract people looking for a specific service. These leads are often more ready to commit than someone searching a general term for informational purposes only.
2. Build Credibility 2. Build Credibility
The primary portion of optimizing your law firm’s website is increasing the volume of content you offer. Through SEO-focused digital marketing, personal injury lawyers can share their knowledge and experience with their online communities, gradually establishing themselves as an industry authority.
SEO-friendly blog posts, white papers, and downloadable e-books are excellent ways to build credibility in the legal space. When someone reads an interesting article online, they may share it with someone they believe might find it valuable. Consequently, educational written media can grant you access to warm leads.
About the Blog Author
Grey Smoke Media is North America’s only full-service legal marketing firm, offering:
- Media Buying - Radio, TV, Out of Home
- Reputation Management
- Digital Marketing with a heavy focus on SEO
- Management Consulting
- Content Production
We elevate law firms to the highest echelon through a multi-pronged, unified approach.
3. Improve Your Overall Marketing Strategy 3. Improve Your Overall Marketing Strategy
Perhaps the most valuable yet overlooked element of SEO is its measurability. Understanding the health and impact of your website is vital for almost every legal sector, including personal injury. Digital marketing tools like Hubspot or Google Analytics can help you track how well your site ranks for your targeted keywords.
These insights can help you understand your target audience better and identify untapped marketing opportunities. Using SEO for marketing analytics and lead generation can help you shift the focus of your firm’s marketing plan toward more profitable pursuits.
Should SEO Be Your Sole Digital Marketing Strategy?
A recent Bright Edge survey indicates that 53.3%3 of all internet traffic comes from organic search results. That leaves about half of the traffic to paid advertisements, making a compelling case to include them in your marketing plan. However, when it comes to personal injury, digital marketing can be delicate.
Some of the largest personal injury firms in the US rely on legal directories, client reviews, and online referrals to boost their digital marketing strategies. Using these channels with SEO is the best way to build a robust online presence.
SEO for Small Versus Large Personal Injury Law Firms
The implementation may change while SEO principles remain consistent across diverse company sizes. Digital marketing for personal injury lawyers who work independently will differ significantly from the ad campaigns of large corporate law firms. Smaller firms have a smaller budget, making shrewd resource allocation crucial.
Optimizing your existing web pages, targeting a smaller geographical region, and working with specific, low-competition keywords are viable SEO strategies for smaller firms. Conversely, large personal injury firms may need to invest in high-volume content creation to keep growing their client lists and competing for market share effectively.
SEO Best Practices for Personal Injury Lawyers
Target a Local Audience
Most people search for a lawyer in their vicinity. Targeting keyword phrases that contain the name of your nearest city can be immensely helpful in finding potential clients nearby. Smaller personal injury firms can gain even more by targeting individual suburbs with lower competition.
Include a Well-defined Call to Action
According to research from Canadian legal software company Clio, law firms fail to collect an email address during 86% of phone calls with prospective clients. Digital marketing aims to help personal injury lawyers generate leads, so including a clear CTA is crucial.
That doesn’t always mean providing a toll-free phone number below your blog posts. Sometimes, prompting readers to download a free resource or join an educational webinar can be more effective to expand your audience.
ASK US HOW WE SCALED A LAW FIRM TO THE LARGEST IN THE NATION (BY VOLUME) IN JUST THREE YEARS
Focus on User Experience
Internet users do not take kindly to slow websites and unresponsive pages, especially after a personal injury. Your digital marketing strategy should be client-centric, helping people find the information they need quickly and easily. To achieve this, you will need to prioritize technical SEO.
Technical SEO will optimize the architecture of your website for easier browsing. This overhaul could include increased load speed via compressed images and videos, building an SSL certificate into the code, and enabling browser caching.
Optimize for Mobile
Another important aspect of technical SEO is optimizing your website for mobile browsing. A recent study4 found that 23% of people use mobile devices to research law firms to hire, while 53% use a combination of desktop and mobile. That means a staggering two-thirds of your clients could discover your practice from their smartphones.
Considering the target audience for most personal injury firms, building websites that people can browse from a hospital bed could be a digital marketing gamer-changer.
Choosing and Working With a Digital Marketing Agency
Working with a professional marketing team can help you build the best SEO strategy without devouring your staff’s billable hours. The legal industry is specialized, so it’s prudent to choose an agency that specializes in digital marketing for personal injury lawyers. Before engaging a third-party SEO specialist, consider asking them the following questions:
- Which clients have you worked with, and what results did you achieve?
- When can we expect results, and how would they look?
- Can you explain your research and content creation process?
- How do you track SEO performance?
- How do you remain abreast of industry changes and trends?
Final Takeaway
The personal injury legal industry can be highly competitive, so a robust digital marketing strategy is crucial to success. Search engine optimization can help law firms extend their reach and attract new clients while building an authoritative voice in their online communities. The best SEO strategies are industry-specific, mobile-friendly, and targeted to a local audience.
Grey Smoke Media offers premium digital marketing for personal injury lawyers and other legal professionals. Explore our award-winning legal marketing services or book a complimentary meeting to discover how we can help you leverage SEO for your legal firm.
SOURCES:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/25/business/personal-injury-lawyers-advertising-ctpr/index.html
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2023/05/15/google-ads-benchmarks
https://videos.brightedge.com/research-report/BrightEdge_ChannelReport2019_FINAL.pdf
https://www.clio.com/blog/legal-marketing-statistics/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/05/01/the-importance-of-technical-optimization-for-seo/?sh=7ae6392ed3eb
https://www.ilawyermarketing.com/new-study-how-consumers-choose-lawyers-online/
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