Social media is a part of most people’s lives, but few of us truly recognize its power. Marketers are in a rare position to understand how fundamentally social media can impact all of us – but only when used thoughtfully and efficiently. 

Chances are you don’t have time to put together daily posts that resonate, monitor analytics, track campaigns, and consistently come up with new content for your followers. The best way to make the most of the social media tools at your disposal is to create a social media automation program. In this post, we’ll tell you the steps to take to automate your law firm’s social media marketing. 

What is Social Media Automation?

Social media automation involves using automated tools to improve your social media presence. Marketers can use automation to curate content and schedule social media posts in advance. These tools can help to reduce the amount of resources spent gathering content at the last minute, leaving you more time to engage with your followers and grow your audience. Essentially, automating your social media efforts allows you to spend more time on what really matters: strategy and interaction. 

Automating Social Media Posts

You’ll need to choose one or more tools to use for your social media automation. No matter which tools you use, there are certain steps you can follow. 

1. Use social listening tools – Social listening is the process of monitoring what people are saying about your firm. By using automation tools, you can see brand mentions across all platforms online. You can also follow certain hashtags, keywords, or topics to get a feel for what’s happening in your industry or with your audience. Many marketers also use social listening to better understand their competitors. The goal of this exercise is to understand how you’re being viewed and also to come up with new ideas for social media posts. 
2. Leverage chatbots – Many people automate social media through the use of chatbots. They can be used with sites like Facebook Messenger to provide client support and streamline other marketing efforts. A good example of this would be automated replies to popular questions, like what hours your office is open or which attorneys work there. You can also use a chatbot to let people know you received their message and someone will get back in touch with them. The goal here is to help people with small issues and escalate bigger questions. 
3. Collect insights across networks – You can use automation tools to collect data that can be analyzed to optimize performance. Use the information that the tools provide to figure out where your audience spends time, what posts they engage with, the best time to post, etc. View impressions, reach, and engagement on all your social media platforms in order to make decisions on strategy. 
4. Curate content ideas – Not all tools provide content curation, but some do. You can choose the topics that your audience is interested in and then the software will develop content that can be shared with your audience. It’s worth noting that any posts created by a tool should be a starting point only – you’ll want to review and tweak everything so it’s most relevant to your followers. We suggest always writing your own social media posts. 
5. Engage with your followers – Using automation software, you can monitor brand mentions, replies, and messages. With information gathered for you, you should be better able to respond to comments and participate in conversations. Spend the time that you previously spent cultivating ideas and pulling data on real engagement and your following will grow. 
6. Schedule consistently – Consistency is one of the most important principles in successful social media marketing. By using automation software, you can keep a stable of posts ready to go. Then you can spend more time being creative and coming up with new posts. Many people use the software to schedule posts in bulk and maintain a spreadsheet of what’s been done and what’s to come. This is especially helpful if you work in a team and everyone needs to be aware of what’s being posted. 

Social Media Automation Tools

We keep mentioning “tools” but that doesn’t give you the full story. Which tools are most effective? What is worth the investment? Here are some of our favorites and what to know about them. 

1. HubSpot – With these popular social media tools, you can prioritize social interactions and share content from marketing campaigns to social media platforms. You can also publish content to LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. When you connect your blog and social media accounts, your new blog content will be automatically shared as soon as it’s published.
2. Buffer – This is a great tool for collaboration. You can use the software to draft and share content with your team. Users also like to assign social conversations to the person on the right team, avoid duplicate responses by seeing who else is viewing a conversation, and leave internal notes. You can also use saved replies which can save a lot of time. 
3. Hootsuite – This platform offers regular scheduling and reporting features, while also providing content curation tools. Users are able to organize a content library and save time with pre-approved posts and scheduling options. It’s also handy for posting and sharing other content that you find online. 
4. Sprout Social – This software was designed to deal with overflowing inboxes, missed messages, and time-consuming tasks. You can use the tools to manage and measure conversations that can improve your engagement rate and brand loyalty. Most users really appreciate the collaboration features because they also integrate with platforms like ZenDesk or UserVoice. 

All of these tools offer functionality like scheduling and reporting, but their specific features are best suited to different groups based on needs. For example, if collaboration among your team is most important, you might want to look at tools that specialize in that vs. content creation. 

Takeaway: 

Social media automation can help you to make the most of your time and limit some of the mundane day-to-day activities that take up so much energy. Leverage social media automation so that you can spend more time on the activities that truly move the needle. For more tips on social media engagement, reach out to our experts.

The post How Law Firms Can Automate Their Social Media Marketing appeared first on Good2bSocial.

Pretty much everyone spends at least a few minutes of their day watching videos. In fact, 81% of Americans use YouTube and it is the second most used social media platform in the world. The potential to reach such a huge audience is just one reason to invest more in law firm video marketing this year. However, it’s important to plan a thoughtful strategy before diving in. Here are 10 steps to help you get started with effective law firm video marketing.

Law Firm Video Marketing

1. Set Up a YouTube Channel for Your Firm

YouTube is by far the most popular video platform for law firm video marketing so it makes sense to start there. It’s part of Google, so you can use your Google account to create your YouTube account. Then you can log in to YouTube and create a Brand Account and channel. It’s a best practice to manage your firm channel with a brand account. Once everything is set up, optimize your “about” information, header and profile images, and social media and website links. Hootsuite has a detailed walk-through on creating YouTube accounts here. 

2. Understand Your Audience

You can’t expect your videos to be successful if they’re not what your target market really wants to see. Spend time figuring out who your audience is and where they currently spend time/watch videos. You can review basic YouTube demographics, and dig into who your audience already follows on YouTube. Begin by checking out the Analytics tab on your YouTube account to see how people are finding your videos and what their interests are. Practice social listening and continuously search social platforms for mentions of relevant topics. 

3. Research Your Competition

There is tremendous value in understanding what other firms are doing when it comes to law firm video marketing – and then doing it better! Perform a competitive analysis and document the following: 

• Subscriber count
• Average views per video
• Frequency of posting
• Overall video quality
• What people are saying in the comments
• The main topics they post about

Think about what their most popular videos are, how they present themselves, what their brand voice is, and how you can differentiate from them. 

4. Get Insight From Your Favorite Channels

Aside from competitors, you should pay attention to what other successful channels are doing. What are the channels that you follow – even unrelated to your industry – and why? As you watch other videos, pay attention to things like video thumbnails, channel art, how other creators post or link to content, how videos are edited, and what other effects are used (such as pop ups). It’s a good idea to follow some YouTube experts to stay up to speed on best practices. 

5. Optimize Content to Get More Views

So you have your channel set up – how can you ensure that people will watch the videos there? Just like a search engine, YouTube uses an algorithm to ensure that relevant content makes it past the noise. YouTube factors in not only keywords and what Google would serve, but also the personal history and behavior of the searcher. That’s why no two YouTube searches will have the same results. So how can you optimize videos to get more attention? 

1. Perform keyword research just like you would for search engines. Start with Google Keyword Planner, and also type your topic into YouTube and see what other suggestions come up. 
2. Ensure your video has keywords. For every video, have one main keyword and a few additional related phrases. Focus on the title, description, and video tags. 
3. Use timestamps to break up your video. This allows viewers to skip to parts they are most interested in and is very helpful for longer videos. 
4. Write a detailed video description. Every video should have a few sentences describing what it’s about. You should include things like a link to your website and social media and a call to action. 
5. Create a compelling video thumbnail. Remember that besides a title, this is the only item viewers have to decide if they want to watch your video. Customize an image as much as possible and whatever you do, don’t simply use a screen capture from the video. 
6. Engage with viewers. If people comment, take time to respond. More comments signals a more popular video and in turn can help you find success with law firm video marketing efforts. 

6. Upload, Publish and Schedule Your Videos

Upload your videos directly to YouTube Studio, and then you can either publish them immediately or schedule them for another time. You can also use platforms like HootSuite to schedule video releases and other promotions via social. As with many content tactics, it’s more important to be consistent than to post often. Pick a schedule and stick with it. Also, make sure to take your audience’s schedule into account. What is the day they’re most likely to view new videos? By staying consistent with your uploads, you will be more likely to find success and improve metrics on your law firm video marketing.

7. Optimize Your Channel to Connect With More Followers

We’ve covered optimizing individual videos, but it’s important to invest time into your overall channel presence as well in order to find success with law firm video marketing. Make sure your channel graphics and profile photo reflect your ideal branding. You can also take a few steps to get more subscribers: 

• Group your videos into playlists organized by topic.
• Create a channel trailer, which is like a commercial displaying what your channel focuses on. 
• In each video, ask people to subscribe to your channel and engage by liking, sharing, or commenting. 
• Make sure your CTAs are very clear. 
• Create a custom end screen that encourages people to visit other videos or content. 
• Include closed captioning and follow other best practices for prioritizing accessibility. 

8. Experiment With YouTube Advertising

If you’ve followed this checklist so far and want to see faster growth, you can always try paid advertising on the platform. Most ads are video but you can try other formats like banner ads. All of the advertising runs through the Google advertising tools. Before investing in these paid options, make sure you have a thorough understanding of your audience and have uploaded at least 5 videos to your channel so viewers get a sense of your firm if they decide to explore. 

9. Experiment With Short-Form Video

While YouTube is known for hosting longer video content, it is more recently home to YouTube shorts. These short-form videos are typically between 15 and 60 seconds and are an important new addition to a successful video marketing strategy. According to research, YouTube shorts reached 2 billion monthly users in July of 2023. Short-form video has increased significantly in popularity and is oftentimes performing much better than longer pieces.

10. Analyze and Optimize

As with any form of marketing, you need to track metrics to improve performance over time. YouTube offers built-in reporting that can help creators see where traffic is coming from, what they are viewing, and more. We suggest writing down numbers monthly, including subscribers, views, view duration, top videos, watch time, impressions, and click-through rates. Use these metrics to see the bigger picture and then make changes as you go. 

Takeaway: 

There are a lot of moving pieces involved in law firm video marketing. We’ve helped many firms script, plan, produce, and promote videos that audiences respond to. If you need assistance creating and marketing videos that stand out, connect with our video production team and learn how we can do the same for you.

This blog post has been updated from March 29, 2022

The post Law Firm Video Marketing: 10 Steps to Get Started appeared first on Good2bSocial.

When you’re trying to grow a business, the ever-evolving digital landscape can feel overwhelming. With that in mind, we created this refresher on all things digital marketing for your law firm. 

What is a Digital Marketing Strategy?

A digital marketing strategy involves planning to establish an online presence through digital channels like organic search, social media, paid advertising, your website, and any other web-based mediums. The ultimate goals are to increase awareness of your firm on the internet and to attract new leads by promoting your firm where people spend time – online. 

Furthermore, it’s important to keep in mind that a strategy is a destination. A good strategy is an achievable, focused plan for getting where you want to go. Tactics are the definable steps within your strategy that ensure you reach your objective. A good strategy makes use of several tactics in order to achieve goals.

What’s the Difference Between a Campaign and a Strategy?

Sometimes people use the terms “campaign” and “strategy” interchangeably – but they are not the same. Digital marketing tactics are the building blocks of your overall strategy. They involve specific actions that move you toward a particular goal. For example, if your corporate goal is to increase leads by 15% this year, you might develop a strategy to generate more leads through social media. As part of that strategy, you might run a certain campaign on Twitter or invest in a paid advertising campaign on Facebook. As you develop your strategy, consider the specific campaigns that will be part of it. 

Creating a Digital Marketing Strategy

What is involved in an effective digital strategy? There are a few key steps to build a strategy that will help grow your firm. 

1. Create client personas

Any form of marketing (even traditional) requires understanding who you are trying to reach. Marketing should be based on specific personas that represent your ideal client. You should include quantitative, demographic, qualitative, and psychographic information. Everything from geographic location to challenges and priorities should be considered. You want to base these profiles on real data whenever possible, so dig into your CRM rather than just going with wishful thinking. 

2. Document goals and the tools needed 

Marketing goals should be aligned with larger firm goals. For instance, if you take our lead generation example above, your firm wants to increase leads by 15% this year. A digital marketing goal might be to generate 10 leads each quarter via a lead magnet on your website. It’s important that you’re able to measure progress toward your goals. To do that, you may need to invest in other tools. For example, you might want to leverage the Reporting Dashboard from HubSpot to see how things are working and learn ways to improve in the future. See which areas have gaps where you may need to bring in some third-party tools. 

3. Review your current digital channels and assets

In order to know where you need to invest or improve, you have to know your current state. We suggest creating a spreadsheet that clarifies all of your owned, earned, and paid media. Owned media are assets your firm owns – things like your website, blog, thought leadership, etc. Earned media includes word-of-mouth and other organic exposure such as content on other websites, PR work, or customer reviews. Paid media involves any channel that you’ve spent money on, such as paid media posts, AdWords, or native advertising. The three parts of this marketing framework can overlap and work together to maximize results. For example, you might have a great blog post (owned) that you pay to promote to a wider audience (paid). Review all of your marketing assets and categorize them appropriately. 

4. Plan your owned media campaigns

Owned media is really the heart of a digital strategy. Everything from online content to infographics to podcasts can be classified as content and help to improve your firm’s online presence. You should evaluate your current content to see where you need to create new material. Start by auditing your existing content, then identify gaps in that content and develop a content creation plan outlining what content is necessary for helping you to reach your goals. 

5. Plan earned media campaigns

It’s important to evaluate your current earned media against your goals in order to get an idea of where to focus your time. Look at where your traffic and leads come from, and then rank each source from most successful to least. Create a bigger picture that includes which type of earned media will help you to achieve your goals. 

6. Bring everything together.

Once you have completed all this planning and research, you’ll have a good idea of the components necessary to bring your vision to life. Then you can dig into specific strategies and tactics like:

1. 1. Creating a blog
   2. Advertising on specific platforms 
   3. Offering valuable thought leadership and creating lead magnets
   4. Optimizing your content for search engine effectiveness
   5. Hosting webinars
   6. Participating in social media 
   7. Producing podcasts
   8. Leveraging email campaigns
   9. Other tactics that make sense for your firm

Takeaway: 

Marketing strategies that improve your digital presence will help your firm grow. When executed correctly, starting with these steps will help you grow your brand presence, understand your target clients, and generate more leads. If you need support in creating a compelling digital marketing strategy, we are here! In the meantime, make sure to follow our blog for all of the latest digital marketing tips and trends. 

The post The Ultimate Guide to Law Firm Digital Marketing appeared first on Good2bSocial.

Search engine optimization is as much about what happens off of your website as what happens on it. Most people think of “SEO” as mainly what happens on-page – but off-page is just as important. In this post, we are covering some of the most critical off-page SEO tactics, as well as how to find legal directories for link building.

What is Off-Page SEO?

Off-page SEO refers to the things that are done off of the web page to increase a site’s search engine rankings. Some of the common off-page SEO tactics include building backlinks, enhancing branded searches, and increasing shares on social media. Off-page SEO is an essential activity for getting Google and other search engines to see your website as trustworthy and credible – which are key factors for search engine rankings. 

Furthermore, backlinks and other off-site signals form the foundation of Google’s algorithm. Studies have shown a clear correlation between total backlinks and Google rankings. That being said, links are only one part of off-page SEO. There are other signals involved in analyzing your site overall, and a linking strategy should be part of a more comprehensive effort. 

Finding Legal Directories for Off-Page SEO

Since links to your site are very important, you should spend some time reviewing potential sources. If you want the links you build to actually help with SEO, they need to be from high-quality sources. One simple way to get started with link building is by browsing directories where you can include your firm information. Not sure where to start? 

1. Online research –  Start by performing a basic search of legal directories online. Look for the directories that have the highest rank, are applicable to your industry, and have a good reputation. 
2. Competitor analysis – Analyze the online presence of your closest competitors to find the directories that they’re listed on. This will give you an idea of which directories are active in your niche. From there, reach out about possible inclusion as well. 
3. Industry associations – Many legal directories are associated with certain organizations. See if your local bar association or other industry groups that you participate in publish a directory. Browsing various groups will help you to see which directories are active in your area. 
4. Client recommendations – Don’t be afraid to ask clients how they found you. If this is a question that you ask as part of client onboarding, keep track of this data and review it periodically. You’re likely to see some patterns as far as industry directories that they browsed. 
5. Niche directories – Are there certain directories that specialize in your specific sector, or apply to your typical clients? These directories often have a more targeted audience that is more likely to be interested in your services. Search for directories using terms that cater to your practice area, such as personal injury or intellectual property. 

Other Off-Page SEO Tactics

Researching these directories and asking for inclusion is a great start. However, that’s just one piece of the puzzle. To build out a robust off-page SEO strategy, make sure to give these tactics a try, too: 

• Guest blogging – This will contribute to your linking strategy as well as put your content in front of a new audience. 
• Be a data source – Having lots of statistics or data points available on your site makes it more likely to be cited in other online content. 
• Create more long-form content – Longer-form pages increase the chances of someone else finding your content and linking to it. 
• Audit your branded searches – Look in the Google Search  Console to discover the impressions for your branded searches, and then put together a plan for increasing those numbers over time. 
• Invest in YouTube – Putting video content out on YouTube is a great way to boost your site’s brand signals. 
• Get more mentions – An unlinked mention from a reputable site is nearly as helpful as a link. 
• Get positive online reviews – Reviews are huge for local SEO, and the more social proof you have out there, the better your chances of increasing brand signals. 

Takeaway:

Directories are an important part of a link building strategy. When selecting legal directories, prioritize those with high domain authority, strong user traffic, and plenty of positive reviews. Being listed in reputable directories will improve your off-page SEO, alongside the other tactics we mentioned. Implement these off-page tactics to improve your online visibility and search engine rankings. If you need more support with SEO, try starting with our free SEO audit. The SEO analysis report you’ll receive will help you to understand your site’s health and prioritize SEO issues to resolve. 

The post How to Find Legal Directories for Off-Page SEO appeared first on Good2bSocial.

There are billions of social media users across the globe – so it would seem just being present on the platforms would be enough to reach new people. However, that’s not the case. Simply existing on social won’t do much for you – you need to focus on the ROI of your strategy. One of the best ways to see how you’re doing and to improve is by using social media analytics. Social media reporting will give you a leg up in producing engaging content that actually has an impact on your bottom line. Here’s what law firms need to know about using social media analytics to improve their digital strategy. 

What are Social Media Analytics?

Social media analytics are the data and reports based on metrics from one or multiple social media accounts. Savvy digital marketers gather and analyze this information to gain insights that are directly tied to their social media and overall marketing efforts. Here are a few of the things that proper social media analytics can help you to do: 

• Obtain a more thorough understanding of who your target audience really is and where and how they spend their time. 
• Figure out which social platforms are the best for your firm. 
• Understand which types of content resonate with your audience, which can be applied to overall digital marketing activities. 
• See which topics resonate best with your audience and which social media posts drive engagement. 
• Learn more about what is and isn’t working in various campaigns and advertising. 
• Create a more robust strategy that is better aligned to the goals that are important to you. 

Types of Social Media Analytics Reports

As you can see, obtaining and studying this information has implications far beyond simply seeing which posts are most popular. However, which information should you be looking at? Here are some of the reports that we suggest generating monthly.

1. Audience analytics report – With this report, you can see the current number of followers for each social platform. You can also compare to a previous period so you can visualize trends over time. 
2. Published posts analytics report – This is simply the number of social posts published across your social accounts during a specific period.
3. Interactions analytics report – Here you can find the number of likes, reactions, and comments on your posts across multiple platforms. This is important for understanding engagement, especially over time. 
4. Click-through analytics report – This number refers to how many clicks you get on any social posts published through HubSpot. Note that this is a specific HubSpot report, but you can find similar reporting in other analytics platforms. This data is helpful in understanding whether or not your content is driving action. 
5. Share analytics report – Look at the number of posts your audience has shared if you want to gain an idea of how valuable they find your content. 
6. Impressions analytics report – Here you can see the number of views that posts on your LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram pages received.
7. Sessions analytics report – With this report you can see how many web sessions on your site took place within a given period driven by social media. This is really valuable in understanding how social actually drives web activity and potentially leads. 
8. New contacts analytics report – Another HubSpot-specific report, you can view this data to see how many new contacts have been created in HubSpot due to web sessions driven by social media within the selected period. 

The Best Social Media Analytics Tools

Just where does one find all of that handy reporting? There are a variety of platforms available to help dig deeper into your social media activity. The truth is that finding the right tools can actually feel overwhelming because there are so many. We’ve narrowed the list down to our favorites here. 

1. HubSpot Social Media Software – This platform aims to give insight into the customer journey through integrated analytics tools. They help you to better understand your overall marketing journey and how social media impacts the bottom line. Users also love the resources available, such as social media analytics report templates, free social media analytics tools, and social media courses.
2. TweetDeck – As the name implies, this tool is Twitter-specific. It works in real-time to support marketers in viewing and analyzing Twitter engagement, management, and tracking. If you are a frequent user of Twitter, this tool is worth a look. 
3. Buffer – The goal of this tool is to dig deeper into how you can grow your brand on social media. The software measures your performance on various social platforms, creating detailed reports about the data that matters to you, and offering ways to improve your reach, engagement, and more.
4. Hootsuite – This popular tool allows users to create customized social media reports using over 200 metrics across social channels and campaigns. Users love that the reports are shareable and support keeping your entire team on the same page. 
5. Sprout Social – With this tool, you can take a closer look at your potential clients’ needs through the conversations your audience is having on social media. You can also use it to measure your specific content and campaign efforts across various platforms and channels to determine what’s working best among audience members and what needs some work. 
6. Mention – Another social listening tool, this platform allows your firm to monitor, listen, and analyze your posts and interactions with (and among) audience members via different social media channels. 

An Effective Social Media Analytics Strategy

If these sorts of analytics have never really been part of your reporting, you might not be sure where to start. Follow this simple 5-step plan to start making the most of the social media analytics at your disposal. 

1. Create SMART social media goals – SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Here’s a cool template that can help you to create these SMART goals and work toward them. Start by thinking through what you really hope to learn from social media analytics, and how you will use the information. 
2. Choose which metrics to track – You can’t track every metric, and once you set your SMART goals, it won’t make sense to. The metrics you want will vary based on which platforms you use and what you hope to accomplish, but some examples of commonly tracked metrics are reach, engagement, mentions, social ROI, social listening, and shares. 
3. Pick the right social media analytics tools – Narrow down which tools you will invest in for these purposes. We’ve covered a few of our favorites, but by all means do your research and see which options align best with the way that your team works. Some important things to consider are whether or not you need the tool to track across multiple channels and platforms, and of course what your budget is. These two things are the main drivers for most digital marketer’s decisions on tools. Also take a close look at the goals you set, the metrics that align to them, and which tool makes it easiest to obtain that information. 
4. Start measuring – After you implement your social media analytics software, you can begin to measure the success of your efforts. Start pulling the metrics you care about, and depending on which tool you choose, you can create customized reports and dashboards or pull the specific details about data points you care most about. Additionally, on a quarterly basis, you may want to take a look at your overall goals and see whether the tool is helping you to meet them.
5. Make necessary adjustments – A crucial part of monitoring social media analytics is using the information that you obtain. Without this step, you’re wasting your time and investment. Take a look at how reporting has been going and whether or not you’re getting the full picture that you need. Do you have the metrics necessary to understand your performance compared to your goals? If not, adjustments need to be made and you may even need to try a different tool at some point. 

It’s worth noting that many marketers mix up steps 2 and 3, choosing tools before deciding which metrics need to be tracked. We strongly suggest making a list of goals and associated metrics, so that you have a robust list of requirements when shopping for an analytics tool. Only by having that information ready can you make an informed decision about which analytics platform is best for your firm over the long term. 

Takeaway:

There are many ways that tracking and acting on your social media analytics can help you to grow and reach your audience. By paying close attention to key metrics, you’re likely to end up seeing improvements in things that are tied to your ROI, like engagement, client loyalty, and more. Choose the right analytics tool to make sure your analytics really give you valuable insights based on your particular needs. For more insight into measurement and analytics that can inform your bottom line, check in with our experts. We help legal marketers to use analytics to make better, faster decisions that make a real impact on their bottom line.

The post The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Analytics appeared first on Good2bSocial.

Your website is more important than you think – or, maybe you are one of the lucky ones who already realized how crucial your website is. It’s the first impression potential clients see, and has the opportunity to be your biggest marketing tool. 

According to research, 75% of your website’s credibility is related to its design. So why do so many law firms treat their website as an afterthought? In this post, we are covering 8 of the most common website design mistakes. Make sure to avoid these errors to make the most of your website and gain more attention online. 

8 Website Mistakes Law Firms Shouldn’t Make

1. Ignoring accessibility 

The number one mistake people make on their website is treating accessibility like an afterthought. Specifically, experts say to watch for the following: 

1. 1. Insufficient color contrast
   2. Missing or inaccurate alternative text for images
   3. Missing visual focus indicators
   4. Overlooking accessible names or labels 

Make sure to look up accessibility requirements set forth by the ADA and other guiding bodies. Perform a careful audit of your website and ensure you’re following the proper protocols to meet accessibility standards. 

2. Forgetting responsive design

We are at the point where mobile traffic makes up a substantially higher percentage of global traffic than desktop. If you aren’t keeping that information at the forefront when you design your website, you’re going to miss out on valuable traffic. Users now access websites from several devices, especially when conducting research. If content looks poor on any of those devices, visitors are likely to give up. Never assume that the bulk of your traffic will be on a desktop. 

3. Choosing aesthetics over user experience

The internet has become saturated with websites trying to stand out. Unfortunately, that can lead to making design decisions that look great, but aren’t the best for users. We’ve noticed an excessive use of graphics and design elements that look cool, but don’t help users to navigate the site. You don’t necessarily need to follow a minimalist style, but make sure your site strikes the right balance between form and function. If your website doesn’t help people to quickly get the information they’re looking for, it won’t matter how cool it looks. 

4. Skipping customization

Creating a website that’s unique to your firm and speaks to your value propositions and mission is challenging. It can require an investment to build out a site that goes beyond the standard hero image at the top with content blocks below. However, it’s worth it if you don’t want your website to look the same as your competitors. Don’t be afraid to look into an eventual website redesign that is specially created and doesn’t just make use of overly popular templates. 

5. Applying features that don’t help conversion

No matter how visually appealing a feature might be, if it’s not efficient, users won’t appreciate it. For example, relying on carousels to relay important information (studies show people don’t usually click through carousels). This relates a bit to the point on responsive design. Remember that at least half of your traffic is viewing your site on a mobile device. Can the interactive features even work in that format? Consider the next steps you want to encourage and make sure any functionality you’re building out lends to people taking those actions. 

6. A lack of hierarchy

If you’ve ever visited a website and felt unsure about where to look next or how to click to find what you need, you know how much that experience can frustrate visitors. The organization of your website elements is really important for a few reasons. Your website should have a cohesive structure that drives users to complete clear actions, achieves your primary goals, and also creates a seamless experience. 

7. Unclear navigation

Unclear navigation can be quite a predicament for users. Having clear navigation and consistency across all platforms ensures your visitors find just what they want and have a good experience. Consider the journey from a prospect to an advocate for your firm. What are the steps people will take? Thoughtfully plot out these paths when you plan your website categories and navigation. 

8. Insufficient communication of value

Can someone understand exactly what your firm does as soon as they land on your home page? The first thing that someone does when they visit a new website is to make sure they’re in the right place. Furthermore, your website shouldn’t just confirm that it belongs to your site, it should provide key information on why your firm is special and better than competitors. Provide clear, compelling value propositions about your firm as well as social proof like testimonials. Remember that your website should enhance the overall credibility of your firm. Review it with an objective eye and make sure that is the case. 

Takeaway: 

Just being aware of how common these mistakes are is an important step in avoiding them. As you work on a website launch or redesign, carefully review this list and ensure that you’re not making these errors in website design. If you want some expert advice before launching a website, talk to our design team. We build high-end, responsive websites that look impressive, educate prospects, and generate new leads. 

The post 8 Website Design Mistakes Law Firms Should Avoid appeared first on Good2bSocial.

Threads is the latest hot app, and companies are finding a lot of value in creating a following there. Created by Instagram, Threads is a platform that allows users to share text updates and join public conversations. It’s gotten millions of downloads since its release, and smart legal marketers are looking for ways to make the most impact using the technology. Ready to use Threads to increase your brand awareness? Here are 7 effective ways law firms can gain followers on Threads.

7 Ways to Build a Following on Threads:

1. Post Often

Just like with most social media, consistency is key. If you only post once in a while, people are unlikely to take more of an interest in your firm. By consistently sharing interesting content, you’ll attract new visitors and generate interest from people curious about your subject matter. This is particularly true in your first month on the platform – it’s essential to post several times to generate initial interest. Some experts even say to post multiple times a day – but only content that actually offers value to your audience. 

2. Connect with other users

It’s important to start building connections as soon as possible. Begin by following other users who align with your interests or may share an audience with you. Comment, ask questions, and share insights that are actually helpful. Take the time to participate in conversations in good faith, establish a presence, and encourage people to follow you back. 

3. Make sure Instagram is linked

Threads is connected to Instagram, so integrating the two platforms can help you. Connect your Instagram account and leverage the following you already have to build one on Threads. When Instagram followers find out you’re on Threads, they’re more likely to follow you there too – so be sure to spread the word on Instagram that you’re now active on Threads as well. 

4. Create interesting content

It’s true on all social media platforms (not just Threads) that posting valuable content is the best way to generate a following. When it comes to Threads, focus on creating posts that entertain, educate, or inspire your audience. In the legal world, that probably looks like interesting anecdotes, answering common questions, addressing timely challenges (like tax season topics), etc. Truly engaging content is more likely to be shared, which makes you more visible and more likely to create a larger following. 

5. Don’t buy followers

When you’re starting out, you might be tempted to buy a following. However, just like with other social platforms, that’s a bad idea. Creating a genuine following requires time and effort, and there’s really not a shortcut. If you buy followers on Threads, it will throw off your analytics and then you won’t have as much insight into what is resonating with people and how to garner more attention. It will do more harm than good over the long-term.

6. Use the right types of content

So what should you be posting with all of this activity? A mix of material is likely to be most effective, and we suggest you focus on: 

1. 1. Question posts – ask a question and encourage some dialogue.
   2. Animated gifs – these are quick ways to share some personality and have a little fun.
   3. Quotes – snippets from blogs, testimonials, or insightful remarks from experts.
   4. Tips or lists – helpful how-tos or other tactical advice is always appreciated.
   5. Stories or experiences – anecdotes that people can relate to or responding to user questions.
   6. Announcements – share information on new staff, events, charitable contributions, etc.

7. Engage with other threads

It’s important to go beyond just connecting with other users, and engage with their threads regularly. Like threads, reply to them, repost interesting threads or share them. Comment, participate in contests, etc. The more you can do to be visible to a wider audience, the better. 

Takeaway:

Threads has the potential to be a powerful brand recognition tool and a way to generate a larger following. However, it’s best to do so organically and thoughtfully. Buying followers is never the way – instead, craft a consistent and helpful approach to Threads and engage with other users in ways that offer value. For the first month, post as much as you can while focusing on relevancy and insightfulness. From there, be consistent. You’ll get the hang of it and build a following other firms will envy! If you need some help getting started, talk to our social media strategy team.

The post 7 Effective Ways Law Firms Can Gain Followers on Threads appeared first on Good2bSocial.

High-quality content isn’t the only thing that matters when it comes to SEO. Inbound links are also a major element of a successful SEO strategy. Many digital marketers treat a linking strategy like an afterthought, when it actually requires a proactive and intentional approach. If you have questions on precisely how to leverage internal linking for all-important page authority, keep reading. 

What is Internal Linking?

Internal linking is the process of using hyperlinks to link one page on your site to another page on your website. The strategy not only keeps users on your site for longer, it boosts SEO authority.  That’s because in this way you can share the authority of your other best content with your new efforts.

To provide more context, every time you create an internal link for a page, you signal to search engines like Google that another page on your website is more important. Internal links as well as links from other high-quality sources are known to improve your overall search engine authority and improve rankings over time. 

Establishing an Internal Link Structure

Start by thinking about what is most important on your website or blog. If there is an established page that you feel strongly about or that tends to get a lot of traffic, it’s essential to think about how to signal to search engines the importance of a page. This is where an internal linking strategy comes into play. 

Think of the ways that a search engine understands the value of an internal link. It involves looking at how many pages on your website link to that particular content, and how they link to it. If most of your web pages link to something, it must be important. Good examples are your homepage, your blog’s home page, or key service pages. In that vein, if the only link to your blog is from an “About us” section with nothing from the home page or other pages, that sends a strong signal to search engines that your blog isn’t very important and shouldn’t have much authority. But, if that link to your blog is on several pages and the main navigation of your website, search engines know to treat it like one of your top pages.    

This is true for more specific pages such as a specific blog or service page, as well as larger pages. If you have a more in-depth blog that gets a lot of views, you can link phrases in follow-up blog posts to prove to search engines that this page is highly valuable to visitors. 

To leverage internal linking properly, start by performing an audit of your website’s main pages and how you might interlink between them. As you write blog posts, you should look for ways to interlink to other blog posts and pages in a way that feels natural and organic. 

Three Tactics for Making the Most of Internal Linking

An effective internal linking strategy is proactive and involves some strategy. It’s not a matter of just plugging in other links to your web content as often as possible. Follow these steps to develop an internal linking strategy that helps with SEO. 

1. Perform an audit of your website. Begin by making a list of each page on your main navigation. Document each page and then what links are on each of those major pages. Doing this will help you to understand the links that you already have between each section of your site, and the ways that you’ve linked it together already. Sometimes the best way to do this is to lay things out visually. Try using a white board or a computer program to display each of your pages and how they are linked.
2. Consider the topics that you write most about. If you write frequently about something, chances are you might want another dedicated page on your website or blog. A good example is a landing page where visitors can download a longer white paper or sign up for a webinar. Each post that you create on the topic should link to the authoritative page on the subject and be optimized for conversions. If your landing page has a call-to-action (and it should), effective use of internal linking will drive more leads over time. Next think about where that page lives in your navigation, and if it might be more effective to link to from your homepage. For example, if there are important pieces that explain answers to common legal questions for new visitors, that would make a good blog post that deserves more promotion across various aspects of your site. 
3. Consider other pages that could link to your higher-ranking pages. If there is a page related to the topics that you frequently write about, make sure each of your new blog posts about that topic reference the original page and link to it. For example, if one of your most popular topics is child custody disputes, then you likely have (or should have) an overarching landing page that shares broad information on child custody disputes along with a CTA and other relevant links. Blogs such as “How to Navigate Child Custody Disputes” or “5 Key Things to Bring to Your Child Custody Hearing” should all link back to that original child custody dispute landing page. 

Takeaway: 

Internal linking is a crucial aspect of SEO because it helps search engines to understand the structure and relevance of your website’s content. When you link different pages within your website, you create a network of connections for search engines to follow, thereby allowing them to discover and index more of your pages. Plus, internal linking is helpful for website users and can improve overall website experience and performance. Follow these tips to make the most of an internal linking strategy. For more SEO tips, try our free SEO audit. Our website SEO analysis report will help you find and fix on-site issues and boost SEO-optimization.

The post How to Use Internal Linking to Boost Page Authority appeared first on Good2bSocial.

SEO and social media are two of the most powerful tactics your law firm can leverage to attract and nurture qualified leads. But if you think of social media and law firm SEO as entirely separate, unrelated tools, you’re making a big mistake. While considerably effective on their own, when used in tandem in a coordinated manner, SEO and social media are significantly more capable of bringing value to your audience and more visitors to your firm’s website.

SEO for Lawyers and Social Media

How Do They Relate?

There’s no question that SEO and social media are two very different things. SEO is the process of improving a firm’s website in order to boost rankings in search engines. And social media, well that’s the act of creating posts with copy and maybe even images on various social sharing platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

So, how do the two interrelate? A huge part of SEO for law firms is off-page. This means that actions taken off of your website, such as backlinking, also impact your site’s ability to rank. In fact, the top Google search results have 3.8x more backlinks than the lower results.

A study done by CognitiveSEO analyzed 23 million social media shares to determine if there was a correlation between social media presence and SEO rankings. The results determined that on the majority of social media platforms, the stronger the social presence, the higher the ranking. While the relationship between social media and SEO isn’t exactly cause-and-effect, posting to social media offers a great opportunity to share links to your firm’s website. This brings more traffic to your site and more shares of your links, establishing your brand as trustworthy. All of these components can lead to improved search rankings.

On top of that, law firms should remember that the best digital marketing strategies are those that focus on several channels. Having a robust presence online means leveraging all channels to their fullest potential. Having a solid social media presence alongside a strong SEO strategy lends to your credibility and trustworthiness. That can mean improved trustworthiness in the eyes of Google as well, and ultimately, improved rankings.

For a more in-depth look at how to build and execute a successful SEO strategy, check out this free eBook that’ll teach you everything you need to know: SEO for Law Firm Websites.

Important Factors to Note for Social Media and SEO for Lawyers

1. Link-backs and Social Share

Google is taking note of how many link-backs your website receives. But, like keyword stuffing, creating fake websites to generate backlinks, and other black-hat SEO tactics that allow for easy manipulation, Google is increasingly chosen to look into social signals, such as Tweets and Facebook posts, as well. This is where the amount of followers and your social reach plays a huge role. Having a large number of followers allows for your content to be shared and viewed by many. The value of this is endless for SEO for lawyers.

2. Boost Authority With Your Social Media Influence

Google will rank your blog post and website higher if it sees that you are a credible source. Google also considers your social media influence based on different factors including reach, relevance, and engagement. The more you like, comment, and share on social media, the higher your ranking will go.

3. Google My Business

Google also considers your firm’s presence on Google My Business. So make sure your Google Business Profile is fully optimized, accurate, and complete. Regularly post your blogs and other content, firm updates, and relevant images to your profile. You should also make an effort to manage client reviews and answer questions submitted to the platform. All of these actions will help convince Google that your firm is worthy of positioning high in their search rankings.

The Basics of SEO for Lawyers

It begins with content marketing. Content marketing is about enticing, informing, and entertaining your audience; social media is about promoting your content. And SEO for lawyers is about making sure that your digital activity improves your search engine ranking.  All three work together toward achieving relevance for your audience.

High-quality content is content that is:

• Client-centric
• Provides guidance/value
• Non-promotional
• Free of jargon
• Shareable and presentable

Producing high-quality content is the only way to achieve the benefits of high-ranking SEO.  For each piece of high-quality content your firm produces, you are creating another opportunity to rank for a keyword in search engines. But by interconnecting your SEO and social strategy, you’re truly going to make the most of your efforts and will see a maximized ROI.

Components of a Social Media SEO Strategy

1. Social Sharing Buttons

Make sure to include easy-to-use and visible social sharing buttons at the bottom of each blog you post. These buttons enable users to easily click and share your blog to their own social page. As we mentioned, others sharing links to your website is key to boosting your credibility in the eyes of Google and getting better rankings. Garnering these shares will boost your efforts surrounding SEO for lawyers.

2. Using Keywords on Social

A lot of firms don’t realize they can use their SEO keyword strategy to influence their social copy. Don’t go cramming your Tweets full of keywords, but rather be intentional about what terms you’re using and whether your research backs up their importance for rankings.

3. Always Link in Social Posts

A lot of platforms have developed their own blog or article capabilities, and these can be great. But remember, you’re sharing content to bring leads to your website and hopefully move them down the funnel. Sharing links directly to your site will up your views and boost rankings over time. Boosted rankings will lead to one of the key benefits of SEO for lawyers – more leads.

4. Optimize Social Profiles

Select a few high-volume, important keywords and add them to your pages’ about sections. Just as you can optimize your website with keywords, you can incorporate those same keywords into your social media profiles so they align with your website’s search engine optimization strategy. Select a few high-volume, important keywords and add them to your pages’ about sections. 

SEO for Lawyers Is Not Just Technical Anymore

SEO for lawyers isn’t just technical anymore. Google wants the best, most relevant content to rank highly, and the result is that SEO has become more human-friendly. Google is increasingly looking at the kind of content you’re sharing, rather than just the keywords flooding a blog post. Yes, the meta description and where you place your keyword and so on still matter, but more importantly, it’s how you use keywords to answer questions that people are genuinely asking.

Takeaway:

SEO for lawyers and social media are both powerful tools for driving business development success.

But the potential benefits of these tactics increase significantly when they’re leveraged together. By drawing on their strengths in a coordinated way, your content will go viral and visitors will begin flocking to your site. As Google comes to see these social signals as evidence of your website’s credibility, its rankings will begin to rise. We’ve helped many law firms and businesses succeed through the coordinated use of social media and SEO. If you’re not seeing the leads and engagement your firm needs to thrive, connect with us today to learn what our team can do for you.

This post has been edited and republished from August 26, 2022

Save

The post SEO and Social Media: How They Go Hand in Hand appeared first on Good2bSocial.

How much does your professional bio matter? Turns out, quite a bit. When people secure legal services, they are investing in an individual: in their expertise, knowledge, and ability to solve their problems. A good attorney bio validates your legal prowess and helps people get to know you, long before they pick up the phone to call. In fact, attorney bios account for a large percentage of law firm website traffic, and many in-house counsels rely on attorney bios when researching and hiring outside counsel. But how can you make sure your bio captures your target clients’ attention? Here are 13 tips for writing an attorney bio – one that is engaging, credible, and personable.

13 Tips For Attorney Bios 

1. Know Your Audience

Plan to speak to clients and potential clients. Though other parties such as the media or new hires might look at your bio, the people who you really need to reach are people who affect your bottom line. Make sure you properly research your target audience. Try building out client personas based on the different segments of your audience and understand which segments your bio(s) will be reaching. Have a deep understanding of your client persona’s challenges and characteristics and write a bio that helps lessen their stress.

2. The Intro is Important

Attorney bios should serve as an elevator pitch, convincing prospective clients to pick up the phone and contact you. That means the intro is critical. A great intro will offer a story that encapsulates the attorney’s work and what they accomplish for their clients. Use the intro as a part to showcase your attorney’s personality and value. Example: “John Johnson has been with this law firm for 10 years. He’s passionate about helping clients overcome challenges when facing a divorce and spends his days working hard to help all parties reach a sufficient and reasonable agreement”

3. Use First Person (but wisely)

While you don’t want the entirety of your bio to be in first person, it can be impactful to include quotes. (Remember: the rest of your website is not in first person, so having bios in first person may throw people offer). Adding quotes in first person from your attorneys is a great way to humanize them and make your bios more personable. 

4. Talk About the Client “Problems” You Solve

You know the legal matters that keep your clients awake at night. Your attorney bio should discuss how you help resolve such challenges and make your clients’ lives easier. Focus on benefits and what differentiates you from other lawyers. Be specific when writing an attorney bio.

5. Be Clear About Your Industry and Practice Area(s)

Since people only scan, make sure your areas of expertise are immediately clear. Recency is important – your latest achievements are more important than where you went to law school. Emphasize case studies and success stories and focus on what you bring to the table. 

6. Include Accolades

Your most compelling sales pitch is a strong review from other people. Pull quotes from case studies, client testimonials, or your Chambers ranking. Reviews from other attorneys you work with also help provide credibility. Just be sure to get permission from the right parties. 

7. Demonstrate vs. Just Telling

You can say that you’re the best lawyer in your niche, but most people say that! Share concrete examples that illustrate why someone should hire you. Let your accomplishments speak for themselves and mention specific clients and case studies if you have permission. 

8. Avoid Legalese

It will not be readily understood by most of your reading audience. Even when your audience consists of other attorneys, simple, direct language is preferred.

9. Share Personality

Remember, law is a relationship business. Adding a bit of personality (while remaining professional) to your bio shows that you are human. Include information about what made you decide to practice law, things you’re passionate about, and why clients like working with you (and why you like working with them). You can even include an excerpt on hobbies your lawyers enjoy outside of work.

10. Optimize for SEO

Just like with any content online, you need to keep search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. Bots search and index your bio just like any other web copy. Make sure you use descriptive language based on how your audience searches. Include any geographical information regarding where you practice and include any critical keywords based on research.

To learn SEO best practices, download this SEO for Law Firm Websites eBook.

11. Include Media

Humanizing attorneys is a huge part of attorney bios. Make sure to include a headshot of your attorney next to their bio. If you really want to get personal, have your attorneys film videos introducing themselves that you can include with their bios.

12. Make it Actionable

Your attorney’s contact info should be easy to find in the bio. Consider placing contact info at the end and add a call-to-action that makes the next steps clear, prompting readers to contact the attorney for more information.

13. Add Socials

Leads reading your attorney’s bio may not be ready to convert yet. That’s why it’s smart to include links to your attorney’s social. That way, users can easily connect with your attorneys and learn even more about them and their practice.

Takeaway:

As the most visited pages on law firm websites, it’s critical that attorney bios capture the reader’s attention and anticipate their questions. Too many attorney bios are dry and boring so utilize these tactics for a more compelling and effective description of yourself. When your readers come to your bio to confirm your competence, they will find something memorable that has the best chance of getting you a meeting where you can demonstrate those elements in person. You should also consider adding a video to complement your bio!

Do you need help with your content writing for the perfect attorney bio? We work with lawyers, legal marketers, and other stakeholders to understand a law firm’s overall messaging and strategy and incorporate that seamlessly across all attorney bios while still demonstrating each lawyer’s unique skill set. Contact us for help today.

This post has been edited and republished from March 28, 2022.

The post 13 Tips for Writing The Perfect Attorney Website Bio appeared first on Good2bSocial.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) has been a powerful tool in the legal marketing world for a long time. So long, in fact, that we now understand some best practices and also things that tend to go wrong. Often, law firms start out with lofty goals for their ABM program and then aren’t sure of why their ABM strategy isn’t delivering the results they’d hoped for. Whether you’re at the beginning of your ABM journey or have been managing an account-focused strategy for years, it never hurts to learn from others’ mistakes. Read through this list of common issues and be sure to adjust your firm’s ABM strategy if you spot any in your own efforts. 

Why is Account-Based Marketing Important?

Unlike traditional wide-net approaches, ABM allows for precision in targeting decision-makers within key accounts, and the benefits are substantial. It bridges the gap between sales and marketing, improving collaboration and efficiency. Additionally, ABM ensures consistent customer experiences across channels, boosting trust and increasing conversions. According to Adobe, 76% of marketers say that ABM generates a greater ROI compared to other methods. The streamlined approach also shortens the complex B2B sales cycle, focusing on accounts most likely to convert. Finally, ABM enhances content relevance, nurturing customer trust by delivering tailored information, and increasing the likelihood of successful sales.

1. Measuring the Wrong Things

ABM is very different from other funnel-based demand strategies and should be treated as such. Looking at the same KPIs you use for those programs will not give you a real picture of how ABM is working. For instance, early on in ABM campaigns, success is better measured by account awareness and engagement (whereas later in campaigns you might review meetings). 

2. Expecting Account-Based Marketing to Move Too Quickly

Some people try to fit their ABM strategy into a 60-day window or another concrete timeframe. The fact is that ABM is better suited to firms that have a longer and more complex sales cycle, and those are not usually quick decisions. Make sure you’re thinking of ABM as a robust strategy and not a single campaign within your marketing function. 

3. Not Properly Personalizing

One of the key features of a true ABM strategy is that it’s based on a one-to-one approach. That means it’s essential to personalize messaging, content, creative, and other methods of communication. Your goal is to maximize relevance with every touchpoint. Don’t make the mistake of simply recycling previous messaging or content (even if it was successful with another audience). 

4. Moving Forward Without a Fully-Invested Sales Force

Marketing’s role in the sales cycle continues to grow, and simply “handing off” leads doesn’t cut it anymore. The most successful programs are based on collaboration and buy-in between an integrated sales and marketing team. You need the advice and action of business development professionals, including sales management, from early on in the process. Without this cooperation during the planning and execution phases, you’re unlikely to see success. 

5. Churning Out Messaging and Creative

An advanced martech stack allows marketers to create campaign elements more quickly than ever before. However, just because we can make things faster, doesn’t mean we should. If you don’t have time to put real thought and effort into creative, then hold off on sending it. 

6. Not Using the Correct Technology

Speaking of martech, technology is a critical part of navigating ABM. Can you really execute and measure the ABM strategy you’ve put together with the tools you have? Remember that many legacy systems aren’t built for ABM, so you need to take a close look at your platforms and make sure they are right for doing what you need them to. 

7. Refusing to Invest in Account-Based Marketing

The bottom line is that ABM is most successful when firms invest in careful planning, obtaining sales buy-in, personalized content, and helpful technology. Obviously, there’s a cost and resource element involved in all of those areas, so ABM is not a small consideration. That being said, trying to  “cheap out” on any of these elements will cost you in the long run. 

8. Not Knowing Your Audience

As we mentioned in point number 3, personalization is crucial. But how can you personalize if you don’t really understand who you are communicating with? Make a point to define an ideal client profile and key personas. Do your research to pull together the real pain points and value propositions that matter to them. In order to be relevant, you need to make sure you’re speaking to the right person. 

9. Thinking Account-Based Marketing Will Abbreviate the Decision-Making Cycle

Even the most effective account-based marketing strategy doesn’t make the sales cycle go away. Ideally, ABM will help to generate awareness and build relationships, and even secure meetings, but at the end of the day, there’s still a process that needs to take place. Many times an ABM strategy fails because there are misaligned expectations about what the strategy will accomplish. Make sure everyone is on the same page before you launch an ABM program. 

10. Creating Your Account List Like a Wish List

An initial step in account-based marketing is usually asking the sales team for a list of accounts to target. However, that early step should involve finding organizations that are the best fit for your solution, not simply those companies that sales wants to penetrate most. A big part of this is reviewing client data and leveraging technologies like predictive analytics. You’re looking for companies that are statistically (and genuinely) more likely to do business with you. 

Takeaway: 

You’ve probably heard the phrase “anything worth doing is worth doing right” – and Account-Based Marketing is no exception. Unfortunately in their eagerness to launch an account-based marketing strategy, many marketers make the common mistakes we shared, and it costs them in the end. If you need help evaluating or putting together your own ABM program, reach out to us. We can help you to generate awareness, engagement, and leads that will help generate more clients. 

The post Account Based Marketing Mistakes to Avoid appeared first on Good2bSocial.

Writing optimized blog posts for search engines and for people is a skill. And like any other skill, it can be improved by practice.

Despite what many legal marketers think, it’s not a complicated process. In this post, we’re going to dive into the 15 ways you can master writing SEO friendly law firm blog posts. Follow this criteria, and your blog posts will achieve greater visibility, higher rankings and increased traffic from search engines.

Related: SEO for Law Firm Websites [eBook]

15 Tips for Writing an SEO Friendly Law Firm Blog Post

1. Most importantly, your blog post has to be relevant and educational or interesting.

The quality of your law firm’s blog content is one of the most important SEO factors. Don’t make the common mistake of only focusing on the technical aspects of SEO (which we’ll get into) and not the actual substance of the blog. In other words, you shouldn’t expect a blog post to rank high just because you followed the technical steps to make it SEO friendly. When coming up with a blog topic, a good place to start is by making a list of common questions prospective clients would type into Google and then build some content around their answers. Follow this tip and your blog post will be a likely candidate for Google’s featured snippets.

Remember to always keep your target audience and client persona in mind when writing. What are your client persona’s challenges? How can you lessen their worries? What tone of voice do they speak in? What resources do they need?

2. Write with a goal and purpose in mind

You should have overarching SMART goals for your marketing strategy in which you’ve defined blogging as the tactic that will help you reach this goal. For every blog, there should be a clear purpose as to what you want the blog to do. What topic will it educate on? What issue does it help your audience overcome? You should also have a defined goal with an action that you’d like users to take. Make sure to include a call-to-action that leads users to take next steps.

3. Choose the right title

Your blog’s title matters a lot. Research has shown that ‘How to’ blog titles perform better than others and that including numbers in your title helps performance. Hint: even using specific numbers like 10 can help you perform better. You can even use a tool like this one to help you analyze your title.

4. Create a clear structure for your blog post and keep paragraphs short.

For blogs to be SEO friendly, they need to adhere to an intentional structure. The natural flow is an introduction, a body, and a conclusion (similar to writing an essay). Build out an outline before you begin the writing process and consider writing your intro and conclusion after you’ve written the body copy in order to make sure everything aligns. Remember to follow the ‘triangle’ and ‘upside down triangle’ structure for your intro and conclusion, meaning the intro should start broad and get narrow and the conclusion should start narrow and get broader.

Also, there is a good possibility that the majority of your readers are on mobile, so make it easy for them to read the content and avoid large blocks of text. Keep paragraphs short (2-4 sentences long) and take advantage of the various formatting options i.e. bold, italic, underline to make the text more engaging.

5. Use lists

Listicles perform better than any other blog type, especially if you’d like to get featured as a snippet on Google. Structure your blog so it is in a list format.

6. Use keywords in nearly every part of your blog.

Ultimately, keywords should be used in nearly every part of your blog: the title, the body, photos, and headers. However, do not keyword stuff. Not only does it make content cumbersome, but search engines are too smart for that these days. From your list of keywords, insert them in the content only where it feels organic and makes sense. Also, Google can recognize synonyms and other related keywords, so use those when possible to make your writing flow more naturally. To come up with more ideas of related keywords and synonyms, use a  tool like Yoast. It allows you to come up with new phrases based on the initial keyword you plugged in

7. Use headings correctly.

A well-optimized law firm blog post follows these SEO rules when it comes to headings:

There is only one h1 tag on the page: This is usually the same as the <title> of the post, although it doesn’t have to be. What is important is to have only one h1 tag and that heading to include your target keywords.

Use headings in a hierarchical mode: The title of the post is the h1 tag and then the main sections should have an h2 and the subsections an h3.

So, the order of the tags should be H1->H2->H3.

The reason that you should have your content organized in this structural way is simple: It helps search engine spiders during the crawling process and makes the blog post easier to read (and scan) for users.

8. Optimize your meta description.

Craft a readable, compelling meta description for each of your posts and don’t forget to incorporate target keywords. Google may choose to show your description in the results so it has to be informative and interesting to encourage users to click your link and visit your blog. Remember to include a keyword in your meta description and avoid writing anything ‘click-bait-ey’. Your meta description should give a good overview of what the blog discusses while making its value proposition clear. Meta descriptions can be any length, but Google generally truncates snippets to ~155–160 characters.

Related: How Law Firms Can Create Compelling Meta Descriptions.

9. Include media

You should work to include different types of media in your blog. Try creating unique infographics, images, and videos, but if you have to, you can also get royalty-free images from a source like Shutterstock. Using media helps break up large chunks of text and allows you to communicate complex ideas in another format.

10. Optimize your images and other media elements with ALT Text.

Images, videos, infographics, and other media elements will make your law firm’s blog post more engaging to read and more SEO friendly. It enhances the quality of your content and helps break up the text. In order for Google to understand the context of your media elements, follow the important rule of adding ALT Text to describe the appearance of the content. The ALT Text of an image is an opportunity to use related keywords in your blog post.

11. Optimize the length of your blog post.

You need at least 300 words to make your law firm’s blog content count, but don’t overdo it. Google tends to favor longer articles, but if your article is too long then it’s likely to deter readers. We suggest creating content between 1,500-2,000 words only if the topic is somewhat complex and you’re confident in your writing skills.

12. Link to other content from your firm’s website.

Whenever you write a new blog, try to ‘associate it’ with already published blog posts by adding internal links. Internal linking is a very effective and easy-to-follow SEO technique that has a number of benefits. For instance, interlinking helps search engines discover new pages on your website and it’s a simple way to give readers an option to click a link and read more about a topic. It’s one of the techniques you can use to reduce the bounce rate and keep users on your website for more time.

13. Include links to influential and reputable websites.

As you build out your blog post, be sure to link to at least one other reputable article or blog. Linking to applicable and reputable websites not only offers blog readers additional reading material to expand their knowledge, but it also shows Google and other search engines that you’ve done your research. And the blogger or writer may even return the favor and link to your site. Refer to our past blog post to learn more about the importance of backlinks for SEO.

14. Update your blog regularly.

Consistently adding content to your website shows Google that your site is active. That being said, don’t post just to post. Post when you have high-quality, informative content. You might put together an editorial calendar so that you can schedule out ideas and material and are less likely to scramble every week. You could also outsource content creation to The Legal Writers Bureau to make sure your blog is maintained consistently. 

15. Optimize your URL

Your blog’s URL should be clear and give readers insight into what it’s discussing. Try including a keyword in the URL too to enhance SEO.

Takeaway

Law firm marketers should always aim to write and/or publish blog content that’ll rank highly on Google, and SEO is the bridge that’ll help you get there. Follow the guidelines explained above to write SEO friendly law firm blog posts and if you have existing blog posts that are not optimized, allocate some time to go back and make the necessary changes.

If you need assistance developing a comprehensive SEO strategy that will improve your search visibility and increase the number of visitors to your firm’s website, contact us for assistance.

The post How to Write an SEO Friendly Blog Post appeared first on Good2bSocial.

In the old days, a lot of legal firms didn’t put enough effort into social media. After all, it’s just for showing photos and silly status updates, right? Now, we know differently – we understand the real value of social media in a comprehensive digital strategy. Now, we know that social media is key for driving more web traffic (which leads to more leads…) and a host of other benefits. 

In fact, according to Social Media Examiner, 9 out of 10 marketers say that increased web traffic is a benefit of social media. In that research, respondents stated overwhelmingly that enhanced web traffic was one of the main advantages of social media activity. So, what can you do to take advantage of this benefit in your own firm?

9 Tactics To Drive Traffic from Social Media 

1. Make sure your profiles are optimized. It sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many professionals are skipping this step. Remember that when people want to learn more about you or your firm, a social media bio is one of the first places they’ll look. Your profile needs to communicate your overall value quickly and with the right tone. However, that doesn’t mean including a whole biography. People scan, so keep things concise and to the point, with a clear call to action about where they can learn more and a direct link. 
2. Add social proof. Social proof is a powerful tool in a legal marketer’s arsenal. Reviews, testimonials, and other forms of social credibility not only enhance your profile and your reputation, they can bring a more human voice to your content. Look for positive social media comments to highlight or create impactful snippets from case studies. Don’t forget to include any positive media coverage you’ve received as well. Make sure to include a “learn more” button or link whenever possible. 
3. Try some non-traditional platforms. You probably have LinkedIn and Facebook down to a science. However, you can get creative with some other platforms and see if they add to your web traffic. In particular, Pinterest and Reddit are two platforms where people tend to conduct research and appreciate expert opinions. Don’t be afraid to create a Pinterest board and pin your latest blogs and other material there. Similarly, on Reddit you can find subreddits to engage in, with lots of active users. For example, Reddit has a “Legal Advice” and “Ask Lawyers” subreddit where you can lurk and get a feel for what people are challenged with. Obviously you don’t want to give legal advice on these platforms, but don’t be afraid to share generally helpful information and leave links to your content. 
4. Test timing. Are you posting when people are more likely to engage? Try testing some different times and formats for social media, and then check your analytics to see what was most engaging. From there, you can use automatic scheduling tools to optimize the timing of your posts. 
5. Have clear share buttons. If someone reads your latest blog and absolutely loves it, could they share it? What if they come across a white paper and have a friend who would really value that information? How can they send it to someone else? Make sure to embed share buttons really close to your content. Make them visually obvious and show the number of shares to date as a bit of social proof. You might even experiment with placing the share button at the top of blogs rather than the bottom. 
6. Actually promote your content. No matter how great your content is, people are unlikely to just discover it on their own. Use social media to promote your blog and other key content regularly. At a minimum, you should take the time to promote your best-performing content. To drive more traffic, post excerpts or teasers from your most-downloaded material and encourage people to head to your website to read more. And don’t forget, social media is a great place to promote evergreen content that is still helpful or intriguing. Those posts can be perfect for a low effort social media post when you’re short on time. 
7. Engage with people. Make sure that your social media activity centers on your audience. Make sure to offer information that’s truly valuable to them, and then interact with them when they make comments or ask questions. When you create posts, focus on asking open-ended questions to encourage more of a dialogue. Things like polls or interactive quizzes can be an easy way to drum up some engagement. 
8. Be responsive. This tip is somewhat related to the point above, but make sure to actually respond to people that engage with you in some way. Make every effort to reply to all of your social media comments. In many cases, the information you share can be a link to a web page. Use social media to be responsive, engaging, and actually build relationships. That will not only drive more web traffic but really set you apart from competitors that people may also be viewing. 
9. Be more visual. There’s lots of research that people respond better to visual content than static text. When posting, consider all formats from images and video to infographics and presentations. Look for ways to make content easier to consume and more engaging. Additionally, you’ll want to avoid stock imagery and stick to real photos whenever possible. Infographics in particular are a great way to repurpose important findings in a visual way. And of course, live videos have become more popular and should be a key part of your social media strategy. Whenever you post, include links to other spaces online and offer clear CTAs. 

Takeaway: 

Try these nine tips, but make sure to stay consistent. When it comes to social media, success comes from repeated activity on a regular basis. It’s not enough to try these tactics once or twice, and then give up. Keep with it, and you’re sure to see improved web traffic over time. If you need more advice on developing a powerful social media strategy that helps you to generate web traffic and leads, reach out to our social media experts. After all, social media is today’s word of mouth, which has historically been the legal industry’s bread and butter!

The post 9 Tips to Drive More Web Traffic from Social Media appeared first on Good2bSocial.

One of the best ways to do more with less is to repurpose content. That doesn’t mean simply copying and pasting copy into different platforms though. Here are some of our favorite ways to repurpose the content that you’ve spent valuable time and effort on. 

Why Repurpose Content? 

When it comes down to it, repurposing content simply means getting the most out of content you’ve already created. Some of the greatest benefits are: 

• Expanding reach – Repurposing is a great way to use new platforms and reach diverse audiences. 
• Time savings – If you don’t have a large team, you can only create so much content. Repurposing saves resources and allows you to make the most of work that’s already been done. 
• Optimize content – As you dig into which content to repurpose, you’ll gain an understanding of which pieces perform best and what topics resonate most with your audience, allowing you to improve future content. 
• Support SEO – By creating multiple pieces of content on the same topics or keywords, you can give your SEO strategy a boost. 

5 Ways  to Repurpose Content

As you can see, there are a lot of important benefits that come with repurposing current content. What are the best ways to actually repurpose content? Here are 5 strategies that you can employ. 

1. Create evergreen content – Evergreen content is material that is not specifically timely and will likely always be relevant. For example, your firm’s mission statement isn’t likely to change from year to year. That would be a great topic to turn into various blog posts, videos, etc. You likely have some things already written on that topic, so gather the information and turn it into web content that is easy to find. 
2. Seek your best performing topics – Start your repurposing journey by researching which content items have received the most engagement. This is a powerful clue into what resonates with your audience. From there, add to your content calendar based on the topics that you already know perform well. Use a cluster model to add a few more blog posts, landing pages, or social content based on what you already know has performed well. 
3. Update past content – Have you written content on cases that are ongoing, or new regulations or political environments? Chances are there will be updates and changes over time. Find past blog posts and update them with new material. Add an update and at the beginning of the blog add a note that you’ve updated the blog with more recent information. Then, reshare it on various platforms letting your followers know that there is new information to review. 
4. Reshare prior content – Once you know which topics perform best for you, don’t be afraid to reshare them. You need to do this sparingly so that you’re not sharing the same information over and over, but it’s a good idea to give your followers new chances to see what you’ve already published. A good way to do this is a list of your best blogs, perhaps a list of the year’s most popular blogs at the end of each calendar year. 
5. Create less and promote more – Before you spend time creating new content, take a look at what you already have and see if there are more ways to use it. We’ve detailed some specific tactics below, but a good place to start is video and social content. Short-form video is an incredibly popular format, so try breaking up longer videos into snippets or creating new social media posts for content that you already created. 

Content Repurposing Tactics

Let’s include a few specific examples of ways to repurpose content on various platforms. 

• Create blog posts from videos by transcribing them, performing additional keyword research, and formatting the transcription into one or multiple blog posts. 
• Create more short-form clips from long videos for YouTube, Reels, TikToks, or even paid ads. 
• Create infographics from long-form content by taking data from blog posts or white papers and plotting them into a visually interesting infographic that can be shared on social media or included as a download. 
• Create social posts from blog content by breaking up “how-to” articles or lists and periodically sharing  interesting excerpts as a series. 
• Create emails from previous blog posts by separating the information into a series (for example, one email on the challenges of high net worth divorce, a following email on 10 specific tips for high net worth divorces, and a final email on where readers can obtain more detailed information).

Takeaway: 

Repurposing content is a smart way to save time and resources, optimize your content strategy, and improve your overall digital presence and SEO visibility. Try implementing a few of these tactics to build out a more robust content and media calendar. Remember that often the success of your digital marketing comes down to the content you create. If you need some support in creating compelling content that offers value to your audience and generates leads, start a conversation with our content marketing experts.

The post How to Repurpose Blog Posts for SEO Value appeared first on Good2bSocial.

In this episode of the Legal Marketing 2.0 Podcast, Guy is joined by Phillip Greer. Greer has driven the continual evolution of Best Lawyers® since joining in 2005, becoming president in 2013 and CEO in 2018. By tapping into his training as an engineer, he created the company’s first content management system to take the company and its products – as he says – “from analog to digital.” Through the years he has led international expansion strategies that ensure lawyers around the world receive the recognition they deserve through various Best Lawyers offerings. His proudest achievement is in the consistency of the products and the Best Lawyers peer-review methodology.

This year Phillip has led the team through launching the rebranded Best Law Firms® rankings independently for the first time in 13 years and through the acquisition of Good2bSocial.

1. Brief Overview of What Motivated Best Lawyers to Seek the Acquisition of Good2bSocial

The decision-making process in the legal industry is centered on bringing value to lawyers, marketing directors, and their clients. Marketing services, particularly content and SEO, have become the top priorities. To expand its footprint, the company evaluated potential acquisition opportunities and evaluated companies with aligned goals and industry success. Good2bSocial emerged as the most suitable candidate, demonstrating a strong track record of success and respect in the legal space. Good2bSocial is strongly dedicated to leading the digital marketing space with reputable and proven services to its clients.

2. How Does this Acquisition Reflect Best Lawyers’ Commitment to Adapting to the Shifting Digital Landscape?

In 2005, as a lead software engineer, Phillip played a key role in creating the core systems used today. Best Lawyers’ engineering team has continuously improved these systems, allowing them to analyze millions of data points annually. With a technological background, it’s essential to improve services and products to adapt to the increasingly digital world that lawyers and law firms are adapting to. Companies like Good2bSocial, a leading digital marketing agency for law firms, help clients excel and grow their digital presence, which will assist Best Lawyers in the shifting digital landscape.

3. How Does this Acquisition Fit Into the Tremendous Year of Growth for Best Lawyers With the Independent Launch of Best Law Firms Announced Earlier this Month?

The launch of the newly resigned Best Law Firms platform marks the first time the company has done so independently. With over 13 years of experience in the industry, the company has focused on listening to the legal community and showcasing transparency and flexibility. They have invested in law firms and spent time understanding the needs in the US and 70 countries they produce rankings for. Marketing services are crucial for all firms, and the need to communicate value and success is increasing. The acquisition of Good2bSocial and the independent launch of Best Law Firms align with the company’s tradition of listening to the market and expanding in necessary directions. 

4. With the Acquisition Complete, What Will be the Immediate and Long-Term Impacts on Best Lawyers’ Product and Service Offerings?

Best Lawyers will continue to maintain a transparent process, delivering a strong foundation customers expect. They aim to create a unified strategy to expand offerings domestically and beyond, ensuring high-quality service for both companies.

5. What are Key Milestones and Goals Set for the Future Growth of Best Lawyers with this New Acquisition of Good2bSocial? 

The company is working on a unified strategy to benefit existing clients and grow more clients. The focus should be on content and marketing quality, as marketing is challenging. Being agile is essential for making fast decisions, executing goals, and staying accountable within departments. The company’s commitment to quality content and marketing will contribute to its success. 

The overarching goal is to better serve the legal industry. This will be done through thoughtful peer review data, driven metrics, and rankings along with powerful content and marketing services that improve the business of our clients.

Takeaway: 

The assistance from the legal industry, lawyers, marketing directors, paralegals, and office assistants is essential for the success of these companies. Best Lawyers and Good2bSocial are proud to provide quality products that people need and use in the industry. 

Exciting announcements will be shared, but they’re too early to announce. Listen to our podcast, weekly newsletter, and outreaches to stay updated on community marketing teams.

You can find Phillip Greer on Linkedin, and on the Company Website. 

Check out our newest ebook, A Law Firm Guide to Digital Marketing Analytics, here. 

The post Podcast Episode 197: Best Lawyers Acquires Good2bSocial: A Chat with Phillip Greer appeared first on Good2bSocial.

Most marketers measure SEO performance by focusing on organic traffic numbers and keyword rankings. Those items are important but don’t provide the full picture. There are actually several other metrics that can be used to understand your SEO campaigns. We’ll cover them here and help you to better determine how your law firm’s SEO campaign is doing. 

Is Your SEO Campaign Working? 

1. Organic traffic – This number reflects the number of visits that come to your site from search engines without clicking on ads. It’s generally a good indicator of how well your web pages rank for relevant keywords and the quality of traffic that you get. You can view this information by going to the Google Search Console and looking under the “Search Results” report which is under “Performance”. From there, benchmark your own site against a few competitors. This is honestly one of the best and easiest ways to see what is working and what’s not. 
2. Keyword rankings – Your website’s position on a search engine results page (SERP) for a specific keyword or phrase is also important. The higher you rank, the more traffic you are likely driving. That being said, a website’s keyword ranking can change for a variety of reasons, whether it’s an algorithm update or losing backlinks or another factor. If you set up an official campaign, it’ll track your rankings daily and automatically. You can find this information in the “Position Tracking” tool. Enter your domain and click “Set up tracking”. You’ll also have to pick a search engine, device, location, and language in order to track rankings. 
3. SERP visibility – How often and how prominently your website appears on the search engine results pages for relevant keywords is called SERP visibility. It takes keyword ranking into account as well as SERP features like snippets, image packs, and other organic results. You can also find this in the “Position Tracking” tool mentioned above. The percentage that you’ll see is based on click-through rate and shows your site’s progress in Google’s top 100 results for the keywords tracked in your campaign.  
4. Click-through rate – CTR is the percentage of users who click on your website from the SERP. It shows how successful your title tags and meta descriptions are in attracting searcher’s attention or interest. It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of overall impressions, then multiplying that number by 100. As an example, if your site appeared on a SERP 100 times in one week and 10 people clicked on the link, your CTR is 10%. 
5. Bounce rate – The percentage of users who visit your site but leave without further action is your bounce rate. It would include things like going to another page without filling out an included form. It’s a good indicator of how engaging and relevant visitors find your content. Monitoring bounce rate will help you find any weaknesses in your SEO strategy. For more tips on how to reduce bounce rate, make sure to read our past post. 
6. Website authority over time – This SEO metric predicts how well your website will rank on search engines. The SEO platform SEMrush calls this metric “Authority Score” and it’s based on the quality and quantity of your site’s backlinks, organic search traffic, and other data. The score is presented on a scale from 1 – 100. If you are an SEMrush client, you can use their analytics to find this data. 
7. Backlinks – These are links from other sites that point to your own. They are actually one of the most critical factors showing Google that your site is trustworthy and valuable to others. It’s very important to track and monitor your backlinks. This is another area where you can dig deeper depending on the tools that you use. For example, SEMrush has a tool where you can see trend graphs for your backlinks over time. 
8. Page speed – How fast your web pages load on different devices and browsers makes a big difference to user experience. Recall that Google’s ranking algorithm rewards sites that offer a good page experience. For SEO success, it’s key to monitor page speed and do what you can to improve it. 
9. Engagement time – The average amount of time that users spend on a page is helpful for understanding how well your content matches searcher intent. When a searcher types in a keyword, lands on some content, and then stays there to read, it signals to search engines that a site satisfied their inquiry. This is the signal that you want to send to search engines, so understanding engagement metrics for your web pages is particularly important. 

Related: SEO Basics in an Hour

Takeaway: 

Remember that an effective SEO strategy is a marathon, not a sprint. SEO campaigns should be treated as ongoing efforts that will never really be “complete”. To understand the progress you’re making over time, and where to make improvements, refine your strategies using the data from these metrics. Make sure to review these numbers periodically and then apply the insights to optimizing your content for better SEO results. If you need more support in starting your SEO journey, try our Digital Marketing for Law Firms course. Students who graduate the course will walk away knowing how to implement high-performing integrated marketing plans that address their firm’s goals and deliver on key metrics like the ones mentioned above.

The post How to Determine if Your SEO Campaign is Working appeared first on Good2bSocial.

Threads is the latest social media app to gain popularity, and since its creation many law firms have joined the app. However, many still wonder what they should post on the app and what type of content will perform best. 

Post Ideas For Law Firms On Threads

1. Ask a Question

The best way to build a community on Threads is to start conversations. The easiest way to start a conversation and prompt a response is to ask a thought-provoking question. Try to focus on your client personas and ask yourself what challenges they have and what questions they may be asking or something they’d like to be asked to them.

2. Share Advice

Often, users going to social media to search for law firms are looking for legal advice or answers to their questions. Just as you should pose your own questions, you should also proactively answer others as well. Give quick legal advice tips on Threads.

3. Post a Series

Similar to Twitter, Threads allows for a ‘reply’ on your posts, allowing you to easily link several posts together. You can create a series of posts all linked together so you can expand on topics easily. Just make sure to dictate each post with a number. (Hint: you can even repurpose blog content into this format)

4. Create Infographics

Threads allows for a variety of image sizes and the posting of multiple images. You can create an infographic on one image or even create a series of images that inform on a given topic. Try leveraging a tool like Canva to design them. The maximum image display for Threads is 1070 x 1424 pixels.

5. Share Videos

Just like images, you can share a variety of video sizes on Threads too. You can even repurpose Instagram Reels-sized videos for Threads. Just make sure to keep the videos informative in nature, but still casual, short, and biteable so they fit in with the Threads audience and brand.

6. Include a Resource

While Threads is a more casual platform than LinkedIn, it’s still a social media platform that users go to when they want to be informed, and most users seeking out Threads accounts affiliated with a law firm or lawyer also want valuable information. Share links to resources you’ve created like ebooks or webinars, or share other relevant resources you’ve found with your audience. Just always include an explanation as to what the resource is and a call to action prompting them to check it out.

7. Share Personal Anecdotes

It’s likely that you have case studies on your website that prove your expertise with action. While posting a case study in its original format may be too self promotional for the Threads audience, you can still offer tidbits from these cases on Threads. Consider leveraging the series technique to tell longer stories. Just make sure anecdotes wrap into a larger conversation you’re trying to be in.

8. Repost or Quote

Like Twitter, Threads offers two reshare options- repost and quote. Repost is a regular reshare and quote is a type of reshare where you add your own comment. These features are great because it’s an easy way to get more content on your feed without having to come up with your own post.

9. Industry News

Threads intention was to become the new ‘virtual town square’. This means Threads is an app for users to learn news. Keep up to date with any industry news and share it with your audience.

10. Share a Scroll-Stopping Take

Share a take that entices users to stop scrolling or even join in on a conversation. This can be something like an interesting statistic or a hot take you have on something relevant to your industry.

Takeaway:

Threads has continued to grow in popularity since its creation in July. As early adopters often garner more of a following, law firms will do well to create a Threads account. Use these ideas to help you get started with posting on Threads, but don’t be afraid to get creative and explore other ideas, as Threads is a new app.

Need help building out an effective social media strategy? We’re here to help. We’ve helped many law firms and companies create and execute social media campaigns that help them reach their business goals. Contact us today to learn more.

The post A Guide to Posting on Threads appeared first on Good2bSocial.

72% of marketers believe that webinars have a direct impact on revenue. Since the pandemic, many industries have seen the value in conducting webinars, including law firms. But putting on a successful webinar is a lot easier said than done. Just simply setting up a Zoom meeting isn’t enough, law firms should work to implement tactics that will allow their webinars to function as a tool for generating brand awareness and leads. And now that many firms have gotten down the basics since the pandemic, they may be looking for ways to take their webinars to the next level.

Here are 14 tactics that law firms can use to improve their webinars:

1. Make it Solutions Based

Your audience will get the most value out of your webinar, and will be more likely to register, if your webinar is working to mitigate some stress they feel. Take a look at your client personas when figuring out a webinar topic and try to have a deep understanding of what their challenges are and how your webinar can solve them.

Related: SEO Basics in an Hour

2. Interact With Your Audience in the Promotion Stage

The promotion stage is key to your law firm’s webinar success. We recommend you start promoting your webinar 1 month out. This promotional stage is the time for you to start building valuable connections with your audience and make the value proposition of your webinar clear. Be sure to post on social media, post blog posts teasing the topic, and send out email blasts. All these promotional tools should detail what will be discussed in the webinar and should have a CTA leading users to register. As you send these items out, make sure to watch out for any responses and promptly answer any questions people may have. You’ll also want to create a sense of urgency by pointing out the time left to register or how many spots are left.

3. Focus on Designing a Stand Out Slide Deck

The slide deck is what keeps people interested throughout the webinar and encourages them to stay and become warmer leads. Remember these design tips when creating your slide deck:

• Try to use some kind of image or graphic on every slide
• Limit the amount of text on each slide and keep text in a short bullet point format
• Visuals should correlate with the topic discussed in a clear way, consider creating infographics to correlate with topics
• Use a large font
• Use contrasting colors between the text and background, usually opting for a light background and dark text
• Avoid busy backgrounds
• Add a title to each slide that covers the subtopic discussed
• Include a table of contents at the beginning
• Align the colors and font with firm branding and include your logo on each slide
• Leverage blank space to ensure slides aren’t too colored
• Have a consistent design or a couple consistent designs throughout the presentation

4. Create a Hashtag

You can streamline social media conversations by creating a hashtag for your webinar. This way your firm and other users can easily have conversations leading up to and after the webinar.

5. Collaborate with a Thought Leader

While you probably have many experts at your firm, it’s great to look to others to help you broaden your scope. Not only will they bring an exciting new angle to your webinar, but they can also promote the webinar to their own audience, further broadening the amount of registrations you’ll get.

6. Get Prepared

Make sure to meet with any speakers beforehand. You’ll want everyone to have an understanding of which slides they’ll be speaking on. Consider having a host dedicated to presenting the speakers and their background. Make sure to practice the cadence and talking points, but make sure your speakers are prepared to not sound too rehearsed and keep the tone casual.

7. Add Social Media Handles to Your Presentation

To make sure this connection with your audience goes past the actual day of the webinar, include social media handles for your law firm and the speakers. This way users can easily follow everyone and you can engage with them further.

8. Use Different Types of Media

As we mentioned, it’s important to have visuals in your presentation to keep it interesting. Don’t use just any stock images. Include images of your speakers, infographics on topics, short videos, GIFs, or screen share yourself using tools live when necessary.

9. Engage Your Audience in Unique Ways

Keep your audience engaged by including polls, questions, or quizzes throughout the webinar. This helps keep them engaged and keeps the presentation interesting.

10. Include an Offer

A great way to generate interest is to include a special offer in the webinar like a free ebook download or giveaway. Tease this offer as you promote the webinar and make sure to say in the beginning of your webinar that you’ll have more details on the offer at the end.

Free eBook Download: A Law Firm Guide to Digital Marketing Analytics

11. Focus on Time

You’ll want to keep your audience’s time zones in mind. Don’t select a time that’s too early or late in the day, and don’t select times in which people will be commuting. Focus on a time that’s around lunch, when many people have a break.

12. Make it On Demand

The value of your webinar doesn’t end when it’s over. You should record each session and make it on demand. Then, you can continue to promote this on demand session, as well. This is also great, because anyone who missed the webinar can easily view it.

13. Optimize Your Landing Page

Users will need to go to a landing page in order to register. You should create a specific landing page for this purpose. Include details like date and time, speaker info and background, the topic, and what attendees will learn. You can take this page to the next level by leveraging a chatbot, adding video, and including testimonials from past webinars.

14. Use a Pop Up

Instead of linking to your landing page every chance you get, try creating a pop up form. To keep it non-invasive, you can have this pop up slide in or be at the top or bottom of your website so it doesn’t scare visitors off.

Takeaway:

Webinars continue to be an amazing tool for generating brand awareness and leads. Law firms will do well to work to improve their webinars over time by leveraging these tips.

Need help putting on a webinar? We’ve helped many law firms create webinars that position them as experts and help them connect with their audience. Contact us today to get started. 

The post 14 Tactics That Law Firms Can Use To Improve Their Webinars appeared first on Good2bSocial.

Keywords are the backbone of any SEO strategy. In order to rank in search engines, you must optimize your content for target keywords that you want to be found for online. But how can law firms know which keywords will be best for their strategy?

Here’s how to find the best keywords for your law firm’s SEO campaigns:

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is absolutely essential if you want to improve your firm’s search rankings. Keyword research is a process in which one finds search terms that people within their audience are searching for in hopes of ranking for those terms on search engines. When conducting keyword research, you’ll want to look at things like search intent, search volume, difficulty of ranking and estimated traffic. 

Things to Consider When Conducting Keyword Research

You’ll want to focus on relevance, authority, and volume when researching keywords. These are the factors Google considers with keywords. 

• Relevance refers to the fact that your content must align with the targeted keyword. Your content will not rank if it is not relevant to the keyword selected. 
• Authority refers to how authoritative Google finds your site. Google wants to push content of sites that they feel are trustworthy and credible. 
• Volume refers to how many people search for a term. If a keyword has a lower search volume then it may be easier to rank for it; however, ranking won’t pay off as very few people are searching for the term.

How to Research Keywords for Your SEO Campaigns

1. Make a List of Relevant Topics Related to Your Firm and Practice Areas

You’ll want to start out by determining which topics are relevant to your firm. It’s a good idea to start by thinking of your practice areas. Your practice areas are a great list of topics to start with and from there you can break it down even further and create a list of subtopics that are relevant to each of your practice areas. It’s important as you do this to put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and client personas. What topics might your client personas be interested in? What are they searching for? As you make this list of topics, remember to take note of their search volumes.

So, if your firm’s practice areas are Construction Law and Car Accidents, then your list may look something like this:

• Car accidents
• Rear end collisions
• taxi/uber accident
• Hit and run
• U-turn accidents
• Construction law
• Falling object accident
• Worker’s compensation
• Ladder accidents
• Heavy machinery accidents

2. Create Keywords Based on Your Topics

Now that you have some topic buckets, it’s time to fill in those buckets with keywords. This is where it’s important to remember search intent. So, for example, your audience may be simply Googling things like ‘rear end collisions’, but most people have a specific intent in mind when searching. Ask yourself what your audience’s end goal may be when searching. So instead of only optimizing for ‘rear end collisions’, consider that your audience could be searching ‘compensation for rear end collision’, ‘rear end collision lawsuit’, ‘going to court for rear end collision’. Try typing your general keywords into Google and seeing what kind of queries and terms are filled in automatically.

Your list then will start to look like this:

• Car accidents> car accident lawsuit, going to court for car accident, car accident lawyer, how to take a car accident to court
• Rear end collisions> compensation for rear end collision, rear end collision lawsuit, going to court for rear end collision
• Taxi/uber accident> who is liable for a taxi car accident, uber car accident, compensation for uber incident
• Hit and run> hit and run lawsuit, hit and run lawyer, how to sue for hit and run
• U-turn accidents> who is liable for a u-turn accident, u-turn car crash, u-turn laws to know for a car accident
• Construction law> construction accident, construction accident lawyer, construction accident lawsuit
• Falling object accident> falling object accident while working construction, falling object at construction job, falling object lawsuit
• Worker’s compensation> how to get worker’s compensation, worker’s compensation lawsuit
• Ladder accidents> who is liable for ladder accidents, ladder accident at work, construction ladder accident
• Heavy machinery accidents> heavy machinery construction accident, heavy machinery liability, heavy machinery accident at work

3. Look at Related Search Terms

To expand your list even more, you’re going to want to also take a look at what related search terms are out there. You can easily see this by searching your terms in Google. 

4. Optimize Based on Location

Local SEO, and keywords based on location are especially important for law firms as most practices garner business based on location. Consider what cities and states most of your clients are from and create even more keywords based on location. So, instead of only optimizing for ‘car accident lawyer’, you’ll want to get more specific based upon location with keywords like ‘car accident lawyer Chicago’, ‘car accident lawyer Illinois’, ‘car accident lawyer Indiana’, etc.

5. Use Tools to Your Advantage

There are a number of easy to use tools out there that you can use to your advantage.

Here’s a list of some ones you can check out to help you come up with even more keywords:

• Moz
• Ahrefs
• Semrush
• Google Keyword Planner
• Keywords Everywhere
• SE Ranking
• KWFinder

Takeaway:

When broken down into these steps, keyword research can be a simple process. Keyword research is absolutely essential to SEO, so make sure you have a good understanding of what keywords you’d like to target that your audience is searching for.

Not sure how to rank for a keyword and optimize your site? We’re happy to help. We’ve helped many law firms and companies generate traffic through SEO strategies. Contact us today for a free consultation.

The post How to Find the Best Keywords For Your Law Firm’s SEO Campaign appeared first on Good2bSocial.

In this episode of the Legal Marketing 2.0 Podcast, Guy is joined by Craig Budner. Craig W. Budner is the global strategic growth partner for K&L Gates, a global law firm with 48 offices and approximately 2000 lawyers on 5 continents. In this role, Craig manages the global recruiting and integration functions for the firm. He also manages the firm’s global business development, marketing, and media relations functions. Additionally, he serves on the firm’s management and advisory committees.

1. Inspiration Behind the Transition from a Practicing Lawyer to Managing Business Development 

Craig believed that the law firm environment was changing and that previous marketing phrases were no longer applicable, and that marketing needed to be more active. So he felt strongly that the firm needed to be more thoughtful about how they used the resources that they had, which motivated him. 

Peter Kalis, retired partner, former chairman and global managing partner of K&L Gates, encouraged and trusted Craig to lay the groundwork for him to take on the role of global strategic growth partner. The current leadership, James R. Segerdahl and Mike Caccese, the global managing partner and chairman also inspired Craig by giving him the room to run with his new role.  

2. The State of Business Development/Law Firms and Where it is Heading

Business development Cmos are rotated every couple of years, making it challenging to establish appropriate boundaries for the value proposition of the client development team. It is essential for firms to understand their business and industry, as well as their challenges and opportunities, before entrusting them with legal work. The business development function should not be an administrative function but rather a tool to target clients and create a client experience journey. By understanding and using available tools, firms can maximize pricing data and ensure their partners understand the importance of this function.

3. Tips for Lawyers Who Are New to Business Development

A lawyer should start by asking questions and having a genuine curiosity about their clients’ business and needs. This will help them form relationships with people without any agenda and understand what might be a good fit for them over time. This conversation will ultimately lead to the opportunity to become a foot in the door with that relationship. To be a successful lawyer, it is essential to understand the heads of businesses and executives you will be serving and to watch great business developers do it. This will help you form relationships with clients and ultimately create opportunities for growth.

Opportunities for success may be limited, but it’s important to stick with clients and expect them to say yes over time. The best business developers are substantive, thorough, and methodical in building relationships. While the percentages may be lower initially, it’s crucial to maintain a positive attitude and not be intimidated.

4. The Emerging Role of Business Development Teams at Law Firms

With nearly 2,000 lawyers and 48 offices across five continents, a single profit center model requires a strong business development team to help evangelize and connect with client-facing professionals. This team should understand client industries, collaborate with partners, and make suggestions about solutions to client challenges. A well-integrated business development team ensures that lawyers can effectively navigate client industries and make informed decisions.

Takeaway: 

Don’t be overwhelmed by business development – stack habits that put you in a position to cultivate trusted relationships at the right time.

You can find Craig Budner on Linkedin & Twitter and the Company Website.

You can find the Client Conversations Podcast on Spotify & Apple.

Check out our newest ebook, A Law Firm Guide to Digital Marketing Analytics, here. 

The post Podcast Episode 196: Global Strategic Growth Partner appeared first on Good2bSocial.