In our previous blog, “What Are People Saying About You Online” we discussed the importance of claiming your online listings and updating your information.
Step three in our five steps blog series focuses on what potential clients are looking for in a website. All five steps in the series are focused on cleaning up your online reputation.
Review Your Website
Most marketing and business development direction for attorneys focuses on the best website for all of your online efforts. What people are unaware of is that this is just a small part of online marketing.
Less than 30% of all online searches for you and your firm result in a “click-through” to your website. That leaves over 70% of all searches (I’m talking about people looking for YOU…typing in your name) will click on other links about you instead of your site. Which is why your website is step is three, not step one.
When someone is looking for your services, they want to learn about you before they call. They expect that your website is your perspective and not your client’s, so they research what other people are saying about you.
Then they want to develop trust. They will read as many as 10-20 online reviews, review content that you have shared–blog posts, videos, social media posts, online profiles–as well as the rankings and reviews that your peers and previous clients have shared about you. This information is more valuable than your website.
It is still important that your website offers the right content that your prospect is looking for. Your site should be clean, easy for search engines and prospects to understand, responsive to any device, and provide good content that adds to your credibility as well as visibility online.
The topic of best law firm websites will be covered in future blogs. It is important to recognize that a website is not the only source potential clients are looking at. In our next blog we will cover the importance of review sites and listings.
