Arizona (AZ) is home to more than 15,000 practicing attorneys, according to the American Bar Association (ABA). Most of those attorneys, or the law firms that employ them, have a web presence of some kind, a necessity for lawyers who want to grow their practice. However, many are not maximizing the potential of their online presence. This presents an opportunity for those who want to invest in AZ law firm marketing and get ahead of the pack.
Upgrade Your Online Presence with AZ Law Firm Marketing
There are some basic steps attorneys and law firms should take to establish their online presence, even if they are working on a tight budget. A well-functioning and attractive law firm website is a high priority, as is creating or claiming and maintaining a Google Business Profile (GBP).
Adding useful, high-quality content—in the form of web pages and blogs—can establish thought leadership and help guide search engines and potential clients to your website, especially when using search engine optimization (SEO) strategies properly. Finally, creating listings on respected local and legal directories and maintaining a presence on social media are steps that can further boost your online authority and prominence.
Website Content and Blogs in Arizona Attorney Marketing
Website content—including blogs—can be an effective addition to your Arizona law firm marketing plan. But simply drafting and posting content to your site might not attract and keep the attention of Internet searchers—your potential clients—or the search engines they use to find relevant legal information and services.
To truly generate traffic and real client leads, law firm website content must be useful to potential clients, legally accurate (but easy to read), and ethically sound under the ABA and State Bar of Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct.
Your content must also be presented in a way that search engines can understand so they may return it for relevant search queries and rank it properly. This requires knowledge of SEO best practices on the part of someone involved in the process of content creation and website administration.
Useful, Legally Accurate Content for AZ Law Firm Websites
Numerous content-creation services are available to businesses eager to boost their online performance. But legal content is different from the standard fare. Attorneys spend years attaining the level of education required to practice law, then many hours per year maintaining and enriching that knowledge. Arizona law firm website content should attract potential clients, but it can also provide a platform to establish attorneys as thought leaders.
If you hire a generic content creator to draft your website content, you may spend more time than you want editing the content for nuance and legal accuracy. Likewise, if you contract with a general digital marketing company for your AZ law firm marketing needs, you might find the approach and content lack breadth, depth, and legal sophistication.
Legal expertise alone, however, does not guarantee quality content. Large, recognized providers of legal marketing services have been accused of using formulaic, generic content and SEO strategies that lack longevity when the relationship with the provider is severed.
How can attorneys and law firms develop websites with content that is legally accurate, original, and useful to potential clients in their practice areas? By partnering with a digital marketing firm that specializes in legal content, prioritizes results and client relationships, and is led by an experienced, licensed Arizona attorney.
Ethical Concerns in Arizona Attorney Marketing
Some attorneys and law firms are hesitant to dive more deeply into marketing due to ethical concerns, and rightfully so. The ethical expectations placed upon attorneys in the physical world also apply in the digital one, yet the Internet offers additional opportunities to run afoul of appropriate conduct.
States typically formulate rules governing attorney conduct based on the recommendations of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MPRC) and advisory opinions, like ABA Formal Opinion 480. However, states interpret the MPRC differently, so understanding the specific ethical requirements of your jurisdiction is important.
Arizona has a place in the history of ethics in attorney advertising. Lawyers were ethically barred from advertising their services until the Supreme Court of the United States ruled, in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, that the prohibition of attorney advertising was unconstitutional.
Still, ethical restrictions and considerations apply, and it is imperative that Arizona law firms and attorneys comply with the regulations set forth. A knowledgeable Arizona attorney marketing firm can help you implement a marketing strategy that respects the ethical standards of the legal profession.
Arizona Law Firm SEO Helps Your Content “Get Found” Online
Perhaps you had some extra time (ha!) and created well-crafted legal website content that ethically addresses the potential legal issues of your target audience. You posted that content to your (expensive) website and sat back to await the flow of new traffic in Google Analytics. But the results in traffic flow and converted leads just didn’t meet expectations and justify the investment of time and money.
What Went Wrong? Is Legal Digital Marketing Just Overrated?
The likely explanation? Search engines didn’t like your content. More aptly, the content was not written in a way that appealed to a search engine—that easily defines (in search engine language) what the content is about, and establishes your website’s authority on the matter in question.
Arizona law firm SEO requires understanding how to talk to search engines. That’s important because no matter how amazing your content might be, you’ve wasted valuable time and money if potential clients never find it.
Incorporate Social Media and Directories in Your AZ Law Firm Marketing
Social media can be a valuable tool in AZ legal web marketing, but you don’t have to (and shouldn’t!) be everywhere. LinkedIn and Facebook are two of the most popular platforms used by attorneys and law firms. LinkedIn is often considered ideal for B2B law firms while Facebook may be more effective for those trying to reach consumers seeking legal services.
However, before you decide what social media platforms to invest time, energy, and possibly money into, consider your goals, target audience, and capacity to manage any accounts you create. As with all marketing efforts, the performance of your social media accounts should be evaluated regularly to reassess what is working and what is not and inform changes to your strategy moving forward.
Respected legal and local directories can also help lawyers attract the clients they want online, both directly and indirectly. Many legal directories offer an internal search function that lists attorneys by practice and geographic area. Ensure that the information in your law firm’s profiles across the web is consistent because inconsistency can cause confusion for search engines and Internet users.
Directories can also boost SEO on your law firm’s website through links. Links to your website from respected sources pass credibility to your domain. While some directories use nofollow links, which send weaker signals to search engines than dofollow links, most SEO specialists believe there is still value in establishing a connection from these websites to your law firm’s.
TOPDOG Legal Marketing: Lawyer-Driven Arizona Attorney Marketing Services
TOPDOG Legal Marketing is an Arizona legal marketing firm based in the greater Phoenix area. We serve clients nationwide in various practice areas—from small shops to large commercial defense firms and their individual attorneys and practice groups. Whether you need a full Arizona law firm marketing plan, website content, SEO services, or something in between, TOPDOG can scale our services to meet your needs.
CEO Krista Duncan Black is an attorney who has been licensed in Arizona for more than 25 years. She leads the TOPDOG team in creating jurisdiction-specific content that is legally accurate, ethically sound, and properly optimized for search engines.
TOPDOG is active in the Arizona legal community. We regularly sponsor and partner with organizations like the State Bar of Arizona, the Arizona Paralegal Association, and the Maricopa County Bar Association’s Paralegal Division. Our team understands how writing about topics of local interest can be combined with Arizona law firm SEO to place your services in front of the people who need them.
Contact TOPDOG today to discuss the possibilities for your AZ law firm marketing plan: (480) 744-7331. We’ll help you “get found” online.
