Looking for clients can be challenging with the sheer number of competitors out in the market. Specializing as a criminal defense lawyer doesn’t make it easier, either. According to IBISWorld, there were almost 22,000 criminal law firms and practices in the US in 2022. With thousands of lawyers hungry for clients, what’s the best way to get your criminal defense marketing ahead of the competition?
Building a website is one solution to get your law practice seen and bring in clients. Here’s an overview of why building a website is a move you should make to take marketing for criminal defense attorneys to the next level.
How Is Criminal Defense Attorney Marketing Looking Today?
The goals of lawyer marketing then and now are pretty much the same—for lawyers to build a reputation and get more clients. However, what’s different today is the strong influence of internet marketing in achieving these goals.
According to Thomson Reuters, online search is now the most popular way to find a lawyer, with referrals coming second. The once-dominant yellow pages have become the least-used medium.
Now that lawyers have taken the fight for clients to the World Wide Web, how can you stay competitive?
Simple: by anchoring your digital marketing strategy to your website.
Why You Should Consider Building a Website
A website is the best way to showcase your legal services and gain instant inquiries. Here are a few ways building a website can help your criminal defense marketing efforts.
Generate Leads
Building your own website is a great way to generate leads because it’s your practice’s virtual home. There you can put all your credentials, achievements, and insights up for display, sparking any visitor’s interest in your services.
Convenient for Potential Clients
Creating a website online makes it easier for new clients to see your law practice. All they have to do is search for relevant keywords in search engines, and with correctly optimized content, you’re bound to come up first. A website also makes getting to know you easier since you’ll be posting all your relevant information there.
What Criminal Defense Attorneys Should Include in Their Websites
Every website should be full of useful information for potential clients and business owners, so ensure you have the right pages in place. If you don’t have an idea what to put on your website, here are a few suggestions.
Home Page
A cover page’s job is to welcome clients visiting your website and keep them there. It includes an overview of your firm or practice and an explanation why you stand out from the rest.
Practice Pages
Once you’ve successfully reeled in a client, it’s time to introduce them to your specializations through the practice pages. These can help visitors decide whether or not to inquire.
For criminal defense attorneys, practice pages can include the following:
- Level of crime (misdemeanor or felony)
- Type of crime (e.g., violent crime, financial crime, drug offense, cybercrime, domestic violence)
- Legal process (trial, appeal, remedies, probation, parole, death penalty)
Contact Pages
Some prospects will want to reach you, so you need contact pages to show them the way. Make sure your contact pages include the following details:
- Office address
- Operating hours
- Telephone and mobile numbers
- Fax
- Service area (e.g., New Jersey)
FAQ
Potential clients will have questions before inquiring about your services. An FAQ page will answer these questions for you so that you can focus on the details of the case when you meet.
Some frequently asked questions are about payment options, the legal processes, and the rights of the accused.
Blog
One quality that clients look for in criminal defense firms is expertise, and a blog is the best way to showcase your legal smarts. Coincidentally, it’s also one of the best ways to generate leads, so you’ll hit two birds with one stone by starting one.
If you don’t have the time to write for your blog, you can hire a marketing team to write high-quality content for your criminal defense content marketing.
Testimonial Videos
Adding testimonial videos to your law firm’s website is a great way to boost your credibility. Through testimonial videos, your clients can talk about their experience with you as their legal representative and recommend you to the viewer to be their defense lawyer.
It works similarly to online reviews but with more retention and engagement—videos have proven to be more effective at communicating a message than text.
Landing Pages
Facebook ads and Google PPC campaigns are also great ways to generate leads. If you’re running criminal defense advertising campaigns, you can create landing pages to provide viewers with a post-click experience that will lead to a conversion.
Don’t Forget SEO for Criminal Defense Lawyers
Building an attractive website for your criminal defense law firm isn’t enough. If you want to reach your target audience, you’ll have to ensure your website gets traffic.
Search engine optimization can help a website appear in search results. SEO specialists do this through keyword research, where they find highly searched keywords and optimize content to show up for these queries.
For example, you can try to optimize your website for the keyword “criminal defense lawyer” and its related keywords. If your law firm is in New Jersey, it would be ideal to also optimize for the state for local SEO.
The best part about SEO is that you get traffic for free. Just optimize your content, and anyone connected to the Internet can find you. With the right SEO strategy, you can rise above competing criminal defense firms.
Need Help Building a Custom Website? Contact Us
Many law firms struggle with getting clients, but since you’re already here, yours will overcome.
Local Business Marketing Solutions has built over 300 websites for law firms in New Jersey and around the country that attract clients.
If you’re interested in our services, book a 15-minute discovery call with us. Let us make you one of the most successful criminal defense lawyers on the web!
