If you own a Long Island law firm and are looking to grow your internet presence, you are not alone. The adoption rate of online marketing for attorneys has been exponential in recent years.

Lawyers now market themselves using websites, social media, advertising and other lead generation tactics. Lawyers continue to invest in marketing strategies that differentiate them and expose them to new, untapped markets. While word of mouth referrals still remain a leader in bringing in new clients, firms that market themselves well online not only outcompete their competition but find new sources of revenue.

For attorneys where your reputation is your intrinsic value, it’s very important to have a strong internet presence and overall influence. The market is competitive and clients are constantly comparing and contrasting firm’s based on what they find about them online.

Is your firm’s reputation strong online?

Are you found in top positions for your practice areas in the search engines?

Where are you being outperformed by other firms?

If you are a leader in your niche, it’s important to demonstrate that online, where potential clients are searching for you on Google, Yahoo, Bing, Legal Directories and other sites.

Here are 6 practical ways that lawyers are marketing themselves online to ensure they are building their web presence.

1.    Utilize a User-Friendly, Informative Website with Quality Content: One of the most critical aspects to establish yourself as a powerful force on the web is to have an easy-to-navigate and engaging website with informative content. A crisp, clean website with useful information has great potential to captivate potential clients. Furthermore, make sure your website is fully optimized for your keywords and the respective cities you serve to maximize your online presence.

2.    List Your Firm on Local Business Directories and Legal Directories: Listing your law firm on local business directories and legal directories is not only incredibly easy, but is also a very effective marketing technique. Besides the fact that most local directories allow you to post some of your firm’s information for free, these local directories help you quickly grow your practice regionally. By placing advertisements for free over the internet, you have a much better chance to have increased traffic to your firm.

3.    Start a Blog with Relevant Information Related to Your Practice: Blogging and posting quality content allows you to establish yourself as an expert in your niche while proactively helping potential clients solve problems that are on their minds. A blog is a great resource for people looking for specific information about a topic and allows for a seamless transition between your blog and your firm’s website. Moreover, a blog is one of the best features to aid in search engine optimization.

4.    Create Informative Videos About Your Law Firm: With videos becoming such a strong presence in social media, engaging people with videos on your website has never been so important. Videos with a personal message from you to your target audience can be a powerful way to communicate to an online audience. Having great social content allows you to truly enhance your visibility over the web. They also rank better in search engines than static web pages do.

5.    Build a Strong Public Image: By having a strong public image, you can assert yourself as a dominant figure in the legal landscape you serve. Lawyers can do this through press releases that publicly declare their recent successes or talk about the community orientated work they perform. Having positive reviews online will allow others to see the benefits that can come about from working with you.

6.    Use Web Analytics to Help Drive Marketing Investments: Web analytics are a great tool to analyze data reports related to search engine optimization. By carefully examining web analytics you can see what your law firm does well and how you should improve your law firm marketing. By understanding the behavior of your audience, you can get a better grasp on what you need to do to attract more clients.

Are you doing all of these things, or should you be doing more?

Lawyers continue to increase their investments in internet marketing. Having a well optimized lawyer website, an appropriate social media presence, and a lead generation strategy in place helps many New York law firms grow. If you have any questions on how to begin the process, reach out to your lawyer marketing firm or marketing consultant. They will be able to put an appropriate program together for you that will achieve your firm’s marketing goals.

If you have any questions, call (516) 610-0922 or email info@upsidebusiness.com