Divorce & Family Law Marketing in 2021

SEO for Family Lawyers – The #1 Channel Available

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of ranking your firm higher in Google search results for particular keywords (such as ‘divorce lawyer in X’). It’s an essential form of marketing for all businesses. When your family law business shows up on the first page of search results, your site has a higher chance of attracting clicks.

Being on the first page of search engine results gives you the opportunity to attract more free, organic traffic. This whole concept may seem overwhelming and impossible. The reality is that with a well-crafted SEO plan for family attorneys, your practice can become the dominant player in your local market.

Family law marketing via SEO can take a long time to generate game-changing results, but once you do, it’s extremely lucrative.

If SEO isn’t your cup of tea, take a look at our exhaustive list of Marketing Ideas for Law Firms.

Why is SEO a no-brainer for a family lawyer? Take a look. 

 

We rely on SEO for family lawyers for one simple reason, it’s where the majority of leads come from. SEO continues to be the most powerful tactic available for family lawyers.

Even though social media, lawyer advertising, and newer media tend to get the most attention, organic traffic from Google is THE most consistent channel.
Think about it. When you need something, what’s the first thing you do? If you’re anything like me and the rest of America, you’re going to pull out your phone and Google it.

If you can place your family law firm at that intersection in the moment of need? It’s huge.

Take a look at these results from a real client of ours who focuses on divorce and child custody.

Over the entirety of 2020, 88.4% of ALL traffic came from Google Organic Traffic.

As a byproduct, 83.64% of all divorce and child custody leads that have been generated this year also started from a search on Google.

The results don’t lie. If you’re short on family law marketing, think SEO first!

We have tried pay-per-click ads, social media, directories, email campaigns, and nearly every other digital marketing tactic imaginable. But, we always come back to SEO because it’s consistently the #1 client acquisition channel across our roster of 35+ law firms.

How does an average family lawyer like me get a piece of SEO pie?

This all may seem like some sort of dark magic, but it’s not. A simplified version of this family law marketing tactic is: the process of making a series of small adjustments in order to give Google what their algorithm is looking for. Thereby, moving your firm’s page higher in the search results for particular keywords (such as ‘divorce lawyer in X’) by demonstrating that your content is the best option to provide searchers.

There are literally a million different ways to go about this, but we’ll focus on a few of the most enduring practices for optimizing a family law website.

1. High-Quality Family Law Content Pages

One of the main components of robust SEO for a family law practice is really good legal content for your website. However, your idea of good content is probably different than ours.

For most family attorneys, writing is a fundamental part of your work providing legal services. Writing for SEO is significantly different and if you don’t understand that, you’re going to be resigned to a life on the tenth page of Google.

What’s the big difference between legal writing and SEO writing?

It’s actually not that hard to comprehend for most law firms. Think about the example from earlier with regards to what you do first when you need a service. You’re going to get your phone out and Google it. Now, what will you do to describe the thing you need? The path of least resistance.

This means you’ll use the shortest phrase possible, something like ‘accountant near me’ as opposed to ‘looking for the best accountant, with a polished resume and affordable rates who can also meet over Zoom.’

See the difference? This is the exact process someone will take to find their family lawyer or child custody lawyer. Good family law marketing content is built for the end-user, the average American who wants answers fast. My point is that while you may prefer to write in a style that is fit for review by a judge, that’s not what works on Google.

The more you write for Google, the better you will rank in search engines. 

 

2. Link Building for Family Law Sites

Quality of content and the number of links are believed to be the most important ranking signals in Google’s entire algorithm. Google has stated as much, “In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages.” In short, link building is important for attorneys.

What is a link and why is it important for family lawyers?

A link is simply when someone places a connection from their website to yours. Generally, the thought is that you link to things that are useful and relevant to what you’re discussing. For family law firm websites, links are important because they help Google make an educated guess about how your website fits into the bigger picture.

The more links you have from other ‘good’ websites that match your topical relevancy, the more Google sees you as someone of distinction amongst the millions of other divorce lawyers.

Writing content built for Google while simultaneously acquiring links from other websites is a leather 1-2 combination!

3. How Can Technical Search Engine Optimization Help Your Family Law Website

The final frontier is Technical SEO. This area is often overlooked, but it can be your most efficient use of marketing dollars. We’ve already discussed the material on the page and who is linking to it, but it turns out Google is also looking at how your page is put together. Maximizing web performance This is the nerdiest part of the entire process.

Technical will improve your website design and help family lawyers rank higher by adhering to a set of standardized guidelines that Google is looking for in terms of how your website has been developed. These guidelines are the basis for how they rank divorce lawyers within the search results. To make Google’s life easier as a sifter and organizer of information, they like it to be as standardized as possible. This helps them deliver your results as fast as possible.

This is perhaps, the most complex part of search optimization. Some of the technical components that Google has set guidelines on include:

• Sitemaps
• Site speed improvements
• Regular auditing
• Using meta tags
• Image alt tags

While it’s believed that technical SEO doesn’t have as much ‘weight’ as content and link building in Google’s algorithm, it can also be the defining factor that separates you and your competitor who is on the first page.

The Big Picture with SEO and Family Firms

SEO is an essential practice for any family law practice. Get help if needed, as it’s worth it!

It’s an essential form of marketing to potential clients for all businesses.

When your family law business shows up on the first page of search results, your site has a higher chance of attracting clicks. Being on the first page of search engine results gives you the opportunity to attract more free, organic traffic.

Family law marketing via SEO can take some time to master. Some law firms outsource their SEO marketing. At Constellation Marketing, we bolster your marketing program to help you outrank the competition. With our SEO strategies, you can put your firm in the spotlight as the number one practice for divorce, mediations, or family law.

 

Can a Family Law Attorney Benefit from Google Ads (Pay Per Click)?

Now, let’s talk about some of the other family law marketing options out there.

Google Ads is a form of pay-per-click advertising. When someone searches for ‘family law practice,’ or ‘divorce lawyer in X location,’ your advertisement shows up in the top banner of results. When people click on the ad, you have to pay, but if no one clicks on it, you pay nothing.

Google Ads is a paid version of SEO that can help you quickly gain clients. The big difference is the long-term cost per acquisition of each new potential client. Ads will always cost you money while converting a divorce client from a page on your website organically is going to cost you beyond the initial investment of page development.

 

So, which one is better?

 

We consider ourselves platform agnostic, so we don’t really believe one is ‘better’ than the other, they’re just different. Google Ads can get you leads quicker (and spend your marketing dollars), but leads from Google Organic Search will provide a lower cost per acquisition in the long-run.

We tell our clients to take advantage of both options because, ultimately, you want to acquire as many clients as possible, regardless of where they come from. Especially for younger firms who are in the infancy of their presence online, ads can be a really powerful tool (within the overall marketing campaigns) to help you generate the revenue needed to develop the assets (SEO) that will pay off for you as a family law lawyer in the long run. Like with anything, success will be defined by the execution of the campaign.

Ads Help Family Lawyers Be at the Right Place, At the Right Time

 

Marketing through Google Ads for family law firms can be an excellent approach because people only tend to search for a divorce lawyer when they need one.

With PPC, you get traffic to your website or a call from potential clients in need of a lawyer. When someone is in immediate need, they use what we call ‘high-intent keyword,’ which simply means they are in the buying phase of the sales funnel. When your marketing efforts are done run correctly, it can generate immediate results and produce a tremendous ROI.

However, there are a few downsides to this approach, so you don’t want it to be the only one you use. Unlike SEO, you also stop showing up in the results as soon as you stop paying.

Cost is a significant factor. Every click, good or bad is going to cost you. Without the guardrails implemented by a skilled Ads manager, you might spend $1,000 before you know it with no cases in hand.

Here’s the Good News

 

Clicks for family lawyer terms are on average, cheaper than many other practice areas. As you might have guessed, personal injury terms come in at #1, often followed by criminal defense. Then, keyword click costs drop sharply.

However, to take advantage as a family attorney and win potential clients, you need the right people with the experience to get this right. To be successful when getting started with Google Ads, you’ll want to focus on a few core areas:

• Targeted keywords to advertise your family law firm (e.g. “divorce attorney” or “personal injury lawyer”)
• Negative keywords to avoid (to save you from wasting money)
• How to create compelling copy that will get your ad clicks
• How to optimize your website design to convert clicks into customers
• Landing pages designed by marketing experts

Google Adwords is one of the best forms of marketing for attorneys and family law firms seeking new clients – if you get it right.

Using a Family Law Firm’s Social Media Marketing to Connect with Potential Clients

Social media is a challenging avenue of marketing for lawyers. Why? Not many people in your local community are going to Facebook for help in finding a divorce lawyer. Family law, divorce, and visitation disputes can be really nasty. It’s really difficult to pin down who your target audience is on these platforms.

However, these platforms are useful for sharing information and enhancing your brand identity. Many people expect businesses — including family law firms — to have social media accounts. But, they don’t expect to see hundreds of social media posts.  If you choose this route, use it to share links to new content on your website and create a sense of community. And pick your poison. You don’t need to be on ALL social media channels with equal fervor.

Law firm marketing through social media marketing requires a disciplined approach. You’ll need lots of content to share and someone savvy to the ever-changing algorithms. If you’re not an expert in social media, consider hiring the help of a marketing agency to help you go after your target audience.

Overall, it’s good to have social media pages, but it should not be at the core of your marketing efforts. Many small law firms feel the need to get on Social because ‘everyone else is doing it,’ but our general view is that it’s fool’s gold.

Reviews and Referrals: A Powerful, but Underused Tactic

Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth—it’s some of the best advertising a law firm can get.

Both referrals and positive reviews from former clients can bolster your divorce and family law practice, and they won’t cost you a dollar. It’s essentially free marketing that helps to make sure colleagues and clients think of you next time someone asks them for a divorce lawyer. But, how many of you have an organized program for generating reviews and referrals? Probably not many.

Potential clients LOVE to see reviews for divorce attorneys. For a potential client, this is the quickest way to measure your quality.

How to Generate More Referrals for your Family Law Practice

A Simple Tactic for Family Law Attorneys to Earn More Reviews (And More Business)

Do you want to know the best way to get a review? Ask for it. The truth is that many family law attorneys are either disinterested or too busy to remember to ask for reviews.

There is a real, strategic value to earning reviews on Google, they are better than paid advertising. A huge component of Google’s local algorithm, which dictates who shows up on map listings, are reviews. Potential clients are interested in understanding if a business is active and their relationship with customers. Ignoring this makes no sense.

To help with this process, we’ve actually built our own software that automates the request and reminder process for our clients. This way, after they close a matter, they simply add their client to the invitation form and forget about it. This simple act can have a dramatic impact on your visibility.

The other big advantage of reviews is that they work as social proof and bring quality leads. Think about your own habits again. When you are going out to dinner, do you look at the restaurant’s reviews? Of course, you do! The same goes for people seeking a solo divorce attorney.

If you put time into your review profile, it will make strangers more confident that they can trust you.

When you do get reviews, whether positive or negative, always reply. It’s believed that Google looks less at the overall score of your review profile and instead how responsive you are.

Reviews can sometimes be harsh, especially after something contentious, like a divorce settlement. But when you respond, it shows your clients—and potential ones—that you care about their experience.

Bottom Line: How to Market a Family Law Firm

Family law marketing will help your practice reach new potential clients, from social media to word-of-mouth. If you want to make sure your practice shows up in search results, you need a solid plan.

If you have experience in marketing techniques, you can promote your family law firm yourself. But if your like most family lawyers, you are time-poor but cash-rich, you may consider hiring a marketing agency with experience in the divorce attorney and family law space.

If you’re a divorce lawyer or family law practice owner, consider employing these proven techniques for advertising for law firms.

SEO Helped This Family Law Firm Dominate Their Market

While we swear by these law firm marketing strategies, don’t just take our word for it — we have raw data, taken from the success of a real family law firm just like yours, to back them up.

 

The Problem

Masterson Law of Springfield, Missouri was one of the first family law firms we worked with, and just like us, they were starting from the ground up.

After leaving their job to start their own law firm, they were relying solely on referrals from friends and connections to find clients. Unfortunately, this barely paid the bills, and they were forced to take undesirable family law issues just to keep revenue coming in. With nothing but a basic website on their side, competing against established law firms was a near-impossible feat.

….or so it seemed. 

It was clear that something needed to change, so they turned to Constellation Marketing to solve their family law issues.

 

The Solution

Once Constellation entered the picture, we took immediate action to enhance Masterson Law’s online presence and court new potential clients, beginning with a complete website rebuild. With this in motion, we began applying our proven law firm marketing formula of SEO paired with ads and social media.

To make sure the firm could generate sustainable growth in their desired practice areas, we kicked off our SEO plan with a comprehensive analysis of the firm’s goals and ideal case and client. Using this information, we diagnosed the most lucrative and competitive keywords in their market and created a plan to get them on the first page of Google. These keywords were then used to deliver engaging long-form content through a strategic content marketing plan as well as a steady stream of high-quality links.

Our plan was then implemented on a continued month-by-month basis. Soon enough, Google began to view the site as a legal advice authority in the firm’s local market. All without expensive email marketing apps!

 

The Results: High Quality Leads

The results of this law firm marketing effort were quite impressive, to say the least. Masterson Law now has the most powerful family law marketing presence in a mid-major city and is one of the most visible family law firms in the entire state of Missouri.

Most importantly, the digital plan we implemented for the firm has led to hockey-stick growth of highly-targeted users each year, as visualized below.

Much of this growth can be attested to one simple measure — keyword rankings.

The firm currently occupies multiple first-page positions for the most competitive family law keywords, covering some of the most notoriously challenging practice areas to rank in such as divorce, child custody, and child support. As a result, Masterson Law receives over $8,000 worth of organic traffic each month, and it’s not just anyone who is clicking on their family law firm website. Constellation has also won these results in other practice areas like criminal defense. The targeted nature of this traffic is backed up by nearly 200 monthly inquiries, which has had a direct and measurable impact on the firm’s revenue and the long-term success of the business.

 

Why SEO Was the Key to Their Family Law Firm Success

As the above graphics illustrate, success didn’t happen overnight. However, with a bit of patience and a lot of hard work, we have helped our family law firm client build a highly successful lead engine that will continue to deliver results long-term. Through internet marketing, the firm is now the envy of other family lawyers.

The key to this family law firm marketing success? SEO. It’s simple, consistently adding more website visitors. We had tested a variety of strategies and, while ads and social were useful supplementary strategies, we ultimately went all-in on SEO as it has the best ROI and ability to scale over time. With this momentum in place, our client has been able to stop worrying about the numbers and get back to doing what they do best: converting new potential clients.

At Constellation Marketing, we have a proven formula for helping a family law attorney grow their visibility and generate more clients. If you are interested in learning more about how we can help elevate your family law firm’s marketing campaign and draw in your desired cases and clients, click here to schedule a call with us today.