Legal marketing statistics every lawyer should know

The web in this day and age is the equivalent of what the yellow pages were in the 90’s. Almost everyone has access to this directory and it has become a vital resource when searching for specific products and services.

So where do people go to find legal services in Seattle?

You got it, the web.

From the devices consumers are using, to how they are searching online, the aggregated research from Google and FindLaw shows how today’s legal-seekers are behaving. Using these market trends to update your law firm marketing efforts is essential, especially for solo practitioners and smaller firms with limited budgets and resources to market their legal services.

The following statistics provide a look at some legal market trends that should influence your legal marketing initiatives:

• 74% of prospects beginning a search online end up contacting the office via phone. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

• 87% of people who contact an attorney go on to hire an attorney and 72% of them only contact one attorney. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)
• 38% of people use the Internet to find an attorney. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

• 96% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine. (Google Consumer Survey, Nov 2013)

• 62% of legal searches are non-branded (i.e., generic: “Seattle divorce attorney,” etc.). (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

• 74% of consumers visit a law firm’s website to take action. (Google Legal Services Study Sept 2013)
• 25% of people researching legal topics visit YouTube during the process. (YouTube Internal Data 2012)

• 85% use online maps to find legal service locations. (Google Legal Services Study Sept 2013)

• 69% use both a smartphone and a PC for research. (Google Legal Services Study Sept 2013)

• 31% of all law firm related website traffic comes through mobile search (FindLaw Aggregated Hosted Site Data 2014)

• 71% of people looking for lawyer think it is important to have a local attorney. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

So what do you need to do with this information in order to drive more business to your front door?

Here are a few basic steps that will go a long way:

• Provide legal-seekers numerous contact options — phone, address, email, quick contact form, Skype or an online chat platform
• Provide attorney-seekers with a responsive or mobile-friendly version of your website with a click-to-call option
• Have an intake system in place that allows those seeking legal services to reach your firm on the first call and a live person that is trained to convert consumers into clients
• Concentrate on a local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy to ensure your website shows up properly in local search

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky once explained that the secret to success in his sport was knowing that, “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”

People looking for legal services have a need, a need your law firm can fulfill. So why not anticipate what those needs are by giving them a multitude of quick and easy ways to contact you?

We specialize in public relations, branding and developing your law firm’s online presence throughout the Seattle, Salt Lake City and Madison, Wisconsin markets.

Our award-winning marketing team at Firm Evolution welcomes the opportunity to assist you. We provide a wide range of public relation and marketing services in the Pacific Northwest, Intermountain West and Midwest. We focus on the needs, goals and differentiating aspects of each law firm client.

Our emphasis is on the big picture — leveraging the strengths of the individual attorneys, practice groups and overall firm on all fronts. We work closely with our clients to insure that all components of their marketing program – from press releases and marketing plans, to website and Internet campaigns – provide a strong foundation for maintaining existing clients and developing new ones. Contact Firm Evolution at 206.321.3220 to learn more.