How People Find A Lawyer In 2017

It's 2017 and the world has changed drastically in the past few years when it comes to communications, and how we find what we are looking for in terms of products and services. Our first instinct would have been to sit down at a computer and search the web diligently and comparison shop so to speak, or to  phone around a tap in to referrals and even want ads of some sort.  But alas, the world has changed as I mentioned.  Most of today's searches for services happen from our mobile devices, usually our cell phone.

​Let’s talk about people searching for a lawyer through the internet,

Here are some eye opening statistics from the National Law Review…According to Google research,

• 34% of prospects look for a lawyer through referrals;
• 38% of prospects look for a lawyer through the internet;
• The balance of prospects look via printed yellow pages (do we still have those?), social media or by asking for reference from their current lawyer.

So, what do we do with that magical 38% of prospects that are basically searching for you and your legal services, probably very much in need and quickly?  Are you satisfied that you are capturing their attention? Will they be calling your firm because you are in front of them after an internet query?   

​Not to beat up the numbers but of those 38% of prospects who have searched the web for a (fill in the expertise) lawyer, 74% of them end up calling the office by phone, ergo, our suggestion of making it easy as pie for them to call with well thought out prominent call to action click-ability throughout your professional website. Further:

• 87% of people who get in touch with a lawyer eventually end up hiring one, and 72% of those prospects only contact one attorney.  (This is where your website has to amaze, because odds are you only get one chance)
• 96% of people needing legal advice will search the internet for answers before contacting a lawyer.  Picture this; a late night freak out, need answers before law firm opens so I can sleep kind of searches.  (real websites that have authoritative, informative answers to a prospective client’s problem, WILL show up for these searches, resulting in the prospect most likely calling your firm in the morning.)
• 62% of legal searches are generic and local, for example, ‘personal injury lawyer Toronto’, not ABC Law Firm. (In order for your website to show up, it must have properly inserted key words or phrases that a prospect would use in a search.  You see, there really is a science to this on page optimization.)
• 74% of prospects visit the firm’s website before calling. (This is where your website has to shine.  It must be easy to navigate, informative, with call to action buttons for easy contact.)
• 25% of people turn to YouTube when researching legal topics. (Your firm’s YouTube Channel should be where they go for up to date advice.  Yes, I said it, your own channel)
• 71% of people looking for a lawyer find it important to have a local Attorney. (importance of Google Local Map Pack), the 3 listings just under the map in a Google search.  Your firm needs to be listed here for your location or locations…. so, if you are a divorce lawyer with an office in Newmarket, you should expect your firm to turn up within the map area for a search of ‘divorce lawyer Newmarket’.  Local SEO is a must.
• 31% of law firm’s website traffic comes from mobile phone.  (Is your site mobile friendly?  You would be surprised how many are not. You might see the words wandering off the side of the page or you might see the writing as far too small to comfortably read. Google penalizes non-mobile-friendly sites by allowing to drop in search engine rankings until they are far back. 

Which leads me to ..….the importance of Google first page search results.

It's fairly common knowledge now that if your website does not appear on the fist page of search engine results, or at the very least at the top of the second page, that the likelihood of a click through, (that's the visitor opting for your website), drops to less than 10% of all queries.  Quick math tells us that if 250 potential clients are searching your niche profession monthly, you would end up with 10% of 38% or about 9 potentials.

• 91% of searchers DO NOT go past page one of a Google search.

Bet you've heard all that before from all of those SEO marketing calls that talk about Google page one ranking, but you know what?? These marketers are not wrong, their main problem is that they are likely not local and sound cookie cutter.  See for yourself next time you’re out with some friends. Ask them if they go to page 2 on Google, I’ll bet many would be surprised that there even is a page 2.  
Your website is the online face of your firm.  It shows the world who you are, what you’ve done and why you’re the best in your field.  A proper legal website inspires trust and a sense of safety for the prospect.  Let’s face it; most legal clients are unhappy about something and under a lot of stress. Your firms’ website needs to give assurance that they can rest easy, they’ve come to the right place.