In today’s digital landscape, a lot of business happens online. Even for legal firms, there’s a good chance a large portion of your leads may come through website forms or online contact.
To successfully convert online leads into new cases, you must implement the necessary tools and processes in the same way you would for phone leads. And while 74% of consumers visit a law firm’s website to take action, according to a Google Legal Services study, firms can lose qualified leads if handled improperly.
Below are a few tips for converting more web leads into paying clients.
How law firms can convert leads online
To turn website visitors into leads, you should use the following tools and strategies to compel them to fill out a form and become a potential client.
1. Use a strong value proposition
People have plenty of options when it comes to choosing where to do business. When they check out your website, you have to immediately communicate with them why they should choose your law firm over the competition. Avoid fluffy, generic adjectives and instead hone in on the unique value you bring to your clients when they partner with your firm.
2. Incorporate video
The human brain processes video significantly faster than text, which is why it can be such a powerful element to add to your website. According to research by EyeWideDigital, embedding a video into your landing page can increase your conversion rate by approximately 80%.
There are a few different ways to use video to your advantage, including inserting a lead capture form directly into the video, sending personalized videos to prospects, and gleaning video viewership data. Most importantly, though, your video needs to be high-quality, short, and meaningful, otherwise you could do more harm than good.
3. Use clear calls-to-action
Your call-to-action (CTA) can be any number of things – make a phone call, send an email, learn more about a service – but it should be prominent and well-defined on every website page. For the sake of converting website visitors into leads, your CTA should encourage them to take the next step of the “buying journey” – or in this case, filling out an online web form. You can make your CTA more impactful by providing a unique offer, such as a free consultation or downloading a useful guide.
4. Retarget website visitors
Retargeting is a form of online advertising that allows you to remain in front of people who don’t convert immediately. You can use retargeted ads as a subtle reminder for people to revisit your website or make contact with your firm based on their past views. Research shows website visitors who are retargeted with display ads are about 70% more likely to convert on your website.
Taking conversion to the next level
Your job isn’t done by getting a website visitor to fill out a form and become a lead. Once they’ve taken that step, the way you respond can greatly impact whether they continue on their journey toward converting into a client. Here are some measures you should be taking:
1. Provide an immediate live response
Automation makes certain processes easier, but it can also feel impersonal. Reaching out to a website visitor with an immediate live response puts you in a better position to provide information they might need and guide them toward becoming a client. Live responses are also more difficult to ignore.
2. Follow up on a schedule
Don’t give up on a lead if you can’t reach them on the first try. You should “chase the lead,” or follow up three to five times in an effort to catch them at the right time – and before they’ve moved on to a different law firm. Make sure you keep track of each attempt, including how and when it took place.
Also, different people prefer different forms of contact. You can increase your web conversion rate by more than 30 percent by following up with leads through numerous communication methods, including phone calls, emails, and even text messages.
3. Track web leads in a CRM
Through lead tracking, you can follow your interactions with a potential lead from the moment they make contact with your firm through conversion. A single lost lead can be a significant loss of revenue that diminishes the return on investment (ROI) of a marketing campaign. Fortunately, modern customer relationship management (CRM) software makes lead tracking easy. With the integration of a CRM system, you can store and manage data on each lead, increasing efficiency, improving customer relationships, and supporting market research.
4. Partner with a legal call center
To boost your law firm’s ability to convert every website visitor, you can partner with a legal call center that offers a variety of communication services. For web and online chat inquiries, agencies such as Alert Communication combine immediate, live outbound follow-up calls with text messages and email-based responses to reach leads through the platform they prefer and increase client conversions. They also track leads to keep them engaged with your firm.
Turning web visitors into valuable clients
For many people, the first step in researching a law firm is visiting their website. That means your law firm should not only have a robust online presence, but also tools and processes in place to convert those online visitors into leads. Incorporating these digital tools and working with legal intake specialists can help boost your law firm’s web conversion rates, along with its revenue.
