Here’s how to write content that is more persuasive, interesting, and impactful through these 10 effective legal copywriting tips that can provide valuable legal SEO fuel
Tim Absalikov* – SEO for lawyers means adopting the very best law firm SEO and law marketing generally. This involves an expert use of copywriting skills for both content marketing (such as law firm blogging) and law firm advertising (such as Facebook or YouTube ads).
Law firm copywriting is a specialty that requires a unique skill set. That’s because lawyers need to write persuasive content to win cases, and they often need to do so in just one page. The best law copywriters know how to use words not only for legal purposes but also for marketing purposes – to achieve top SEO results for law sites using words and content marketing techniques successfully.
So if you want to improve your writing skills or find work as an excellent lawyer, read on with our 10 effective legal copywriting tips to build trust and authority for your law firm, including addressing the pain points of your audience and knowing exactly what they are looking for.
How Can Legal Copywriting Improve Trust In A Law Firm?
Those seeking to use a law firm for a particular legal service will undoubtedly cast about via the Internet for appropriate law firms – not only those who market their expertise via advertising and other online marketing techniques, but also using great copywriting and content marketing, both of which are some of the potent forms of SEO for lawyers available anywhere.
Law firms can use legal copywriting techniques, such as client testimonial copy, to increase trust in their services and show potential clients the experience of their team. Getting good law firm reviews is unquestionably one of the best techniques you can use to achieve a higher click-through rate to your law firm website.
As we have written previously, consumer reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations are used by around 80 per cent of consumers when buying services, including those from law firms. It is a ‘top of mind’ technique to develop the very best law firm SEO results and get good online rankings – as well as new clients.
1. Research The Market Thoroughly
A lot of law firms have a good enough grasp over their respective fields, but many have no idea about the demand in the market for legal copywriting services. The legal industry is a huge one and it has a ton of needs when it comes to marketing. There are plenty of opportunities to capitalize on so your job would be to find the best ones and make your prospects aware of them.
When you undertake all possible avenues of research, you not only get to know the market but also the kind of services that people are looking for at present.
Once you have a strong understanding, it will be an easier task to come up with copy that speaks directly to your target audience. By targeting your prospects as per their requirements, you can attract several leads that will ultimately turn into conversions.
2. Address The Pain Points of Your Customers
Having a deep understanding of your customer base is the first step toward successful law copywriting. Using surveys and other research methods, identify their pain points and what they’re looking for in a product or service.
Once you know this, you can address those problems head-on with your sales copy. In doing so, you let your prospects know that you understand them and their needs.
3. Address Your Audience’s Greatest Concerns and Goals
As a copywriting lawyer, your audience are people who are reading your website or blog posts to learn more about what you can do for them. Oftentimes, these prospective clients will not be lawyers themselves; instead, they’re usually well-read consumers who just need a few key points to understand what you stand for and the value that your firm brings.
You should be able to boil down your copywriting just enough so that it provides enough information for prospects to decide whether or not they want to use your legal services.
Be sure that you address their primary concerns and goals when writing law copy, and use persuasive language that will convince them of your value.
4. Determine Your Unique Selling Proposition
A strong USP or Unique Selling Proposition can quickly increase sales of any service or product. When writing copy, the key is to focus on your client’s experience and how it will benefit them. What makes you different? What services do you offer that no one else does? It could be something as simple as offering free next-day shipping or a guarantee that you’ll beat any competitor’s price.
5. Start With Your Most Valuable Content
A lot of lawyers are tempted to start their copy with something like, “The XYZ law firm specializes in…” or to explain the nature of your firm.
This is unnecessary and will detract from converting visitors into leads. They’re already here because they are looking for legal help, so it’s best to get right into your most valuable content, which will short circuit the time-wasting and lead-up material and get to the essence of what your audience are seeking.
6. Write for a ‘One-Person Audience’
Small law firms shouldn’t try to please everyone, but instead, target their copy towards one person who they know will be interested in their services. Then expand on that copy by using marketing messages to engage multiple people within the same niche audience.
Drilling down into your legal niche with quality content will help build your trust and authority, as well as help build your law firm’s local SEO to a point where you can achieve solid, high rankings on Google and the other search engines.
7. Avoid Using Legalese or Other Legal Jargon
The purpose of legal copywriting for law firms is to help your law firm stand out from the competition. To get your point across, you need to get inside your target audience’s heads.
Your clients will have read letters or emails from attorneys and mostly they will stumble when it comes to the legalese that such content often delivers. Avoid that problem. You don’t have to explain everything, but rather convince the read to take action and contact you about their issue(s).
8. Objections Must Be Dealt With UpFront
If there are objections to be made, especially those connected to legal matters, address them upfront. This is the only way the client will know that you have anticipated their needs and outlined a solution already. It is also sound legal SEO as Google increasingly seeks to improve both the relevance of the search queries and the authority and trustworthiness of the sources, so deal with objections and provide the very best value you can when you respond or write. That makes top sense in terms of any lawyer’s SEO.
Once again, this also ensures that you are building your own authority within your area of specialty, as well as building trust with your audience and the combination is unbeatable in terms of generating quality leads and work.
9. Make Sure Your Lead Magnet Is Enticing
When you’re writing a lead magnet, the goal is to create something compelling enough that your audience will submit their email address in exchange for it. It should be concise and to the point, but it also needs to be well written. If you make your readers work too hard to understand what your lead magnet is or why they should read it, you’ll lose them.
Check your own law blog content to see what content is being most-read or most requested. What is the most popular? Your Google analytics and similar tools will show you the most popular posts. These can often be used to create fast lead magnets that you can use to achieve sign-ups from potential clients for your site.
10. Includes Calls-to-Action
Law copywriting is a form of persuasive writing. A call-to-action (CTA) performs a critical role in the success of a law firm’s web pages, blog posts, and email messages. Calls-to-action motivates visitors to take action by providing the next step for them to complete.
If you’re using YouTube ads to generate new clients then be fully aware of the different types of advertising available on YouTube and how they work – building in your CTA when you publish your ad on the network.
Conclusion
To sum up, a well-written legal ad follows the law by not breaking any of its rules. A copywriter who has a good working knowledge of these rules can help you steer clear of trouble with the relevant authorities. However, if your ad does get held up or rejected, don’t be discouraged — consult with a professional copywriter who can revise your ad so that it can get approved.
Tim Absalikov is the Acting CEO of Lasting Trend.which is a digital marketing agency headquartered in New York.
Tim is an expert in technical optimization and legal copywriting and may be contacted via LinkedIn.
