From social to PR, digital marketing is a wide scope that encompasses many different practices. And while having a strategy in place is critical for your healthcare law firm’s success in this digital age, it can be hard to tell which practices are working and which are not. When obtaining a numerical representation of your work isn’t possible, it’s best to turn to the ways in which your firm has proven to project authority in the industry and attract new business: external references, thought leadership, increased website traffic, and new client interest.

External References

To gain external references such as backlinks and guest blogs, your firm must first be creating helpful, high-quality content. Incorporate the creation of engaging blogs and service pages that showcase your expertise as a legal professional into your business’s overall marketing plan. Your goal is to not only answer the questions being asked by potential clients, but to attract legal journalists and publications who are looking for expert opinions and sources.

How do you know when to consider this step in your marketing strategy a success? Other websites and blogs citing your firm’s content as a reference is extremely telling of your authority in the marketplace, and is a sign that you’re putting out great and useful content. Collaborating with sites that have high domain ratings, authority, and unique monthly visitors is also a plus, as this gets your firm’s website in front of more people than ever before. To keep your content relevant and desirable to these outside sources, stay consistent with your creation and output so that your team is responding to trending topics that people are wanting to learn more about.

Thought Leadership

Similarly to external references, thought leadership reflects on your healthcare firm’s authority, expertise, and experience in the industry. Legal publications and journalists are always looking for trusted sources for quotes, and these press placements offer an opportunity for your firm’s senior partners to share their insight on the latest industry developments and evergreen legal issues alike. From the point of view of potential clients, this is a green flag for your law firm. They are able to learn more about your cadence and specific areas of expertise—both of which are huge deciding factors for clients when choosing a firm in their time of need.

Landing a quote is an exciting feat on its own, but to further measure the results of these efforts, you can base your success on the strength of the host website or the length and relevancy of your provided response as compared to the article as a whole. While these may feel like small successes at first, in the grand scheme of your marketing strategy, they will add up to larger results as you persevere. Work together with multiple high-strength legal outlets and writers, especially those with a healthcare law focus, to ensure your firm has a continuous presence on the digital side of the industry.

Increased Web Traffic

For both your content creation and public relations efforts to lead to digital success, you must give people a way to find your website! With these practices in place, you can start to see signs of your marketing success through an uptick in traffic to your firm’s website. Your healthcare law firm’s online site can’t receive the natural foot traffic of a brick and mortar location, so it’s up to the work of SEO best practices and digital marketing to get new clients hearing about your business.

Digital marketing strategies such as guest blogs, public relations efforts, and optimized social media accounts are all crucial for attracting new customers and leading them to your site, along with tried and true SEO optimizations like improvements to your page titles and meta descriptions. Through the engagement reports provided by Google Analytics, your team can learn what sources your new visitors most frequently came from. Any increase in the organic search traffic is a good indicator that your team is seeing success in the marketing department.

New Client Interest

Finally, one of the most tangible forms of success are new client leads or new interest form responses. If you have visitors to your site, that’s a sure sign that you’ve attracted their interest somehow. But what if this is simply word of mouth marketing? How can you tell if this new business is a result of your marketing efforts?

Consider updating the interest form on your website with a question inquiring about how the client heard about your healthcare firm. This could also be asked during the initial consultation. With this information, your marketing team will better understand where each client is coming from, whether that be a personal reference, your online PPC (pay-per-click) ads, or a press material from another site. Not only is this a great indicator of what strategies are working, but you’ll also be able to tell what practice areas and what marketing avenues may need some more attention.

First Step to Success

While these are all great processes, and integral to many digital marketing strategies, most of the time they do require extra time. The research, outreach, and follow-ups required to create high-quality content and source thought leadership opportunities may threaten to be overwhelming for your healthcare law team. Contact us today to learn more about how our law firm digital PR and SEO services can take the extra work off your plate and help your firm reach their marketing goals.