It seems that there are still many misconceptions on how a website should perform for a law firm. Many law firms expect their website to replace their ads on TV in terms of lead generation.
There are numerous problems with this. The future of the web is on social media. Eventually, these may end up replacing your current websites.
The other problem with this expectation is that many law firms are expecting the web to generate the sort of business their TV campaigns did in the 1980s. Here’s a news flash: the old days of just placing ads on TV and waiting for the cases to role in are dead.
Look at the analytics
What are analytics? Analytics are the statistics of your law firm’s website. The most popular tool used is Google Analytics. Google Analytics uses a little piece of code placed on every page of your website to track each visitor that comes to your site.
Google then culls this information together in real time and provides various charts and graphs that show how users use your site and how your site is performing. It provides information such as how many visitors came to your site, the most popular pages, and how visitors found your website.
This is really skimming the surface of Google Analytics’s capabilities. Learn more by going to the official Google Analytics page. If your website does not have Google Analytics installed, have your IT person install if for you and begin tracking.
So, what does success look like online?
The goals of your firm will determine what success ultimately looks like. The bigger issue with most law firms is that they don’t even understand how well their website performs. Most law firms are completely in the dark in terms of how many visitors come to their website on a monthly basis and how many leads their website has actually generated.
Without knowing this information, how can your law firm make an informed decision on how to improve their presence online? Furthermore, without a baseline, how can your law firm set reasonable goals for their website?
Knowledge is power
It’s a hackneyed expression, but very true. It’s impossible to make intelligent decisions online without having the numbers to back up your decisions. Knowing how your website performs and establishing realistic goals and expectations is the first step to growth. Acting on this new found information and truly embarking on an intelligent SEO, social media or PPC campaign is the way to experience success online.