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New Data Reveals How Clients Seek Attorneys

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How are your clients finding you?

Are you able to answer that question with confidence? If not, you may need to evaluate your intake process. Even if you have data, are you making the most of your online presence to attract potential clients? New research confirms the importance of the Internet to consumers who are looking for lawyers. Making sure it’s easy for consumers to find and get information from your firm’s website is a winning strategy.

A study by The Research Intelligence Group, released by LexisNexis, highlights some important facts about how today’s consumers search for an attorney. It is enlightening to look at the study’s findings in light of recent research on Internet use by the Pew Research Center.

Of adults who sought to hire an attorney in the past year, 76 percent used the Internet at some point in the process, according to the TRiG study.  That is incredible, especially considering Pew Research data showing that 78 percent of adults in the United States use the Internet. When you combine the data from these two studies, it suggests that 98 percent of U.S. adults who are active Internet users and who sought to hire an attorney in the past year used the Internet at some point in the process. This is amazing to see – 98%!

The TRiG survey also looked at the multiple devices consumers used to search for an attorney online. It found that 65 percent used laptops, 61 percent used desktops, and 21 percent used smartphones. The Pew Research Center, meanwhile, points out that 88 percent of U.S. adults have cellphones and 48 percent of U.S. adults use their cellphones to go online. As before, when you combine these studies, it suggests that 44 percent of U.S. adults who use the Internet on their phones and who sought to hire an attorney in the past year used their phones at some point in the process. These statistics are truly compelling.

What do they find?

You also have to ask, “What are consumers finding when they arrive on my site?”

The TRiG study examined consumers’ use of online resources in each of the four stages involved in the search for an attorney: “gather information about my legal issue/case,” “find a lawyer,” “validate a lawyer,” and “select a lawyer.” Of consumers who sought a lawyer online, 39 percent used search engines in the stage of gathering information. That’s equal to the percent who asked friends and family for advice and recommendations during the information-gathering stage.

As the TRiG researchers point out, search engines, particularly Google, play an important role for consumers, especially during the first stage of their search. People told the researchers that they turned to search engines to find information about their legal options and obtain contact information for law firms. So it is important to make sure that your law firm turns up prominently in their search results.

For your website to catch the eye of consumers in the first stage of their search, substantial educational content and an easy-to-use design are critical.  This is the stage when consumers have questions; by providing answers on your website, you show that your firm is knowledgeable and begin to build the trust of prospective clients.

In the subsequent stages shown in the TRiG study, searchers hone in on different information sources based on where they are in the process. In the “find”, “validate” and “select” stages, advice and recommendations from friends and family was the most utilized, with law firm websites being the second most used resource.

Search engines beat out all other forms of online resources only in the “gather” stage; and tied with law firm websites in the “find” stage. If consumers don’t find your website and gain useful information from it in the initial stages “gather information about my legal issue/case” and “find a lawyer”, they are not likely to turn to it later, as they use law firm websites more than search engines to “validate” and “select” a lawyer.

If you’d like to dig deeper into the data on where the Internet is heading, please see the Pew Research Center, Internet & American Life Project’s Cell Internet Use 2012 and Digital Differences reports.

For a customized strategy on how your firm can strengthen its Internet presence to connect with more prospective clients, call us at (800) 872-6590 or email us at marketing@consultwebs.com.

New Data Reveals How Clients Seek Attorneys | Law Firm Web Marketing


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