A new Houston Criminal Lawyer may find the task of winning over more clients quite challenging in view of the number of practicing attorneys in the State. According to the United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics, lawyers in the state of Texas number to more than 42,000 as of May 2018. Texas has the fourth-largest number of active lawyers in the U.S., which means that new lawyers in Houston and throughout the state have to put in extra effort to build their roster of clients to make their practice sustainable. So, what can help new lawyers get more clients?
As daunting as the task may seem, the best ways that lawyers can get more clients are simple and require a minimum of investment. It may even surprise some that these techniques can be implemented easily and deliver quick results. Here are the top three ways attorneys can have more clients passing through the doors of their law firms.
1. Website Overhaul
Clients don’t usually enter a law office without first checking out the lawyer’s website. In this day and age when information can be acquired with a few simple swipes and mouse clicks, lawyers should not take their websites for granted. Instead, they should treat them as their very own advertising agents. However, many lawyers make the mistake of selling themselves excessively on their websites — something that appears distasteful and turns off many potential clients.
A lawyer’s website should have useful content for their website visitors. For instance, a criminal lawyer’s website landing page can feature articles that discuss current issues that concern a number of potential clients. These websites encourage website visitors to stay longer and even share the content on their social media accounts. Not only does this make for a passive endorsement, but it can also do wonders to the search engine ranking of the website.
The website should also look professional, easy to navigate and, perhaps most importantly, load quickly. Website content like video clips, high-resolution photos and graphics can slow down the page loading speed of a website’s pages. Studies show that internet users usually move on to other websites if a page fails to load within three seconds. Lawyers should have their web designers tweak their websites to have fast loading times.
Lastly, lawyers’ websites should also be mobile device-friendly. Many potential clients will likely check out the website via smartphones. It is a good idea to make the website mobile-ready, which will help keep visitors on the site longer.
2. Optimize
Lawyers’ websites also need to be optimized for search engines. Research has shown that a majority of search engine users are less likely to click on results beyond the first page of a search engine results page (SERP). Hiring a search engine optimization (SEO) expert to optimize the website helps a lawyer get his or her brand out and available to more clients with ease.
3. Be More Active on Social Media
Discussing important issues in your field of practice on your social media accounts is one subtle way of increasing brand awareness for your practice. Sharing articles or even your short takes on issues that concern your client demographic can get them to notice you. It is likely that site visitors will share it with someone else who will benefit from the information that you provided.
Keep in mind that what’s covered here are merely the best practices but are not the only ways you can get more clients. There are other ways that you can supplement the suggestions here, including using targeted paid online ads, doing pro bono work and attending and contributing to community events. Following the tips suggested here, however, should get you started on the right path to getting more clients whether you are practicing in Houston or anywhere else.
