You’ve launched an awesome website for your estate planning firm. You’re getting loads of traffic. You’re eagerly waiting for your perfect clients and referral sources to knock on your digital door. But—wait a minute—why are you getting so many inquiries from folks that aren’t a great fit for your firm or seem to be looking for legal services you don’t offer?

If you’re scratching your head and questioning the value of your investment, I don’t blame you. But I also know it’s also a problem that can be solved when you dig deep into your website and root out the cause.

So, why is your website attracting so many of the wrong kinds of clients? Let’s talk about 5 reasons why it happens and how you can start attracting more of the clients and cases you really want.

#1. You Don’t Have a Strategy to Target Your Ideal Clients

In my experience, this is the biggest reason that estate planning law firms’ websites attract visitors who have little to no interest in estate planning or who are looking for legal services the firm doesn’t provide.

To improve the quality of your leads, the first step is to get a clear picture in your mind of the clients you really do want to attract. What kinds of questions are they asking? Where do they live? How old are they? Why do they need help? How much do they already know about estate planning services? What makes your firm a great choice for them?

Once you have that perfect-client avatar in mind, you can use it to guide and build out a more comprehensive digital marketing strategy. For example, how can you narrow your keywords and get more targeted with your SEO? How can you be in the right place at the right time to answer your potential clients’ questions online?

Of course, it’s not just about search engines. Your website needs to be optimized for human visitors, too. So, how can you capture your perfect client’s attention from the moment they click onto your site? How can the design of your website quickly communicate exactly what you do, who you do it for, and how to get started?

Ultimately, your website is a tool that has to be honed to work effectively. If you don’t know who your “perfect clients” really are, you can’t attract them with your website. If you don’t have a clear strategy in place to reach the right audience, it’s no surprise that you get scattershot results!

#2. Your Website Content Doesn’t “Click” With Your Perfect Clients

Attracting visitors from search is only half the battle. You also have to have a strategy for what happens when they get there, and that’s where your website’s content comes into play.

If your website content is too general or can’t communicate your expertise in useful ways, your perfect clients won’t stick around. They’ll head back to search to look for someone that understands them better and can speak to their problems.

If you want to attract ideal leads, you can’t try to be everything to everyone. You can’t cast too wide a net! Instead, your website has to provide information that is specifically relevant to your perfect client. That information has to be valuable to them, and it should be communicated in language that is easy for them to understand.

If you can make your perfect clients feel like you are speaking directly to them with your website, you’ll create the kind of connection that inspires trust and action. You’ll also quickly filter out the people that aren’t the right fit for your firm.

#3. Your Website Doesn’t Funnel Great Leads Toward the Next Step

Picture this: a great lead lands on your website and reads through your blog. They’re motivated to take action when they’re done, but there aren’t any clear instructions about what to do next.

Some of those perfect clients might be willing to dig around on your website to find your phone number or download your book. However, most of them are likely going to click back to search to figure out what happens next—and that means you’ve lost an opportunity.

You will lose ideal leads if you don’t tell them what to do next. That’s why you want to incorporate compelling calls-to-action, contact forms, and relevant links on every page of your website. You don’t have to overdo it. You just have to consistently reinforce the idea that there is a clear path to success when they’re ready to take it.

#4. Your Website Doesn’t Qualify Leads for You

Another big reason that estate planning attorneys get irrelevant leads is that they don’t have effective mechanisms in place to qualify leads. Without screening processes or qualifying questions, you can waste a lot of time following up on leads that don’t turn into great cases. And that takes your attention away from the leads and clients that are perfect for your firm.

One ideal lead that becomes a perfect client for your firm is worth 1000 irrelevant leads that go nowhere. So, it makes sense to build a website that automatically qualifies those leads for you.

Let your website do the work! Modern technology—like live chat intake and integrated, customizable contact forms—has given us lots of ways to streamline intake and improve the quality of the leads you get through your website.

#5. You Don’t Nurture the Good Leads You Get

Choosing an estate planning attorney is an important decision. People often ask around for recommendations from friends and family, and they tend to spend a long time researching their questions online before they make a choice.

So, even if their first inquiry goes nowhere, you want them to have a positive experience with your firm. In a few weeks or months, that “bad lead” could become one of your lifelong perfect clients!

I think one of the biggest revelations in digital marketing is that people typically need 5 to 7 touchpoints with you before they decide to become a client. It isn’t just one thing that makes them convert—it’s everything you put out there, as well as how you interact with them over time.

So, don’t write off the “fence-sitters” and “tire-kickers” that come in through your website. Instead, nurture them. Get them into your ecosystem, and use automated systems to stay in touch with them over time. That little bit of extra effort can double the ideal leads you generate and help you build trust with potential clients that are still early on in their “client journey.”

Get Clarity and Get More of Your Perfect Estate Planning Clients

The legal field is highly competitive, and estate planning is no exception. As a small or mid-size firm, you have to work extra hard to stand out from bigger firms with broader marketing budgets and more aggressive online strategies. However, if you can sink your efforts into clarifying your message and refining the ways you connect with your perfect clients, you can beat even your biggest competitors online.

Are you worried about your website? Are you overwhelmed with leads that don’t turn into perfect clients for your firm? It’s time to get clarity and turn the tide in your favor.

Call us at 1-888.886.0939, or join my team for a complimentary website analysis. We’ll talk about what’s working, what’s not, and how you can create a strategy that constantly drives more of the clients you want to your door.

RELATED EDUCATION

If you found this article interesting, here are some other educational programs that you might find helpful:

ABOUT FOSTER WEB MARKETING

Since 1998, Foster Web Marketing has provided boutique website design and digital marketing services to lawyers, doctors, and other professionals across the U.S. and around the world. We use our in-house website design, content writing, search engine optimization, and coaching teams to strategize more effective marketing plans for our clients. We also provide powerful marketing software that supports businesses in attracting their “perfect clients” and achieving consistent success online.

Foster Web Marketing is the current web designer of nationally renowned estate planning attorney and Ultimate Estate Planner’s President, Philip Kavesh’s, law firm’s website. Take a look at www.kaveshlaw.com.

For more information about Foster Web Marketing and to get a free website analysis, click here.

Blog for Estate Planning Professionals

Leave a Comment