SEO Vs. Social Media For Law Firms: 7 Attorney Experiences
To tell you the truth:
We haven’t been proponents of social media for attorneys at On The Map Marketing.
We generate leads for attorneys almost exclusively through a mix of organic SEO, local SEO, and PPC.
But as per the American Bar Association 2023 TechReport:
“81% of respondents participate on social media themselves for professional purposes.”
So we went down the rabbit hole to find the experiences of how attorneys think about these two channels for their firms: SEO and PPC.
Let me elaborate on our stance on social media. Then, we’ll look at the experiences of attorneys on our panel today.
Our Stance on Social Media
In our over a decade of working with law firms, we’ve found that SEO and PPC serve as the most compelling digital marketing channels for law firms.
And the argument makes sense: Someone searching for legal services will most likely directly search for legal representation Google or maps (or ChatGPT?)
Specifically for practice areas like divorce law (where the subject matter is sensitive), you wouldn’t expect a prospect to respond or engage on social media.
Indeed our client Julian Stroleny agreed with us.
For my particular industry, I don’t believe in social media marketing. I know there are many consumer services where social media is everything, but I have a niche audience. I focus solely on SEO marketing for my business.
But the headwinds seem to be changing. And we’re ready to adapt!
Google API leaks confirmed the increasing importance of building a notable brand in SEO.
Rash Fishkin, an SEO thought leader, went to the extent of saying, “Brand matters more than anything else,” in SEO.
We know the important role social media plays in building a strong brand. They are great platforms to stay on the top of the mind of your prospects. And they can help to build your branded search volume.
So how should you think about these channels?
Long-Term vs. Short-Term Marketing Goals
For Mr. Melmed, SEO is a part of building “long-term growth and authority.” But social media is “for generating immediate engagement and leads.” He throws light on how they both of these channels serve different purposes for his firm below:
SEO is a long-term strategy that helps build organic visibility, particularly for clients searching for specific legal services. It’s great for bringing in leads over time, but it requires patience and consistent effort to rank highly in search results.
Social media, on the other hand, provides more immediate and direct engagement with potential clients. It allows us to showcase our firm’s personality, highlight success stories, and share informative content in a more approachable way. Platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook have been particularly effective for us in terms of building brand awareness and connecting with both professionals and potential clients. Facebook ads, for example, have generated direct leads more quickly than SEO, especially when targeting specific demographics or geographic areas.
In our experience, combining both channels delivers the best results, with SEO providing sustained visibility and social media fostering direct interaction and quicker conversions.
Rock Rocheleau from Right Lawyers echoes Melmed’s sentiment. He believes that the two channels “serve different purposes and provide unique advantages.”
SEO brings us a steady flow of organic traffic, and the inquiries generated through these channels tend to be high-intent, leading to better conversion rates. Tactics like content marketing, local SEO, and building backlinks have been particularly effective.
On the other hand, social media offers a more immediate, direct way to connect with potential clients and engage with our community. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow us to share legal tips, case outcomes, and updates about our firm, which helps build trust and brand recognition.
We’ve found social media especially useful for showcasing our expertise in family law and personal injury cases. It allows us to humanize our brand, share testimonials, and respond to questions in real time.
Social Media Can Build Both Trust and Thought Leadership
Johnny Cargill, marketing director at The Lanier Law Firm, believes that social media is “primarily for engagement and relationship building.”
“Platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube allow us to showcase our attorneys through videos, share legal insights, and build trust within our community. Social media helps us stay connected and foster awareness, though it doesn’t always lead to immediate conversions,” he quips.
Social media isn’t all about brand awareness, though.
It’s also a way to humanize your law firm’s brand.
Ramzy Ladah, a Las Vegas Accident Attorney, shares their experience below on the same:
Social media is fantastic for building trust and engagement with our community. By sharing client testimonials, legal tips, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into our work on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, we’ve built a strong, loyal following. This humanizes our brand and helps potential clients feel more comfortable reaching out.
For larger firms, it’s a way to establish their attorneys as thought leaders in their respective practice areas.
Dioselvi Lora, a certified paralegal at Freedland Harwin Valori Gander (FHVG), shares some numbers around their social media thought leadership:
Our experiences show that LinkedIn thought leadership articles have increased engagement by 13%, while Facebook client success stories have boosted local following by 9%.
Mr. Rocheleau warns, “Social media leads are generally less conversion-ready than those from SEO.”
But there’s a way to tackle that challenge.
Targeted Social Media Ads Can Get Leads
Organic social media is mostly about zero click content (a term coined by Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro)—the kind of content that serves the user on the social platform they are on without leaving. It’s only going to generate brand awareness for your law firm.
However, targeted social media ads provide an option to get high-quality legal leads.
For instance, attorney Rock Rocheleau, recommends using Facebook ads targeted “at people going through life changes, like marriage or relocation.”
He continues, “These ads help us reach individuals who might not yet be actively searching for a lawyer but are likely to need legal advice in the near future.”
Jonathan Melmed has also found success with them.
Facebook ads have generated direct leads more quickly than SEO, especially when targeting specific demographics or geographic areas.
SEO Remains a Pivotal Strategy to Drive Leads
In the two strategies, none of the attorneys shied away from speaking highly of SEO.
Here’s Mr. Cargill:
SEO is our strongest channel for driving targeted traffic and leads. By optimizing our site with specific keywords like “mesothelioma attorneys,” we capture potential clients actively searching for our services. While social media supports our visibility, SEO consistently brings in clients ready to take action.
Even for Mr. Rocheleau SEO has been a foundational part of their long-term strategy. “We target keywords like ‘Las Vegas divorce lawyer’ and ‘uncontested divorce’, and focus on creating informative, keyword-optimized content and ensuring our website is structured for search engines.”
For Ramzy Ladah optimizing our website for keywords like “Las Vegas personal injury lawyer,” we’ve significantly increased our visibility on search engines.
Dioselvi again shares some numbers related to SEO:
For SEO, creating comprehensive, location-specific landing pages for each practice area—combined with consistent blogging—has resulted in a 21% increase in organic traffic. Local SEO efforts have led to a 5% increase in qualified leads.
Final Thoughts
Both social media and SEO play vital but distinct roles in law firm marketing.
Ms. Dioselvi Lora aptly summarizes how you need to think about them, “The choice between social media and SEO isn’t an either/or proposition, but rather a question of balance and integration.”
She even shares a rare marketing tactic employed by her firm: “While social media helps us cast a wide net for brand awareness, SEO allows us to capture high-intent traffic. Our most successful campaigns have integrated both channels, using social media to amplify our SEO-optimized content and leveraging insights from social engagement to inform our SEO strategy.”
On which of the following marketing boats are you:
- Already loving hanging out on social media? Consider investing in SEO for your law firm. It will send you high-intent client leads searching for legal services. (Contact us if you need help to get started!)
- Loving the sweet lead influx from SEO? Diversify by building a strong online presence on LinkedIn for yourself (or the attorneys at you firm). Or get on another social media platform where your audience hangs out.
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