Marketing your law firm isn’t easy. Writing content for your website or an ad or another media that is compelling enough for the to make the reader take action is something that takes time, thought, and effort.

A key factor to bear in mind is that people tend to have short attention spans. For example, it’s estimated that people will make their decision within 7 seconds of hitting your web site landing page or reading your ad. That’s not a lot of time.

You Need to Be “Above the Fold”

Remember printed newspapers? If so, you know what “above the fold” means. The front page headline is what grabs attention and gets someone to buy the paper on the newsstand. This concept also holds true of web site content, where “above the fold” means the very first frame that people see of your landing page, whether on computer or mobile.

But how do you do that? Here are a few suggestions.

Don’t Make Them Feel Cheated

We all know what “click bait” is. Content providers will craft a very provocative headline to get you to click through to their video/blog post/whatever, but once you get there, the actual content doesn’t deliver.

Make sure that your landing page is perfectly aligned with your headline and web page meta data (the description below the headline on the search results page). If it isn’t, your visitor will bounce away to something else.

Write Content to Meet Their Present Needs

Some web site visitors click on a link because they have an immediate need for a solution to their problem. Others, however, click because they are looking to educate themselves on a topic and are doing research. When you write content for your site (or a printed ad), you need to consider that person’s position on their Moving Parade of Interest.

What does that mean? It means giving some thought to the purpose of the content and its potential audience. Does it answer a simple FAQ or does it address a pressing need? For example, is it meant for the person just starting to think about whether to get a divorce or the person who’s just been served with divorce papers and needs to take action right away?

You need to align your content to match how quickly they want to act.

Craft An Outcome Driven Headline.

I often ask potential clients, what would be the perfect outcome for you? In other words, what is the goal you wish to accomplish? When you write content for a web site page or a print ad, you need to start with that idea in mid. Your headline should be focused on the outcome that your ideal prospect wants.

To continue with the divorce example, suppose a common fear of your clients is that the process will be nasty with every little issue fought over incessantly. In addition to that emotional stress, there is a fear that the process will be very expensive because of the endless legal fees. So your headline might read “The Top 5 Ways to Get Your Divorce Finalized Quickly Without Incessant Drama and High Legal Fees.”

Make the Pain Go Away

People with legal problems have stress. This is true whether their marriage is failing, they can’t pay their bills, they’re facing the loss of their home, or the loss of their freedom. For this reason, people that go to your web site or read your print ad are looking for someone who can lessen or eliminate that stress, that pain.

The key here is not only to tell them that you can do this for them, but to tell them right away. Remember, you have 7 seconds to convince them to read below the fold and thus get their attention. Do it with some quick bullet points under your headline, then expand on each of them as they read further.

Have a Compelling Call to Action

People who consume your content seldom if ever know what they have to do next. That’s why it’s your job to tell them. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read content on a law firm web site that just ends without telling the reader what to do next. This is called a Call to Action or CTA.

Be sure your content always has one and be sure it is outcome-based. This means knowing what outcome they are looking for and where they are on their Moving Parade of Interest. So continuing the divorce example, you could say “Click here to get my free book on knowing your rights in divorce” if they are just looking into it or “Click here to discover what you need to do if you’ve been served with divorce papers.”

So as you can see, crafting a successful landing page for your law firm’s advertisements requires attention to detail and a deep understanding of your client’s journey.

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