As the end of the financial year approaches, it is an ideal time to evaluate your firm accomplishments and your missed opportunities from the previous year. It it also beneficial to take advantage of this window and conduct some law firm digital housekeeping.
As your law firm embarks on its digital housekeeping journey, it is important to add tech focused updates to your list. On average, law firms have increased their technology spending by 7.1% in 2021. And while tasks like updating your blog and posting on social media may not be billable, they offer a significant return on time invested if done well.
Focus on these tech updates to ensure your own digital investments are worthwhile, secure and promote your firm’s productivity and profitability.
Hardware
While updating tech like expensive laptops and desktop computers can feel like an overwhelming budget burden, outdated hardware can affect your bottom line. PCs older than four years have been found to bear an average $3,635 cost impact and are 2.7 times likelier to require repairs.
Ideally, it would help if you built the cost of regular hardware replacement into your firm’s budget. But sometimes, a more immediate fix is in order. If your firm is experiencing any of the following issues, purchase new hardware:
- Incompatibility with your operating system updates or software upgrades
- Noisy fans
- Long start-up or shut downtimes
- Applications taking longer than usual to start up
- Inability to run multiple programs at once
- Frequent crashes or BSOD (blue screen of death)
Website
Your website is your firm’s online real estate and calling card, and it’s often the first point of contact with potential clients. If your site offers inaccurate or outdated information, you may be losing clients without even knowing it.
When it comes to digital spring cleaning for your law firm’s site, check for these tech updates:
- New Hires: Does your “meet our team” page include lawyers new to your practice?
- Practice Areas: Are your listed practice areas current?
- Contact Information: Is your firm’s contact information accurate? Are you offering potential client’s multiple points of contact (contact form/email, physical address, and phone number)?
- Bios and Headshots: Are your team’s bios up to date, with both recent and professional headshots?
- Testimonials: Are you leveraging the power of social proof by featuring recent testimonials and customer reviews on your site?
Social Media
There’s very little debate about the role of social media in law firm marketing. Nearly three-quarters (70%) of lawyers employ media as part of their marketing strategy, and 35% feel social media plays a role in new client acquisition.
If social media is part of your firm’s marketing plan, check out the following tech update tips for your social media accounts:
- Display your icons: Your social media links are probably displayed on your website, but you also should include them on other media such as printed advertising materials or business cards.
- Eliminate unnecessary accounts: Your firm doesn’t need to be on every social media platform. Focus your energies on the one or two platforms your target market engages in or where you most frequently interact with users. LinkedIn and Facebook are the most popular channel among lawyers.
- Diversify your content: Are you offering varied content in your social media posts? Change things up by including visuals, videos and thought leadership posts.
- Increase your engagement: Social media is all about engagement. Respond promptly and thoroughly to any comments and queries posted by your followers.
Blog
Your firm’s blog not only positions you as an expert in your field; it’s another point of entry for new clients.
The following are some essential spring-cleaning tips for keeping your blog in good shape:
- Update outdated information: Check for posts that contain outdated information, such as old legislation, and update them with more current references.
- Create (or evaluate) your content strategy: Consistently posting quality content is key to a successful law blog. Now is the time to develop a content strategy for your blog or update your existing strategy. Your strategy serves to accomplish a specific goal (establishing industry expertise, attracting new clients, etc.) and must be measurable.
- Optimise your posts for SEO: Your blog posts are prime contenders when it comes to drawing search traffic. While you can’t optimise every post, updating older posts for specific keywords can improve your organic traffic — visitors who arrive at your site via search engines.
Support your firm’s digital ecosystem
The state of your “digital house” can significantly impact your law firm’s profitability. Scheduling an annual digital cleaning helps you stay productive and keeps your legal marketing and client acquisition strategies on track for the rest of the year.
Remember, if you ever need assistance with your law firm's digital housekeeping, just ask your friends at Smokeball. All of us are here to help ensure that you are running a thriving law firm.
