The good news is that once your online presence is set up correctly, it should actually save you time and energy — all while bringing in more leads and attracting new clients. Digital solutions should never be hugely complex, but simply solve the problems they need to solve without clocking up endless hours that could be better spent elsewhere.

Here are five steps to get your legal firm on the path towards a more refined, streamlined, and effective digital presence.

Define your ideal client

Before you can improve your website and attract new clients, you need to have a clear understanding of who your ideal client is. All the choices you make next will spring from this original source.

Ask yourself: what does my ideal client need? What are they confused about? What do they need help achieving? What are their biggest pain points? Once you have these answers clear by developing your ideal client persona, you can start to design your law firm’s digital presence with clarity and focus on who you’re aiming to engage.

Check your content

If you want to be findable, it’s important to design all content with search engine optimisation (SEO) in mind. No matter how much relevant and quality content you release into your ideal audience channels, it’s not going to support your business goals unless people can find it; and if you want people to be able to find it, you need a good SEO game plan.

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The guiding light to direct your ideal client to your website must come from your content. To do this, simply: be there, be helpful, and be findable. Good, clear, useful content will lower your bounce rate (the proportion of visitors who leave your site within seconds of arriving) and turn casual visitors into long-term fans and followers.

Tap into the most frequently asked questions you hear from clients. This is content gold to inspire you to create that first blog post or series of blog posts that can deliver long-term SEO benefits and be reused and translated into videos, an e-book, or your own version of a webinar.

Take a good look at your competitors’ websites. What do they do, what don’t they do, and what can you do to fill in the gaps? Your goal should be to make your layout clearer and your content more comprehensive than what already exists — or, in some cases, doesn’t exist at all.

Create a lead magnet

A lead magnet might sound like something you’d stick on the front of your fridge, but it’s actually one of the most powerful pieces of marketing you can create for your law firm and adds tangible value to the investment you make in your website.

Lead magnets typically involve giving free advice in exchange for a website visitor’s email address, with their consent to contact them via email marketing in the future. They can be used as an alternative way to engage website visitors who aren’t sure if they want to directly approach you just yet.

Lead magnets are a great way to offer value to potential clients through educational and helpful content while also building trust with them and capturing contact details for possible future marketing opportunities.

This leads to the next point.

All about automation

Setting up automated lead generation is a great way to engage new clients without draining all your time and resources. Automated email campaigns, kick-started with a lead magnet, can help your law firm send personalised emails to potential and established clients alike.

These emails will guide your clients through your sales funnel without requiring hours of manual work — perfect for time-strapped law firms. Automation can also be used to close out leads with clients, such as sending them a personalised thank-you email or rekindling cold leads with unique, helpful content.

Review your online reputation

Your Google Business Profile (previously called Google My Business listing) is one of the most overlooked marketing tools in a law firm’s arsenal. The very first thing a new lead will do when considering your firm is to Google your firm’s name. If they’re greeted by multiple reviews singing your firm’s praises, they’ll be far more likely to trust your firm from the outset.

If your Google Business Profile is looking a little sparse, ask your existing clients to leave you a review. Remember: positive reviews can make the difference between winning a new client or losing them to a competitor, so make this task a priority.

Liz Ward is the co-founder and chief executive of Navii.