Lawyer Monthly - August 2021 Edition

40 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | AUG 2021 WHO ARE 2021’S STAR PLAYERS IN DIGITAL LEGAL MARKETING? As with so many other sectors, 2021 continues to be a challenge for the legal sector. The demands of remote working, coupled with pandemic-related employment law and family disputes, has piled the pressure on law firms. On top of this, law firm marketers have a new obstacle to overcome: the latest Google update. In June 2021, Google began rolling out its Page Experience update, warning webmasters of three new “Core Web Vitals” guidelines to follow. Not only do law firms have to continue making great content; they also have to ensure this content is accessible. Seeking Out the Star Players So, which law firms are stepping up to the plate and adhering to the latest search engine optimisation guidance? Between March and April 2021, the Legmark team gathered data for our annual legal sector website analysis report. The report features a custom-made scoring system out of 100, outlining a law firm’s online performance based on crucial SEO factors. These are a delicate balance of on- site metrics, such as keywords, total traffic and site speed, and off-site metrics, such as referring domains and domain rating. Our ranking system considers factors from Google’s Core Web Vitals, such as page speed, but also looks at the broader “perfect recipe” for a high-ranking site. Additionally, for the first time in 2021, we gathered year- on-year data to name the most-improved law firms of the year. So, who comes out on top? Top-Flight Law Firms First Place: Stephensons In first place, Wigan-based Stephensons showed outstanding progress in 2021. This is pertinent for two reasons. Firstly, our data was gathered from The Lawyer’s top 200 UK law firms based on revenue. Stephensons ranks at a very modest 148th in terms of revenue, proving that large firms do not always come out on top. Secondly, Stephensons has jumped massively from 2020, climbing 39 places in our custom-made scoring system. This is thanks to a significant investment in page speed. The firm scored 196 out of 200 and 198 out of 200 for desktop and mobile speed respectively – showing that it is ahead of the curve by Google’s standards. Second Place: Lindsays Similar to Stephensons, Lindsays is also a relatively small law firm, ranking at just 153rd Who Are 2021’s Star Players in Digital Legal Marketing? Sam Borrett, Director Legmark 5300 Lakeside, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheshire, SK8 3GP Tel: +44 (0)161 818 8448 Email: hello@legmark.com www.legmark.com Sam Borrett Sam Borrett is a nationally regarded marketing expert with expertise in delivering for the legal sector. He works for a range of clients in the sector on business development, SEO, website performance and several other areas, and has won several awards for his marketing and PR campaigns. Legmark Legmark is a digital marketing consultancy that offers legal marketing, digital marketing and communications for law firms. Legmark can also offer advice on social media, content marketing and customer retention. Digital marketing has become the fastest-growing field in all of marketing and an essential avenue for law firms to attract new sales leads – though some have taken to the digital space more effectively than others. Here, Sam Borrett presents data to show which of the UK’s law firms is performing best in this field as of 2021 and how smaller firms should follow their example.