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As an attorney well versed in your practice line, you are constantly looking for ways to share your knowledge in an effort to attract new clients.  You’ve turned to the internet by setting up a website and promoting it as best you can through email, word of mouth and referral strategies; perhaps you’ve even dabbled in Google Ad Words a bit (creating ads that appear next to popular keyword searches on Google – you pay only when someone clicks on your ad.)

Many of you may have started taking things a bit further by marketing your practice on a popular legal directory website like Avvo, or DUIAttorney.com.  This is a great way to promote yourself as a leader in your industry either by location, and/or practice area (ex. Bankruptcy Attorneys in Los Angeles.)

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is another great strategy, either paid or organic.  The difference between paid and organic SEO is simple – either you spend your time creating great and relevant content associated to your popular keywords, and build as many links back to your site as possible, or pay someone to do it for you.

Speaking of keywords, it’s important you know your top keywords, as this will play a role in the video marketing you are about to embark on.  Every business has keywords that are being searched thousands, sometimes millions of times a month, and this is where the market can find you.  If you haven’t figured out what your top keywords are, do some research.  Keyword Spy is a great resource to see what the volume of popular search terms are, and what your competitors are bidding on for Ad Words.  More times then not it is as simple as “(insert your practice area here) attorney” – i.e. DUI Attorney, Divorce Attorney, Personal Injury Attorney, etc.  It’s also wise to consider adding your city to the beginning and/or end of those terms, too.

So what about video?

As you probably already know, YouTube is the world’s second most used search engine besides Google.  Knowing that Google owns YouTube, its no surprise that YouTube videos are beginning to show up in standard keyword searches on Google.  This is where you have the opportunity to be found.

Producing (professional) video on the web is surprisingly more affordable then most think.  As a solo attorney or member of a firm, its time to start thinking about your online video strategy.  Here are the top reasons why every attorney should have an online video marketing strategy:

1.  Drive traffic to your site through YouTube

Every video you create will be added to a branded YouTube channel you’ll set up for your firm.  Each time you upload a new video, you’ll add “metadata”, or, keywords to the video description, title, and keyword fields.  The more videos you add, the more keywords and links back to your site, the more traffic.  It’s just that simple.

2.  Higher conversion rates for visitors to your site

Almost all of the research shows that websites with video tend to convert 2x or better then those without – meaning that whatever action you are looking your visitors to take on your website, they are twice as likely to do it if you have video.  But of course, it must be the right kind of video – you don’t want to sell yourself short.  Make sure your videos are professionally produced, and whenever possible, include yourself on camera speaking about your practice area.

A great law firm profile on the homepage of your site will help tell your story in a compelling way, but don’t limit the video on your site to just this.  If you have a blog, you may want to do some “vlogging“, or, video blogging.  Any modern laptop has a built in webcam, and all you have to do is literally login to YouTube and begin recording yourself  speaking into your laptop.  This gives people a chance to hear you speak about your area of expertise, and generate more interest from potential clients then just words and images can.

3.  Video advertising

You may or may not know, but anybody looking to advertise their business on popular, high traffic websites can use video banners in lieu of the more traditional banner ads.  These video banners are generally 300×250 pixels in size, and most sites are flexible on the length of the actual video.  You pay for impressions – meaning each time your video player is shown on a page – and your goal is to get as many VIEWS as you can.  Statistics are showing that video banners tend to get up to 5x better click thru rate then static banner ads, for the same price.  A well though out video advertising campaign can generate huge ROI for you if done correctly.  Make sure your video has some kind of interactive element so that viewers can click over to your site and fill out a form, or download some information from your site by providing their contact info, and you can track conversions!

4.  Adding video to your business directory pages

Many of you are probably using Avvo to market your practice – if you are not, go and claim your profile for free immediately.  You can enhance your profile with videos, just like Okorie Okorocha, an attorney in Los Angeles, has.

If you advertise on any other business directory sites, like YellowPages or Citysearch, you can video to your profiles there as well.  Of course, make sure you are set up with a Google Places listing, and add your videos via YouTube (for free) to this profile as well.

The bottom line for attorneys is that video is an affordable and effective extension of your current online marketing goals.  Make sure you get some great video added to your sites and blogs as soon as possible, and spend some time optimizing your YouTube channel as best you can by using the right keywords and links back to your site in your video descriptions.  You’ll find quickly that video marketing is one of the best tools available for attorneys serious about marketing their practices online.