Why lawyers can’t afford to ignore the Internet for doing business

You may dismiss this as hearsay, but reality is sure to contradict you in a big way. Gone are the days when lawyers could afford to ignore the Internet as a juvenile sensation, as an amateurish pastime which had nothing to do with them and could earn no extra money for professionals. The Internet is the looking mirror of the 21st century: everything “real” needs to have an online presence and identity if it wants to stay relevant, and every purchase decision – whether we’re talking a wedding suit or hiring a lawyer for that important commercial lawsuit – is sure to be taken after consulting with the World Wide Web – reading and collecting reviews on the products of interests, probing the popular wisdom on various crowdsourced portals, and so on. It’s not that things have changed in the way humankind functions: in the old days you’d go to the village wise men and ask for advice. Nowadays, you go to Google Reviews, Yelp or WOLEP so that you find the best lawyer to win your case. And the COVID-19 pandemic, which is unfortunately underway as you’re reading this, has only made the trend an inescapable reality: we’re spending more and more time working and buying and, yes, employing lawyers or doing business as lawyers where? You guessed it – ONLINE!

To put it jokingly, only dinosaurs didn’t have a personal website – and they have become extinct!

All of this is supported by a plethora of data. For example, according to a Nasdaq forecast in 2017, by the year 2040, as much as 95% of shopping will be facilitated by eCommerce. Furthermore, the world of e-commerce is growing at a great pace and is expected to hit 4.48 trillion US dollars in 2021. (Spocket, 2018). The internet has also gone viral because of its “always on” nature: 58% of people reported to shop online because of the ability to shop 24/7. Does that give you, as a lawyer or a law firm, a competitive advantage across the industry? Of course it does. It gives you a tremendous advantage, which will only be bolstered by your membership in the WOLEP network.

By the year 2040, 95% of shopping will be done online. That applies to legal services too

What is more, social media has completely changed the landscape in which professionals in various industries, including legal, navigate and do business. For example, In 2019, 30% of shoppers were open to buying products from social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook or Instagram (according to Disruptive Advertising). In addition, almost 80% of people declare that they have received advice via social media about a product or service to purchase. And although as much as 83% of buyers don’t trust advertising, at the same time most trust recommendations they find online. Digging a little more, no less than 86% of women turn to social networks before making a purchase. (Alist Daily).

Let’s delve deeper, though, shall we? According to Campaign Monitor, creating segmented email campaigns can result in a 760% increase in revenue to your business. At the same time, as much as 86% of consumers reported that they would like to receive promotional emails from companies they do business with on at least a monthly basis (Statista). Do you know how many email users there are in 2020? 4.03 billion, with the number projected to be 4.5 billion in 2024.

The importance of online reviews for lawyers

Now that we’ve established that setting up shop online is critical and highly beneficial for a lawyer or a law firm in 2020, let’s talk a bit about online reviews. In this day and age, reviews are sure to be sought after by your clients before they decide if they want to do business with you. And that goes for lawyers too. According to a Broadly.com analysis,

Online reviews are the new word of mouth, so if you want to have a successful law practice, you need to make sure that you have plenty of reviews across social media platforms and search engines.

Let’s see now how online reviews impact your law practice:

• 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
• 75% of consumers seeking an attorney over the last year used online resources at some point in the process
• 65% found the ratings and reviews to be extremely or moderately influential in their decision
• 90% said yes, they would still hire a lawyer if they had mostly positive reviews, but also some negative reviews online
• 7 out of 10 people will leave a review if they are asked
• Most employed review sites for lawyers as of 2020: Google Reviews, Facebook Reviews, Yelp, Avvo – and now, WOLEP.com!

What lawyers do wrong online (and some tips to do it right, by WOLEP)

The legal industry has evolved and started to move online, but it’s still a far cry from exploiting its huge potential. Here are some stats (via 1seo.com) to make you ponder if you should do business online, as a lawyer living and working in 2020:

• 96% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine.
• Only 35% of law firm website designs have been updated in the last three years.
• 40% of small law firms don’t have websites.
• 97% of law firm websites fail to deliver any kind of personalized content.

This goes to show that joining a top-notch community of lawyers like WOLEP gives you a huge advantage to do business online.

We offer a hub for European lawyers to connect, share paid work and validate their professional worth via the projects they partake, the legal opinions they express and the validation of their work by clients’ reviews. We provide the tools to do business in a modern environment, and offer legal assistance in ways worthy of 2020. We also provide personalised branding services, which, as you’ve seen, are vital in the highly competitive legal arena of today. Learn more about WOLEP here.

Are you a legal eagle with a passion for collaboration? Join forces with other legal professionals and elevate your practice to the next level. Don't wait, sign up now to WOLEP and connect with like-minded lawyers today. Register your account here.