Few small law firms are taking advantage of all of these proven lawyer marketing tactics, even though several of them are free.

Many small law offices and solos are well behind small businesses in moving into the digital marketing arena. Perhaps that is because lawyers learn to be skeptical of claims … whatever their type and source.

Here are some of the more effective lawyer marketing options available on the internet. We recommend you try several, giving each tactic a few months to begin delivering benefits. All the techniques have worked; the only question is whether they will pay dividends for your practice in your geographic region.

1. OPTIMIZATION BY CAUSE OF ACTION. A rarely used but highly effective approach for putting more Google real estate under your name is to add articles to your website that are specific to particular case scenarios.

Unless your city or geographic region is ultra-competitive, you should be able to put your website at the top of Google page one for multiple types of cases simply by drafting enough properly-keyworded articles for each one chosen. For example, consider the phrase “car accident lawyer.” Simply by writing several 400-500 word articles with your city and that phrase in the headline and text should within 3-4 weeks put your website near the top of Google page one for those searches.

I can hear the objections already. “It will take me forever to cover all the types of injury cases I handle.” “I draw clients from too many cities to follow this strategy.” Yes, for comprehensive coverage this strategy requires a lot of writing. But you can cut the job down to doable size by cherry-picking cities and types of cases. Write for only the largest cities in your region and target the most common fact patterns.

2. PAY-PER-CLICK ADS. If you haven’t done so already, you will want to test both Google and Facebook ads. Run two different ads simultaneously, and keep trying to beat the best-performing ad. You will find that small wording differences can make a big difference. Using a landing page containing a case submission form, 800 number, and minimal text will bring better results than linking the ads to your law firm’s website.

3. REFERRAL REMINDERS. You should be continually gathering names and contact information of potential referral sources. Current clients, past clients, office neighbors, vendors … anyone who knows you is a candidate. Stay in regular contact with this group. You can send them letters, legal alerts, newsletters, post cards, etc. What is most important is staying top of mind. When a referral opportunity arises, you want to be the lawyer who is suggested.

4. GOOGLE PLACES. Google devotes a meaningful amount of page space to their local listings. If your region does not have strong web competition, you may be able to obtain good Google Places position simply by taking a few minutes to register your firm. However, if your specialty and city are competitive, more will be required.

Optimizing for Google Places is different than optimizing for Google organic. For Places, you want to be consistently listed in a lot of directories. For organic, you want keyworded content and inbound links.

5. DIGITAL TESTIMONIALS. If permitted in your state, you should have recommendations on Google Places, Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Avvo. Those comments can come from clients, attorneys, and vendors.

It is easy to obtain a regular flow of positive client comments. Draft a review sheet that asks your clients to rate your services and provide short comments about what they liked and did not like about their experience. Consider a 1-5 rating system that targets several areas important to clients: compassionate listening, regular communication, explanation of the legal process, strong representation, etc. Provide blanks for comments and suggestions. Supply a check box that gives you permission to use their comments, either anonymously or not. At the beginning of each relationship, state that you will seek five minutes of feedback upon completion of your legal services and then do so.

Post the positive comments everywhere you have a digital presence. Use the negative comments to improve your practice.