How can we stop paying large referral fees for new cases and clients?

At ApricotLaw, we speak to dozens of attorneys each month and lately, we’ve been hearing the following question more often: 

How can we cut out the middleman, get new clients and cases directly, and stop paying these large referral fees (33% in some cases)?

This question typically comes from attorneys with well-established law firms that get most of their new business from referrals and have to pay a large chunk of the revenue out in referral fees. 

Let’s say, for example, your law firm has been in business since 1965. Today, you’re regularly getting new cases referred to you by newer firms that seem to have the marketing side of things down. They’re the ones people are calling first and then they, the newer, less experienced attorney, is farming the cases out to bigger, more-experienced firms like yours.

The problem is these referred cases are expensive and these referral sources can dry up overnight and without notice. 

There are a number of ways to obtain these leads and cases directly at a lower cost per acquisition and more reliably than referrals.

So how can you solve this problem and become the lead source?

To start getting more cases and clients directly so you can stop paying referral fees and stop relying on referrals for new business, you need to find a lead generation strategy that works for your law firm. 

Let’s discuss two possible solutions – Google Organic SEO and Google Ads, or Pay-Per-Click, Advertising

The most cost effective strategy for law firms is organic search engine optimization, or SEO, and content marketing.

A content-driven SEO strategy allows you to invest a reasonable amount each month that will, over time, pay you a recurring dividend of incoming leads, clients and cases.

The most reliable lead generation strategy for law firms is paid search via Google Ads.

The upside to paid search advertising is you can expect leads to start coming in within the first 30 to 60 days.

The downsides to paid search ads are:

• A large investment from the beginning and 
• The minute you stop paying is the minute they stop producing.

For a personal injury firm, for example, you might pay $1,500 to $2,000 per qualified, booked appointment. But, depending on your firm’s goals and timeline, this might be a viable option that’s still less expensive than paying for referrals.

SEO has its downsides, too. The two major downsides of organic SEO are:

• It can take between 3 and 6 months to start generating calls and
• You’re still relying on a platform that you don’t own that can change in an instant and without notice.

Other platforms (Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, etc) share this fickle characteristic. 

Regardless of the platform you choose to use, the goal is to build a house list of prospects and buyers that you can help, serve, and add value to as quickly as possible so you’re never reliant on any one platform.

And the most effective platform (because you can build at your own pace, the traffic continues to come in even if you stop investing in it, the cost per acquisition should be lower than Google Ads / PPC in the long run, and you can use the content produced for dozens of other purposes) is organic search engine optimization and content marketing.

Outside of the benefits listed above, I believe SEO and content marketing are effective because, with the right content, you can be extremely useful to people before (and sometimes without ever) meeting them. You can help your ideal client avoid dangers, seize opportunities, and solve their problems and challenges. And I believe the person or company that does this best will always win.

Again, if you have a slightly longer timeframe, d might be a way for you to, over time, start replacing some of your referrals with cases you generate on your own.

If you decide to invest in a long-term SEO campaign for your website, what’s the plan of action?

There are two trust factors Google looks at when deciding whether or not to “refer” a visitor to you or to one of your competitor’s websites instead.

These two factors have been in place since Google’s inception. Yes, the weight that Google places on each factor has changed, but the factors themselves have not changed. 

These two trust factors are CONTENT and LINKS (other websites pointing to yours as the authority on a topic).

The third factor would be technical website factors preventing people from using your website. But, assuming your website is not riddled with errors and people can actually use your site, the two factors are content and links.

Right now, content is more important than links. 

The site TopSEOFactors.com shares up-to-date information from the company’s SEO software, CORA, which looks for a correlation between top-ranking websites and ranking factors. At the time that I’m typing this, the software measures 129,488 SEO Factors on countless websites across the internet and “The Cora Shared Data contains over 300 million SEO factor measurements and grows hourly.”

For the first time since I’ve been following this, there are no link related factors in the top 10 (first one is at number 11) and 8 of the top 10 factors are content related.

See screenshot…

Please note that Numbers 14 and 16 are “Number of Top 100 Shared Factors Used” and “Number of Top 200 Shared Factors Used.” That means that Google’s algorithm will never look at just one or a few factors. So focusing on the number of words published on your website, for example, will probably not help you much in and of itself.

Once your website becomes the go-to source of information for your ideal prospects and clients, Google (and other search engines) will begin sending these visitors to you instead of to the younger, less-experienced attorney down the road.

Conversely, if your website is very thin on content, what reason does Google have to refer its searchers to you? 

If Google did send visitors to you and many of these visitors immediately “bounced,” that wouldn’t look very good on Google. They sent someone to your business and that person returned with their questions unanswered. Next time around, Google will send those visitors to a different website that does a better job of answering their questions.

Steps to Growing Your Website Into a Topical Authority…

So you can cut out the middleman, start attracting new leads, clients, and cases directly, and avoid paying some of these referral fees.

• Brainstorm all of the questions your ideal client would have about their current problem or challenge
• Brainstorm all the “lawyer” keywords you’d love to rank for
• Brainstorm all of the reasons someone would choose NOT to work with you so you can address these obstacles and objections up front AND so you can disqualify bad-fit people
• Download your top competitors’ sitemaps to see what pages and posts are on their site
• Start producing, publishing, and sharing content around these topics
• Build a habit of producing high-quality content at your law firm

This strategy will take care of the content factors directly. And the useful content you produce will naturally attract links from other websites.

Once your website is filled with useful content, you’ll likely have plenty of people contacting your law firm for help. 

And, at that point, if you want to supercharge the process and scale this thing, you can go out and find big authority websites to link to you and your content. When done in this order, links will be like pouring gasoline into a fire.

Below is a big list of keywords and topics to get you started. These are for a personal injury attorney’s website. If you are an attorney who focuses on a different area of law, use this list as an idea generator to make a list relevant to your practice area. Make notes. Markdown topics and keywords your law firm does not want to handle. Add new topics that come to mind as you review this list.

QUESTIONS 

• How do I choose the best personal injury attorney?
• What should I look for in a personal injury lawyer?
• Questions to ask a personal injury lawyer?
• How much will it cost to hire a personal injury attorney?
  • How do personal injury attorneys get paid – contingency fees vs. hourly rates?
• What is the average settlement amount for my type of injury?
  • What kind of compensation can I expect for my injuries?
• How long does a personal injury lawsuit take to settle?
• What steps are involved in filing a personal injury claim?
• What should I do immediately after an accident to strengthen my personal injury case?
• What are the common mistakes to avoid when filing a personal injury claim?
• What documents and evidence do I need to gather for my personal injury case?
• How do insurance companies calculate settlement offers?
• What types of injuries qualify for a personal injury lawsuit?
• How can I prove the other party’s negligence in my case?
• What should I do if the insurance company denies my claim?
• What is the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit in my state?
• How can I maximize my personal injury settlement?
• What role do medical records play in a personal injury case?
• Can I handle my personal injury claim without an attorney?
• How do I deal with medical bills while waiting for my settlement?

Buyer Intent Keywords

• Personal Injury Lawyer
• Truck Accident Lawyer
• Accident Lawyer
• Injury Lawyer
• Wrongful Death Lawyer
• Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
• Slip And Fall Lawyer
• Premises Liability Lawyer
• Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
• Medical Malpractice Lawyer
• Dog Bite Lawyer
• Bicycle Accident Lawyer
• Taxi Accident Lawyer
• Bus Accident Lawyer
• Uber Accident Lawyer
• Construction Accident Lawyer
• Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
• Sexual Abuse Lawyer
• Burn Injury Lawyer
• Sexual Assault Lawyer
• Birth Injury Lawyer
• Negligence Lawyer
• 18 Wheeler Accident Lawyer
• Car Accident Lawyer
  • Car Accident Claims
    • How to make a car accident insurance claim
    • Can you make a car accident claim without a police report?
    • How to check your RAF claim
    • Can you make a car accident claim without insurance?
  • After a Car Accident
    • What to do after a car accident that wasn’t your fault?
    • How to prove you’re not at fault in a car accident?
    • How long should I be sore after a car accident?
  • Types of Car Accident Injuries
    • Amputation
    • Concussions and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) – Head injuries resulting from impact or violent shaking.
    • Spinal Cord Injuries – Damage to the spinal cord that can lead to partial or complete paralysis.
    • Whiplash – Neck injury caused by sudden jerking motion
    • Broken Bones – Fractures of arms, legs, ribs, or other bones.
    • Internal Injuries – Damage to organs such as the lungs, liver, spleen, or kidneys.
    • Cuts and Lacerations – Injuries caused by broken glass, metal, or other debris.
    • Bruises and Contusions – Blood vessel damage leading to bruising.
    • Soft Tissue Injuries – Damage to muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
    • Burns – Caused by contact with hot surfaces, chemicals, or fires resulting from the accident.
    • Psychological Injuries – Mental trauma such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or anxiety.
  • Causes of Car Accidents
    • Speeding
      • The effects of speeding on reaction time
      • The consequences of speeding in urban areas
      • The risks of speeding in adverse weather conditions
      • The role of speeding in fatal accidents
      • The reasons why drivers speed
      • The importance of obeying speed limit signs
      • The benefits of defensive driving to avoid speeding accidents
    • Tailgating
      • Common reasons why drivers tailgate other vehicles
      • Tailgating and its impact on car injuries
      • The dangers of tailgating in different weather conditions
      • How tailgating contributes to rear-end collisions
      • Ways to prevent tailgating and promote safe driving habits
      • Legal consequences of tailgating and reckless driving
    • Distracted Driving
      • Distracted driving laws in Florida
      • Causes of distracted driving
      • Distracted driving statistics 
    • Drunk Driving
      • Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and its effect on driving
      • Drunk driving laws in Florida
      • Drunk driving statistics 
      • What happens if you get caught drinking under 21 in Florida?
    • Aggressive Driving
      • Contributing Factors To Aggressive Driving
      • Signs you’re an aggressive driver
      • Aggressive driving statistics 

ApricotLaw’s Layered Momentum Technology

It’s best to build content for this list in layers – Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3.

This is part of Apricot’s Layered Momentum Technology. 

Layer 1 will cover the questions and the 3 – 5 buyer intent keywords you most want to rank for.

Layer 2 will cover the rest of the buyer intent keywords you’d like to rank for.

Layer 3 is about going deep into each topic until each one is covered in great detail. In the above list, if you want to rank for car accident-related terms, you’d publish articles and posts on the subtopics under “car accident lawyer.”

Once you believe you’ve covered that topic better than any other website has, move on to the next big topic and go deep there. For example, that could be “wrongful death lawyer” or “truck accident lawyer.”

Doing this out of order or in a random order will lead to slow progress and frustration. Layering trust will ensure you’re seeing progress and results along the way, and you’re not spending all your time and energy on terms that are “out of your league.”

You’re starting to get some traffic; now what?

Calls are starting to trickle in from your content marketing and SEO efforts. Now what?

There are holes in your marketing funnel that need to be filled.

Most of your website visitors will come and go without taking action. You don’t know who these people are and for some reason, they moved on without contacting you. 

Remember the number one goal?

The goal is to build a house list of prospects and buyers that you can help, serve, and add value to as quickly as possible so you’re not reliant on any one platform.

Ways to follow up and capture a portion of the people that don’t call you right away

Retargeting / Remarketing Campaigns

After placing a few lines of code on your website, you can advertise to your visitors on other sites they visit after yours. 

The best part is you will pay a fraction of what you’d normally pay to advertise to these people because they are considered your visitors.

Newsletter / Email Marketing Campaigns

Give away something of value in exchange for someone’s email address

Our favorite thing to use as a “lead magnet” is a book we published on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. 

I can’t think of another tool that has dramatically improved our company’s perception in the eyes of our target audience than the book has. 

People used to get on initial consultations with us skeptically and with their walls up. 

Now they get on calls with us and are more receptive to what we have to say. Now, they look to us as the experts that can help solve their biggest challenges. 

Start capturing people’s information on your website by giving away something useful.

Capture information about people simply because they visited a website

This is brand new and cutting edge. Not many people know about this, and not many people have done it yet. 

We now can gather people’s information (from other sites they’ve opted into) simply because they’ve visited your website or other websites in search of information related to your practice areas.

Simply adding website visitors’ names and email addresses to a database might be the fastest way to build your in-house list to date. Take advantage of this before other people figure it out.

How to reach more people with the same content

At this point, you have a good amount of content on your website. 

You can take that content and turn it into different formats for use on different platforms. 

In other words, repurpose and reuse the content published on your website. 

This way, you can reach your prospect however he or she likes to consume content. 

Some people would rather watch a video or listen to audio than reading text on a screen. 

Or they might consume content in bed, and reading the screen keeps their spouse up. So video and audio are better options for them. 

Some people prefer YouTube over Google Search. 

Turning one piece of content into a dozen different versions will cast a wider net and reach more people.

Here are a few formats to consider:

• Text-Based Article
• Video (Long Form and Short Form)
• Audio, Podcast
• Graphics, Memes, Infographics
• Slide Deck

How much should I invest in my long-term SEO campaign?

How much to invest is a topic that warrants a long, dedicated article of its own. 

Here are a few things to consider when determining a budget for your long-term SEO campaign.

Set a budget that you can consistently stick with for at least 2 years. 

Once you start seeing results, don’t stop. These results are often the tip of the iceberg.

Focus on creating content that’s helpful to your ideal client. You can always optimize useful content for search. It’s much harder to make content that is only optimized for search useful.

Useful content can do a lot of the SEO work for you by attracting visitors, driving engagement, and attracting links.

Focus on publishing as much useful content as possible with the budget you set for yourself. 

Once you start signing cases and clients from your website, increase the monthly budget as long as you are committed to sticking with this new, larger budget. 

Use the increased budget to ramp up content production and start building high-quality, authority links. Some of the best links can only be obtained by paying the website owner for access to their site. 

The monthly budget will determine how much content you can produce and, therefore, how quickly you can start seeing results and the magnitude of those results.

Most search queries are long (5 words or more) and not your most coveted “lawyer” search terms. This means you can attract visitors in any market, even the most competitive markets like personal injury, with a reasonable yet consistent monthly budget.

Do you disagree with anything I covered in this post? Click through to the YouTube video embedded above and leave a comment.

Either way, thanks for visiting our blog – Nick Kringas