Annette Choti | Learn how AI is changing online research, website optimization, on-page behavior, and client expectations.
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Changes in technology and changes in human behavior to match are coming thick and fast. Here are five things to know about how AI is changing legal marketing, from changing client expectations to online research to website optimization.

AI and legal digital marketing — AI and Legal Digital Marketing: AI Is Changing How Clients Find Lawyers 2

Artificial intelligence is changing the law firm digital marketing game across a host of different platforms, tools and metrics. Read on to find out the top five things attorneys need to know to stay competitive and take advantage of the latest digital marketing trends.

1. AI Tools Are Changing How Online Research Works

We are already seeing a high degree of AI integration in traditional search engines such as Google and Bing, with AI-generated answers becoming the default result. This, along with the rise of AI search engines like ChatGTP and Perplexity, is giving digital marketing experts plenty of reason to expect more, not less, AI in search. Ultimately, AI will change how people research and hire lawyers. For example, as Zapier explains, the use of search engines that can interpret users’ queries and “remember” search context for follow-up questions is changing what users expect from search results. Features like this also appear to be changing the number of search results people actually pursue. Another change: AI can make it much easier for lawyer-client referral platforms to match lawyers to consumers who are seeking representation.

2. Optimizing Your Law Firm Website for Search Engines Still Matters

We can know with reasonable certainty that the same website optimization practices that have formed the bedrock of technical SEO in recent years will continue to matter. AI-assisted search may change how users interact with search engines but not the basic parameters search engine algorithms use to determine your site’s relevance. So, over the next year or so, expect current indicators of “site quality” to be at least as important as they have been for the past several years.

Some of the recognized measures of site quality, such as authority score, may even become more important. Site quality indicators likely have a significant impact on how AI search engines select the websites used for synthesized results and AI-generated answers. According to the reviewers at PC Mag, the best AI search engines show the sources used for their answers and provide links to the pages they have reviewed so users can dig deeper into those sites. Optimizing for AI-based search engines will become increasingly important.

3. On-Page Visitor Behavior Is Changing

While savvy (or especially impatient) “netizens” have long used the Edit > Find function offered by most standard web browsers to search individual site pages for a specific word or phrase, the most up-to-date AI-powered browsers can quickly scan entire websites and return the answer a site visitor is looking for, or direct the individual to the page and section most relevant to their search.

Over the past few years, a significant portion of the design philosophy behind business websites of all kinds has been about getting visitors to spend more time on site pages and guiding visitors toward making contact. (Average time per visit, or duration, is a commonly cited factor in those all-important search engine page rankings.) Thanks to AI, law firms can expect to see reductions in the duration of site visits because people won’t need to spend as much time locating the answers to their questions. However, firms may also see fewer visitors leaving in frustration without taking action.

The integration of AI tools with web browsers is likely to change how the average visitor interacts with a law firm website, so be prepared to adapt to changing browsing habits.

The “sales funnel” approach that has been at the cutting edge of business website design for the past few years may be especially “at risk” as those browsing habits shift. So, set your firm up for success by watching for changes in the time your visitors spend on your website’s individual pages and the percentage of visitors who take action while on any page. You or your digital marketing agency can use that information to make adjustments to your site’s layout as AI browsing trends develop.

4. Site Visitor Expectations Are Changing, Too

Page layout and site navigation are not the only factors to consider when evaluating your law firm website’s UX (user experience). Increasingly, visitors to business websites expect to be greeted with the convenience of live “chatbot” options. You can capitalize on this expectation shift by adding chat options on your site with a high-quality, generative AI interface.

Keep in mind that you may want to limit the types of questions the AI chatbot can answer. Even the most advanced generative AI tool is not a practicing attorney, so you’ll want to establish parameters that help the chatbot recognize when a site visitor’s query is “above its pay grade” — so to speak! Then, instead of just assuming visitors with complex or legally-specific questions will just become “lost leads,” work with your digital marketing and website team to establish protocols that guide the visitors toward sending an email with those types of questions (possibly with drafting assistance!) or booking a call.

5. Content Marketing Is Still King

Longtime readers and those who follow me on social media will know I have been beating this drum for years. That’s because it continues to be true! Even the seismic shifts we are seeing in how users find and connect with lawyers today, with AI search tools, “legal matchmaking” solutions and generative chatbots, do not change this truth. In fact, they underscore the importance of leading with informative content that demonstrates your legal expertise while making complex topics understandable to people who are using AI tools to search for legal services.

Integrating AI chatbots (with appropriate precautions), updating your law firm’s site navigation and page layouts, tweaking technical SEO, and re-evaluating the impact of authority score on your SEO strategy are all important steps to consider over the next several months.

However, every single one of these steps will yield more bang for your law firm’s digital marketing buck if you decide to lead with content marketing and maintain up-to-date, SEO-friendly content across all your platforms.

The Only Constant Is Change

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when the updates in technology — and changes in human behavior to match — are coming thick and fast. Try to remember that people are still just people, and tools are still just tools. Today, just like yesterday, people are mostly looking for the path of least resistance as they seek answers to their burning questions. Anything you can do to make the path to your law office a clear route to answers — and a road that is well-marked and easy to follow — is going to increase the number of prospective clients who find your law firm website and make contact.

The rapid uptake of AI tools is changing the how — not the what or the why.

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AI and Legal Digital Marketing: AI Is Changing How Clients Find Lawyers

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