Mastering LinkedIn: A Guide for Lawyers to Amplify Their Practice, Build Influential Connections and Win New Clients

This informal CPD article ‘Mastering LinkedIn: A Guide for Lawyers,’ was provided by Melanie Goodman at Trevisan, a trusted social media and online marketing agency, providing strategic solutions focused on the legal and financial services markets.

10 Essential Best Practices to Boost Your Visibility and Credibility in 2023

As a legal professional, your reputation and visibility are crucial to your success. While word-of-mouth referrals and face-to-face networking are important, LinkedIn offers a powerful platform to showcase your expertise, build your professional network, and attract new clients. In this article, I'll share 10 essential best practices that will help you leverage LinkedIn to boost your visibility and credibility in 2023.

Importance of LinkedIn for lawyers and solicitors

A large percentage of your clientele is built through referrals and word of mouth recommendations. This can include referrals from barristers and legal professionals in other practice areas as well as other professionals. Building a strong network with these professionals on LinkedIn optimises the barristers’ chances (particularly those who are starting out in their career) of getting referrals.

An official LinkedIn blog suggests that each new connection on the platform could further connect a professional to 400 new people¹ Not surprisingly, 80 percent of LinkedIn users believe professional networking is crucial for success. While the platform offers connection suggestions based on your profile and interests, barristers can start professional conversations by reaching out to those who have viewed their profile.

According to 2023 estimates, there are 960 million users of LinkedIn, out of which 20 million are in the U.K.² The average connections per user is 930, that includes business accounts with millions of connections. UK is one of the top three countries in the world that is the most connected on LinkedIn, while London is the most connected city on the platform. Legal professionals looking to build their practice can richly benefit from building their network on LinkedIn in 2023.

1. Setting up your LinkedIn profile

In an increasingly digital world, building and maintaining an online presence and reputation is vital. More than ever, your potential clients are spending time on researching your firm or your reputation as a barrister before they make a decision to consult you.

A growing number of professionals, including lawyers in all practice areas, have profiles on LinkedIn. Building your personal brand on LinkedIn can give you or your firm a distinct competitive edge. Focusing on polishing your LinkedIn profile can be an effective SEO strategy as your page can show up on search engine results if someone is looking for barrister services in the area. Sharing content on LinkedIn helps you get valuable backlinks that strengthen your website’s SEO.

A Hubspot study found that LinkedIn, as compared to other social media platforms, is 27 percent more effective at lead generation³. Optimise your profile for internal and external SEO. This increases your visibility inside the platform when users search for solicitor and law firm-related keywords. Your profile will also be ranked higher on search engines like Google.  

This all sounds extremely techy and “unlawyerlike” but can actually achieved by taking a few simple practical steps on LinkedIn. A well-crafted LinkedIn profile is the foundation of your online presence. It is essential to ensure that your profile is complete, up-to-date, and professional. When setting up your LinkedIn profile, consider the following best practices:

• Choose a professional profile picture that reflects your personal brand and industry and rename your photo file with your role and niche e.g. Employment-lawyer.jpeg
• Craft a compelling headline that summarises your expertise and experience in 220 characters.
• Write a concise and engaging About section that highlights your unique value proposition.
• List your relevant skills and endorsements and add these to your About section – LI shows people your top 3 skills first!
• Include your work experience, education, and relevant certifications.
• Customise your LinkedIn URL. 

2. Crafting an attention-grabbing headline and About section that ranks high in search engines

Your headline and summary are the first things that potential clients and recruiters will see when they visit your LinkedIn profile. It is essential to craft a compelling headline and summary that grab their attention and showcase your expertise. When crafting your headline and summary, consider the following best practices:

• Use keywords that are relevant to your industry and expertise.
• Highlight your unique value proposition and what sets you apart from other legal professionals.
• Keep your summary concise and engaging.
• Use bullet points to break up your summary and make it easier to read.
• Include a call-to-action at the end of your summary to encourage potential clients to contact you – this should be in addition to the contact info tab. 

3. Showcasing your legal expertise and experience

LinkedIn provides an opportunity to showcase your legal expertise and experience to potential clients and recruiters. Posting the right type of content is crucial:

The most relevant content is customised to your audience. They are looking for insight and thought-leadership (not self-promotion). Items like white papers, checklists, how-to guides, and industry updates are helpful to your audience and will encourage them to follow you. For a few ideas to get you started, think about material that begins with “X ways to”, “The future of…”, or “What to do when….”. To effectively showcase your expertise, consider the following best practices:

• Share case studies, white papers, and other relevant content that demonstrates your expertise.
• Use multimedia such as videos and images to showcase your work.
• Share your legal insights and opinions on relevant industry topics.
• Use LinkedIn Pulse (as it was known!) and newsletters to publish articles on topics that are relevant to your expertise.
• Use LinkedIn's professional portfolio feature to showcase your work.
• Utilise services pages: As well as having a company page, LinkedIn Service Pages are dedicated landing pages that showcase your services as an individual at no cost, which operate on a request and proposal model. Additionally, potential clients can contact providers for free, regardless of connection degree - You can also gain reviews from clients here - have you claimed yours yet?! 

4. Building a strong network of connections

Building a strong network of connections is essential to your success on LinkedIn. To build your network, consider the following best practices:

• Upgrade to LinkedIn (Sales Navigator Core – we are not affiliated!) to build spot on target lists to invite.
• Connect with other legal professionals in your industry.
• Join relevant LinkedIn groups and participate in discussions.
• Attend legal industry events and conferences and connect with other attendees.
• Use LinkedIn's advanced search feature to find potential clients and industry leaders.
• Send personalised connection requests that highlight your shared interests and goals.

5. Recommendations and endorsements

Recommendations and endorsements are powerful tools on LinkedIn that can help boost your credibility and attract potential clients. To effectively use recommendations and endorsements, consider the following best practices:

• Ask former clients and colleagues to write recommendations for you.
• Endorse the skills and expertise of other legal professionals in your network.
•  Ask for endorsements from other legal professionals in your network.
• Use LinkedIn's recommendation feature to showcase your recommendations on your profile. 

6. Engaging with your LinkedIn network

Engaging with your LinkedIn network is critical to building relationships and establishing yourself as an expert in your field. To effectively engage with your network, consider the following best practices:

• Comment on and share relevant industry news and content – use #hashtags to find relevant conversations.
• Respond promptly to comments and messages from your network.
• Participate in discussions in relevant LinkedIn groups.
• Use LinkedIn's InMail feature to send personalised messages to potential clients.
• Host or participate in LinkedIn events to connect with other professionals. 

7. Creating and sharing valuable content

Creating and sharing valuable content is a powerful way to showcase your expertise and attract potential clients.

Video is shared 20 times more as compared to other content forms on LinkedIn. More than 300 million videos are watched per year by LinkedIn users. Video posts not only are more likely to generate a conversation but also drive three times more engagement than texts.

Posting educational or inspirational stories through videos on LinkedIn is the best way to leverage the platform. This can help generate focused conversations around your practice, services, advice and insights.

Solicitors can also create a video to tell the story behind their practice or to give a brief explanation behind what made them take up the profession. Adding some relevant text below the video can help attract more people toward the video post. The platform is built for professionals and businesses who are looking to promote their venture. You can also create videos that answer FAQs, explain the complexities of certain cases or talk about the services you offer.

To effectively create and share content, consider the following best practices:

• Share relevant industry news and insights.
• Use multimedia such as videos and images to make your content more engaging.
• Publish articles on LinkedIn Pulse that demonstrate your expertise.
• Use hashtags to improve the visibility of your content.
• Share your content with relevant LinkedIn groups and your professional network.

8. Joining relevant LinkedIn groups

Joining relevant LinkedIn groups is a valuable way to connect with other legal professionals and engage with your target audience. To effectively use LinkedIn groups, consider the following best practices:

• Join relevant legal industry groups.
• Participate in discussions and answer questions in groups that are relevant to your expertise.
• Share your content with relevant groups.
• Use LinkedIn's group search feature to find relevant groups to join.
• Create your own LinkedIn group to establish yourself as a thought leader in your field. 

9. Using LinkedIn for business development and client acquisition

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for business development and client acquisition. To effectively use LinkedIn for business development, consider the following best practices:

• Use LinkedIn's advanced search feature to find potential clients.
• Send personalised messages to potential clients.
• Share your content with potential clients.
• Connect with other legal professionals who may be able to refer clients to you.
• Use LinkedIn's advertising platform to target potential clients. 

10. Staying up-to-date with LinkedIn's latest features and updates

LinkedIn is constantly evolving, and it is essential to stay up-to-date with the latest features and updates. To stay up-to-date, consider the following best practices:

• Follow LinkedIn's official blog to learn about the latest updates.
• Attend LinkedIn events and webinars to learn about new features and best practices.
• Connect with other legal professionals who are using LinkedIn to learn from their experiences.
• Experiment with new features and strategies to see what works best for you.
• Use LinkedIn's help center to get answers to your questions. 

Conclusion and next steps for boosting your visibility and credibility on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for legal professionals to showcase their expertise, build their professional network, and attract new clients. By following the best practices outlined in this article, you can boost your visibility and credibility on LinkedIn in 2023. Whether you are just getting started with LinkedIn or looking to take your presence to the next level, these tips will help you establish yourself as an expert in your field and attract new clients.

We hope this article was helpful. For more information from Trevisan, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively, you can go to the CPD Industry Hubs for more articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.

References

1. https://techjury.net/blog/linkedin-statistics/
2. https://www.businessofapps.com/data/linkedin-statistics/
3. https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30030/linkedin-277-more-effective-for-lead-generation-than-facebook-twitter-new-data.aspx