On-line promotion is finally making an impact on the global legal profession with the percentage of law firm marketing budgets devoted to web sites slightly exceeding business sector averages, according to research released today, reports Global Legal Post.

The survey of business law firms from six global jurisdictions shows that on average practices allocated 38 per cent of their annual marketing budgets to on-line promotion, exceeding by 2 per cent the wider average for business generally.
Nonetheless, a significant body of law firms is still unsure of the value of web site activity, especially in relation to generating work. The survey – conducted by legal sector information provider LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell – showed that despite devoting considerable resource to on-line marketing some 36 per cent of firms said their web sites failed to support lead generation.
Lead generation
Despite those conflicting statistics, the researchers hailed the findings as evidence that the global business law profession was coming to terms with cyber-marketing. LexisNexis’s senior digital marketing manager, Steve Corney, said the survey illustrated how ‘the legal industry is finally recognising the role and importance of on-line content in lead generation’.
The research also found that lawyer profiles were far and away the most visited pages of their web sites. Pages detailing practice and sector area expertise came next with lawyer-authored ‘thought leadership’ articles and case histories following. More than 70 per cent of firms tracked content use on their web sites.
The study also showed that on average law firms redesigned their web sites every two to three years.