The 7 Best Marketing Books of All Time (2023 Must Reads)
Marketing is an ever evolving industry. Trends come and go, tactics change, and technology keeps evolving. However, our team believes the underlying principles of marketing are long-lasting. That's why we are sharing our all-time favorite must-reads, 7 books we think are the best for marketers.
These books were meticulously written by authors and researchers who spent countless hours researching, writing and putting together the most useful information for marketers and businesses. Although there are a lot of resources and blogs you can read online to educate yourself, nothing will ever beat a good book that holds timeless knowledge.
If you are looking to expand your marketing knowledge – here are our 7 picks for the best marketing books to turn you into a kick-ass marketer.
1. Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen – By Donald Miller
“In every line of copy we write, we’re either serving the customer’s story or descending into confusion; we’re either making music or making noise.”
We’re all familiar with the effect of storytelling. A great story can impact people by giving them a new or changed perspective. It works for almost everything, especially marketing.
Donald Miller’s Building a Story Brand gives business and marketing leaders proven solutions. It’s packed with useful information that provides readers with a practical step-by-step guide to Miller’s Story Brand 7 framework. The guide shows how you can implement these steps in your marketing operations in order to make your company's message it clear, concise, and emotionally engaging for your customers. It’s a revolutionary and timeless method that will truly give your business an edge and advantage against the competition.
Miller also reveals the secret to helping your customers understand what they gain from buying your products or services in the most compelling way possible. It’s all based on the psychology of how humans perceive and empathize with our product or service offerings through storytelling.
This book is our number one read at Just Digital. Anyone can benefit from this book, no matter the industry. It will change the way you bring value to your customers forever.
2. The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd – By Allan Dib
“Focusing on the cause (value) rather than the effect (making money) will lead to much greater long-term success.”
The 1-Page Marketing Plan is a must-read for start-up founders, small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to grow their business. It can be difficult and daunting to create and implement your own marketing plan when you have so many other things to manage. Allan Dib's 1-Page Marketing Plan breaks down the process of creating one into small chunks to make the process easier.
The book is essentially a compilation of different marketing ideas and resources that Dib categorizes into a nine-step model.
Dib's nine-step model talks about user persona, value proposition, acquisition channels, nurturing systems, LTV strategies, CAC thoughts and recurrence. The nine-step model is then categorized into three major sections, the before phase, the during phase, and the after phase to give entrepreneurs a real step-by-step guide.
It’s an extraordinary read, especially if you’re a starting and managing your own business. This book thoughtfully compiles key marketing advice scattered throughout the internet and in different books that would’ve otherwise taken many years to read.
3. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition - By Robert B. Cialdini, PH.D.
“A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor, we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.”
People who understand how to influence and persuade others make great business leaders and marketers. They have the power to get people’s attention, hold it, and get them to respond favorably.
If you want your company to flourish, you will need this skill. This book will teach you the six universal principles of influence and apply it to your business and everyday situations. At the end of the book, you’ll be able to understand how your customers think and perceive your brand.
We’d rate this book a five out of five! It’s interesting, and it breaks down psychology in a straightforward, comprehensible way.
4. DotCom Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Growing Your Company Online (1st Edition) – By Russel Brunson
“The problem is you can’t spend enough to acquire a customer, and the way to fix that problem is to fix your sales funnel.”
Dubbed as “The Underground Playbook For Growing Your Company Online,” ClickFunnels founder Russell Brunson shares his secrets to helping countless entrepreneurs grow their companies online.
The book gives you a clear vision who your business swerves, and why. As you read it, you will learn how to attract, obtain, and retain customers online, the goal of the majority of marketing managers and CMOs these days.
It’s perfect for companies and marketers that have a strong digital presence, or even for those who are looking to venture into the digital sphere. It has everything you need to launch a full online marketing campaign and more.
5. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE – By Phil Knight
“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
Bill Gates named this book as one of his top five favorite books in 2016, and we think it's still worth reading today!
It won't give a rundown of marketing, nor the secrets and strategies to accomplishing success for your business. If you’re looking for that, this isn’t the book for you.
Instead, you get a real look at the struggle and story of one of the most successful companies in the world and what it took to get to the top. This book will teach you life lessons and might even leave you in tears.
Shoe Dog is a must-read, not only for marketers and entrepreneurs, but for everyone. You’ll end the book feeling inspired, and you’ll gain a different perspective of what makes a brand successful.
6. How to Write Copy That Sells: The Step-By-Step System for More Sales, to More Customers, More Often – By Ray Edwards
“By the time they’re done with your copy, they need to see that the only way they can reasonably expect to get to that end state is… by using your product.”
Every marketer and business owner goes through a slump. We've all been through days when you get truly frustrated because no one seems to be listening to you or buying your products. If you’re currently suffering from that slump, or if you want to prevent it from happening, now is the perfect time to read this book.
This book will teach you how to write fast and effective copy without sounding too "salesy". The step-by-step guide demonstrates how you can write copy by presenting facts and using stories to get people to flock to your business.
By the end of this book, you will discover that you don’t have to trick people into buying your products or services. It’s a fun read, and we can assure you that you’ll get more than what you paid for from this book.
7. Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy – By Martin Lindstrom
“When we brand things, our brains perceive them as more special and valuable than they actually are.”
Why do you buy the things you buy? Why do you prefer one brand over another? These are questions you can find answers to in Buyology. The book gives you an in-depth look into influence and the factors that affect decision-making.
Understanding the factors that impact decision-making will teach you how to fully utilize the resources available, ultimately improving your marketing game.
In the book, Lindstrom shares experiments done with different brands and companies, as well as their results. Through these experiments, we can see the different approaches marketers make when persuading a consumer. Once you read it, you will understand how these factors influence consumers in a real life setting.
It’s a fast and fascinating read that uncovers how you can influence your market, and also uncover your own buying behavior.
*Bonus* The Client Acquisition Blueprint: A SIMPLE, Step-By-Step Blueprint For Creating an EPIC Marketing Strategy & Online Presence – By Hugo Fernandez
"Your ability to create value, communicate it, and exchange it will determine your success. In order to live out your dreams, you need to build and maintain the vehicle that honors the value formula."
As a bonus, we included our very own CEO and awesome human being Hugo Fernandez’s book.
If you want to learn the secret to predictable and sustainable growth for your company, this book is for you! Growing your business is no easy feat, it takes someone like Hugo who’s accomplished exactly that, to share his real life experiences and guide you through the process.
The book features an easy-to-follow blueprint that will help your business grow, no matter what your business is. At the end of the book, you’ll have a solid marketing strategy for your own business.
Conclusion
There are many marketing books out there, the ones in this list the best marketing books we've found so far. These books have given our team a variety of perspectives and insights on marketing. We hope they will offer you many lessons that you can apply to your marketing operations and companies, so make sure to add them to your reading list.
Our team is always looking to learn, and we know the list of great marketing books out there is longer than just seven. We’d love to hear your book recommendations, so please leave them in the comments below. And if you need help organizing your digital marketing operations and getting the best ROI make sure to contact us!
Google Display Ads Banner Sizes: A Quick Resource
Google display ads are everywhere! The question remains - does size matter? Well, we’re here to give you all the answers you need.
Any business that spends money on advertising would want to get a bigger return. These businesses would keep looking for tactics and strategies online, reading article after article, to ensure an increase in ROI.
One factor these businesses often overlook is the size of their ad. Google’s display ads network offers a variety of ad sizes for businesses to choose from, but which one should they use?
Google has more than 10 different Google display ad sizes to choose from, but which one will help you accomplish your goal? Do you go with banners or skyscrapers? It causes quite a lot of confusion.
To help you, we’ve created a quick resource you can use to look at all the sizes Google has to offer.
To start things off, let’s quickly define what google ads are.
What Are Google Display Ads?
Display ads are individual ad units like banners or videos/photo content on websites that do the obvious – advertise.
You’ll see these ads like banners, images, text, video, or animation on relevant third-party websites. It’s pretty much any kind of visual ad featured on a website.
For example:
What are Google Display Ad Sizes?
What are Google Display Ad Sizes?
Google ad sizes are basically the different sizes Google offers on AdSense. There are a variety of sizes to choose from to help businesses create ads that fit different website designs.
Each size has a different click-through rate, some are more popular than others. The size is also a factor that affects the price of your overall ad.
Choosing which ad size to use all depends on your goal. Are you advertising to gain website traffic? Smaller ad sizes are effective for this goal, plus they’re cheaper.
Larger ad sizes are often used by advertisers to help businesses who want higher click-through rates. The larger the ad, the higher the cost. Google argues that Google display ads are still effective, so it's important to know the best size to use for your business' purposes.
An Important Note About Photo Size in Google Display Ads
Google does not accept any photo size above 150kb. Here at just digital, we compress the images to ensure they're not over 150kb.
Does Google Display Ad Size Matter?
Here’s the reality, advertising online isn’t as simple as it seems. You can’t just design an ad and leave it alone, there are many factors to take into account – yes, that includes the size of the ad.
Size definitely does matter.
The thing is, on the Display Network, the websites that run your ads will be the ones to choose which size ad gets featured. If they want to only feature banner ads, then stop forcing that half-page ad to happen.
The wrong ad size will affect and limit the effectiveness of your campaigns, especially if you’re trying to target a specific market.
Studies have shown that some ads are just more effective than others.
From the table above, you can see how ad sizes: 336x280 and 300x600 have the highest click-through rates.
Now that you have a better understanding of the importance of ad size, let’s start discussing the most popular and effective ad sizes.
Want to know more about Google Ads? Feel free to reach out and ask any questions you might have.
Most Popular and Effective Google Display Ad Sizes
Medium Rectangle (300x250)
This ad size is known to work best when it is embedded within text content or at the end of articles. It also has a large supply of ad inventory on Google’s display network, the ad inventory especially increases when both image and text ads are enabled.
Large Rectangle (300x280)
The large rectangle ad is great for grabbing the attention of users, which increases the chances of getting clicks. It performs especially well when placed within an article or at the end. The ad size is just slightly bigger than the medium rectangle and also has an abundant supply of ad inventory.
Leaderboard (728x90)
This ad size is considered to be one of the most common Google ad sizes, and for a good reason. The leaderboard converts well when it’s located just above the main content of the page. It has a long horizontal width that helps increase the impact it makes on users, thus luring more and more users to click. Most businesses use this to display logos, brand names, and text.
Large Skyscraper or Half-Page (300x600)
This ad size is one of the fastest-growing sizes in terms of impressions. It takes up half the page and instantly grabs the attention of users. It stands out next to written content. Many advertisers prefer this ad size because of the benefits, it offers higher payouts for publishers and higher conversions for advertisers.
Large Mobile Banner (320x100)
Many advertisers choose this size because it’s twice the height of the standard “mobile leaderboard.”
Other Ad Sizes :
Horizontal Ad Sizes:
The next few ad sizes are not the most popular ones. These ad sizes have non-standard dimensions, thus making them hard to place on certain websites. Publishers would often skip on these ad sizes because of the size constraints, they would rather choose an ad size that has better inventory.
Billboard (970x250)
Banner (468x60)
Banner (468x60)
Half Banner (234x60)
Large Leaderboard (970x90)
Vertical Ad Sizes:
These types of ad sizes are also often skipped by publishers, this is mainly because publishers would prefer a wide, large skyscraper to effectively grab the user’s attention.
Vertical ad sizes are harder to work with because of their narrowness, it’s hard to fit in text and long sentences. This factor limits the kind of ads that can be displayed without compromising the visual appeal.
Wide Skyscraper (160x600)
Skyscraper (120x600)
Vertical Ad Banner (120x240)
Portrait (300x1050)
Square Ad Sizes:
Square Ad Sizes:Square ads belong to the unpopular section of ad sizes. These are ad sizes you should try staying away from because they are smaller and not as appealing. The small size makes it harder to add text and images without disrupting the flow of the ad. It’ll look unnatural and won’t catch the attention of users as well as a rectangle ad would.
Square (250x250)
Small Square (200x200)
Small Rectangle (180x150)
Button (125x125)
Mobile Google Display Ad Sizes:
Mobile Google Display Ad Sizes:Mobile ads are becoming more and more popular in the last few years. Here are a few banner sizes that work well on mobile.
Mobile Leaderboard (320x50)
Mobile Full Page Flex (320x320)
Mobile Full Page Flex (320x320)Square (250x250)
Square (250x250)Small Square (200x200)
Small Square (200x200)Which Google Display Ad Size Should You Use?
Which Google Display Ad Size Should You Use?We’ve already given you a brief on the various Google Display Ads sizes, now you might be wondering which one to choose.
There are ad sizes favored by publishers more than other ad sizes. The 5 ad sizes we’ve mentioned in the first section are the most popular and have the most ad inventory. These 5 ads also have the highest click-through rates.
If your goal is to make the most money from your Display ads, then choose and create an ad using the most popular ad sizes. Your choices are:
- Medium Rectangle (300x250)
- Large rectangle (300x280)
- Leaderboard (728x90)
- Large Skyscraper or Half-page (300x600)
- Large Mobile Banner (320x100)
The ad size you choose will also depend on the website your ads will appear in. Try manually searching for websites that use AdSense in your niche, then look at the kind of ad formats they run.
It’s all about understanding your industry and the kinds of ads they publish, some industries may prefer leaderboards, while others may prefer skyscrapers.
Conclusion
When it comes to Google Display Ads, size really does matter, especially for impressions and clicks. Choosing the wrong ad size may leave you with fewer clicks, and you’ll end up wasting money. If you have questions about how to promote your business on Google, this is a good blog to check out!
Now you know a bit more about Google Display ad sizes, it’s time you create your ad! If you have any questions, feel free to contact us!
How Much do Facebook Ads Cost?
Facebook ads help make advertising more accessible for small businesses who wouldn’t be able to afford advertising slots on TV or radio.
It's affordable and easy to use. In fact, some people could spend more money on coffee each day than they would on Facebook ads. The auction based system will determine the cost of your ad, making it far cheaper than traditional advertising methods.
Before we start talking about prices, let’s define what Facebook ads are.
What Are Facebook Ads
The answer is simple, Facebook ads are the ads you see while scrolling through Facebook on your phone or on the right column of your desktop.
Here are some examples of Facebook ads:
Desktop
Mobile
How Facebook ads work
Facebook ads are essentially targeted ads. They target users based on location, demographic, and profile information (i.e. likes, followed pages). Most of these options are only available on Facebook.
Facebook ads work on an auction based system to control the amount of ads each user sees. This means you can’t buy an ad placement on Facebook, you’re going to have to bid against other businesses to secure an ad placement.
Whoever bids the highest gets the ad placement.
The Facebook advertising industry is competitive because you have to compete for both ad space against your business competitors and everyone else who is targeting the same market as you.
For example :
You sell sustainable women’s clothing to young Millennials. You’ll end up competing against other sustainable fashion brands, other fashion brands that aren’t sustainable, makeup, gadgets, etc.
You’re basically competing against other industries that are selling products to Millennials.
This is why you have to be extremely specific when it comes to targeting your audience. The more specific you are, the higher the chances you get valuable leads.
Facebook will show you your audience size each time you add a new targeting criteria, you can check how many people are likely to see your ad.
Now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s start talking about prices.
Costs of a Facebook Ad
Generally speaking, the cost of a Facebook ad differs per industry and location, It’s usually somewhere between $0.50 and $2.00 per click. Some industries have to pay more per click than others, so costs will vary.
But the two sure things that will affect your costs the most are: your bid and your budget.
Your budget is the overall amount you’re willing to spend on an ad campaign or a single ad set. There are two types of budget on Facebook.
- Daily budget - amount you’re willing to spend on a campaign each day.
- Lifetime Budget - amount you’re willing to spend for the entire duration of the ad campaign.
Your Bid is how much you’re willing to spend to get a slot for an ad placement.
If you’re new to Facebook ads and not sure how much you’re willing to bid, Facebook ads will automatically calculate an amount for you based on your budget and the duration of your campaign.
Another thing to take note is that you’ll only ever pay a penny more than the closest competitor’s bid and that the cost of a Facebook ad fluctuates a lot.
This is why Facebook ads need to be monitored and tracked, the work doesn’t end after publishing your ad.
Factors that affect your ad spend
As you may already know from what we’ve discussed above, there are many factors that can affect your ad costs. Other factors that affect your ad costs are:
Target Audience
As we’ve mentioned, your target market can affect the cost of your ad. Targeting a highly sought after audience means that your ads will cost more.
This is why businesses tend to slim down their target audience to lessen the costs. However, a smaller target audience might cost more because of the few placements available.
Your Objectives
Upon creating your ad, you’ll notice how Facebook prompts you to choose a marketing objective
These marketing objectives can affect your ad cost. If you think about it, conversions are more expensive because it will take a bit more convincing to get users to make a purchase. Compare that to brand awareness that’s usually more reliant on views.
Competition
This is obvious. The more competition you have, the more expensive the ad slots will be. It’s basic supply and demand.
It also works vice versa, if you didn’t have competition for that target audience, then the ad slots would be cheaper.
Your advertising costs will largely rely on the amount of competitors you have, how much they’re willing to spend, and how big of a brand they are.
The time you choose to advertise
The time and day you choose to advertise your ad will affect the costs. More and more businesses are vying for an ad slot during Facebook’s peak hours.
Peak hours are usually the months leading up to Christmas or other holidays, so expect your costs to increase during those times.
Ad Placement
There are many options to choose from when it comes to ad placements on Facebook. Here’s a quick list:
There are some ad placements that are more popular than others, so they’re naturally more expensive. Studies show that Instagram placements are the most expensive. The average cost is $1.15 per click.
In conclusion, the more coveted the ad placement is, the higher your ad costs will be.
Relevance Score
Relevance score is a metric on Facebook that shows how relevant your ads are to your target audience.
The more users engage with your ad, the higher your relevance score, and vice versa.
Don’t take this metric for granted, it’s extremely important. Ads with a high relevance score are favored by Facebook’s algorithm, making the ad cost less for the same placements.
Lower your ad spend
Now that you’re aware of the factors that affect your ad costs, you should also know the ways to reduce them.
Split Testing
Split testing, also known as A/B testing, is the process of running the same ad twice but with a few tweaks and modifications to test which works better.
For example: You’re a business trying to sell skincare products. For the first ad you can try using a photo that only features your product, then try adding a model with your product for the second one.
You can also try using the same image, but with different copywriting.
This way you’ll be split testing to see which image or copy performs best.
Split testing will give you the information you need to reduce your advertising costs. You won’t be wasting time in the future running an ad campaign that won’t improve your ROI or accomplish your goals.
The smallest of changes in your ads can make a big difference. Studies even show that some businesses reduce their ad spend by 96.72% by changing the copy.
You can easily run a split test on your ads by clicking on the “create split test” toggle in the “Traffic” section, or you can edit an active ad set on Facebook’s Ads Manager then duplicate the active ad set. Facebook will then divide your budget equally between the two ads.
Don’t forget to measure the performance of both ads, then compare which one works best.
Obtain and maintain a high relevance score
Checking your relevance score is one way to track the progress of your ads. A high relevance score means that your ad resonates with your target audience and is getting positive feedback, engagement, clicks, and conversions.
The higher your score, the more Facebook will favor your ads and lower your ad costs.
Make sure you create ads that are fresh and can resonate with your target market.
Updating your ads
People’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, so showing the same old ads will lead to them losing interest in your brand, and you losing money.
The changes in your don’t have to be drastic, try switching up your picture, your CTA, or your copy.
Keep your ads fresh and give people something new to see.
Be specific with your target audience
Be specific when targeting your audience, each campaign should have a custom target audience to increase your ad’s efficiency.
You don’t have to include your entire target audience in each of your campaigns because your audience won’t be on the same stages in the digital marketing funnel, so each ad needs to be customized depending on the level they’re at.
Some may be at the start of the funnel, while others could be near the end and just need the smallest push to complete the purchase.
Try segmenting your audience to help you create more targeted and specific ads. This will help your ads improve their performance and lessen your costs.
Cap Your Bid
This is probably the easiest way to lessen your advertising costs.
You’re basically setting a bid control to tell Facebook the maximum amount you want to spend in an auction. So, it shouldn’t surprise you if you lose any ad placements.
To Conclude
The cost of advertising on Facebook isn’t set because of the many factors you have to take into account, but you can expect it to be around $0.50 to $2.00 per click.
With that information, the best way to get an accurate amount is by testing Facebook ads for yourself. Try and start some campaigns and see how much it can benefit your business.
Remember, these are the six key factors that can influence the costs of your ads:
- Target audience
- Your objectives
- Competition
- The time you choose to advertise
- Ad placement
- Relevance score
And you can reduce your spend by:
- Split testing
- Obtain and maintain a high relevance score
- Updating your ads
- Be specific with your target audience
- Capping your bid
Have you tried Facebook ads? How much did your Facebook ads cost? We'd love to hear about it. Comment down below and tell us your experience or contact us!
Top 25 Law Firm And Lawyer Websites
A great website is a powerful tool that can help you improve your law firm's online presence. It can change a potential client’s perception of your firm, ultimately determining whether they hire you or the firm down the street. A well-designed website can also increase your client list and help establish your authority and expertise in your field. In this article, our web design team at Just Digital curated a list of the best law firm websites out there. Take a peak at the competition, or get inspired for your law firm website redesign!
Your website should be reflective of your goals and values. It’s the key to building your credibility online. It needs to establish, communicate, and translate your expertise and message adequately. If you are struggling with your website strategy and design, jump ahead to the next section, where we’ll talk about the different components that make a law firm website exceptional. You can also get in touch with our team, and we’ll help you design a website that's sure to catch the eye of potential clients!
Key Components of the Best Law Firm Websites
There are three key components that the best law firm websites always get right: branding, performance, and user experience.
BRANDING: Let your individuality shine through by consistently applying your brand colors, fonts, and chosen graphics (and of course, your logo!). Don't hesitate to get professional help from a brand designer if you don't already have a logo and brand guidelines to follow. Your brand is that intangible part of your company identity that makes your audience and clients feel a certain way about you – you want to get this right to make an excellent lasting impression!
PERFORMANCE: Your website's performance can be boiled down to two main factors: speed and mobile responsiveness. Make sure your website loads quickly so that users don't leave out of frustration (HINT: you can check your site speed on this site). Just as important is its responsiveness on mobile – your website should look and work just as great on someone's phone as their laptop.
USER EXPERIENCE: Finally, your website needs to be organized, easy to navigate, and uncluttered. If it's professionally designed and attractive, that will definitely improve user experience as well, but at the very least, keep things clean and simple.
Now that we've established the basics of a great law firm website, it’s time to look at some inspiration and ideas.
For even more information on how to grow your law firm, check out our Ultimate Guide to Online Marketing for Attorneys!
Here Are Our Best 25 Law Firm Websites:
1. Stanchieri Family Law
http://www.stanchierifamilylaw.com
Sometimes, less is truly more. Stanchieri Family Law went for the minimalist route for their website design. Their color palette is mainly blacks and grays with a few pops of the color red. They also make use of white space, making for a very sleek and clean design. Aside from that, their use of high-quality photos makes the entire website more credible.
The website heavily focuses on their team, with each lawyer having their own page to highlight their credentials and experiences. This gives website visitors an easier user-experience. Clients can easily browse through the firms lawyers and get to know them before hiring the firm.
2. Jaszczuk P.C. Attorneys
Now, for a website that’s the complete opposite, here’s Jaszczuk P.C. Attorneys website. A far cry from Stanchieri Family Law’s sleek approach, Jaszczuk P.C. Attorneys goes a more playful route.
It’s not your typical law firm website, which makes it even more interesting. Their unique approach to website design works to their advantage, as it completely sets them apart.
Upon first seeing the website, you immediately get a feel for the law firm’s personality. The oversized headlines, airforce-themed graphics, and even the glowing green curser calls for attention in the best way possible. They let their personality shine through, while still presenting valuable information for potential clients browsing their site. This unconventional but totally attention-grabbing and still user-friendly approach all contribute to making Jaszczuk P.C. Attorneys one of the best law firm websites.
3. DLA Piper
DLA Piper grabs your attention from the start, with its big, bold headlines and dynamic graphics.
Unlike a lot of lawyer websites, this site incorporates motion graphics as you scroll through the homepage, keeping users interested (but not too distracted) as they move through the content.
We also love the structure of their navigation – even though it's a large site with lots of information, everything you need to know is categorized under a few headings, making it easy to figure out where to go next.
4. BD&P Law
The website for Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP (BD&P) sets a high bar for what constitutes the "best law firm website," boasting a modern and engaging design. It features a clear, intuitive layout that highlights the firm's practice areas, industries they serve, and insights, making it easy for visitors to navigate and find the information they need. The use of bright colors and dynamic visuals, alongside detailed descriptions of their legal team and services, provides a fresh and professional online presence.
5. Hodgson Law Offices
The Hodgson Law Offices website stands out as a "best law firm website" contender with its clear, user-friendly design that effortlessly guides visitors through the complexities of family law in Spokane, WA. Its layout is both professional and welcoming, emphasizing the firm's commitment to providing compassionate and effective divorce representation. From the detailed practice areas to the reassuring client testimonials, the site effectively communicates the firm's expertise and dedication to supporting clients through challenging times, making it a standout example of excellent legal website design.
6. Boughton Law
The big takeaway with Boughton Law's website is that in order to stand out from the crowd and be viewed as different, you should actually look different. Their website homepage subtly reflects their messaging by forgoing the usual downward scroll – instead, the content comes in from the side as you scroll. Something this out-of-the-box can sometimes sacrifice user friendliness and be confusing, but in this case, the effect is smooth and they pull it off.
7. Fritz Law
What we love about Fritz Law LLC’s website is their use of automated chat. This is extremely helpful for users who have questions and need immediate answers. Aside from that, their above-the-fold content is extremely memorable, thus making it more effective, and they use clear graphics, simple steps, and large headlines for an unbelievably easy user experience.
8. Stracci Law Group
Stracci Law Group's website stands out as one of the best law firm websites thanks to its sleek, clean design and super user-friendly navigation. The site's responsiveness across devices ensures that whether you're on a desktop or a mobile phone, the experience is smooth and engaging. Additionally, the integration of client reviews directly on the homepage not only adds a layer of authenticity and trust but also highlights the firm's commitment to client satisfaction. The modern aesthetic, combined with strategic use of technology in showcasing their legal expertise, makes it clear why Stracci Law Group's online presence is top-notch.
9. MCLLP
Clarity, simplicity, and a touch of elegance – MCLLP has the important factors to make a website user friendly and effective, plus a minimalistic style to make them not just another boring lawyer website. Their About page effortlessly gives you all the right information and speaks directly to the user, making it more engaging, and the site somehow fits in a lot of information without feeling like a lot.
10. Emergence
Though Emergence isn't a law firm website, it’s okay to get inspiration from websites from other industries, especially if it’s this good.
Unique and compelling are two words that best fit this company’s website design. The use of artistic portraits is a quirky and fun way to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Being in the law industry doesn’t mean you’re contracted or bound to use neutral or muted colors, you can go for something as loud as this and still remain tasteful and professional.
11. Chelin Law Firm
Chelin Law Firm’s use of high-quality photos mixed with engaging graphics is extremely pleasing to the eye. The professionally photographed photos, the full screen header, as well as the solid layout and typography, makes for a professional and authoritative website.
We're about Halfway Through the Best Law Firm Websites
The eleven law firm websites we showed you all differ in design exponentially. We love how the above websites include various examples of the key components we mentioned. It's important that your law firm website is unique to your law firm. Read on for even more exceptional examples of the best law firm websites!
12. Bick Law LLP
The Bick Law LLP website sets a high standard for the "best law firm website" with its standout design feature of vibrant wildlife images as headings. These captivating visuals not only grab attention but also emphasize the firm's dedication to environmental law, effectively marrying visual appeal with the firm's mission. This innovative design choice not only makes the site memorable, but also reinforces the firm's commitment to protecting the environment, highlighting their unique niche in a visually impactful way.
13. Quinn Emanuel
Quinn Emanuel Trial Lawyers is another law firm that makes good use of beautiful photography for their header. All of the colors work together to highlight the white text. Their use of gradients make for a stunning display. The homepage is great for easy user navigation because you can easily find a lawyer from their company in your area.
14. Heaton Fontano
Heaton Fontano’s website is usually what comes to mind when you think of typical lawyer websites, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Most of the time, it’s the best formula for success. The first thing you see when you open their website is their photos. All of them scream professional, trustworthy, and authoritative. Their use of a blue color palette promotes a calm mood.
15. McLEOD Law LLP
https://www.mcleod-law.com
Content is a key contributor to having one of the best law firm websites. This law firm website is content and photo driven. They cleverly use headers with witty photos that are memorable. Take the Swiss knife, a nifty metaphor for problem-solving no matter the case, or the compass and heart images that speak volumes to their direction and dedication. It's a site that doesn't just list achievements and services; it shows them off with style and a dash of humor, inviting you to explore more and even give them a shout with those handy calls-to-action.
16. Gecic Law
Everything on this website looks sophisticated and luxurious. From the high quality photos, to the black, white and red color scheme, everything looks clean and professional - and that’s usually what you want to see for a law firm’s website.
Best Law Firm Websites to Take Inspiration From
The past 15 law firm websites we’ve shown you so far differ from many designs, layouts, and formats. Some are typical and effective, while others are unique and creative. It goes to show that you shouldn’t be afraid to think outside the box or stay inside of it in order to create one of the best law firm websites. It’s all about how you execute your website designs.
Here are a few more best law firm web designs you can take inspiration from.
17. Infense
18. Hagestad Law
19. LA Lawyers
https://www.lalawyers.com/
20. McKinney Law
https://www.randallmckinneylaw.com
21. Horea Crisan Lawyer
22. Robbins
23. Cheshire Law Group
http://cheshirenonprofitlaw.com
24. Sidley Law
https://www.sidley.com/
25. Ideal Legal
As a lawyer, making an effort to be relatable and speak the same language as your potential clients goes a long way. Idea Legal directly addresses the client's feeling of being inferior and misunderstood by lawyers, and focuses on reassuring them, all in the very first section of the homepage. "We get it" is repeated throughout the copy, and the soft colors, fonts, and comfortable layout all contribute to the feeling of reassurance. This is another great example of how your overall message should be cohesive with your design.
Want to get on the Best Law Firm Website list?
If you're in the market for a website that has all the right features to get more of your perfect clients, your next step is to contact us! We can turn your outdated, glitchy site into the best law firm website in your area, helping you outshine the competition. We create beautiful and effective websites from scratch, with a dedicated team of web designers, developers, copywriters, and project managers who are passionate about what they do. Let's turn your vision into a reality. Contact us here for a design consultation.
A Simple 10 Step Guide: Marketing Your Accounting Firm
Digital marketing has paved ways for businesses, big and small alike, to grow their brands and also win more prospects. It's an effective way to attract and retain clients. Digital marketing for accounting firms makes business visible to bigger markets. Additionally, it allows you to reach prospects from all over the globe.
One of the many industries that greatly benefit from digital marketing are accounting firms. The growing economy of the U.S. and its complex tax environment has greatly contributed to this expanding industry. With that being said, an increase in demand comes with a price. Additionally, more accounting firms are competing for clients and attention. This is where digital marketing steps in. Digital marketing will help put your accounting firm on the map.
Marketing for accounting firms in the digital niche requires diligence, teamwork, and an effective strategy. Marketing for accountants doesn't have to be complex. We want to make digital marketing easier for you. Therefore, we’ve developed a simple 10 step guide to market your accounting firm.
1. Market Research And Knowing Your Niche
Before jumping into the world of digital marketing for accountants, it's important to conduct research. It's paramount to know your market to determine your niche. It’s also important to know your market's wants, needs, likes, and dislikes in order to provide valuable service. You’ll also be able to:
- Keep up with trends and challenges
- Provide proof and value as to why they should choose your firm
- Know how to approach prospective clients
- Ensure satisfaction to your clients
After doing your market research, it’s time to determine your niche. Knowing your niche is important because it allows you to only target people who are interested in your services. Therefore, you get valuable leads and avoid unnecessary spending.
Since you’ve already done your market research, finding your niche is now subsequently easier. You now know which platforms to use to reach clients effectively.
Once you choose your niche, fully invest your time in that chosen specialty. Once you’ve gotten better in a certain specialty, you’ll find clients from this niche will begin to come to you instead of you looking for them. The most common accounting firm niches are medical practices, estate accounting, forensic accounting, IT, international tax, and mergers and acquisitions.
2. Plan And Strategize
This second step is where all of your research and information you acquired to devise an effective marketing strategy comes into play. The first thing you have to do to get started on your marketing strategy is to list out your goals. Are they to generate more leads or to boost sales? Whatever it is, take your time to determine and define these goals. Knowing your end goal will make choosing which methods to use easier.
Use your marketing plan as your guide to keep your marketing efforts organized and keep the productivity going. Your marketing for accountants plan should contain a USP (Unique Selling Point), a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), business targets, and overarching goals.
Remember to track and document your marketing strategy to effectively know which methods work for you.
The first thing to check off on your digital marketing list is your website. Remember, many who are just discovering your firm online will base their initial judgment on your firm’s website. With that being said, it’s very important to make a good first impression. Ask yourself how you would want to present your firm to people who see it for the first time. Also, keep in mind the message would you wish to deliver through your website's design and content.
Design, content, and user experience are important elements in creating your website. It should be able to represent you and deliver key information to a prospective client. Therefore, you should also try the tips listed below to improve your accounting firm’s website:
- Introduce your accountants with photos and bios so clients know who they’ll be working with. You can also include their awards and recognitions to improve overall credibility.
- Include your contact information on your contacts page. You can also include a form so they can message you and inquire before you talk on the phone.
- Try blogging to boost your SEO rank, establish your authority, and improve your credibility. Create a content marketing strategy and post blogs consistently. Publish relevant content or post other relevant articles and resources you’d think your clients would want and need to read.
- Create a separate page for your services. List all of your services and define what they are. Explain your process and how hiring your accounting firm can benefit them. Highlight what sets your accounting firm apart from your competition. This is where you can insert your USP.
3. Get Your Firm Listed Online
Consumers nowadays are becoming more tech savvy. Anyone with the intention of purchasing a product or acquiring any type of service does prior research. It’s become a process almost everyone goes through. With that being said, it's paramount to have your business's information listed online so consumers know your firm exists.
Hypothetically speaking, if a potential client is looking to acquire help from an accountant, and they Google “Accountant Near Me” or “Accounting Firm Near Me" and your company isn’t on that list, you’ve lost your chance to gain a client. In other words, you’ve pretty much given your competition a head start.
You want your accounting firm to be seen. It’s your responsibility to make sure that your firm is listed on all major directories and accountancy-specific listing sites. This includes Google My Business, Yelp, Safari, Bing, YellowPages, etc. Some other accountancy-specific listing sites are AccountingMatch, AccountantsWorld, CPA directory, and CPA Finder.
A study by BrightLocal states that a typical business listed on Google My Business alone receives 59 actions from their listing each month. Imagine how many actions you'd receive if you had your business listed on all of those major directories.
If you’re going to have your business listed on more than one website listing site, make sure to always have your listings consistent and accurate throughout all listing directories. Additionally, be sure to avoid limiting your business information. For example, mention the small details like business category, availability of parking area, handicap-friendliness, etc.
4. Choose Your Marketing Channels
The next step to marketing your accounting firm is to choose which channels to use. It’s time for some inbound marketing tactics!
Before you dive into that, start researching how people find accounting firms online. Then, research the type of information they’re seeking. Knowing this will help you learn the best way you can deliver prospective clients what they need.
In a study created by Hinge, they found out how buyers “check out” potential professional service providers.
You can use the image above as your guide to help you choose your marketing channels. A few other factors to take into account when choosing your channels are: your marketing budget, your target market, and your resources. You can choose from these channels:
- Social media
- Referrals
- Content marketing
We’ll get into more in depth into each channel below.
5. Social Media Marketing
“73% of marketers believe that their efforts through social media marketing have been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business.”
Social media has the power to help you gain more clients. Additionally, it’s a digital marketing channel you can use to reach and also engage with your targeted audiences. As an accounting firm, you should seriously try to take advantage of it.
Most people would think that marketing on social media is easy. However, marketing on social media is more complex than most people think.
Substantial research goes into social media marketing. Businesses need to know their audience well in order to curate content that’s relevant, timely, engaging, and enriching. It's also important to know which social media platforms businesses should use to execute their strategy. You should also consider:
Social media is great for many things. It helps you connect with potential clients, fellow professionals, as well as industry leaders. Check out our list below to help improve your social media marketing game.
6. Get Referrals And Reviews
Referrals are extremely effective in bringing new leads to your firm.
This is why customer service is extremely important. You always want to satisfy your clients. Your clients are your best advocates. In other words, they help your client list grow. They also can easily refer you to other families or businesses similar to their own.
Honor this opportunity by giving clients who refer you a reward. Try offering discounts or writing “thank you” cards to show how much you appreciate them.
You can make it easier for your clients to refer you by adding a referral page on your website.
Another thing that will help you get more leads is by featuring positive reviews on your website. Ask your clients to write a review about their experience working with you.
Reviews aren’t only helpful to prospective clients, they’re also helpful to you. You’ll get client insight on ways you can improve and better serve them.
7. Flaunt Your Expertise
Content marketing allows you to kill two birds with one stone. You’ll be able to flaunt your expertise and improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ranking.
(For those who don’t know what SEO is, it’s basically the process of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing the visibility of a website to users of a web search engine. The websites with the highest SEO rank appear on the first page of search engine results.)
You can start content marketing by creating a blog for your accounting firm’s website. Having a blog will put you ahead of the competition. By blogging, you’ll also be able to show current and potential clients your expertise. You can also answer frequently asked questions from your clients on your blog. Additionally, you can write about something broad as long as it’s relevant to your industry.
Other forms of content marketing are podcasts, YouTube videos, and webinars. The more content you produce, the more visibility your accounting firm gets. In other words, the higher quality of the content marketing you produce, the higher the credibility.
8. Optimize Your Website And Content
We’ve explained what SEO is and why it’s important in the previous tip. With that being said, you need to optimize your website and all of its pages. This includes photos, videos, etc.
The ideal website is informative, well-designed, and optimized. Therefore, your website should always be updated and include your business information with keyword-optimized content.
For example, if you’re an accounting firm in Los Angeles, you should expect that people are likely searching for the keywords “Best accounting firm in LA. Be sure to include relevant keywords in your website.
Your target keyword should be in your title tag and meta-description. Make sure that your meta description is also brief, comprehensive, and alluring enough to get people to click on it.
9. Email Marketing
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways of promoting your business. In sum, your main goal for email marketing is to retain relationships. Studies show that Email marketing has a $44 ROI for ever $1 spent for 2020.
If you’re just starting out your email marketing campaign, here are four tips you can follow:
- Choose an email platform - Select an email marketing platform that suits the needs of your accounting firm. Try popular email platforms like Gmail, SenderGrid, MailChimp, Newsletter2go.
- Make it sound professional - Make sure your emails' content and grammar is polished. Try to communicate your message, thoughts, and business offers as clearly and concisely as possible. Most people only spend 1-3 minutes to read a text and to understand its core message.
- Use catchy subject lines - A catchy subject line has the power of making your email stand out from a user’s overloaded inbox. Make your subject line captivating and informative.
- Increase your subscriber list - Create a lead magnet page on your website to increase the base of your potential clients. This method will also make your email marketing more effective. Give your subscribers free articles, presentations, and case studies. Additionally, you can also include explanatory videos and infographics that contain valuable information for your target market. People want to find simplified high-quality content that can explain sophisticated financial topics.
10. Track Your Results
Tracking and measuring your results is just as important as executing your marketing strategy. Therefore, it’s essential for your accounting firm to set up a system where you can measure the success of your marketing tactics. Subsequently, this enables you to see which parts of your marketing strategy isn’t working. This information also allows you to make the necessary changes and prevent wasting any more of your resources.
Keeping track can also help you make smarter decisions before sinking your entire budget into one tactic. You can also track the amount of time spent on marketing tasks to get an overview of the investment you’re making in each task. Measure them by choosing key performance indicators (KPIs) depending on your strategy.
There are many built-in analytics tools you can use to measure your results. Some of these are: Google Analytics, Hootsuite, HubSpot, and Buzzsumo. In sum, having this kind of data allows you to make a data-based decision regarding your accounting firm marketing plan.
Conclusion
Don’t be intimidated. Digital marketing for accountants can seem overwhelming at first. All in all, the benefits you get out of it make everything worthwhile.
Are you ready to start your accounting firm’s digital marketing journey? Contact us for even more help!
PPC Management for Small Business: 7 Tips
PPC management is a major key to driving traffic for your small business. Small business owners are always on the lookout for tactics and strategies they can use to boost their sales. One such strategy includes investing in Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, but in order for your investment to be worth it, you'll need to understand PPC management.
How PPC Works
The concept of PPC is extremely simple. It includes 3 steps:
It’s a pretty simple and straightforward concept. The hardest part is actually getting your ad seen, and if your ad isn't being seen, it isn't being clicked on. Knowing how to manage your PPC ads will ensure you're getting the most out of them. To help you, we’ve created a list of 7 PPC management tips you can implement to optimize your advertising efforts.
PPC Management
The Right Platform
In order to properly manage a great PPC ad campaign, you need to use a platform that’s popular among your target audience and has the ability to drive targeted traffic. This will ensure that only the most relevant prospects are seeing and clicking on your ad.
The best place to start is with Google Ads. User intent is different on search engines than social sites – people are there to look for resources and take action. Google is the largest search engine and therefore the most effective for reaching a precise, relevant audience. Unfortunately, this also means you'll pay more for each click than you would with other platforms.
Google Ads is an auction-based system where advertisers bid on keywords to win and secure ad space. They also offer analytic trackers and other tools to help you manage and analyze the results of your campaigns, but we'll talk more about that later.
Facebook and Google Ads
For more effective advertising results, you'll have to go beyond running a simple ad campaign on Google that attempts to turn complete strangers into paying customers on the first try. To bring your advertising to the next level, use Google Ads along with Facebook as your two main PPC platforms. Facebook alone has 1.66 billion people who are considered daily active users. When used properly, the combination of these two powerhouse PPC platforms will undoubtedly increase conversion rate.
Here's how it works:
Note that your Facebook ads should be focused on brand awareness, not necessarily sales. Ad campaigns are much more effective when the audience is already familiar with the brand and product. You can slowly bring your audience through your sales funnel by using different types of advertisements on the appropriate platforms.
PPC Management for Small Business: Research is Key
Preliminary research plays an essential role when it comes to advertising. What keywords should you choose? How should you target your ideal audience? Here are some tools that will help answer these questions for you.
SEMrush provides all-in-one marketing toolkits. They have a PPC Keyword Tool that offers an easy way to plan and set up an optimized Google Ads campaign. They also have a free version for businesses who want to try it out before making a full commitment.
Another great PPC software, SpyFu allows you to search for any competitor and download their keywords.
Moz and SimilarWeb
You also have Moz and SimilarWeb that can track your PPC performance and analyze competitor keywords.
PPC advertising has helped many businesses grow and gain more clients. A well-planned PPC strategy can make all the difference in the success of your business. That’s why it’s important for you to construct a concrete PPC plan before trying anything out. Playing it by ear will only do the opposite, and end up costing you money. Be sure to check out the resources above before you get started on your PPC strategy.
Start a Negative Keywords List
Before starting your PPC ad campaign, try making a negative keyword list. Negative keywords are those that will prevent your ad from being triggered. Your ads won’t be shown to anyone who is searching for that particular phrase.
Creating a negative keyword list can help you fine tune your audience. You’ll be able to create ads without having to worry about targeting the wrong audience. Especially if you’re a business that uses keywords with multiple potential meanings.
Negative keywords will filter your leads, leaving you with quality leads that are more likely to convert into actual customers. It also increases the relevance of the ad for those who are doing the search, and helps to sort out users looking for services or products unrelated to your business. When you're paying for every click, the last thing you want is a bunch of ad clicks from individuals who aren't even interested in your specific service or product.
PPC Management for Small Business: Grow Your Keywords List and Always Be Testing
No keywords list should be fixed when it comes to ad campaigns. Never be afraid to add new keywords to the list if your campaign isn't performing how it should. Small tweaks here and there can make a huge difference in conversion – the only way to know what works is to constantly test.
If you're using Google Ads, you can expand your keywords list by using the search query report. It will show you exactly what people are searching for when they interact with your ads. This information will increase your insight into the needs and interests of your audience.
If you see any keywords in those searches that you can target, then it’s time to add them to the list!
Relevant Keywords
When expanding your keywords list, be sure to only choose words that are relevant to your business and ad campaign. Here are a few other best practices when it comes to keywords:
- The ads should have the new keyword included in them.
- Each new keyword set should have its own ad campaign group.
- Increase your budget when you add new keywords.
Split Testing or A/B Testing
Split testing, or A/B testing, lets you test different designs and versions of your ads, so you can see what works best and improve your future campaigns. You can do this for your ads or your landing pages.
Run two ads that are just slightly different – keep the design the same but the keywords different, or change the headline but not the audience. Watch which one performs better, then take the best performing one and refine. Repeat!
It's extremely important to make note of the elements that contribute to the success or failure of your ad campaigns. Continuing to spend money blindly on ads without making informed decisions based on previous experience is a dangerous game.
Each ad campaign should include one or more of these types of experiments. This will help you adjust and refine your campaign using the best design and copy. Testing your ads will always help you gain insight and learn something new. No matter what the outcome is, knowledge will be your ROI.
PPC Management for Small Business: Keep To Your Budget
Another PPC management tip is to create a campaign budget. It's important that you know when to stop and how to control your campaign, no matter how successful it is. It can be really tempting to extend a successful campaign, but trust me, it can be even more effective once you end it.
When you’ve hit your spending limit, it’s time to stop and evaluate the campaign. Take a deep look at it and analyze which strategies worked and which didn’t. Use whatever information you gained from your evaluation in your next campaign. Eliminate the strategies that didn’t work, and implement the ones that did.
Having a spending limit will prevent you from overspending on one single campaign. It's better to set a budget for multiple ad campaigns than it is to let one PPC campaign go on for so long that it begins to flop. Continually adjusting is the best way to manage your ad campaigns. Check out this blog for more information on how to promote your business on an affordable budget.
PPC Management for Small Business: Manage Your Bidding
As we’ve mentioned above, sticking to your budget is a big deal in the world of PPC management. That being said, you may need to invest a bit extra in a bid management system. They have countless benefits, such as simplifying and streamlining your bidding process.
The more intricate and complex your ad campaigns are, the more likely it is that you’ll need a bid management system. Having a strong bid is vital for campaigns with low margins because those slim margins could easily get wiped out with a bad bid.
The decision is up to you. You know your business and what it requires, you know your budget and resources, so you decide if it’s worth the cost. If you'd like to discuss how to do this, feel free to reach out – we'd love to chat with you!
Track Your Results
You must never skip this step, because it’s extremely important to know how your PPC ads are performing. Fortunately, there's a ton of tracking and analytic software out there to help you. Plus, you can always use Google Ads or Google Analytics to get an in-depth examination of your outcomes.
However, it's important to wait until the campaign is actually finished before checking your campaign outcome data. Doing it while the campaign is still in progress won't provide you with accurate results.
Once your ad campaign is done, view the analytics, then draw your conclusions. Let things play out – some ad campaigns take more time to bloom than others.
To Conclude…
There is no exact formula for digital marketing success, but having PPC management tips in your back pocket will definitely give you an advantage!
If you feel like you need assistance in managing and improving your PPC ad campaigns, or if you have any questions, feel free to contact us. We’d love to help!
