Accountants, lawyers, consultants, architects, surveyors and advisers all sell the same thing: judgement, exercised by a particular person, on a problem the client cannot resolve themselves. Clients choose an individual and tolerate the firm around them. That makes almost all generic firm-level marketing beside the point, and it means the people whose names sell the work have to be involved in producing the material, which is the constraint everything else follows from.
The individual profiles are the most important pages
Not a photograph and three lines. What they actually do, the kind of client and problem they take, how they think about it, what they have written, qualifications and how to reach them. These are the most-read pages on almost every professional services site and almost always the thinnest, because they are written by marketing about people rather than by the people themselves.
Referrals are the channel, and search verifies them
Most of this work arrives through recommendation, and the person recommended is then looked up. That makes search's job credibility rather than discovery for a large share of your revenue: a current profile, evidence of relevant work, something written recently. A firm that judges its website on enquiries generated is measuring the smaller half of what it actually does.
Publishing requires the fee earner's time and nothing substitutes
A ghostwriter can shape and edit, and the substance has to come from the person, because clients and peers can tell. That means the content plan is really a plan for a partner's hours, and it fails when nobody has agreed those hours. Establish how much time, from whom, and what happens in a busy month, before agreeing any publishing schedule.
Professional conduct rules govern more than firms expect
Depending on the profession, what you may claim, how you may describe specialisation, whether you may use testimonials, what disclosures are required and how you may compare yourself to others are all constrained. Establish the rules for your profession and jurisdiction before the first draft, and route anything that reads as a claim through whoever is responsible for compliance.
Pricing transparency is the differentiator almost nobody uses
Clients in these professions are anxious about open-ended fees, and the firms that publish how they charge, what a typical matter costs and what makes it more or less, reach people who were hesitating. It is uncomfortable for the profession and it is the single most requested piece of missing information in almost every one of them.
Questions people ask about digital marketing for professional services
What matters most on a professional services website?
The individual profiles. Clients hire a person, look that person up, and read their page more than any other. They are usually the thinnest pages on the site.
How should we judge the website if work comes by referral?
As a credibility check rather than a lead generator for that share of revenue. Somebody who was recommended you will look you up, and a stale profile costs you at exactly that moment.
Can we outsource the writing?
The shaping and editing, yes. The substance has to come from the fee earner, because clients and peers can tell. That makes the content plan a plan for somebody's hours, which has to be agreed explicitly.
Should we publish fees?
Publishing how you charge, what a typical matter costs and what changes it reaches clients who were hesitating about open-ended cost. It is the most commonly missing information in these professions.