As 2020 comes to a close, it can be a useful exercise to look back at some of the trends that the legal industry underwent to assess where consumer interest might be in the new year.
Of course, 2020 was no ordinary year, and while the economic volatility created very real challenges for firms all over the country, there was still notable growth. More importantly, there is an indication that while the economy will be relatively slow to return to pre-pandemic levels, there is every reason to be optimistic that the legal field will be resurgent in 2021.
Let’s further examine Google search trend and conversion rate data from three legal fields to understand better how consumer behavior evolved in the past year and what we can expect to see moving forward.
Consumer Trends in Immigration Law
Google Trends Data
Not surprisingly, immigration law saw a significant decrease in search interest at the start of the pandemic; this was likely due to many people putting significant life changes on hold.
But consumer trends never stop evolving, and as the public began to adapt to the coronavirus, interest in immigration law began to rise as the year went on. Another dip that occurred in October was likely the result of the then-approaching presidential election and not indicative of a broader trend.
And while we still haven't reached pre-pandemic numbers, based on this data, that may occur early in the upcoming year.
Conversion Rate Trends (Scorpion Data)
While overall interest slowed at the top of the year, immigration law did see unprecedented conversion rates in the last 12 months. Scorpion hit our highest conversion rate ever at 19.5% across the entire vertical in September.
Consumer Trends in Employment Law
Google Trends Data
This graph also shows a similar dip leading into November, which again indicates uncertainty surrounding the election. We expect that our conversion rate will start to rise now that the election is over.
Conversion Rate Trends (Scorpion Data)
We can see that the conversion rate is trending similarly to the volume trends from Google. A possible reason for this could be that as people learn more about COVID-related employment issues, they realize that they don't have viable cases to bring to an attorney.
As it stands, the month of November looks particularly bad for employment law conversion, but it's worth remembering that this is not a complete picture without the entire month's data.
Another thing to keep in mind is that while the conversion rate decreases, employment law still has the highest conversion rate when compared to our other verticals.
Consumer Trends in Bankruptcy Law
Google Trends Data
Of all of Scorpion’s legal verticals, bankruptcy is still the furthest from fully recovering to pre-COVID numbers. While the volume of interest has had some surges and dips, they haven’t been very notable. Our expectation is that serious volume increases won't occur until January of 2021.
Conversion Rate Trends (Scorpion Data)
Overall, we've seen steady improvement in conversion rates within the bankruptcy law vertical, which is impressive considering the simultaneous decrease in Google search interest. The adjustments that Scorpion has made on a high level haven't significantly improved the conversion rate yet, though we have seen much more improvement on the clicks-per-lead side. We do remain hopeful that it will start to improve in the new year.
Looking Beyond the Data to 2021
After looking through the data, we hope it can help you gain some perspective on where the legal industry has been and where it could be going. Information is vital to your practice's growth, and in order to have an effective digital marketing strategy, you must have access to accurate and comprehensive data.
If you would like to learn Scorpion's data-driven approach can help you, feel free to contact us at Visit ScorpionLegal.com or call 844-505-4349.
