It should be no secret that Google is one of the most powerful tools to acquire new customers/clients. For example, thousands of people search Google for legal advice every month. Imagine what it would mean to you if your law firm came first for Google on this search term. Well, the problem is that there are already some law firms that are well aware of this considerable potential and have accordingly made some search engine optimization on your website.
As lawyers grapple with growing online competition, changes in consumer buying behavior and technical barriers related to online marketing, the need for education on optimization for engines of research is obvious. This article is basically a search engine optimization guide for law firms.
SEO is the application of techniques applied to a website so that it ranks well in the search results for the key terms or phrases that your customers are looking for. Google has the dominant market share of search engines, with between 60 and 90% of Internet users using its service, depending on the country. Many search engine optimization (SEO) tactics are applicable to a variety of industries, but SEO strategies need to be tailored to the legal industry to be more effective. Commercialization in the legal sector is different because of the rules and regulations established by state bars.
Below, our SEO tips from a lawyer to get your site’s ranking on page 1 of search results in an ethical manner.
Search and discovery of keywords
Searching for co-occurrences is the first step before a lawyer can begin to optimize the SEO of his website. Lawyers should focus on purchase intent keywords that indicate that the visitor is ready to sign up for online legal services. These terms should also have a decent search volume to ensure that a website will receive traffic. For example, “separation lawyer” may receive more research than “divorce lawyer”, because there is more inquiry about “divorce” than for “separation”.
The key is knowing what people are typing in the search engines and what they are looking for. Lawyers can follow these tips as a keyword research guide and phrases to target first:
- Find terms related to your area of practice with Google Keyword Planner
- Compare the variations of your target keyword phrases to see what people are looking for, by identifying each word provided by Keyword Planner or by checking the search suggestions that appear on the search engine by starting typing a word
- Identify expressions with a high search volume but moderate competition.
- Find weak competition keywords that can be targeted.
- Use expressions and terms related to your main target keyword for a page (synonym words, co-occurrences, lexical field).
- See the phrases your competitors are positioning themselves for and try to make your content better than theirs.
Also, keep in mind that as a rule, these 19 search results are made up as follows:
- 7 Google Adwords Ads – 4 Ads Above, 3 Ads Below
- 3 Local Results
- 10 organic search results
Create the right content
Once you’ve found the right keywords and get an overview of how your audience thinks and acts accordingly on the internet, it’s time to take care of the right content in your SEO optimization. You should be aware that Content is King is not just a phrase. Your SEO success depends largely on how you create and communicate content.
Let’s face it and google a few law firms. For the most part, the same core is tried on every homepage that you meet: “We are experts – we get the best out of you.”
Do it differently – start a blog and prove it. Set up a blog on your website and comment on isolated hearings/processes – How did you solve problems? What can be observed in individual cases? What successes have you achieved? And so on…
Let your visitors know that you are a real expert and not just claiming that in a few sentences.
To bring these insights into the right areas of search engine results, it is important to incorporate the selected keyword correctly into the content. For each page/blog post, only one main keyword should be the focus.
The length of the content should also not be neglected. Although there are statistics, such as those of serpIQ, which say that articles ranked # 1 on Google have an average length of over 2000 words, one should not make a generalization of this type of extremely extravagant contributions.
Generate high-quality links
Maybe you have heard of it before, not only in SEO for lawyers, links play a big role. In general, links from other sites to your site are the number one factor in search engine optimization. Simply put, it is anything but easy to implement. SEO an intensive and lengthy process. In areas that are highly competitive and, multiple SEO ranking factors have been processed, Google prefers the pages that have a higher authority than the others.
Why is that? For this, one must understand the algorithm of Google. Simply put, Google wants to deliver the best results for the searcher in every area of the search. If a website now has many high-quality links from large, authoritative sites, Google sees these links as “recommendations”. You will certainly know it from real life as well. A recommendation is in most cases preferred and seen in a different way than a person who suddenly appears in front of you and whom you have never seen before.
Without the links to your website, it will be difficult for search engines to determine whether or not they can trust you. And if they can not trust you, they will certainly not position you correctly, even if you have relevant content or a great blog. Links are more important than ever in the world of SEO.
But even the big firms, with great power, once started small. The whole is a process – so you can do it too:
- Social media and forum links to blog content on your website
- Link guest articles to blog content on your website
- Internal-links
- Links from company directories and web directories to your website
- PR link to your website
Website Design
Believe it or not, designing your site can also contribute to its success in search results. If your site is well designed, with smooth navigation and useful menus or links, it will be more likely to position itself higher than a site that is confusing or not well defined.
If you are concerned that the design of your website contributes to its inability to rank well, web agencies offer services of creation and redesign of websites that can help you review its structure. They can also create new sites for law firms that do not even have an online presence yet!
Continuous optimization
SEO is not a one-shot service. You need ongoing optimization efforts to earn and maintain your positions. Because search engine algorithms change very frequently, which is a common practice today may not work the next month and you have to be ready to change. Link building and content creation are needed to establish, improve and disseminate the presence of your law firm in natural search results.
Final SEO fact for lawyers
Search engine optimization for lawyers, but also generally is a lengthy process. You will not see results from day to tomorrow. That’s a fact. Nevertheless, SEO in the legal field is an extremely strong means to attract new clients and to bring their own law firm in the focus of the target group. If you want to use SEO measures for your law firm to take 1st place, then please do it properly and professionally.