It can be incredibly difficult for lawyers to market themselves online. The fact is that there are multiple ways in which lawyers can be employed, which may make them more or less marketable. Some lawyers choose to work for major corporations, taking roles in their official legal departments. Others work within law firms, slowly rising up the ranks and taking multiple cases. Others work independently, choosing the cases that they wish on their own. The fact is that while lawyers are trained to handle a variety of different, difficult challenges, it can be challenging for them to make themselves known to the public, especially in the early days of their careers. Another issue to consider is the fact that marketing legal services is difficult in general. People are often tired of seeing massive billboards or borderline obnoxious commercials advertising legal services. This is why many law firms and independent attorneys in this day and age look into SEO content marketing services.
SEO content is search engine optimization content. Search engine optimization content essentially is content that is meant to maximize a website’s prominence in search engine results. Typically, this content comes in the form of blog posts, articles, lists, and more written content focusing on certain searchable keywords. These pieces not only make lawyers easier for potential clients to find; they also are informative and can give a more polished look to a lawyer’s individual website, or a law firm’s website on a larger scale. There are many factors, however, that go into creating good SEO content material. While some lawyers are under the mistaken impression that they can create their own SEO content, the process is actually somewhat more complex, which is why professional SEO content creators and companies exist. With that being said, let’s look into the specifics of having SEO content created for lawyers.
1. Choose Keywords Carefully
SEO content is based on keywords. The more specific the keywords, the more targeted the potential audience will be. This means that there is often a stronger conversion rate, from the initial search to the client or customer. However, if keywords are not selected with intent, then the wrong audience may be targeted, and the conversion rate will therefore be low. This will not only result in a smaller audience capture but in money lost on the SEO campaign. SEO professionals will often recommend keyword mapping, as this optimizes webpages based on keyword intent. This essentially begins with awareness keywords, which will focus on finding the audience that is looking for your services. For example, a malpractice attorney would perhaps utilize keywords like “how to find a malpractice attorney”. Then there are interest keywords, which focus on clients that are further along in the search process and looking up information on your services. In this case, you’d perhaps have keywords in an article focusing on some of the roughly 20,000 malpractice claims filed each year. Finally, there are action keywords, the “how to” keywords for people that are actively looking up information on their own cases. Hitting all of these classifications allows people to reach the best audience possible.
2. Focus On Google’s Current State Of Search Results
It’s important for lawyers and their SEO companies to understand the state of search results for legal services. Right now, most of Google’s top spots are paid ads and local results, with large legal aggregator sites taking up about half of the organic results. Just a quarter of all organic traffic is available to individual websites. This means that rather than attempting to chase those larger aggregator sites, individual lawyers or law firms should have their profiles ranked on them. It’s important to be guided by professional SEO companies on this level.
3. Change Your Website’s Structure
It’s not enough to have the right types of content on your website. You also need to have the right type of structure within your website. Your content, navigation, and URL structure all need to work together to ensure that your website is ranked higher in search results. Furthermore, if an attorney or a firm only offers one service, their website’s domain name needs to be focused around that service. With about 6 million car accidents occurring in the United States each year, there are a lot of different legal services surrounding survivors and victims of those car accidents. But if a lawyer focuses on personal injury lawsuits, then they need to ensure that their website’s domain name is focused on those personal injury cases, perhaps especially around those that have to do with car accidents if that is what the attorney or the firm focuses on. This would be called a single service law firm website. Furthermore, the more webpages and content on the site, the better in terms of capture potential. The way in which a website is structured will vary depending on the lawyer or firm’s needs, but it can significantly affect the website’s prominence in terms of search results.
4. Don’t Forget Local Searches
Most people that will look up a law firm or attorney will look for someone that is local to them. Lawyers and law firms should have their Google My Business listings set up and verified firstly, and then optimize their listing titles that will show up on local websites. This will also allow them to manage their profile and their listings independently, and manage their reviews as well. Ultimately, their listings need to be built in the necessary local directories. What’s important about this is that it will further narrow down the target audience, and ultimately make it easier for law firms and lawyers to find the “right” audience.
Further Resources
Legal copywriting – for advice and guidance on ad writing in the legal sector.
Non-traditional Law Jobs – jobs you might consider with legal experience
Could a blog benefit your law business – why blogs are a great tool in your legal marketing strategy.
Clearly, there are a lot of confusing issues that come with building websites and creating SEO content. It’s easier for lawyers and law firms to get bogged down in the process. However, SEO content can ultimately take the lead generation for lawyers to the next level.
