Better SEO Results for your Law Firm
If you already have a website for your law firm then you are one step closer to successfully driving more clients to your practice. However, owning a swanky new website and doing nothing to optimize it for search engines would be akin to investing in a plush office but never letting anyone know you are open for business. Clients will not find you if they don’t know about you. So, if you have been wondering why rival firms are getting the business that is rightfully yours, think one phrase- “SEO for Attorneys“.
No, you don’t have to accept these words at face value, but just take a look at the statistics of search engine marketing for law firms to know how much revenue you are missing out on by ignoring the all-important and potent marketing channel that are the search engines.
96% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine.- Source: Google Consumer Survey, Nov 2013
40% of small law firms don’t have websites.- Source:Rocket Marketing, Feb 2015
75% clients who are looking for legal firms will not go past the first page of Google.
40% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices.
74% of consumers visit a law firm’s website to take action. However, 27% do not have a phone number on their homepage, 68% do not have an email address on their homepage, And 70% do not have a call-to-action (CTA) on their homepage.- Source: Google Legal Services Study, Sept 2013
Despite these astonishing figures, only about 12-15% of all legal firms are using lawyer SEO in their marketing strategy. So, to say that there is a huge, untapped client segment that is just waiting to be discovered and targeted would be an understatement.
10 Steps to Help Build Your Law Firm
- Keyword Research
- Competitor Analysis
- Website Optimization
- Local Visibility
- Content Creation
- Link Building
- Legal Blog
- Mobile Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- YouTube
1. Attorney Keyword Research
So, you have a website and have managed to fill it with run of the mill content. But, the important question is, what have you done to ensure that your clients will find your articles and content? Nobody is going to look up your firm by its name. If they already know about you, they would not be turning to the internet to find out about your services. This is where keyword optimization comes into the picture.
You need to pick phrases which will be relevant to the type of legal service that you provide, the location of your firm and the terms that clients would use to find your firm. Then, there is the bit about not choosing keywords that have too much competition. After all, it would not make sense to optimize for keywords that already have thousands or even millions of other contenders vying for them.
2. Competitor Analysis
Analyze the work of your competitors: You need to stay one step ahead of rival firms, and to do so, you need to know exactly what they are doing in terms of marketing. In fact, the analysis should go deep enough for you to learn about their page rank, the keywords that they have been optimizing for, their overall lawyer SEO strategy and more.
3. Website Optimization
Understand what you are working with: Internal website optimization efforts are as important as external interventions. Everything from the page load time to the navigation system of your website, internal linking and the overall architecture of the web pages will have a bearing on the performance of the site.
4. Local Visibility
Go for local visibility: Most of your clients will use local search to find a legal firm that they can approach. To tap into this customer base, you will need to ensure that your firm shows up in local search results. This can be done by incorporating content that has location specific keywords in it and by listing the site with various directories that cater to the local market segment. Google Places/Plus/Local, Yahoo Local, and Bing Places are great places to start.
5. Content Creation
Content is not just the king but also the emperor: Google has clarified its stand on quality content time and again, particularly after the release of its Panda update. Gone are the days when sub standard, keyword stuffed content would work. Today, your site may even get penalized for this. So, treat the articles on your website not just as a marketing tactic but also as the calling card of your business and as a channel to display your expertise to prospective clients.
6. Link Building
The right type of link building: It would be utterly futile for you to get a link back to your site from a gardening tools portal. On the other hand, inbound links coming from legal blogs and new websites will not only be valuable in terms of SEO for attorneys but also it will cement your reputation as a subject matter expert.
7. Legal Blog
Incorporate a blog into your website: A blog will not only be the mouthpiece of your firm and a valuable tool to collect client feedback but also it will help to inject new content into your website regularly. This is one of the most effective strategies in terms of search engine optimization for law firms.
8. Mobile Marketing
Is your website mobile ready? If not, you will be losing out on a large chunk of business that comes from people who use their mobile phones and devices to find information on the internet. So, it is crucial to ensure that your website is mobile friendly or even responsive.
9. Social Media Marketing
The millions of users of social media portals such as Facebook and Twitter are a testament to the raw marketing power of this channel. Likes and re-tweets can take the popularity of your content through the roof and create a solid brand reputation.
10. Youtube
Youtube also has its own share of marketing benefits: While the written word will certainly get your business attention, nothing can beat visual media when it comes to creating and enhancing brand visibility. Yet, this is one marketing venue that is often ignored by firms interested in SEO for attorneys. Answering a legal question through a short video clip will help to create a sense of personal rapport with prospective clients.
You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure
Finally, analyzing the efficacy of your SEO strategy is a must. Your efforts will be futile if you cannot see tangible results. So, it is imperative to understand the ROI for every marketing dollar. Although online marketing efforts are known to yield higher and long-term results, it is crucial to set benchmarks that will help you to evaluate how well your current approach is faring and what needs to be done in the future.
Search engine optimization for law firms will continue to bring in revenue for as long as you are willing to invest time and resources in it. However, while the benefits of SEO can be significant, they do take time which is why we always tell our clients it’s a long-term strategy.
Do you want to know how your law firm website is doing right now? Get Your Instant SEO Score Using our FREE Tool here
Bigfoot Media has helped tons of law firms get found on Google and start attracting more clients. Need help right now? Give us a call at (864) 214-5504 and speak to an SEO expert.
