I talk to a lot of lawyers who don’t want to even talk about SEO because they don’t understand it at all.
But law firm SEO is not hard when you’ve learned the fundamentals. By understanding some basic attorney SEO, your law firm should pay attention to a digital marketing strategy that helps you meet your business goal and avoids spending money or time on risky or ineffective SEO schemes.
Here are four things some lawyers need to learn about search engine optimization for law firms.
1. Law firm SEO is not tricky
Some law firm marketing companies who sell law firm SEO will tell attorneys how tricky SEO is. When an attorney believes SEO is confusing or they do not devote enough time for educating themselves on the matter, it leads to him spending funds on services he doesn’t need and won’t help him build a successful web presence, or wastes his time on a tactic that is risky or outdated.
What Works and What Doesn’t for Law Firm SEO
Digital marketing for attorneys is not hard when you’ve learned the process – lots of this depends on creating great content people can learn from. Once an attorney understands the following law firm marketing basics, they can set themselves up for selecting effective and efficient online marketing strategies:
- How a search engine finds, evaluates, and ranks website content
- How a future client searches for online information
- Why writing high-quality content for your law firm website is crucial
Knowledge is Power for Attorney Marketing
Once lawyers learn the digital marketing basics, the chances of them wasting valuable time on strategies that don’t work or risky schemes that could harm their presence online becomes much lower. This then lowers the chances of them wasting good money on marketing services they don’t need. Instead, they can focus on efforts to produce content that will improve their visibility online, helping them get new legal clients online.
2. Utilize Accounting Firm Directory Listings Appropriately
They are lots of notable directory listings like Avvo, Google My Business, and Yelp that a potential client might see when they’re searching for info that relates to your law firm. Because of this, you might want to go claim your profile on all those sites and fill it with helpful information about your law firm and the attorneys at the practice. Directory listings can be a great way to grow your legal practice.
Don’t Pay Somebody For Claiming a Local Law Firm Directory Listing
Most of the time, it will take under ten minutes for setting up profiles on these directories and listings. Sometimes, sites like GMB (Google my Business) mail you a postcard or letter confirming the physical location of your law firm. Because it takes some participation on your part, and it does not take very long, typically you shouldn’t be outsourcing this to someone else to handle for your law firm.
3. Capitalize on Social Media to Amplify Your Private School’s Digital Presence
Increased Visibility in Searches
Maintaining a presence on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook reinforces your law firm’s messaging and brand online. It is likely that these platforms will appear in the SERPS where referral sources and potential clients are searching for your law firm’ information.
Broadcast Your Law Firm’s Message and Values
Being on these platforms helps for conveying a positive image that is consistent to referral sources and potential clients while driving traffic to the website for your law firm.
Social media could be helpful for promoting your law firm’s blog and website, and also to engage in a discussion related to the practice area(s) for your law firm.
Remember that Content is King
But social media should not be the center of your law firm’s digital marketing campaign. Social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are great platforms to amplify the voice of your law firm online, supplementing your law firm’s content marketing activities. It should not divert your attention from writing great content for your law firm’s blogs and websites.
4. Too Good to Be True Usually Is Exactly That
Marketing agencies try making enticing claims that they’ll get your law firm’s website to “page one of Google” almost overnight.
No marketing companies can guarantee a ranking, and no marketing company can promise they’ll get your law firm to the “top of Google” since it does not exist.
An SEO agency said they would guarantee your search engine results huh?
Search Engine Optimization for Attorneys is a Process
Google search engine results are varied depending on many factors including, user locations, what search term is entered, the time of day and the type of devices someone is using. Any single search there could be “top results” but there is no one “top”.
Law firm SEO done effectively depends upon creating great content, which does not happen overnight. Developing quality content takes time. It also takes time for sculpting trust and authority on the search engines.
Attempts to “Trick” Search Engines are Risky and Ineffective
A marketing agency may promise they can offer law firms fast SEO successes. Or lawyers might think there is a way to “game” Google into artificially improving the rank of their website in the SERPs.
Today the Google algorithm is too smart for tactics like this to bring long-term significant improvements on a website’s rank. Tactics meant for tricking Google into boosting website rankings are a violation of Google Webmaster Guidelines and the chances of them positively impacting your law firm’s search result rankings is slim to none.
We Help Law Firms Grow
The safest and best way is building a firm foundation for your law firm’s digital marketing by regularly publishing great content that will address the needs of future clients. Consistent content writing helps build trust and increase visibility on the search engines, and it also helps to create a bond of trust with a potential client.
