Thanks to a continuing influx of law school graduates, the legal profession remains competitive. If your practice isn’t seeing as many clients as you’d hope for, you understand this reality all too well. What you may not know is that law firm SEO has become essential for the success of any practice. Word of mouth and hanging a shingle simply don’t accomplish what they used to.
If you’re not well acquainted with SEO, it’s an abbreviation for “search engine optimization.” People go straight to Google and other search platforms to find professionals from all industries. As the legal job market becomes more flooded, though, the likelihood of potential clients finding you continues to drop. This is where law firm SEO comes into play.
What Is Law Firm SEO?
Attorney search engine optimization is an increasingly necessary marketing tool. It employs a range of techniques meant to make a website stand out on search engines. Did you know that 75 percent of people never scroll past the first page of Google results? This means if your legal marketing doesn’t land you on page one, many potential clients will never see you.
Whenever you search for something online, you’ll see sponsored results up top. The pages that don’t pay to show up, however, are known as organic results. This is where the real value is and with the right law firm SEO strategies, you can rank at or near the top of results pages. Consumers see higher value in higher rankings, so every legal professional should pay heed.
Unfortunately, no law firm SEO book can perfect this skill. That’s because Google and other search engines constantly update their algorithms. Therefore legal professionals typically use marketing specialists to help them in this endeavor. Even before you seek out such help, though, there are some helpful strategies you could already put to use.
Lawyer SEO Best Practices
Those who utilize “do it yourself” attorney SEO place a big focus on keywords. This isn’t a bad start. It’s the primary focus for many law firm SEO agencies that are just starting out. The truth of the matter, however, is that search engine optimization requires much more. Everything from optimizing your legal website to uploading video content plays a role. Here are the law firm SEO best practices you can start using right now to improve your search ranking:
Expand Beyond Singular Keywords
If you’re a wrongful death attorney in New York City, it may seem obvious that you should focus on “wrongful death attorney in New York City” as a keyword. This can’t be your only focus, though, if you want to improve your search ranking. Consider a few other keywords and keyword phrases that potential clients may look for:
- Best New York wrongful death attorneys
- Wrongful death lawyers in New York City
- New York wrongful death
- Where can I find a wrongful death NYC attorney
- Death NYC lawyers
This is just a small sampling of what people might search for. Proper law firm SEO means figuring out which keywords apply to your site and utilizing them. Keyword research can take some time — which is why practices often hire legal marketing agencies — but getting it right can pay huge dividends.
Get Backlinks With Informative Content
For many practices, law firm marketing means putting up billboards and running television ads. This is known as outbound marketing and it’s simply not as effective as it once was. You need to focus on inbound marketing. These are strategies that bring clients to you without seeming overly promotional. This requires the creation of informative content that provides value.
When you do this, your law firm SEO will benefit. In addition to clients viewing your firm as an industry leader, other websites will likely also link back to your resources. This is why law firm content marketing is a major aspect of search engine optimization. When Google sees that other websites value your content, your pages will rank higher in search results.
Repurpose Successful Content
If you’ve ever put any focus on legal marketing, you know that content is often hit or miss. Perhaps your first three blogs went nowhere, but your fourth took off on social media. When this happens, it means that people found exceptional value in that specific blog. Trying to replicate what you did right is the correct move, but you should also consider repurposing the content.
As a law firm SEO strategy, repurposing means turning one piece of content into another. If a YouTube video went viral, take that information and turn it into a blog. Did an article you wrote on litigation during COVID get a ton of shares? Consider expanding the content into a white paper. The important thing to remember is that good content is good content regardless of its form.
All Your Lawyer SEO Needs in One Place
Excelling at law firm SEO isn’t something that happens overnight and you need more than just a few tips. It requires a continued focus on best practices to help your firm stand out from competitors. If this seems a bit overwhelming to you, know that you’re not alone. Fortunately, Just Legal Marketing handles the heavy lifting so you can focus on what it is that you do best.
Visit our Law Firm Marketing blog today to learn more lawyer SEO strategies and other helpful tips. If you’re ready to hand over the reins or find out more about Just Legal Marketing services, though, contact us today. Our law firm SEO services are just the tip of the iceberg. It’s time to make sure your future clients can easily find you among the noise.
