seo for attorneys
Attorneys deal with an amazing amount of online competition. In fact, if an attorney wants to have a great online presence, he or she will need to have a professional website, expert content, researched keywords, and more. Small law firms don’t have the budget to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising, and large firms often seek out large marketing firms that have little to show for their efforts. It’s important that you work with an SEO professional who is accountable, honest, and communicative.
Website Design & Development
In society, lawyers are looked upon with respect and admiration due to their extensive training and knowledge. In fact, most everyone has had to consult with an attorney for some reason or another. When searching for an attorney, his or her law firm website should be fast and professional. Also, a lawyer’s website should showcase the personality and culture of the firm.
The website of a trial lawyer will likely look different than that of a bankruptcy attorney. They have different messages and their target audiences are not the same in most cases. Therefore, it is the job of a website design company to build a professional-looking website that captures the main elements of the law firm so that visitors will 1) learn important information written by an expert, and 2) learn if the attorneys at the firm are a good fit for them and their possible case.
Also, by using a professional web designer who has had experience in working with attorneys, you can trust your designer to help your website convert those visitors through visually-pleasing colors, designs, and images. Like a billboard, your website, particularly your homepage, needs to be a show-stopper so the right people will call and hire you. While your opinion should always matter and be considered, you should rely upon your web designer to lead you in making good choices for your law firm web design.
Content
Once visitors land on an attorney’s website, it’s now time to show them that the lawyers in that firm are experts in their field. This is done through well-written, expert content. While images are nice, they don’t show anyone that you are a reputable, knowledgeable attorney. That is why you should always have a content plan. Always.
Also, search engines review your content through their algorithms, and it is one of the deciding factors of where your website ranks for keywords. This is true for Google, Google mobile, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines. It’s one way that these algorithms can “prove” that you are who you say you are, and they should “recommend” your firm by placing your website higher on search engine results.
Some attorneys don’t want or appreciate adding new content because they feel that it muddies up their website, and they don’t believe that people read any more. It’s true that aesthetics matter; however, in the end, content is the ticket to ranking higher and getting more traffic and conversions. Also, because choosing an attorney is usually a big decision, people spend more time reading their website content than others. For example, when choosing an attorney, most people will go to the bio or about page to learn more about their firm and the attorneys that work there. They like to see an image of the attorneys and get a general feel of the personality of each one. This is user-experience at its finest.
Content should be lengthy (700-750 words for attorney websites) and it should be filled with lots of great information for user experience and search engines. It should be fresh content (never duplicated) that includes both internal and external links, and it should be free of any spelling or grammatical errors.
Particularly for attorneys, it’s important that your content is able to be understood by the average reader. While legalese can be impressive, your website is not the place to display it. People need to know that you are approachable and can help them in their everyday life situations. Keep it professional and timely, of course, but always remember that laypeople will be reading the content, not other attorneys.
Keywords
Keywords on your website should be added to both the front and back end of the site by someone who understands the following:
- How to research for the best keywords for your business and website.
- Where to place those keywords on the website.
- If and when keywords should be changed.
- Has the ability to monitor the placement of keywords (usually done through high-end software applications).
It is strongly suggested that your keywords include your current location where you do business each day. This should be the same location that is used on your Google My Business listings and other online directories and listings.
Even though more businesses are conducting business online, it’s still important, if at all possible, to include at least one location on your website. Without a location, your business website is “virtually” going up against every other attorney’s website. Start with a location and expand out from there. For example, many of the attorneys we work with start in one location and eventually rank for their entire state for some keywords.
Listen to your SEO professional when it comes to keywords. Always ask questions, but, in the end, trust his or her judgment. Review your keywords, and if you see one that does not represent your firm, let your SEO service provider know your concerns. Remember that you hired them to do the work, so let them use their skills to give you the results, which is the bottom line to all marketing.
SEO for Lawyers
Helping attorneys with their SEO is one of the most gratifying experiences here at Capstone. While every lawyer is different, there are particular elements that don’t change when helping them with their online marketing services. Rather they have a firm of 100+ employees in a metro area or it’s a solo practice in a small town, we know how to get them ranking in Google and other search engines. Due to years of experience in working with attorneys and their websites, we have learned what works and what doesn’t.
If you don’t have someone helping you with your law firm SEO, contact us today. We have had amazing success, and we would love to help you as we have helped so many other law practices build a better online presence and put your website to work for you.
