SEO, or search engine optimization, is an essential process for allowing your business to stand out from your competitors online, increase organic website traffic, and connect your attorneys with new potential clients. In recent years, marketing for the digital landscape has quickly overtaken more traditional advertising efforts, particularly for small businesses. An agency that specializes in digital marketing and website development can assist you with improving your presence in search engine results local to your area, so you’ll have more relevant calls and increased visibility for your law firm.
Marketing your law firm online requires significant technical expertise, particularly when it comes to optimizing your website, fixing on-page errors, and reporting the results of your SEO efforts. In addition, the process can be incredibly time-consuming and will take several months of dedicated effort in many cases. Most small businesses can benefit immensely from search engine optimization services but can’t afford to hire a marketing professional internally. Digital marketing agencies offer law firms an easy to afford marketing solution, so they can continue to grow their client base and increase their website traffic and organic leads.
Legal SEO is a competitive field, particularly for practice areas like personal injury and corporate law. Marketing efforts for your business should therefore be highly localized to the states and regions in which your attorneys are licensed to practice. In this article, we’ll cover some of the basic elements of search engine optimization, how the process can be tailored for attorneys, and why digital marketing services are essential for your practice.
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Understanding the Basics of SEO
The goal of search engine optimization for legal service providers is to increase organic traffic for the firm’s website, thereby increasing the volume of calls and contact form completions. To do so, digital marketers will increase your search engine results page rankings for specific, relevant keywords that your potential clients are searching for online.
If your business is first ranked for a specific keyword, it will show up as the first result in Google if someone in your area types the keyword into Google or Bing. But because every personal injury law firm in your city wants to have the first ranked website for the keyword “personal injury lawyer,” search engine optimization becomes an intensely competitive effort. It can often take upwards of six months before the firm’s rankings begin to increase exponentially. However, the end result will go a long way in allowing the attorneys to scale up their businesses, demand-based pricing, and website traffic.
How the SEO Process Works for Law Firms
The technical expertise of digital marketers is almost always a necessity for improving your law firm’s search engine results page rankings. Fluctuating results are typical during the initial 6 to 12 months because the habits of online users, the marketing efforts of your competitors, and Google’s core algorithm that determines how websites rank for keywords all continue to change at a rapid pace. Here are a few of the best practices that your digital marketing services provider will take you through to improve your firm’s online presence.
SEO Starts With Optimizing Your Website
If your website doesn’t feature an intuitive, modern layout that supports user experience, the value of incoming organic traffic will drop significantly, and your SEO efforts will, unfortunately, be unable to convert into meaningful results for your business. For this reason, full-service digital marketing service providers offer web development services that start your digital marketing efforts off on the right foot. If you’re just beginning your journey into the realm of digital marketing, it’s often a good idea to start with a brand-new website.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is an essential process for better understanding your potential clients that are searching online for the type of legal services your firm offers. These keywords can give you a good idea of your potential clients’ questions about your process and how much it will cost them. This research will also help identify other individuals that can benefit from your services but aren’t yet aware of that’s the case. For example, someone searching terms related to loan forgiveness might not realize that filing legal assistance for filing bankruptcy might be a good option for their situation.
Content Development
Once your marketing services provider has identified the keywords your business should target, the process of content development begins. The content for your website should utilize several high-value keywords simultaneously but remain specifically relevant to answering the inquiry or request of a single keyword. You’ll need content marketers for your business that already have experience in working with law firms so that the content your purchasing utilizes and magnifies a trustworthy brand voice.
The content for your website essentially helps to bring in potential clients and establish your firm’s visible expertise and authority in your practice area and geographic location. And while the content is always developed with potential clients in mind, the use of keywords causes Google to begin ranking the page up in its search engine results. The collective goals of the website’s content are to inform your potential clients about your services, increase the authority of your business in the eyes of Google’s algorithm, and increase conversions with targeted calls to action (CTAs).
Also Read: Successful Marketing With Search Engines
On-Page SEO
On-page error fixes for your website are necessary for optimizing the user experience and improving your position in relevant search engine results pages. If your website contains a high quantity of 404 errors, redirects, broken links, missing images, or other page errors, Google will lower your domain’s authority score, which can then drop your website’s overall online visibility. While it might at first seem easy to avoid these errors, they are usually inevitable as new content, webpages, and design elements are added to the site.
Analytics and Reporting
The best digital marketing services for law firms include reporting and data analysis as a part of their services, so you’ll always have a clear picture of your online successes and potential areas for improvement. To get started with marketing your business online, reach out to an SEO marketing agency that has experience in working with other legal services providers.
