Search Engine Optimization for Law Firms
If you want SEO for a law office you need to follow a customized plan that takes into consideration your area of practice and top locations you provide services for. Your license may be valid throughout the state but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prioritize your target markets. Applying standard SEO for law firms may not produce the desired results unless search intent is kept in mind. The concentration of practice (insurance, divorce, etc.) is as important as the locations served.
As a law firm owner, you must keep in mind that your potential searchers will use quite different wording than how you describe your services. You may think you know it all when it comes to how your future clients describe what they need when searching for a law office near them but in reality, even the same searchers use different queries at different times while looking for the same service.
Keyword Research for Law Firms
Searchers in your area will not simply search for “law offices near me.” Targeting keywords like these, which have no targeted persona, isn’t really what you want. Those who aren’t immediately looking for legal advice are likely searching for the broad keywords. Advertising your law firm on Google requires you to know what works better for your firm over what doesn’t in terms of your searcher’s personas.
What should a law office expect from an SEO service?
More traffic from search engines, right? Wrong! Remember why you are here? You want more clients. Even though ranking for keywords that are not properly analyzed will bring you more traffic, it won’t stop you from asking, “Why is my conversion rates still low”? Keywords with search intent are more powerful than keywords with higher search volume.
So, what keywords I should be targeting to get my law office more calls and leads?
Let’s see a real-life example.
Which of the following search you should be focusing first?
Keyword | Search Volume |
DUI Attorney | 100,000 |
Law Office Near Me | 100,000 |
Drunk Driving Attorney Near Me | 10,000 |
The correct answer is “Drunk Driving Attorney Near Me.” Why?
The first and second keywords are the broadest keywords in their category. This means that this keyword phrase could be a part of a search by someone who wants to study that area, or someone writing an article, looking for statistics and so on. Remember targeting broad keywords is not only very expensive and time consuming but it’s also inefficient.
The reason we used the 3rd example as a good fit is also because it represents the best “search intent.” Choice of words is self-descriptive, and in this case, the searcher is at first his/her offence. Defendants with multiple offence in the same category will conduct more specific and educated searches. So if you want to target second+ offenders you should also identify those specific keywords. This is why keyword research is of the utmost importance for Five Buttons.
So how can you possible optimize your search presence to drive relevant searchers to your website?
1-) Initial keyword research: Five Buttons uses tried and true keyword research processes that are crafted with 12 years + of experience. We understand that keyword research must be the first step of all digital marketing efforts. Thus, we take this step extremely seriously. Anyone can use a web tool and quickly export keywords, but ONLY Five Buttons has an advanced manual process to get the ideal list of keywords so that your website traffic is generated from those looking for exactly what you offer. When we say advanced manual process, we are talking about thousands of variations for each search segment.
2-) Content: Your website must have a good standing on not only quality content but also relevant and in high quantity. Search engines are much smarter today than they were 10 years ago. Your content must be genuinely useful for readers without giving it all away so that your prospects will want to contact you for more information.
3-) Local SEO: If your site holds a good mixture of local and industry-based keyword density Google will prioritize your website over global search results. Existing on hundreds of local directories, review sites and connecting your physical address to your social medica accounts will make a major difference on your local search visibility.
4-) Competition Analysis: Get even before you get ahead. Which law offices in your area perform the best and rank highest in local searches? What keywords do they target? Our competition analysis process uncovers the key differences between you and your competition.
5-) Selective traffic: When you talk to us we will learn from you the type of clientele that fit best your service concentration. We understand that not every search/searcher carries equal value. Wouldn’t it be nice to show up on top of search engines when a “right on” search is executed within your service area?
5-) Staying up to date: Being up to date with your posts is as important as the frequency of your publications when it comes to inviting search engine crawlers to crawl your website. Five Buttons’ SEO built-in methodology will not only help you decide what you should be writing about but also rank for your articles as you create them.