Table of Contents
As you’ll know, if you’re an attorney, the legal field is a very competitive one. That’s why it’s important to think carefully about your marketing strategy if you want to attract more clients and enjoy greater success. There are many different techniques you can try, and the best ones for you will depend on a number of factors, including your target market and the personality of your brand. Therefore, one of the key steps is figuring out exactly what kind of clients you’re hoping to attract. Once you know this, it will help determine the tone of everything that comes next. No matter who you’re targeting, however, one of the crucial aspects to focus on is SEO.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and at first glance, it can seem impenetrable to lawyers who are not experts in digital marketing. There is a lot of information online about SEO, but this can be overly complex and full of jargon. However, in essence, SEO is quite simple – it refers to how easy it is for people to find your law firm online. In other words, SEO tactics are designed to help your business show up on the first page of the Google results when a potential client searches a keyword that’s relevant to your company.
Are you starting to see why SEO is important? If your law firm doesn’t appear on the first page of search results, the chances of the person clicking through to your website are extremely low. This is obviously not good for business. By boosting your SEO and getting higher up on Google, you increase traffic to your website and make it more likely that a potential client will choose to hire you.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO helps to increase your law firm’s visibility in local search results. For example, when you search terms such as ‘movie theater’ or ‘Japanese restaurant’, Google tailors the results to make them relevant to the location you’re searching from. That’s why you’ll get different results if you search from your office compared to when you search from home.
By focusing on local SEO, too, you’ll ensure that potential clients near you are shown the link to your website even if they don’t specify the city you’re in when they search. The advantages of local SEO for lawyers can be huge because it’s an industry in which location matters.
What are the advantages of using SEO?
If local SEO has advantages, you are safe to assume that SEO has advantages too. The main advantage of using SEO is that it naturally drives more traffic to your law firm’s website. That means more potential clients see your page, find out about you, and ultimately choose you to represent them in their case. Of course, it’s possible to use paid advertising on Google; however, people are less likely to click on ads or trust what they say. The vast majority of people begin their online searches for products or services on Google, and very few click through to even the second page of results.
As such, by investing a little time and effort in SEO, you can greatly boost your business. This helps you to stay ahead of the competition and ultimately increase your revenue. The great thing about traffic generated by SEO is that it tends to generate higher quality leads, too, saving you time. Plus, appearing high on Google rankings can increase your credibility with potential customers, as well as brand awareness. Finally, SEO is a more cost-effective marketing strategy in comparison to paid advertisements, so using it is a real win-win for law firms.
How you can improve your SEO
One of the simplest and most effective methods for boosting SEO is to provide the sort of content on your website that your target audience wants or is useful to them. So, for example, you could start a blog that covers relevant topics or have an FAQ page where you provide answers to common questions people have about your area of law. This will help to drive traffic to your website organically and raise your law firm’s credibility in your field by showing your expertise.
Another important tip is to keep your website up-to-date, accurate, and easy to navigate. It should also be quick to load; otherwise, people will simply go back and try another link. What you’re aiming to do is not only attract visitors to your site in the first place but to keep them there for as long as possible – and returning frequently. This also means that your website should be optimized for mobile devices like cellphones because more and more people are using these as their primary way of accessing the internet.
When it comes to local SEO specifically, an effective method is to optimize your Google My Business listing. This is a free tool that enables you to provide a broad range of information about your law firm, which will then appear on relevant Google searches for your area. Such information includes everything from opening hours and contact details to photographs.
How can hiring an agency help you with SEO?
There’s a lot more to effective SEO than simply starting a blog and making your website look pretty. If you have the technical knowledge, there is a far broader range of tactics you can employ to boost your place in the search rankings. However, if you don’t have that level of expertise, then calling in an agency that does could be your best bet.
Hiring an external marketing company to assist your law firm with its SEO can bring you a wide range of benefits. For instance, they can conduct an audit of your website in its current state to work out what sort of optimizations are required and then put those into place. This could include images, readability, broken links, formatting, URLs, meta descriptions, and so on.
Another aspect they can help with is keyword research and analysis. This involves identifying the top keywords for your specific field and figuring out how to ensure you rank highly for each one. An agency can also work on generating appropriate and authoritative backlinks to your website – another factor that influences your position on Google.
Of course, working with an SEO agency doesn’t only bring you technical advantages. It also frees up your time and energy to focus on other areas of your business – such as dealing with all the new leads your improved SEO generates! It’s also often cheaper than hiring a new member of in-house staff, plus enables you to take advantage of the combined experience and knowledge of a whole team of passionate experts.
What other marketing strategies should you try?
SEO is an extremely effective marketing strategy that no law firm should overlook. However, it’s far from the only tactic available to you and will work best when used in conjunction with others. Need some inspiration? Here are some ideas:
- Video – this is a popular way for people to consume content, and although it’s time-consuming, it can yield great results if youget it right. Potential video ideas include staff introductions and informational videos answering common questions.
- Audio – the audio content market is booming, and a great way for law firms to raise their profile is by appearing on credible and relevant podcasts.
- Social media – this is especially important if your target audience is young, and gives you a platform for engaging with potential clients in a more informal manner. Be authentic and emphasize your firm’s unique personality and voice.
- Partnerships with local businesses – working with companies who are not direct competitors can be a fantastic way to help each other get more custom. You could advertise on each other’s premises, mention each other in email newsletters, or even collaborate on an event.
