Getting Ahead With Attorney SEO
Attorney SEO is the process of using search engine listings to rank a law firm higher on Google, and it remains the main reason most lawyers appear at the top of results. As digital media became an increasingly important force across industries, attorney SEO rose alongside it. Ranking well is difficult precisely because so many firms compete for the same searches.
How attorney SEO helps you rank for the right searches
One of the best ways SEO helps a firm succeed is by surfacing in results when people look for a particular service you provide. If you handle car repairs, prospects are likely to Google “car” and “online auto repair.” Showing up for those queries gives you a leg up on competitors whose pages appear later, or who surface for unrelated terms like “car mechanics.” The goal is to get your firm’s name in results as often as possible for key terms related to your practice.
Why social media profiles matter
Another way SEO works in your favor is through social media, where the more profiles you maintain, the better. Active presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Yahoo! Answers, and similar platforms feeds into your visibility. Each profile can be optimized individually to send more search traffic to your law firm.
Keyword research comes first
Keyword research is the essential starting point for generating social-media keyword leads for law firm SEO. Focus mainly on the “type” of keywords your target audience uses when searching for what your firm offers. Google’s free AdWords keyword tool lets you see how competitors position themselves with specific terms and what kinds of keywords they target.
Studying your competitors’ link-building
Take a close look at the link-building strategies competitors use. What are their websites? Are they doing well? What pages of theirs rank for the specific terms you care about? Are they succeeding with their SEO strategies or struggling? Once you identify promising keywords, analyze how each competitor’s SEO is working: site structure, layout, keyword overlap with yours, regional focus, and the number of links pointing to their site. Answers to those questions make it easier to decide what you can borrow or improve on.
Joining a link building program
One concrete move is to join a link building program with another law firm. Often the company that owns the site will help you outrank them with their own webpages. Participating drives more traffic to your site and increases the chance you’ll rank above your competition. The host site sometimes offers deals as part of this, and in regions where such programs aren’t available, local link building can still give you an edge.
Adding pay per click to the mix
Finally, pay per click (PPC) marketing can be a very effective piece of internet marketing for attorney SEO. PPC lets you buy advertising space and drive a lot of traffic to your site, and many companies offer PPC services worth comparing. PPC does carry risk, so only commit a budget you can afford, and make sure that budget covers any potential costs so the campaigns actually produce results.
FAQ
What is attorney SEO?
Attorney SEO is the process of using search engine listings to rank a law firm higher on Google. It is the main reason most lawyers appear prominently in search results.
Why are social media profiles important for law firm SEO?
Maintaining multiple social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Yahoo! Answers, and others) gives a law firm more entry points that can be optimized individually to send search traffic back to the firm.
Should law firms use PPC as part of their SEO strategy?
Yes, pay per click marketing can be an effective addition to attorney SEO by buying ad space that drives traffic to the site. Firms should only commit a budget they can cover, since PPC involves a level of risk.
