LAW FIRM SEO: IMPROVING LAWYER INTERNET MARKETING
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The world of business marketing and advertising has changed dramatically with the advent of the internet and search engines like Google™. Attorneys and law firms that once listed their services in traditional mediums such as phone books and newspapers are now increasingly turning to the internet for results. But the challenge for most law firms today is unlike a simple phone or newspaper advertisement, a website alone does not produce results. That is where law firm SEO can help.
How We Help Law Firms Grow:
- Professional, high-visibility legal websites
- Comprehensive On-site and off-site SEO strategies to improve website visibility, performance and results
- Google Local (Maps) optimization services
- Social media strategies (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, etc.)
- Blog creation, management and optimization strategies
- Press Release creation, distribution and optimization
Like every major advertising and marketing medium before it, the internet is becoming an increasingly competitive environment for lawyers. But unlike traditional advertising, the path to success on the internet is far more complex, ever changing, and difficult for most law firms to consistently keep up with and master. That is why only a small percentage of attorneys and law firms truly succeed online and why law firm SEO services can help change the playing field for your practice.
The Biggest Source of Legal Information
Over three-times as many adults in the United States now turn to the internet for legal advice and information as they did six years ago. This makes the internet now the biggest source of legal information in the United States. Over the same period of time, the percentage of people who rely on friends and family for the same advice has declined by a third. So as the trends continues, successful law firms are moving away from traditional phone book advertising to creating a stronger presence online.
Focus on Local Search Optimization
Since most attorneys and law firms practice within defined geographic areas such as cities, counties, boroughs and states, the importance of local search engine optimization becomes critical to their success. The initiative to optimize a website to receive a top search engine ranking in targeted geographic markets can be the difference between simply having a website that costs money and having a law firm SEO strategy to help bring in new cases and grow your practice.
What If: I Already Have Enough Clients?
Many lawyers and law firms claim that they already have enough cases. But many fail to ask themselves if they have the best cases. Unlike phone books and other traditional ubiquitous forms of advertising, a search engine optimized (SEO) website allows firms to highly focus their marketing to specific practice areas and cases. Think about how you distinguish yourself from other firms – the internet now allows you to leverage these differences by focusing in on what you do best. So just because you might have enough cases now, doesn’t always mean that you have the cases that pay the most and are highly desirable to your practice. Moreover, an optimized law firm internet marketing strategy can also help you pick and choose from the cases you receive – so you can end up maximizing your time and increasing your income. In many practice areas, attorneys also find the demographic makeup of clients received from the web to be of a higher education and income segment of society as well.
What if: I Only Rely On Referrals?
Most lawyers work off of referrals and the internet can be an increasing important aid to your referral network. As discussed above, people are increasingly turning to the internet for legal research and advise while at the same time as relying less on friends and family for the same. If you receive a referral today, chances are that there might have been more than one referral given to that same person. Since people are increasing researching lawyers online before they contact you, how do you know how you stack up to your competition? Do they have websites? If you have a website, how does it compare? Since most people on average will look at 4.8 attorney websites before they contact you, all of these questions can mean the difference between getting a new case and not getting the call. Moreover, if your website does not receive a top search engine ranking, how will your visibility (or a lack thereof) also affect your referral network if your perspective clients have a hard time finding you?
Law firm SEO involves a number of areas that all lead to legal websites that perform optimally on major search engines such as Google™, Yahoo!, and others. These areas include your own website (On-page SEO), how other websites can help increase your visibility (Off-site SEO), and positioning yourself to succeed on the search engines (Search SEO):
On-page SEO:
- Content SEO – Learn how the highest ranked law firm sites utilize content to win
- URL SEO – Learn how your URL address can help produce results
- Website Design SEO – Learn how great law firm website designs can lead to great results, and visa versa
- Keyword SEO – Learn how to utilize keywords and phrases that your customers use online
Off-page SEO:
- SEO Link Building – Learn why the highest ranked websites & search engines love links
Search SEO:
- Local Search Engine Optimization – Learn how law firms can succeed in local markets
- Google SEO – Understand how Google™ works and how to get to the top of the search results