There are many reasons why you should be concerned about your Google SERP rankings and the quality of your law firm’s Search Engine Optimization. Some of these reasons include:
- Most Internet users use search engines to find what they need on the Internet.
- Google has a very large share of these Internet searches.
- Most searchers never look past page one of a Search Engine Result Page (SERP).
- Many searchers will not click paid or sponsored results, preferring the ‘organic’ results.
Having a top 10 position for a Google search for a popular and relevant keyword phrase can significantly increase your law firm’s website traffic giving you the chance to acquire more new clients.
In a increasingly competitive legal market, getting good organic rankings is not easy. Its the result of a process that is akin to an art. This art is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO for short).
Tips for Getting Better Rankings
- If your currently blogging, get serious about your websites SEO and learn the basics so that you can create more effective and optimized content. A good place to start your DIY journey is by reading this law firm seo post from our blog.
- SEO techniques are always changing to reflect changes in search engine behavior. If you already have a website that has not been updated for a number of years, hire a reputable SEO consultant to examine it for any necessary changes.
- Beware of SEO Hucksters that utilize comment spamming and other unethical techniques.
- If you hire an SEO, make sure they actually perform solid keyword research for your project. A good SEO researches keywords and follows related search trends. For example, LawConsuls maintains a number of keyword research spreadsheets for various practice areas and legal markets. Make sure your SEO is doing the necessary research and not just selling empty add on services.
- Understand that SEO is a long term project. It is a long term marketing investment. It does not produce quick short term results like advertising. It takes time, effort, and web analytic data to become good at SEO. Sometimes its necessary to track months of analytics data to fine tune a website for optimal performance. Don’t expect your SEO to be a one time investment. For best results, develop a good ongoing relationship with a reputable SEO consultant.
- If you are building a new web site, hire an SEO oriented web designer. Just knowing about graphic design, usability, and back end programming is not enough to build a web site that will perform well with the search engines. Make sure your web designer is building on a strong SEO foundation with a good permalink structure. Website copy, page structure, and even file naming conventions will play a part in the overall search friendliness of a law firm website.
Things Can Always Be Made Better
Understand that your law firm website is a constant work in progress. There will always be things that can be done to improve your website or SEO. This doesn’t mean, however, that you should pay for every possible improvement. Find an SEO consultant that you can trust to give you the straight talk. Not every possible improvement for a website will lead to measurable ROI. Beware of companies that continuously oversell by trying to sell you every possible add on service.
Your Google Ranking Can Be Your First Impression
Law Firm Websites are becoming more and more important to client development. This is why you need to be serious about your website. It can no longer be an afterthought. For example, if you are a law firm that claims to have achieved a number of multi-million dollar verdicts, but your website has low quality photography and looks like it was built by an amateur, you will certainly make a questionable impression. Do yourself a favor, spend some of your marketing budget on your website. At least make sure that your website comes up at the top of a Google search for your law firm name.
Recommended SEO Posts from our Blog
Law Firm SEO Requires a Human Touch
6 Tips to Increase Your Search Traffic
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