One way you can get your law practice’s name out there, especially online, is by learning the basics of SEO. Wait, SE-who? We’re here to walk you through it.
What is SEO?
Let’s begin here. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of creating content that will help your website rank higher in search engine results.
Yeah, it was a shock to us, too, that Google doesn’t just randomly pick which websites to feature when we search for something. But this is good news! Working to improve your SEO practices will ultimately lead to more visitors finding you and your site.
.
Why is SEO so important?
First, the bad news. It’s not enough these days to simply have a website. You must put in extra work to increase the chances of your website being found. The good news is that SEO does just that.
Google can produce millions of search results in a matter of seconds. Whether or not your website is one of the top results is all thanks to SEO. That’s why it’s such an important skill to gain a basic understanding of.
Important SEO terms
Before we give you some best practices for your law firm, let’s start with some of the terms that will make understanding SEO a little easier.
Search engine: A search engine is a software program that helps people find the information they’re looking for when they type in keywords or phrases. Google and Bing are both examples of search engines.
Keywords: Keywords are what’s included in questions/phrases that users are typing into search engines to get results. Keyword research is the foundation of proper SEO.
-
-
Examples of keywords: what attorneys near me handle wills, law firms in [insert location here], plaintiff attorneys in [insert location here], etc.
-
Alt text: Text that helps describe images on your sites; an easy way to make your page more accessible for those who are hard-of-hearing or seeing.
Meta title: The title that search engines display on their search results page.
Meta description: The text that the search engine displays to describe your article under the meta title.
Inbound links: Inbound links are links that go to other parts of your own website.
Outbound link: If you are linking to a website that’s not yours, that’s known as an outbound link. Outbound links are great, but inbound links are even better.
Site crawl: This is the process that search engines automatically undergo to see how optimized your site is. You can also use third party web apps to do your own site crawl to see how your SEO can be improved. Moz.com is one of our favorites.
Best SEO practices
Let’s put some of this newfound knowledge into motion to help you craft a great SEO plan.
-
Make sure your content is long enough. Words have power! A great rule of thumb for webpages with written content is to make sure you’ve written at least 500 words. This gives search engines more content to grab when scanning your pages for relevancy. But not just any words will do. Inserting keywords will give you the most bang for your buck.
-
Include pictures when applicable. Different types of media peak search engines’ interests. Also, make sure to include alt text! Accessibility is becoming increasingly more important in helping search engines determine what content is best.
-
Give your site credibility by using inbound links. Show that your law practice is trustworthy on subject matter by linking to other parts of your website that support your content. For example, if you offer legal insurance and have a place on your website where attorneys can learn more about how to grow their client base, linking to that page would be an inbound link because it doesn’t require a user to leave your website. It also can impress visitors of your site, proving that they don’t need to go elsewhere to get the info that they need.
-
Make a keyword research plan. Before you dismiss the notion of extra work, take this to heart: keywords are arguably the most important part of optimizing your site.
How to do keyword research
Your website content is most valuable when you cater to what your target audience is already looking for. That’s where keyword research comes in. Here’s how to start.
-
Start by pinning down exactly the services you offer. What are you known for/want to be known for? And where do you operate?
-
Put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients. What do they think of your law practice? How do they usually find your site? What do potential clients think of law firms in general and how would they search for one? This step can be the trickiest, as you’ve been accustomed to thinking of your firm from a business perspective. Think about asking your existing clients for feedback on how they found your law practice to get a good starting idea.
-
Brainstorm keywords. You’re not on your own for this one. There are lots of tools that can help you nail down a basic list of keywords to use in future content. Check out Answer the Public and Google Search Console and leverage your firm’s services to create keywords and key phrases.*
-
Revitalize and create new content based on keyword research. Keywords are most powerful when they naturally occur multiple times throughout content. This is sometimes known as “keyword stuffing.” Some of the best places to put keywords are in the page’s headline, the page headers, the meta title and the link.
And finally, rinse and repeat. SEO is not a one-and-done practice. But once you get the hang of it, your content will write itself!
*P.S. Check out SEMrush, ahrefs.com and GrowthBar if you’re looking for even more tools!
