New SEO Techniques for Lawyer Marketing
Anyone who is marketing a law firm online understands that Google is very important. Most computer users will go directly to Google, type in their search term, and hope they get back good information. Your goal, of course, is for your law firm to show up in results that come back. There are methods for improving your ranking in those results, referred to as SEO, or search engine optimization.
No one knows with absolute certainty how exactly Google determines which sites to pull into a user’s SERP (search engine result pages), and the algorithms used change as much as 600 times a year. The search engine giant is always tweaking the system to try and make it more accurate and helpful. By being aware of what some of the algorithm’s criteria are, though, you can improve how you market your law practice online.
In a fairly recent major change to the algorithm, Google has placed more emphasis on location. So, someone from California is more likely to get results from LA and Sacramento law firms than from some practice in Delaware.
There are some things that you can do in your law practice marketing that can have a positive effect on how and where your firm shows up in results.
First of all, Google tends to give more attention to businesses that have a Google+ page. Law practices will often rank better when they have optimized their Google+ Local page. This means making sure that you have chosen the right business category. It’s also a good idea to ask your clients to leave positive reviews on your Google+ page.
The other aspect of improving your law firm’s marketing with SEO is to pay attention to your actual web site. Sure, you want to do things such as keeping fresh, keyword-enhanced content going up on the site, but you can also make other minor changes that are helpful. One suggestion is to add a “location” page. In doing this, double check that the information you include on this page reflects exactly what you have on your Google+ page, especially when it comes to your address. Additionally, it can be helpful to add “Services” pages. Create an individual page for each service your provide and make sure that your location is included.
Search engines are a huge part of modern law firm marketing strategies, and being aware of important criteria and changes like these can help your web site rank higher when folks are looking for a lawyer in your area.
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.