3 Easy Ways to Boost Your Law Firm’s Search Engine Rankings
Prospects are looking for you. Chances are, there is someone in your local community right now who is looking for the exact services you provide.
Marketing is and always has been about finding people who need you. The question is, how do you get found? The answer has changed quite a bit over the last several years. Gone are the days when people searched for you in the yellow pages (No matter what the yellow pages ad salesman tells you!).
Instead, today’s consumer is looking for you online. They are seeking you out in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Therefore, it becomes clear that if you don’t have an active, consistent, and relevant online marketing strategy you are losing business.
Yet the question remains, “How does all this work?”
Simply put, Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines have advanced algorithms for which they determine which websites are the most appropriate based on the words typed into their search bar. These algorithms are secret and constantly evolving. However, based on practical experience and search engine optimization (SEO) experimentation it is fair to state that they are also based on simple human logic. In simple terms, this logic is based on content relevancy and how many other quality websites link back to you.
So with that said, here are three easy ways to give the algorithms what they want and ensure you are found when customers come looking for your services:
Content
Back in the day, people who called themselves SEO experts would cram websites full of popular but irrelevant keywords. The belief was that if you put lots of keywords on your site and you’d zoom to number 1 in Google. But Google quickly got wind of these “black-hat” techniques and changed their algorithm.
Today search engines are constantly changing the game as far as how websites rank to avoid people taking advantage of the system, but one thing remains the same – you must have quality, optimized, content that will engage your readers. And lots of it! It is critical that you post to your blog on a consistent basis and frequently – at least once per week.
That’s simply because the search engines value fresh content optimized with one or two quality keywords that naturally flow within the text. And how do you know which keywords people are searching for? We recommend trying your hand at Google’s free keyword tool found at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Takeaway Tip – Post to your blog at least once per week. Make sure that you write articles that provide information that your potential clients are seeking and include targeted keywords so the search engines can find it and rank it appropriately.
Local Directories
Local results are becoming more and more common in online searches, and will continue to grow as a way that clients seek local services. If you’re not familiar with local search, do a quick experiment in Google by typing in “estate planning lawyer near (your city)”. You’ll notice results that link to a map above the regular search results. These “local” results are generated by a different algorithm as the organic (or regular) results, as they seek to provide users with service providers near their desired location.
A quick way to get yourself included in such local search is to visit getlisted.org. That will take you through signing up for several well-established data sources for local businesses like Google Local, Yelp, Bing, and Yahoo Local. And don’t forget to optimize your profiles as well, as your keywords will dictate how you are found by local consumers.
Takeaway Tip – Go to getlisted.org and list your business in the most popular local search directors and do research to find niche directories.
Article Marketing
Article marketing is yet another way to get your information out to hungry consumers. Not only is this a great way to gain positive public exposure, but it is a smart way to improve your search engine rankings. When done properly, articles you post on syndicated article sites become “link bait” for other sites. They also give you quality “link-backs” to your site—which leads Google, Yahoo or other search engines to believe your site is “popular” among consumers. Think of links on your articles as little steps toward that number one ranking in Google!
The first thing you should do, even before you write the first word of your first article, is to do keyword research to determine what your potential clients are searching for. Keyword research is the practice of balancing the popularity of a keyword or search phrase against the competitiveness of the keyword phrase. You certainly wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time and money targeting keywords and phrases that no one is likely to use in a search. Likewise, if 80 million plus results come up when you search for your keyword phrase you may have a difficult time getting ranked for that competitive of a keyword. So it is important to find the right combination of popularity and competitiveness.
Once you determine what keywords you should be using to allow your prospective clients to find you, begin writing articles that target such keywords– and lots of them. You should be writing at least one article per week. If you aren’t able to devote that much time to writing, it is possible to outsource this. (If you’re an estate planning attorney, our DFY service is s a good outsourcing resource.
Then once you have quality, keyword rich articles, it is time to submit them. Look for article submission sites or article directories that receive a high volume of traffic and are considered authority sites by search engines. Submitting to these sites will result in lots of free traffic to your site.
Finally, there is one more step to ensuring your site ranks well in the search engines and that’s being consistent with your search engine optimization strategy. The steps above aren’t something you do once and never do again. Instead, you must be working on your SEO strategy weekly to ensure your site ranks on page one (or close to it) when prospects come calling.
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.