SEO is a challenge for most lawyers. The reason is because there are so many factors that impact your search engine ranking. In fact, there are hundreds of thousands of variables that Google uses to rank websites. Despite this size and complexity though, SEO is still very much an art rather than a science. This means that you need to get creative with how you build out your website content and make sure it’s optimized for conversion (and not just ranking).
Best SEO for lawyers?
Great question!
In order to answer it, we need to take a step back and look at some basics. What is SEO? The acronym stands for Search Engine Optimization and refers to the process of getting more traffic from search engines. This can be done by changing how your website presents itself on search engines like Google or Bing, as well as by using external sites (such as HubPages) that send people back to your site if they are looking for something specific.
So now that we know what SEO is and why it’s important: How do lawyers use it? There are several ways that lawyers use SEO; some promote their brand through social media posts about recent cases won or written articles about current events in the legal world. Others may feature videos showing them discussing legal topics with clients or experts in other fields such as science who have expertise relevant to civil litigation cases involving scientific data collection methods used during discovery phases before trial dates set during pretrial proceedings
On-Page SEO for lawyers
On-page SEO is often the most important aspect of a lawyer’s website. Essentially, it means optimizing the text on your site so that it can be easily read by search engines.
In order to do this effectively, you need to make sure that:
- All of your content is optimized for search engines
- Your site loading speed is as fast as possible
Capitalise on Google My Business (GMB) and Bing Places.
- Google My Business and Bing Places are local listings that exist on the major search engines.
- Local SEO is important because it helps you rank in the local pack and allows you to show up on maps.
- To set up these listings, you can either manually create/manage them or use a third party tool such as Moz Local or Yext.
- Once they’re created, make sure they have correct information, like business hours, address and phone number so that users can find you easily when searching for businesses within your area. You also need to optimize them for local keywords like “best lawyers NYC” or “best criminal defense attorney San Francisco CA”
‘Pillar content’ on your website is key.
Pillar content is a phrase that describes the information on your website that’s most important to your audience. These are the pages, posts, and topics that visitors come to you for.
The first step in creating a pillar content strategy is to figure out what your pillars look like: What types of questions do you get asked? What topics do people ask about? Do people often reach out to talk about an area related to one specific topic or another? This can help guide you in determining what type of content you need to create next.
Once you’ve identified what pillars exist on your website already, it’s time to start thinking about how those pillars can be better utilized. You may decide it makes sense (and could help increase traffic) if there were more articles specifically addressing questions people have been asking recently—or maybe some new graphics would make them more visually appealing! Whatever the case may be, once these pillars are identified as part of an overall strategy they should be regularly monitored as part of a regular marketing schedule so they don’t go stale over time; keeping up with trends within each industry can also help keep things fresh and relevant for readers’ needs as well!
Performance focus should also be on mobile.
Performance focus should also be on mobile. With mobile-first indexing, Google is giving priority to sites that are mobile friendly, and penalizing those that aren’t.
- AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is a technology that allows for a faster website experience on the go. By using AMP and responsive design, you’ll be able to serve up a better experience for your users no matter where they’re coming from—a desktop or laptop computer or a smartphone or tablet.
Video, video, video.
Video, video and more video.
Are you surprised to see this as a top SEO tip? Video is the fastest growing content type on the web and can help you stand out from your competitors by delivering high-quality, relevant information in an engaging manner.
With video, you can explain complex topics in a much easier to understand way than plain text or pictures alone. For example, if you’re explaining how to install software on a computer, showing someone actually doing it makes it much easier for people who may not be familiar with the process.
Also consider using videos (or screenshots) instead of photos when describing certain procedures or processes; they are far more interesting and engaging! For example:
If I was trying to explain how I create my legal documents over email like most lawyers do nowadays (which isn’t great), then maybe something like this would work better:
Optimize your website speed.
- Optimize your website speed.
- Site speed can be a key factor when it comes to rankings. It’s been shown that users are more likely to leave a site that takes too long to load, and that Google is using site speed as a ranking signal in some cases (although we don’t know how much).
- The easiest way to improve the load time of your website is by optimizing the size of images and files with compression tools like TinyPNG. You should also make sure you’re not loading unneeded scripts or styles on pages where they aren’t necessary.
- You can measure how fast your site loads by inserting an element with style=”display:none;” into the head section of each page, then checking back later and seeing if it has loaded yet (you’ll have to keep refreshing until it does). Lastly, use Google Chrome DevTools by right-clicking anywhere on any page inside Chrome itself; this will provide insights into which resources are taking longer than others when loading them up initially like CSS/JS files or rendering elements within them like images themselves
How to boost local SEO signals?
Local SEO is the practice of optimizing your website(s) to rank well in local search results. If you’re a lawyer, this means getting your site to appear at the top of Google’s local pack and map results for keywords like “NYC attorneys” or “Chicago lawyers.”
Local SEO differs from broader forms of digital marketing in that it doesn’t focus on ranking for generic terms like “lawyer” but instead targets more specific phrases relevant to your practice area and location.
Buying reviews.
Buying reviews is a bad idea for many reasons. First, it’s unethical to pay people to say positive things about you—it’s essentially paying for a positive review. Second, it’s a waste of money. You can’t get organic search results from paid reviews, and the only way to get organic search results is if people find your site organically (i.e., without being asked). Third, buying reviews can get you into trouble with Google and local regulators. Fourth, it could hurt your reputation as an honest businessperson in the eyes of potential clients.
Local citations.
Finding the right directories is the first step to getting listed in local citations. You can find a directory through a Google search or by searching for “local citation directory”. There are many websites that provide this service, but not all of them are legitimate. To avoid paying for a listing that isn’t going to help your SEO and business, look for reputable directories like Yext and Moz Local (formerly Moz Local Business Listings).
When you’re looking at a local citation directory website, make sure they allow you to submit your business’s information directly or requires an intermediary like Yext or Moz Local before they allow access to their listings. They also need to have high-quality reviews from clients who have used them before—you should see something like: “This company really helped my business grow.” If they don’t have any reviews like this, it means they might not be worth using because people haven’t had positive experiences with them in the past (this doesn’t mean negative reviews aren’t okay either—just know what kind of experience you want with your business).
Influencer outreach.
- Influencer outreach.
What is it? Influencers are people that have an engaged following, and can help you reach a new audience by sharing your content with their networks. They’ll also help you build credibility and trust in your industry because they are experts in the subject matter. Influencer marketing is the process of reaching out to these influencers and requesting they share or mention your content on their own channels (social media accounts, blogs, etc.).
How do I find them? You can find influencers by using tools such as BuzzSumo or Followerwonk; both of these allow you to search for keywords related to what you do—for example, if you’re an attorney practicing criminal law, search for “criminal defense attorney” as a keyword so that it returns a list of top users who fit this description. The other method involves finding people who already follow/interact with someone else who has an online presence—this could be another attorney specializing in criminal defense work but doesn’t necessarily rank high enough on Google…yet! The best way is usually through mutual connections; ask around among colleagues who might know someone else well enough that they’d recommend him/her without hesitation.”
Local schema markup.
>Schema markup is a way to help Google and other search engines understand your content and its relevancy to searchers. Schema-goodness can include information like the name of a business, address, phone number, hours of operation—things that would typically be buried at the bottom of your page in an tag. Schema markup helps improve your click-through rate (CTR), as well as increase engagement with users who may not have found you otherwise!
It’s a lot to remember, but in the hands of a good thought leader it can be done.
It’s a lot to remember, but in the hands of a good thought leader it can be done. And if you’re like us, you might even enjoy the challenge!
Whether your goals are getting more clients or making sure your website reaches its potential—and both are important—you need to be patient and plan ahead. You also need to invest in good SEO so that your site isn’t buried under hundreds of thousands of other competing sites vying for attention. Finally, you’ll want to do some research on what types of keywords will help get you where you want to go.
Conclusion
In the end, search engine optimization (SEO) is an ever-changing game. It’s important to keep up with these changes and adapt your strategy accordingly. The lawyers who succeed will be those who are able to continually adapt their approach and stay ahead of the curve—not just in terms of how they use technology, but also in how they think about it.
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