The regular addition of new and properly keyworded content is one of the best ways to maintain and improve the Google page position of law firm websites, and should be a part of every lawyer’s marketing efforts. Lawyers should strive to add a 300-word or longer article or blog post to their website every two weeks- more often if you are located in a very competitive area, and less often if your client base is from small towns or you rely more on different client sources than the web.
To write articles that will make an impact on your Google page rank, you must take a two-part approach to creating your content:
Part 1- Keywords and Competition
1. PHRASE POPULARITY. Go to www.googlekeywordtool.com/. Click the Google Keyword Tool. Start testing target phrases, e.g. “auto accident lawyer,” and you can see the number of monthly Google searches. As you test different phrases, record the search terms you are interested in and their search counts. If your practice is located in a small to mid-size city (population under 250,000), start with broad local search phrases (e.g. Southern California accident attorney). If you practice in a larger city, find search phrases that are more targeted but with lower search volumes. (e.g. Los Angeles car accident lawyer).
2. STRENGTH OF COMPETITION. Perform Google searches on the phrases you are interested in, and also search these phrases including the names of cities you cover. Look at the websites you find on page one of the Google searches. The goal here is to find websites that you can beat for a certain search phrase. If you see national directories or home-built websites with little content, place that search phrase on your target list. If you instead see professionally-built, content rich websites, try to find synonymous search phrases with lower search volume.
Part 2- Writing your article
3. DRAFTING TECHNIQUE. Write one article for each of your target search phrases. Include the search phrase in your headline, in the first or second sentence of the article, and again in the last or second-to-last sentence of the article.
4. SHORT AND FOCUSED. It is much more effective to write shorter focused articles than one long shotgun piece. You only need a 300 – 400 word article to get the maximum search engine benefits, and three shorter pieces can all feature different search phrases. One long article, however, is limited to one or two key phrases.
5. SPECIALTY-SPECIFIC. Marketers know that prospective clients prefer attorneys who specialize. Your attorney website should be dedicated to one specialty, and the content you write for the website should follow suit. If you are a lawyer who practices in multiple specialties, you should maintain different websites and articles for each specialty.
6. QUALITY CONTENT. A great source of content is answering common questions asked by your clients. Additionally you can write articles directly addressing your prospect’s fact pattern. By using these methods to create relevant content you a) increase the chances of your clients finding you on Google, and b) portray yourself as an expert with his or her issues. With all your articles, write in a manner that is easy for the layperson to understand.
7. EDUCATE. Salesmanship is for the office visit. Your articles and blog posts are for demonstrating your expertise and helping your prospects be smart and helpful clients. By providing educational material not found elsewhere on the web, you set yourself apart from the competition.
If you follow these steps and tackle smartly-chosen search phrases with beatable competition, you are likely to see your website on page one of Google searches after only a couple of keyworded articles and 3-4 months of patience. This is one of the best ways to boost the online visibility of law firm websites and build business for your practice.
