If your law firm is lower than the fourth or fifth listing on a search engine, there is a very strong chance that your listing is not even being seen by a user. Studies show that over a third of site users leave a page before ever scrolling down, which is why it’s so important for your law firm to be listed as high up on Google as possible.
That’s why it would be helpful to use consulting services like the ones that Brain Trust Legal offers. Rather than struggling to find SEO solutions on your own, you can get insights and advice from a team with a proven track record of success. Below are just a fraction of the helpful insights and information you can glean through BTL consulting services.
You’ve probably heard horror stories about websites that were easily ranking at the top of Google, only to see all of that hard work come crashing down in the days after Google announced and implemented a new algorithm update. The truth is that big and potentially devastating changes can come from an algorithm update, but it’s not as frightening as you might think, and there are things you can do to avoid it.
First of all, most Google algorithm updates are made with one of two purposes: to make the search experience more effective, or to stop the abuse of a certain kind of ranking factor using questionable and potentially illegal ‘black hat’ tactics. Because of that, the websites that are usually the most affected are the ones with the most content outside of the preferred practices that Google approves of. So one way to prevent SEO problems is by making sure to work within the boundaries of what Google likes to see.
Secondly, this is the reason why you want to work with an SEO vendor. The moment that an algorithm update is announced or launched, you should be on the phone with them, checking what the changes will mean and what the strategy is to make sure the website weathers the changes and comes out the other side in the same or better standing. That kind of vigilance on your part and your vendor’s is what should keep you up at the top of search engines like Google.
The challenge of any website is to perform two tasks at the same time: appeal to your ideal potential client so they want to hire you, and appeal to search engine algorithms like Google so they will want to recommend your website to those ideal potential clients in the first place. That’s why you want to be strategic in planning what you want to optimize your site to rank for on Google and other search engines.
Every page of your website should be optimized for a single specific topic as well as the geographic area which you are targeting for your business. For instance, you may have multiple types of cases that you take, but you want to focus on truck accident cases in the town where your main office is located (we will use Louisville as an example). In this, your page should contain content optimized for truck accident cases in Louisville, and that should be its sole focus. If you’re a family law attorney in Pennsylvania, then it might be an entire page focused on child support law in Scranton.
The most important takeaway is to make that distinction clear and to stick with it throughout the page. Google wants clarity in the content they recommend, so they would frown on a page that covers every kind of personal injury case in every town or county in your geographic area. The more specific the topic and geographic area, the better it works for Google and the more likely they are to recommend you and rank you higher.
In short, the answer is yes. The goal of a good blog is more than just making sure you have new content on your website every so often; there’s a very specific strategy involved in using blogs to expand your authority. Think of it this way: once you’ve built your initial website, that provides specific keywords and content that will get you to a certain level of ranking, potentially even to the top spot.
However, you won’t remain there if your website is static. Other competing websites will continue to create content, eventually surpassing the amount and quality of content you have, and they will end up ranking above you. The goal of blog content is to strategically continue adding content that bolsters your authority on certain subjects and keywords, so that your website remains essentially the same in design but grows in rankability. So the answer is yes, with the right blog release strategy, you will see your SEO ranking rise.
When considering what links, if any, your website should have to pages other than your own, there are a few factors to take into consideration. The first is always, what is the purpose of the link? Are you using the link to evidence that something you’re citing is factual? That’s a great use for an external link, but if you do that, you want to make sure that the site you’re referencing is considered a reputable site.
The reason for that is because all links going to and from your website have an effect on your site’s authority and credibility. If you link to a reliable domain like Justia, which has heavily sourced and accurate legal information, that is a respected site that Google sees as a valuable source of information. They will credit the use as such. However, if you cite a source of information from a place that has a low authority ranking or has been shown to be unreliable in the past, Google frowns on that usage.
So it’s best to remember two things when using any external link:
The struggle of having a good SEO strategy is the balance between not being able to do it yourself as a busy law firm owner and finding a trustworthy vendor or team member in whose hands you trust your website. That’s why Brain Trust Legal consulting is a perfect match for law firms dedicated to growing and building out their websites to improve their SEO ranking.
To find out more about how your firm can take advantage of the 50+ years of successful law firm ownership from the Brain Trust Legal founders, Rob Levine and Darryl Isaacs, you can call (855)743-1636 to speak with a member of the BTL team.
