5 SEO Content Writing Tips for Law Firms (Plus 5 Don’ts)
Despite reports to the contrary, SEO is NOT dead - just ask Google! Creating SEO optimized content for your website, blog and social media accounts is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies for law firms. SEO - Search Engine Optimization - is more relevant than ever, according to Search Engine Journal.
SEO content writing is an effective strategy for lawyers because it gets results:
Well-written, strategic and effective content that solves readers’ problems help law firms rank higher on Google, including the holy grail of ranking on page 1 of SERP and in the Google Map Pack.
The ROI on optimized content writing is significant: SEO content can drive targeted organic traffic to your website for months - even years! - and get results far longer than paid ads.
Blog articles by lawyers at your law firm build trust and authority with Google and with website visitors.
5 Content Writing Tips for Law Firms
All content - even useful content with keywords - doesn’t rank and doesn’t drive targeted traffic to your website. Law firms need a content strategy to plan and create optimized content that gets the results they need to grow their business. Here are five tips to help law firms create optimized content that helps them meet their goals.
1. Create Client Personas
Write content that targets someone who needs your legal services. You need to narrow down your content marketing toward people who need the legal services you provide. Try to define your ideal client:
what is their legal problem?
what are their demographics?
how do they find legal services?
Defining your ideal client by creating client personals. A client persona or avatar, or profile is a detailed description of the perfect customer for your law firm’s services. A persona depicts your target client and how to craft a marketing narrative that revolves around your client's needs. Creating a client persona isn’t a one-and-done activity; your law firm likely has more than 1 type of ideal client, and the qualities of those ideal clients evolve over time, so your client personas need to be reviewed and updated, at least annually.
2. Keyword Research Trending Legal Questions
What types of legal questions are people asking online? There are many free tools to help you determine what people are researching online:
Google Related Searches
If you enter a search term into Google, at the bottom of the page, you will find related search terms people have entered to find similar information.
For example, if you enter into Search: personal injury lawyer Chicago, the following displays at the bottom of the page:
Google Search Autocomplete
If you enter a search term into Google, it self-populates with related, predicted searches based on user behavior. This may help you find other keyword phrases people are entering into Google.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a free keyword tool that lets you see local search trends so you can customize your local keywords to your geographic service area.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console lets you analyze your current SEO keywords and see their average Google positions, impressions, and CTRs.Answer The Public
AnswerThePublic uses data from search engines like Google to track phrases and questions people are asking online.
3. Use Your Location In Your Content Strategy
Whether your law firm has one location or multiple locations, use those locations strategically in the content and H tags of your blogs, and link to your website’s location page.
4. Diversify Your Content
All great content isn’t limited to the written word. Viewers (and Google!) like videos, podcasts, infographics, eBooks, checklists and other types of content in addition to blogs and social media posts.
5. Internal Linking Strategy
A diverse, well-integrated content strategy includes internal links to other pieces of internal supporting content such as previously published videos, podcasts or LinkedIn articles. This helps viewers stay on your website longer (and reduces your bounce rate) as they learn more information about the topic they are interested in.
These are some law firm content writing best practices. Here are five law firm content writing worst practices that you don’t want to be using.
Law Firm Blogging Don’ts
1. Don’t Keyword Stuffing
Yes, you want to rank on search engines for certain services and local keyword phrases. But don’t try to “stuff” those keywords into your articles just so you can use them more than any other law firm! Use keywords naturally and correctly in your articles, and be sure to also use keyword synonyms in your article. Think Google Related Searches above for similar search terms people are also researching online.
2. Don’t Give Legal Advice On Your Blog
Shock jocks use controversy #fakenews and false promises to get more listeners for their radio program - and it works. But lawyers have to comply with their national and state bar association guidelines - and that includes do not give legal advice on your blog. It may get you more readers - but it also may get you in trouble with the bar association.
3. Don’t Publish Sporadically
To gain rank and online visibility, you need to publish content to your online sites regularly and consistently. Don’t get creative and motivated and publish six blogs in one month - then publish nothing more for the next six months. Google’s algorithm rewards consistency and timeliness.
4. Don’t Write For Other Lawyers
You may be a great legal writer - but are your potential client’s lawyers? If your answer is No, create content that your potential clients can understand. That’s why the Client Personas discussed above are so important - if you’re an immigration lawyer and your average client didn’t attend college and English is their 2nd language, you need content that your ideal client can understand and that will gain their trust - not just impress your colleagues.
5. Don’t Restrict Yourself To 1 Type of Content
People are fickle and like different types of content for different reasons. Don’t just develop a great blog - also develop a great YouTube channel and two great social media platforms so your clients can find you in the way THEY ‘live online”, ‘ not just how you prefer to post content.
Do’s and Don’ts for Law Firm Blogging
These law firm content writing do’s, and don’ts will get you started - but there are many more opportunities to optimize your online content and help more people find your website. Optimized content is a cost-effective way for law firms to increase their online visibility, grow rank on Google SERPs, and get found by high-quality potential clients who are looking for legal services.
After You Publish… Promote!
Publishing optimized content on your website and blog is only the first step to driving optimized, targeted traffic to your website or to contact you. It’s vital that after you post your content, you promote it so that people (and search engines!) can find you and contact you to solve their problems. Some strategic ways to promote your content include:
Create social media graphics and posts that link to your content.
Post your content on your Google Business Profile page.
Share new content in client newsletters and emails.
Repurpose your content to reach new audiences.
Reshare evergreen content, so that good content continues to be promoted to your ideal client.
Do You Want To Increase Your Law Firm’s Online Visibility and Rank?
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Does your law firm need a content strategy - and content? SEO My Law Firm can create, optimize and manage all your online digital content, so you don’t have missed opportunities to grow your law firm. Contact Us Today about our SEO-optimized content writing, blogging, newsletters, and other content solutions for lawyers and law firms.
