Balancing Quality Content for Your Law Firm with Keywords

May 2017

Does your law firm equate search engine optimization with creating keyword-rich content? If so, you certainly wouldn’t be the first to draw a false comparison. Unfortunately, SEO isn’t that simple. Using keywords in your content is merely a signpost that search engines use to determine how relevant your pages are to specific types of searches. The content itself is what will boost your search engine rankings, draw in more traffic, engage customers, and lead to conversions.

Related: Let's Talk Law Firm SEO vs. PPC

Here are a few qualities that your content should have, in addition to keywords:

• The content should be well-written, with perfect grammar and easy readability.

• The information and insight you share should be deep, detailed, and valuable.

• There should be a need for the content you write. It should answer questions, explain concepts, or offer new viewpoints on topics of interest.

• Your content should be endorsed or linked around the internet—whether on social media or by other businesses/websites within the legal profession.

Needless to say, these benchmarks of quality SEO content aren’t always easy to reach—especially when you are trying to get past the idea that SEO is all about keywords. The good news is that law firms can often find the keys to quality content right there in the keywords they are targeting.

For instance, let’s say that your law firm specializes in family law in Portland, Maine. You are trying to draw in clients who are looking for legal representation in matters of divorce, separation, custody, domestic violence, or child support. The people you are trying to attract to your website are searching divorce lawyers, child custody attorneys, and other similar keywords—all in Portland, Maine or nearby areas.

More detailed keyword research can tell you more about the keywords that give you the best chance at ranking on Google. However, as you can see, you can start figuring out keywords just by looking at the services your firm offers and pairing them with geographic location.

The content side of things doesn’t have to be much more challenging. Again, take a look at the services your firm offers. What are the questions that clients frequently ask about divorce settlements or child custody? Not only can answering this question help you find additional keywords to target—words centered around marital property, alimony, prenuptial agreements, etc.—but it can also give you a way to provide content that is in-depth, detailed, and valuable to your potential clients. If you can deliver content that answers these common questions online, you are more likely to get the attention of someone who could become a high-paying client.

Of course, you need to make sure that the content is well-written. Not everyone can write legal advice blogs clearly and insightfully, without grammatical hiccups, awkward language, or overuse of legalese. Potential clients will be turned off by poorly written or inadequately organized content—to the point where bad SEO writing can have an adverse impact on your brand instead of a positive one.

For the best results, you might consider hiring a professional law firm SEO team to help research keywords, plan article ideas, and write content for you.