Getting Your Law Firm to Rank High in Google
August 2017There are many lawyers out there, both in legal firm environments and working private practice. With so many people practicing law, there is also abundant competition. Needless to say, that competition translates to the realm of Google, where landing a top-page ranking for your firm or practice can be extremely challenging. Some of the difficulty depends on your geographic area. If you are in a small town, you are going to have an easier road to the top search result on Google than you will in a big metropolitan area. No matter where you are, though, ranking high on Google will drive clients to your firm and help you make more money.
Related: How AdWords Can Benefit Your Law Firm
The big question, then, is how can you improve your Google ranking? There’s no single “magic bullet” answer to this question, but we’ve compiled a list of strategies to get you started below.
- Invest in content marketing
A big part of SEO is content marketing. You need keyword-optimized content on your site, so people who are searching certain keywords in your area find you. You also need high-quality content that adds value to readers, so they visit your site and build trust in you. Some of this can be accomplished through well-written, keyword-optimized landing pages that explain your services and what you do. In larger part, though, you are going to want to spend some time blogging. Blog about common legal questions; blog about legal advice you’d give in everyday situations; blog about industry news; blog about things that are going to affect your clients’ lives. And if you don’t have time to blog, hire someone to do it for you. That’s how important it is.
- Get active on social media
Facebook; Twitter; LinkedIn; Google Plus; YouTube. You need to have a presence on these five social networks at least. Use them to share your content, or in the case of YouTube, to flesh out your website offerings with video content. Share industry articles or news postings. Answer questions from clients. Be active and interactive. By engaging with existing and potential clients on social media, you’ll enhance traffic to your website and boost your Google ranking.
- Consider paid search
If you need to rank high on Google tomorrow, you probably won’t get there through organic SEO. SEO takes time and patience. Luckily, you can use Google AdWords to buy a sponsored post at the top of a relevant page. AdWords is somewhat complex, so you might want to hire someone to help you out here. Still, if you want instant results, AdWords is the best way to go.
- Have someone analyze your website
A professional website analysis is a good one-time step to identify SEO strengths and weaknesses of your site. Are you using keywords in your page titles and meta tags? Is the user interface intuitive? Are you linking to social media accounts? Are your load speeds adequate? A professional can answer these questions and give you an idea of where you might have some work to do.