Search Engine Optimization for Lawyers- 3 Tips On Why It Should Never End

January 29, 2010
10:22 am

legalnewsnow

Search Engine Optimization for Lawyers- 3 Tips On Why It Should Never End

/lawyermarketing101.com/Kevin Quinlan/ 12/24/2009

Kevin Quinlan, legal marketing guru offers tips on why ongoing search engine optimization should be part of any marketing program for legal websites and how improved page rank in Google are at stake

In the beginning when law firm marketers first started making inroads into the Internet, there was a belief that legal websites were essentially an online brochure for potential clients to glean info about the law firm and its members in a non-threatening atmosphere. In a perfect world the next step would be to start search engine optimization (SEO) by adding targeted keywords to the content and attract inbound links, which would magically appear, and the page ranking for those targeted terms would rise and stay high on page one of Google.

But this is not a perfect world and just adding keyword rich content and creating links is not enough for your firm to improve or retain your page ranking or to prevent other law firms from climbing their way to the top of page one. Search engine optimization must be an ongoing long-term effort, a marathon, not a sprint. Expert legal SEO shops can increase conversions, save money over a pay-per-click campaign and help your firm branch out into the social aspects of Internet marketing, which are now an important part of the equation.

There are significant advantages to partnering with and retaining an attorney SEO firm to provide ongoing technical and creative input for your firm’s Internet marketing program.

Here are three reasons why:

1) Attorneys tend to practice law, not SEO
Even though a content management system and blog may be included as part of a website design, members of the law firm often don’t find the time to create regular postings and generate fresh content, and tend to underutilize the tools that they have paid for. Additionally, even when the time is allocated, many attorneys who write exceptionally well, tend to write their articles as they would briefs and also neglect to include key words and phrases. Having a law firm SEO team means that keyword research is always current and their writers are crafting articles that make a difference.

2) Search engine algorithms are always in flux
As evidenced by the release of Bing, the implementation of Google Universal and now the impending launch of Google Caffeine, the search engines are constantly changing and updating their algorithms. Legal SEO experts stay on top of the ever-changing search environment and can ensure that your efforts remain on track.

3) Attorneys are not experts in the use of Google analytics
How can a law firm expect to get the maximum bang for their buck in their web-marketing efforts when they lack the knowledge necessary to analyze where their leads are coming from, what key words are the most effective and whether or not their website is providing the best return on their investment.

Law firms that partner with legal SEO experts and invest in their efforts over the long haul will maintain or improve their current rankings and stay ahead of their competition in lead generation, branding and maintaining their top-of-mind awareness on the web.