What is SEO?

SEO – search engine marketing is the method of implementing specific goal-oriented strategies to improve your website’s ranking in the search engine results pages, or SERPS for targeted, relevant keywords. In this blog, we are looking at some of the best practices to consider when designing an online strategy for your firm’s website and key factors that will have an influence on the search engines.

Calligraphic SEO scheme Free Vector

1. Local Search and Brand Presence

When you are embarking on a new marketing strategy it is important to consider where your target audience is located. For example, if the majority of your work is private client, dealing with cases such as property work, then most of your clients will be looking for a local law firm so that they can communicate with their property lawyer easily.  Whether someone is looking for somewhere to eat or a solicitor, it is more than likely they are searching for this service via their smartphones, tablets and now even smart-home hub systems and voice searches such as ‘Alexa’ on Sonos or Google Home Hub.

55% of all clicks go to one of the first three organic search results, so your law firm needs to be aiming for the first page of Google’s local listings.

There are many factors that influence the performance and ranking of a website and each of these takes time, consideration and consistency, this outlay of time required to ensure an effective outcome is something that typically Law firms don’t have spare to implement themselves.

If your firm does not have the time to implement or learn about SEO, engaging with experienced web marketers who understand the legal industry would be a worthwhile investment. FireTap Legal are specialists in Law Firm Marketing and know what it takes to ensure your firm’s website is well optimised.

2. Business Listings and Reviews

Taking into consideration what we know about the importance of the search appearance of a firm’s website, ensuring that other online profiles are utilised efficiently will play a key role in how a website ranks in the search engines. One of the most effective of these is your Google Business listing and reviews. Other than a direct recommendation you may receive from an existing happy client, online reviews – which are essentially the digital form of these “word of mouth.” – gives consumers/clients the ability to review the service or product they received and promote confidence in your brand. Being able to promote your services positively to potential clients is an essential marketing tool. If your law firm only has negative reviews or a poor star rating, or no reviews at all, your likelihood of encouraging the potential customer to engage with your firm would be disadvantaged.

These reviews are utilised to build trust. Requesting that your happy clients leave a review of your firm if they were satisfied with the service they received, is a worthwhile and important marketing task.  At this stage, you also get the opportunity to obtain GDPR consent to continue further marketing in the future alongside cross-selling other services.

Reviews also contribute to your website’s SEO, as Google is likely to rank those law firms with better reviews higher than those that have poor ratings.

Never underestimate the power of reviews! People are more likely to trust what other people have to say about your law firm and the services you provide, than what you have to say about yourself.

This task, when allocated internally, often does not achieve maximum results as the person calling tends to have this allocated as part of another role. This is tailor-made for outsourcing and The Strategic Partner has a service for law firms covering feedback and cross-selling that has a very positive impact on a firm’s online review profile.

3. The Importance of Content and Navigation

Well written, informative content creates credibility and trust. Content marketing for law firms generates 55% more visitors and promotes a higher conversion rate on leads, so ensuring that you have an efficient content strategy in place is essential for capturing potential clients and converting visitors to fee-paying clients.  Your website and the content your firm promotes will have a direct result on whether or not a potential client contacts you or not, so ensuring your website is easy to read, easy to understand and easy to navigate can have real consequences.

First review what message your website is trying to achieve and core services your law firm wants to promote, and then consider these website marketing tips:

  • Make sure your content is easy to read. Don’t confuse your potential clients with legal jargon that they won’t understand, or make the message overly complicated. Easy to digest, informative content that promotes your expertise is key.
  • Easy to navigate. Ensure your crucial content is easy to find and you are easy to contact.  Contact information and other functions such as enquiry forms should be clearly identified. This is one of the most important elements of a website as potential clients will need to speak with someone in a law firm before hiring.
  • Well Planned information. – How you present your information and how it is organised is vital for good usability, but this is often neglected. Plan your website sections and expertise sections or categories carefully and present information in a way that is easy for users to find.

 

Other key website design factors and SEO performance influences include:

 

If your firm does not have the time to effectively manage your website or learn about SEO, we recommend hiring our experts to give your website an overhaul and work with you to implement an effective online strategy that will improve your website rankings and performance. FireTap Legal are specialists in Law Firm Marketing and know what it takes to ensure your firm’s website is well optimised.

Our specialist Marketing experts offer a wide range of services catering specifically to the legal sector. If your firm is looking for a team of experts to review your online presence you can make an online enquiry here or alternatively give us a call on 0203 911 9715.