Category: Content Marketing

While most people understand that auto-playing music and those snazzy animated cursors that leave a trail of stars wherever you move your mouse aren’t “in” anymore, there are a few huge mistakes (not quite as bad as those, but bad nonetheless) we see in many of the free website audits we do.

What Are the Biggest Mistakes Law Firm Websites Make?

It’s not easy keeping up with Google’s algorithm changes and the latest best practices, so it’s completely understandable that many firms make these three common mistakes.

Poorly aimed content

Think about someone who needs your services. The bottom line is that they need help. They need targeted, helpful content that addresses them directly – they don’t need content that’s all about you.

Bad opening example: “The law firm of Smith, Smith and Joneshas many years of experience. We provide legal representation and we… Us… We…”

Good opening example: “When you’ve been injured, you deserve a caring, compassionate lawyer who treats you with the dignity you deserve.”

Over-optimization

Few things are more dangerous than messing with Google’s guidelines on keyword stuffing. Google explicitly states that keyword stuffing includes “Blocks of text listing cities and states a webpage is trying to rank for” and “repeating the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural.”

That means you’re playing with fire if you splatter the term Chicago personal injury lawyer (or some other variation) all over every page.

Backlinks from sites with bad reputations

When bad websites link to your website, Google assumes that you’re hanging out with the wrong crowd. If you have lots of links from spammy directories and none from reputable sites, they’re going to think your site is virtually worthless – and they won’t bother delivering it to searchers.

What Does Google Want from Law Firm Websites?

As with any websites, Google wants law firm websites to be responsive (adaptable to smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs), clean and easy to navigate. They want law firm websites to feature useful content that answers searchers’ questions, and they want them to be lightning-fast.

They also want law firm websites to put up “Notice Me!” flags – and that’s where search engine optimization comes in. With the right SEO, a fast website and a user-friendly design, Google will have no problem crawling your website and putting your firm’s pages in its index… as long as you don’t make the three critical mistakes listed here.

Every lawyer needs a blog.

It’s that simple.

3 Reasons Every Lawyer Needs a Blog

A blog serves several purposes when it comes to your online presence, but what’s most important is the “human element” a blog puts forth on your website. In fact, there are three reasons every lawyer absolutely needs a blog.

1. Blogs let you customize your client-facing message. Think of it this way: your blog is one of the first contacts a potential client has with you. Sure, they’ll see your website and see that you’ve successfully represented people in situations similar to theirs – but they want to see that you’re a real human being and that their case won’t be lost in the shuffle of a huge corporate pile of paperwork.
2. Blogs feed search engines. When Google, Bing and Yahoo realize that you frequently update your website through your blog, they keep coming back to find out what’s new. A site that you update frequently will get more attention from search engines than a site that hasn’t been touched since the last time you changed your design – and the more content you have, the better. Search engines will see that you have plenty of valuable information to offer searchers, and they’ll be more likely to deliver it to people who need your services.
3. Other lawyers are already blogging, and if you’re not, they’re leaving you in the dust. It’s not that any lawyer can expect his or her blog to rank on a national level, although that does happen. It’s that the other lawyers in town are already blogging, and that means they have a head start on you. Even if another attorney is blogging sporadically, once every couple of months, his or her site is updated more frequently than yours is – and Google knows it.

Does Every Lawyer Really Need a Blog?

Even if you’re in a small town and you’re the only attorney for miles, it’s important that you hop on the blogging bandwagon as soon as possible. Google has been indicating that it favors frequently updated sites for more than a decade, and the sooner you get to it, the better. Most attorneys aren’t in the middle of nowhere, and it’s common knowledge that the top result in search engines gets the most clicks… so by not blogging, you could be costing yourself more money in missed opportunities than you think.

Dictionary.com says that a blog is “a website containing a writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other websites.”

Search engine optimization experts all agree that having a blog is an essential part of any website’s success.

How Do Blogs Help Law Firms with SEO?

A blog, as long as you use it properly, is a signal to search engines that your website is engaging, informative and contains fresh, useful content.

Aside from the obvious benefit blogging provides – it allows you to establish a relationship with potential clients – it provides the opportunity for your site to earn backlinks from other popular sites. It also allows you to:

• Provide search engines with fresh content and keep search engine crawlers coming back
• Target specific keywords related to your practice that will attract new visitors
• Increase your social media presence by providing you with high-quality status updates that encourage sharing