Attorney SEO
If you’re an attorney, you are already aware that networking is a tried and true way of increasing your client list. However, networking, especially after a long day at the office, can be just as exhausting as having a second full-time job – it can only be done for so long until you physically and mentally burn out.
While networking is important in obtaining clients, it shouldn’t be the only way of growing your client list. When it comes to acquiring new clients, you should ask yourself the following questions:
“How do you find your clients?”
- “How do your clients find you?”
While I understand the importance of networking and participating in networking events in the process of landing clients, I can assure you, you won’t find me at one anytime soon. I’d rather spend time with my friends and family while my clients find me and my services.
Rather than going out and looking for clients, all I have to do is check my email – I no longer have to spend hours networking, and neither do you.
How? Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
When prospective clients are looking for an attorney, 21.9 percent of them start with a search engine (see Lawyernomics). Optimizing your website for keywords related to your business (or SEO) is critical in converting online searchers into prospective clients and is the easiest way of growing your law firm, as well as.
Think about it – when you go to a networking event you talk to every person in the room, analyze their situation, give your sales pitch (listen to theirs), then follow up and hope they’re interested. Think about how much effort you put in to generate just one lead!
On the other hand, when people go to a search engine they’re looking for your exact services. All you have to do is be present in the search results to capture that traffic and convert them to clients. You can generate dozens of targeted leads each day – all while enjoying a nice glass of wine in the comfort of your own home.
So how can your law firm take advantage of SEO?
1. Go local
If this article is a surprise to you, let me just blatantly state: SEO for attorneys delivers an astounding Return on Investment (ROI). This has inevitably made the ranking of legal keywords extremely competitive (in other words: expensive).
The best way to combat highly competitive verticals is to niche down to local. Let’s say you are a defense attorney in Miami, Florida. Instead of trying to use general global key words for your website such as “defense attorney,” you are going to want to target long-tail local keywords like:
- “criminal defense attorney miami”
- “Miami criminal defense law firm”
- “dade county criminal defense law firm”
2. Google Places, Local, and Other Location Based Directories
Since law firms are a brick-and-mortar business you are going to want to make sure potential clients can find you. Optimizing online directories such as Foursquare, Google Local, Facebook, and Yelp (to name a few) will help search engines index your page in local listings.
Having these directories set up will not only help potential clients find your law firm’s website personally, but will also help in building an online presence and increase your website’s traffic. For example, the screenshot below is of the local listings for “boston law firm”. Of the results listed, which one are you most likely to click on?
The ones with the 5 star ratings, right? These websites are optimized in Google Local and are pulling reviews through to the listings. Doing so can increase clicks to your website up to 150 percent.
3. Analyze Your Website
Simply ranking first in Google is not enough–you want to make sure you are turning that traffic into opt-in leads. If your website is not configured with the information easily accessible, your website’s visitors will leave and head to the next website.
When planning your website, keep in mind the end goal. It should not just be an online business card; rather, you want your website to generate leads. There are two main things you want your website to do:
- Large and clearly visible “call to” action with your phone number (i.e., CALL NOW!)
- Large and clearly visible “lead form” to capture prospective clients’ information.
Undoubtedly, receiving a phone call right away is the ultimate goal. However, at the very least, we want to capture that person’s information (name and email) to re-market to them at a later time.
About Our Attorney SEO Service
We have worked with a number of law firms in helping build an online presence, as well as driving highly targeted traffic to their websites. If you are interested in finding out how we can help grow your law firm with SEO, please call us at (305) 450-4831 or email us directly at [email protected]
