Whether your law firm is new with a handful of clients or you have been around for twenty years, your marketing strategy should include search engine optimization or SEO.
Combined with the best of 2024’s marketing tools and software, SEO can help you attract the right clients for your expertise. It can also help you build a completely effective online presence.
However, it is important to note that SEO for law firms does not mean adding a couple of legal-sounding words to your website. This is the first and biggest mistake most law firms make when trying to incorporate SEO into their marketing efforts.
Here are five more mistakes you must avoid if you want to get more clients and improve your online visibility.
Not Using Local SEO Strategies
People looking for legal services tend to look in their local area first. Your clients will not want to drive for miles whenever they need to consult with your firm. This is why local SEO strategies are crucial. If you overlook or ignore local SEO, your online presence will be incomplete.
Moreover, your Google Business Profile will not work as effectively. Your website will be missing critical location-specific keywords.
You can avoid this issue by updating your Google Business Profile. If you do not have a listing, claim your profile on Google and fill out your listing with details about your law firm. Include your expertise, services, phone number, address, and business hours.
Encourage your existing clients to leave reviews on your profile and add photos of your location. The more visible you make your profile, the easier it will be for potential clients to find you.
Most importantly, add local SEO keywords to your profile and website. For example, if your law firm is in New York, add the location to keywords relevant to your firm’s services. You can target potential clients near New York by adding keyphrases like ‘car accident lawyer near New York.’
Local SEO strategies also include adding business listings to local business directories. Ensure your name, address, and phone numbers are correct and consistent in all directories.
Not Optimizing Your Website for Mobile Use
More than half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. Your law firm cannot afford not to have a mobile-friendly website. If you do not optimize your website for mobile use, you will lose clients and hurt your law firm’s SEO ranking. A mobile-friendly website means more people can find your law firm, especially if your SEO is on point.
The problem is that a non-optimized website will load incredibly slowly on a mobile device. If your website does not load within seconds, visitors will move on, and you will not have a chance of getting their business in the future.
If your website is not optimized, the content will also be difficult to read, even if it does load quickly. The interface may not be as intuitive as you intended it to be. This makes for a very frustrating user experience.
In 2024 and beyond, you must have a responsive website. This means the website will adjust automatically to the screen on which it is opened. Responsive design also means images are compressed, which reduces loading speed. Furthermore, depending on the website builder you use, responsive design can also mean that you do not need dozens of plugins to keep your website going.
Using Outdated SEO Techniques
There is no excuse for using outdated SEO techniques in 2024. Search engine algorithms continue to be upgraded to deliver better search results for online users. This means that outdated SEO strategies will not work and might get your website or Google listing suspended.
Do not buy backlinks from low-authority websites. Backlinks are important for SEO, but low-authority websites will not give you the necessary value. It’s also a bad idea to use hidden text or links to try and fool the search engine algorithm.
Instead of trying to take shortcuts, focus on creating quality content. Add useful SEO keywords naturally into your content. Never overload your website with keywords to make your content seem relevant; SEO simply does not work this way.
Once you start working on a backlink strategy, make sure you get and earn your links from reputable sources only. This may include trustworthy legal publications and reputable local news outlets.
Not Having a Content Marketing Strategy
The goal of SEO is to get potential clients to your website. Once they get to your website, you must provide valuable information about how your law firm can help them. Low-quality content is not going to help your firm or your clients. Neither is neglecting to update outdated articles and web pages.
Instead of posting content randomly and hoping for the best, take the time to create a content calendar. Plan your content weeks ahead of time so you get enough time to do research and create high-quality content.
If you are not a writer, hire a professional to create your content. All your website and social media content must be unique and diverse. This means using original content. It also means creating different types of content like videos, infographics, blogs, and podcasts.
Never Tracking Your SEO Performance
Once you’ve implemented SEO strategies, it does not mean you can sit back and forget about them. You have to keep track of each strategy’s performance. If you do not do this, you will never know what works and what doesn’t.
Google Analytics and Search Console are valuable tools to help you track key performance metrics like bounce and click-through rates. If you do not understand metrics like organic traffic and keyword rankings, get a law firm SEO specialist to guide you.
A legal marketing agency or specialist can track all the necessary metrics and do A/B testing to see what drives more conversions. They can also implement all your SEO strategies in the first place.
SEO Can Mean the Difference Between Gaining and Losing Clients
SEO strategies are not a one-off effort. You need to keep at it to see ongoing results. But the reward is well worth it. Your law firm will be highly visible online to local and surrounding clients. Your search rankings will go up, and your website traffic will increase. Ultimately, this will mean more clients and more success for your business.
Featured image by Sebastian Pichler on Unsplash
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