Search Engine Optimization is critical to the success of any website as it helps you get good ranking in search engine results and thereby increasing your online visibility. Good ranking in search results, especially Google, is the key to attracting new visitors, other factors notwithstanding. If you don’t get your SEO strategy right and not appear in the first two pages in Google search, chances of success get highly diminished no matter how good your content might be. Read more about the role of SEO in boosting online visibility. There are some law firm SEO risks that must be avoided at all cost.
Law firms invest heavily in SEO to attract more traffic and ultimately to boost conversion rate. However, it’s extremely important to get your SEO strategy right otherwise you may get penalized by Google and other prominent search engines. You must understand that Google frequently changes its Search Algorithm which means that what worked perfectly well for you last year may not work that well this year, or you may even get penalized. It is, therefore, extremely important that you know what tactics would get favourable results and what would have a negative impact on your ranking. This article tries to highlight five most crucial mistakes that you must avoid.
Using Conventional SEO strategies
As mentioned earlier, Google frequently modifies its search algorithm making certain SEO tactics redundant. So, using traditional tactics may not work anymore. This doesn’t mean that all conventional tactics become useless, but some of those tactics certainly fail to make any significant impact to boost your ranking.Of late, Google has come up with several algorithmic updates, such as Penguin, Panda and Hummingbird. This implies that it quickly identifies techniques that try to take undue advantage of ranking parameters by over indulging in them. Some techniques, such as excessive use of keywords and links, have now become obsolete and even impact negatively on the rankings. Today, websites that give importance to content and genuinely answer user queries are better rewarded. For instance, if someone types a search query “the best law firms in California” the results would only show up sites that have unique, informative content about lawyers and law firms. Also, long-tailed keywords aren’t as effective nowadays.
Content Should Meet the Search Intent of the Users
A really effective SEO is a combination of several components and not just one or two techniques being over emphasized. And content is a very important one at that. Good content plays a critical role in website optimization. If your website fails to meet user expectations, then your ranking could be adversely affected. Visitors expect to find content that is useful to them otherwise they will quickly leave the site. The more time visitors spend on your website the better it would be from the ranking point of view. Therefore, lawyers must ensure that they publish content that is relevant and informative for their target audience. For instance, lawyers should publish content that talks about the latest development in the legal field, provides information about some specific provisions of the law, etc. Content that meets the search intent of the visitors work very well for SEO for law firms.
Overlooking Conversion Optimization
One of the major law firm SEO risks is ignoring conversion optimization. Besides drawing increased traffic, an important objective of all law firm marketing campaigns is to ensure increased conversion rates from the leads generated and thereby boost revenue. And to achieve this objective you need to pay special attention to conversion optimization so that more leads get converted into loyal clients over a period.
It’s often seen that many law firm marketers fail to recognize this important aspect of search engine optimization for lawyer websites. If you don’t focus on the entire funnel, of which conversion optimization is an important component, then you risk losing out on quite a few business opportunities.
Ignoring Organized Data
Like any other website, the endeavour of every law firm website should be to get the best possible position in search results. And for that you need to update your web pages with fresh, relevant content with organized data. If your content doesn’t resonate well with your targeted audience, then your optimization efforts will fail to get the desired result. Therefore, law firms should ensure that they publish structured data driven content that finds favour with the target audience. Ensure that you update your website with FAQs, CTA, services rendered, etc.
Posting Only Textual Content
Many law firms believe that the nature of their business is such that posting only textual content would suffice. However, search engines give enough importance to webinars, videos and podcasts. No doubt, textual content is very important in the legal profession, but relying just on it could be fatal. Other forms of content, such as captivating images and videos are equally important. Ignoring them is one of the biggest law firm SEO risks.
