Lawyer SEO Marketing: How It Works And How To Make It Work For You
First let’s start with what SEO is.
At it’s most basically level, SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process of formatting your business information online in a way that appeals to search engines. By following best practices as laid out by search engines and working with their algorithms, your law firm or practice appears first in the organic results when someone types “divorce lawyer” or “accident attorney” into Google, Bing, or Yahoo(do people still use Yahoo?). Organic results are anything results that weren’t bought or paid for and aren’t directly related to an ad or ad campaign. Many consumers consider these more valuable and will bypass ad listings as they feel that organic results are more authentic. For more information we have a get the idea video that gives an overview of the topic here: or a more in-depth blog post here:
SO WHY IS SEO MARKETING IMPORTANT AS A LAW FIRM?
SEO is what is referred to as search or intent marketing. That means that people only see your brand when they are intentionally searching for a company like yours. if someone is seeking out a service like the one you offer, there is a high intent to purchase, so it is one of the best time to get in front of a prospect. In other words if you utilize proper lawyer SEO marketing, a person who just got into an accident will see your practice first when they type “accident lawyer near me” into their cell phone while waiting for the police, or while waiting for a loved one to get treatment from the accident they just had, etc. Being first isn’t the only thing that matters, but showing up in the first few results in Google or any other search engine will get you most of the clicks. If you get the click, and your website is good you will get the call or the email, or at the very least be able to follow up with that prospect in a meaningful way.
IS SEO MARKETING WORTH THE INVESTMENT?
If you aren’t already convinced at the power of showing up first when someone is searching for your service, you can look at what your competitors are willing to pay to show up first with ads. Major terms related to being an accident lawyer will set you back between $150-$250 per click…with 22,200 searches a month on average for “car accident lawyer” alone, you do the math on what showing up as the number one result organically is worth to your firm. Here’s a hint: it’s a lot.
LAWYER SEO MARKETING: DO IT YOURSELF OR HIRE SOMEONE?
There are parts of SEO you should 100 percent hire out. We do SEO work for many of our clients and there are parts that we hire out because they just aren’t worth it. This includes things like setting up directory listings(go try to get setup on yellow pages online and then tell me you want to do that 200 more times), on page SEO(setting up your website backend exactly the way the search engines want it), creating sitemaps, setting up your GMB(Google business listing), and internal and external link-building in general. If you own a law firm, or any business for that matter, there is no way doing those tasks is a productive or profitable use of your time unless you are already an SEO expert.
Things you might consider doing yourself, but probably still shouldn’t, are items like creating content, doing keyword research, issuing online press releases, doing guest posting, etc. etc. Even if you are amazing on camera, you probably still want to pay someone to transcribe your videos so they can be turned into blog posts, edit them, upload them onto youtube with the right keyword rich descriptions, etc. for example. And it is probably a good idea for you to be involved in the keyword strategy process, but it’s unlikely that doing actual keyword research is a good use of your time. Use your time for closing the clients your marketing efforts bring in, not on becoming a marketing expert, unless you just don’t like making money.
The other major benefit of SEO marketing as a law firm
is that once the foundation is set up, you can stay relatively uninvolved and simply reap the benefits. Social media marketing, Facebook Ads, Youtube marketing, etc. are all great tools, but they require content and participation on your part to be effective. This is particularly true in the legal sector where you have to be particularly conscious of your marketing messages and strategies. SEO marketing is about consistency and continuing to build a stronger program on top of the foundation you have created. It’s not as much about creativity, copywriting, and offers that require your ongoing attention.
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH YOUR LAW FIRM SEO MARKETING:
As I mentioned before, this is really a place where you want to hire a professional, if you want a free consultation, contact us here, but I know there are always a few DIYer’s reading these posts so I’ll give you a solid overview of where to start even though I don’t recommend it.
SET UP YOUR GBP LISTING:
The first place to start is your Google Business Profile listing ( formerly called GMB). With a really well created GBP page it’s possible to rank organically even without a website, not likely, but possible. Make sure you add as much information to your GMB listing as possible, give them what they ask for when it comes to images, descriptions, and business information. One word of caution, make sure your business information is consistent across the internet. Don’t use different phone extensions on your website than you do on Yelp or on your GBP page, same goes for the address you use. if you are unsure which categories to select, look at your top competitors(the ones showing up at the top of search results for your industry, not the ones that keep beating you at softball) and copy their categories. Make sure to use the category keywords in your description for some added power and congruency. Search engines love congruency.
STRUCTURING YOUR WEBSITE:
The biggest things on legal websites that will hurt you in search engine results are slow website speed(despite what you want to believe, those fancy videos aren’t worth showing up on page 12 of Google I promise), lack of keyword related content, bad meta-data and/or schema, poor URL structure(hint: name your services pages after the keywords people are typing into Google), and a bad linking strategy(think not enough links to your website, or too many links from bad websites) There are twenty other things to consider in your law firm website SEO but those are the biggies that will keep you out of the top search results.
GET LINKS TO YOUR WEBSITE:
This includes directories like yellow pages and yelp, social media pages, industry related directories and publications, guest blog posts, and even Youtube videos. Next to congruency, search engines favorite thing is relevance. Having your business listed consistently all over the internet with links back to your website makes you look relevant, at least to an algorithm.
That’s enough to keep you busy for a while if you are crazy enough to try and tackle all of your lawyer SEO marketing yourself. We will still talk to you about it, for free, if you want to talk to a professional first though(seriously, do it, it’s free). Just click here to schedule a consultation.
So what SEO services do we offer?
Our done-for-you SEO services improve your search engine ranking, your online visibility, and the number of leads coming into your business. We utilize only white-hat(officially acceptable) strategies that build long-term success for your business. Our SEO processes are outlined below, and contact us any time to clarify terms or questions you might have.
SEO Services Outline
EACH MONTH WE WORK ON YOUR CAMPAIGN TASKS ACCORDING TO OUR PUBLISHED SEO AND ONLINE VISIBILITY STRATEGY FOR THE CAMPAIGN. OUR SERVICE IS COMPREHENSIVE AND MOVES FROM TECHNICAL SEO TO ON-PAGE SEO TO OFF-PAGE SEO.
AS TASKS ARE STARTED AND COMPLETED YOU CAN FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE PROGRESS WITH REAL-TIME ACCESS TO THE PROJECT WORKBOOK. WE MONITOR YOUR KEYWORDS CLOSELY AND PROVIDE A VIEW KEY THAT YOU CAN ACCESS TO SEE YOUR RANKINGS AT A GLANCE. EVERY ASSET OR DELIVERABLE THAT WE CREATE COMES WITH A COMPLETE REPORT AND 100% ACCESS.
Month 1 SEO Process Overview
SET UP KEYWORD TRACKING AND CAMPAIGN REPORTING
We track up to 5 main keywords and 25 Longtail and Buyer Intent Variations every month. You’ll get a private view key so you can log in anytime and see the site rankings.
We track the overall progress of our monthly campaign through Google Sheets. We use a dedicated Drive folder to store all of the monthly deliverables and reports and creatives. You will have shared access to all campaign files and reports. And as each month comes to an end we will send you a monthly summary of your campaign at a glance.
SITE HEALTH CHECK AND TECHNICAL AUDIT
We check for 404 errors, proper robots.txt, and XML sitemaps. We look at any 301, 302, and canonicalization issues. And finally, we do a broken link check.
ANCHOR TEXT AND SEMANTIC AUDITS
In order to create the best link building strategy, we first need to analyze the existing anchor text of the website. We compare the existing anchor text against the top competitor’s anchor text.
Next, we run a Competitor Analysis on your target pages and prepare an action plan on those pages.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
We look at the top ranking competitor for the keyword to get an insight into what Google Search is preferring to rank for that search term. We look at links, anchor text, semantic phrases, brand mentions and profiles, social media activity, and any paid promotion activities. Once we have a holistic view of what the number 1 competitor is doing we are equipped to begin our own optimization efforts.
SITE-LEVEL OPTIMIZATION
This is the technical SEO and best practice site settings. Briefly, these tasks include Robots.txt File Update, Connect Google Search Console, Google Site Verification, install SEOPress Pro, No Index Author Archives, Sub Archives, and Tags, Submit Updated XML Site Map, and use Data Highlighter.
PAGE-LEVEL OPTIMIZATION
We perform advanced on-page optimization beginning in month 2 based on the action plans developed during month 1. Tasks include Optimizing Title Tags, Metas, H1 and H2 Tags, Image Alt Text, Inner Linking Structure and Anchor Text, Outbound Link Structure and Anchor Text, Create and Validate Organizational Schema Script and Implement our TF-IDF Action Plan on one main targeted page.
SOCIAL ESSENTIAL OPTIMIZATION
We optimize the brand’s top 15 social and brand profiles and create any that are missing. Optimization includes ensuring correct business details, adding a website link, keyword optimized descriptions and tags, uploading logos, photos, and videos, and interlinking existing accounts.
WRITE AND SYNDICATE A PREMIUM PRESS RELEASE
This is a quality news release distributed to over 450 news and media outlets like Google News, CBS, Fox, ABC, CW, NBC affiliated broadcasting websites and more, including Associated Press journalists and thru AP Datafeatures services your press releases are distributed to major media outlets including Wall Street Journal, NEW YORK TIMES. WASHINGTON POST, USA TODAY, LOS ANGELES TIMES, and CHICAGO SUN TIMES. Creates authority brand links and mentions and is a great way to launch any campaign.
REAL SOCIAL SIGNALS DRIP
Real social signals can help validate a brand’s increased online visibility. We use them as trust signals during our campaigns. These are small brand mentions, likes, shares etc from a wide range of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Reddit.
5 NICHE LINK PLACEMENTS
Each month we will acquire 5 high-quality, niche relevant backlinks. These links will be links on real websites and blogs. Our writing team finds topically relevant blogs and sites and our outreach team goes to work securing you the best links available. If you need more than 5 posts, select our option of additional links for even more ranking boost.
INDEX LINKS
Every link your site earns is hand submitted to Google Submit URL tool. This ensures that Google will crawl and evaluate your new links.
Authority Niche Placements
for mid and elite level campaigns
Our outreach links and editorial placements really have all of the prerequisites required for links in 2018 and the foreseeable future. Safe, editorial links need to appear naturally earned and native to the article that surrounds the link. Our sites are checked for spam and 100% clean, they are checked with 3rd party tools for trust and referring domains so you know they will pack a punch, and are verified 100% real websites with real traffic (never PBNs) so you know they will not trigger a Penguin penalty.
Month 2 SEO Process Overview
SOCIAL FORTRESS OPTIMIZATION
In month 2 we continue creating and optimizing the brand’s social profiles including 25+ more must have accounts for your digital brand. Optimization methods are completed just like in month 1.
SOCIAL POWER-UPS
We create 4 hub profiles for the brand and use those to interlink the created social accounts together. This results in a powerful branded network that we promote using tier 2 link building methods.
ESSENTIAL BUSINESS CITATIONS
Top 42 Business Directories that every business should be listed in, includes all of the top national sites, including Yelp, 2 Find Local, Angie’s List, City Insider, and Chamber of Commerce. These listings are equally important for national and eCom sites as they are for local.
REAL SOCIAL SIGNALS DRIP
Real social signals can help validate a brand’s increased online visibility. We use them as trust signals during our campaigns. These are small brand mentions, likes, shares etc from a wide range of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Reddit.
5 NICHE LINK PLACEMENTS
Each month we will acquire 5 high-quality, niche relevant backlinks. These links will be links on real websites and blogs. Our writing team finds topically relevant blogs and sites and our outreach team goes to work securing you the best links available. If you need more than 5 posts, select our option of additional links for even more ranking boost.
INDEX LINKS
Every link your site earns is hand submitted to Google Submit URL tool. This ensures that Google will crawl and evaluate your new links.
Authority Niche Placements
mid and elite level campaigns
Our outreach links and editorial placements really have all of the prerequisites required for links in 2018 and the foreseeable future. Safe, editorial links need to appear naturally earned and native to the article that surrounds the link. Our sites are checked for spam and 100% clean, they are checked with 3rd party tools for trust and referring domains so you know they will pack a punch, and they are verified 100% real websites with real traffic (never PBNs) so you know they will not trigger a Penguin penalty.
Month 3 SEO Process Overview
OPTIMIZED BLOG POST
We start month 3 with another high-quality 500-word blog post, thoroughly optimized to target longtail and buyer intent keywords. We submit the post for approval by you before posting. The blog post features correct on-page elements, interlinked using our internal anchor text strategy, and is also shared to the brand’s Facebook (If granted access), Twitter and Google+ profiles.
DEEP LINKBUILDING
We use the optimized blog post as the target for additional link building, to help funnel link equity to our targeted pages. This promoted blog post strategy helps to capture even more keywords and traffic because the posts will often rank for longtail keywords while serving as a gateway for our link equity.
BRANDED LINK BUILDING
We continue building brand links to help diversify anchor text and gain links from high authority sites safely. We build about 40 branded links this month spread across 4 target pages of the website on platforms such as web 2.0’s, social sharing sites, media sharing sites, industry directories, and online community profiles.
REAL SOCIAL SIGNALS DRIP
Real social signals can help validate a brand’s increased online visibility. We use them as trust signals during our campaigns. These are small brand mentions, likes, shares etc from a wide range of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Reddit.
5 NICHE LINK PLACEMENTS
Each month we will acquire 5 high-quality, niche relevant backlinks. These links will be links on real websites and blogs. Our writing team finds topically relevant blogs and sites and our outreach team goes to work securing you the best links available. If you need more than 5 posts, select our option of additional links for even more ranking boost.
INDEX LINKS
Every link your site earns is hand submitted to Google Submit URL tool. This ensures that Google will crawl and evaluate your new links.
Authority Niche Placements
mid and elite level campaigns
Our outreach links and editorial placements really have all of the prerequisites required for links in 2018 and the foreseeable future. Safe, editorial links need to appear naturally earned and native to the article that surrounds the link. Our sites are checked for spam and 100% clean, they are checked with 3rd party tools for trust and referring domains so you know they will pack a punch, and they are verified 100% real websites with real traffic (never PBNs) so you know they will not trigger a Penguin penalty.
Month 4 SEO Process Overview
OPTIMIZED BLOG POST
We start month 3 with another high-quality 500-word blog post, thoroughly optimized to target longtail and buyer intent keywords. We submit the post for approval by you before posting. The blog post features correct on-page elements, interlinked using our internal anchor text strategy, and is also shared to the brand’s Facebook (If granted access), Twitter and Google+ profiles.
DEEP LINK BUILDING
We use the optimized blog post as the target for additional link building, to help funnel link equity to our targeted pages. This promoted blog post strategy helps to capture even more keywords and traffic because the posts will often rank for longtail keywords while serving as a gateway for our link equity.
WRITE AND SYNDICATE A PREMIUM PRESS RELEASE
This is a quality news release distributed to over 450 news and media outlets like Google News, CBS, Fox, ABC, CW, NBC affiliated broadcasting websites and more, including Associated Press journalists and thru AP Datafeatures services your press releases are distributed to major media outlets including Wall Street Journal, NEW YORK TIMES. WASHINGTON POST, USA TODAY, LOS ANGELES TIMES, and CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Creates authority brand links and mentions and is a great way to launch any campaign.
REAL SOCIAL SIGNALS DRIP
Real social signals can help validate a brand’s increased online visibility. We use them as trust signals during our campaigns. These are small brand mentions, likes, shares etc from a wide range of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Reddit.
5 NICHE LINK PLACEMENTS
Each month we will acquire 5 high-quality, niche relevant backlinks. These links will be links on real websites and blogs. Our writing team finds topically relevant blogs and sites and our outreach team goes to work securing you the best links available. If you need more than 5 posts, select our option of additional links for even more ranking boost.
INDEX LINKS
Every link your site earns is hand submitted to Google Submit URL tool. This ensures that Google will crawl and evaluate your new links.
Authority Niche Placements
for mid and elite level campaigns
Our outreach links and editorial placements really have all of the prerequisites required for links in 2018 and the foreseeable future. Safe, editorial links need to appear naturally earned and native to the article that surrounds the link. Our sites are checked for spam and 100% clean, they are checked with 3rd party tools for trust and referring domains so you know they will pack a punch, and they are verified 100% real websites with real traffic (never PBNs) so you know they will not trigger a Penguin penalty.
Month 5 SEO Process Overview
GOOGLE SITE MICROSITE
We create a custom Google Site’s Site with optimized embeds, media, and interlinked to a network of other relevant Google properties. These Google sites are effectively used to push rankings to other brand properties such as the website, a My Map, or an important industry listing or citation.
BRANDED LINK BUILDING
We continue building brand links this month to help diversify anchor text and gain links from high authority sites safely. We build about 40 branded links this month spread across 4 target pages of the website on platforms such as web 2.0’s, social sharing sites, media sharing sites, industry directories, and online community profiles.
GOOGLE NETWORK LINK BUILDING
This strategy expands upon the Google Site created above and includes an interlinked network of Google assets that are publicly indexable and can be used for brand mentions and keyword relevancy including 12+ Interlinked Public Google Drive Properties that funnel SEO value back to the optimized Google Site.
TIER 2 GOOGLE NETWORK LINKS
We promote the entire Google Microsite Network with quality tier 2 links designed to safely boost the Google properties while funneling additional relevance and equity to our target pages.
5 NICHE LINK PLACEMENTS
Each month we will acquire 5 high-quality, niche relevant backlinks. These links will be links on real websites and blogs. Our writing team finds topically relevant blogs and sites and our outreach team goes to work securing you the best links available. If you need more than 5 posts, select our option of additional links for even more ranking boost.
INDEX LINKS
Every link your site earns is hand submitted to Google Submit URL tool. This ensures that Google will crawl and evaluate your new links.
Authority Niche Placements
for mid and elite level campaigns
Our outreach links and editorial placements really have all of the prerequisites required for links in 2018 and the foreseeable future. Safe, editorial links need to appear naturally earned and native to the article that surrounds the link. Our sites are checked for spam and 100% clean, they are checked with 3rd party tools for trust and referring domains so you know they will pack a punch, and they are verified 100% real websites with real traffic (never PBNs) so you know they will not trigger a Penguin penalty.
Month 6 SEO Process Overview
BLOG POST
We start month 6 with a quality 500-word blog post, thoroughly optimized to target longtail and buyer intent keywords. We submit the post for approval before posting to the blog. The blog post features correct on-page elements, interlinked using our internal anchor text strategy, and is also shared to the brand’s Facebook (If granted access), Twitter and Google+ profiles.
DEEP LINKBUILDING
We use the optimized blog post as the target for additional link building, to help funnel link equity to our targeted pages. This promoted blog post strategy helps to capture even more keywords and traffic because the posts will often rank for longtail keywords while serving as a gateway for our link equity.
PAGE-LEVEL OPTIMIZATION (2ND ROUND)
We perform advanced on-page optimization beginning in month 2 based on the action plans developed during month 1. Tasks include Optimizing Title Tags, Metas, H1 and H2 Tags, Image Alt Text, Inner Linking Structure and Anchor Text, Outbound Link Structure and Anchor Text, Create and Validate Organizational Schema Script and Implement our TF-IDF Action Plan on one main targeted page.
REAL SOCIAL SIGNALS DRIP
Real social signals can help validate a brand’s increased online visibility. We use them as trust signals during our campaigns. These are small brand mentions, likes, shares etc from a wide range of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Reddit.
5 NICHE LINK PLACEMENTS
Each month we will acquire 5 high-quality, niche relevant backlinks. These links will be links on real websites and blogs. Our writing team finds topically relevant blogs and sites and our outreach team goes to work securing you the best links available. If you need more than 5 posts, select our option of additional links for even more ranking boost.
INDEX LINKS
Every link your site earns is hand submitted to Google Submit URL tool. This ensures that Google will crawl and evaluate your new links.
Authority Niche Placements
for mid and elite level campaigns
Our outreach links and editorial placements really have all of the prerequisites required for links in 2018 and the foreseeable future. Safe, editorial links need to appear naturally earned and native to the article that surrounds the link. Our sites are checked for spam and 100% clean, they are checked with 3rd party tools for trust and referring domains so you know they will pack a punch, and they are verified 100% real websites with real traffic (never PBNs) so you know they will not trigger a Penguin penalty.
Month 7+ SEO Process Overview
ALTERNATE BETWEEN: PREMIUM PRESS RELEASE, BLOG POSTS AND BRAND LINK BUILDING
Month 7 starts with a Premium Press Release, and then each month after that we alternate the services between 3 options. Press Releases and Brand Links ensure that we continue some link velocity using branded anchors to pillow and diversify our contextual posting and authority placements if ordered. And our blog post helps continue to capture long-tail keywords, internal linking opportunities, and adds to the site’s total number of indexed pages.
BLOG POST
Month 7 features another quality 500-word blog post, thoroughly optimized to target longtail and buyer intent keywords. We submit the post for approval before posting to the blog. The blog post features correct on-page elements, interlinked using our internal anchor text strategy, and is also shared to the brand’s Facebook (If granted access), Twitter and Google+ profiles.
DEEP LINKBUILDING
We use the optimized blog post as the target for additional link building, to help funnel link equity to our targeted pages. This promoted blog post strategy helps to capture even more keywords and traffic because the posts will often rank for longtail keywords while serving as a gateway for our link equity.
REAL SOCIAL SIGNALS DRIP
Real social signals can help validate a brand’s increased online visibility. We use them as trust signals during our campaigns. These are small brand mentions, likes, shares etc from a wide range of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Reddit.
5 NICHE LINK PLACEMENTS
Each month we will acquire 5 high-quality, niche relevant backlinks. These links will be links on real websites and blogs. Our writing team finds topically relevant blogs and sites and our outreach team goes to work securing you the best links available. If you need more than 5 posts, select our option of additional links for even more ranking boost.
INDEX LINKS
Every link your site earns is hand submitted to Google Submit URL tool. This ensures that Google will crawl and evaluate your new links.
Authority Niche Placements
for mid and elite level campaigns
Our outreach links and editorial placements really have all of the prerequisites required for links in 2018 and the foreseeable future. Safe, editorial links need to appear naturally earned and native to the article that surrounds the link. Our sites are checked for spam and 100% clean, they are checked with 3rd party tools for trust and referring domains so you know they will pack a punch, and they are verified 100% real websites with real traffic (never PBNs) so you know they will not trigger a Penguin penalty.
Outside of that, here are some tools to help you figure out where your SEO stands now, and where you should put your resources first:
SEMrush.com: keyword research, competitive research, and ranking tracking all in one place. The free version gives you some decent data it you just want to see where you stand.
GTmetrix.com: site speed analyzer that will show you how your site is performing, and what do change if the performance is poor.
Google webmaster tools: All the tools google thinks you need to figure out how your website is performing, this speed analyzer will be particularly useful on this endeavor: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
Those are just enough tools to make you dangerous, if you want more, get our comprehensive recommended tool list for online marketing here:
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