Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
We help attorneys and law firms dominate the search engines for their particular practice areas and geographical location. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services just refers to optimizing the website so that it shows up in the search engines driving the right kind of traffic to your website.
The key to SEO for a law firm's website involves creating authoritative content on the practice areas most important to the firm. With an open source content management system any attorney can easily update the content or even add a page of content in just a few minutes from any computer.
The websites we create each have more than 40 pages of unique informative content when the website first launches. Over the next two years we continue to add additional pages based on the attorney's specifications. The legal content on each page of the website is created to answer the questions of the attorney's ideal clients. The content is all geared towards the attorney's state, county and city.
In addition to the on-site optimization, we also help the attorney create a number of professional social media and professional profiles on some of the worlds most powerful websites. We help the attorney understand how to best use their time to promote a professional image for the firm. By focusing on better content, the websites we create dominate Google and the other search engines.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Attorneys
Before beginning an internet marketing campaign for your law firm, the attorney should understand how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) really works. The SEO basics are not difficult for an attorney to understand. At Internet LAVA, our SEO company believes the first step is educating the attorney about the basics of SEO. The more the attorney understands about the SEO, the more the attorney begins to appreciate the work that goes into each website we create.
Like anything else, SEO requires a lot of hard work. In many ways the website is a publishing project which allows the attorney to explain each aspect of the practice to prospective clients. Although it sounds like a daunting project, at Internet LAVA we have attorneys on staff who are experienced in writing the legal content based on the law firm's practice areas and jurisdiction.
Ways We Optimize the Attorney's Website for the Search Engines
SEO for a law firm's website is based on several straightforward factors:
- Whether the content on each page of the website is unique and informative;
- The number of pages on the website;
- The way the pages are organized including how each page on the website links to other pages on the website (internal links);
- How often the pages on the website are updates with additional unique and informative information; and
- Whether the interior pages of the website are recognized by other websites as being authoritative on a particular topic (backlinks).
SEO Techniques are Transparent
The SEO basics are never a mystery because everything about website design and internet marketing is transparent. Within a few minutes you can determine the following information about any attorney's website and SEO efforts:
- The number of pages on the website and how the content is organized;
- The page rank of each page which is a determination by Google of the importance of that page;
- The quality of the content on each page of the website;
- The structure of the website including how the pages link to each other; and
- The number and quality of each backlink to a particular page on the website.
Search Engine Optimization (also called SEO) is the process of improving the natural (organic) rankings of a web site in search engines. The higher a site appears in the search results list, the more traffic it will receive from the search engines such as Google and Bing.
The Goal of SEO for Law Firm Websites
The goal of a successful SEO campaign is to achieve first page listings in Google, Yahoo, and Bing for keyword phrases that local consumers use to find the type of services that the law firms provides. At Internet LAVA, we understand how attorneys can dominate the Search Engines. By targeting our techniques exclusively for attorneys we achieve strong organic search visibility that drives a high volume of search traffic directly to your website.
How Do Search Engines Work?
All major search engines perform 3 basic tasks:
- It uses spiders to scan millions of web pages.
- It creates an index or saves a snapshot of the web page as it is scanned.
- It allows the web pages to rank in search results for relevant keywords.
A search engine will use special software robots, called "spiders" to scan millions of web pages. This process is referred to as "web crawling." When a search engine crawls a web page, it will then follow every link found on that web page and continue its journey across the Internet.
Search Engines will give special consideration to certain words and phrases on a page based on where the words are located. Words in the title, header, and meta tags will be given more weight than other words on the page. A Webmaster should not rely too heavily on meta tags because the search engine will correlate the words in the meta tags with the content of the page. If a meta tag contains words that are not related to the content of the page, it will be rejected and can hurt search rankings.
How Do Search Engines Rank Web Pages on an Attorney's Website?
The goal of a search engine is to provide the user with the most relevant web pages in the search results. Search engines follow a particular set of rules, or algorithm. A search engine algorithm will rely on several important factors to return the most relevant search results.
Page Relevance
The content of the page is extremely important to ranking well in search engines. Search engines will give more weight to a page that has unique and detailed information related to a legal topic. Keyword density is another factor; however, a search engine will give higher importance to a page that has more relative or related information than a page that just has the keyword phrase repeated multiple times.
Link Analysis for Off Page Optimization
Another important factor in the algorithm is links found on other websites. The process of improving these factors is known as off-page optimization. Search engines will perform "Link Analysis" by investigating how pages link to each other. A search engine can determine what a page is about based on how other pages link to it.
Link Popularity
Search engines will rank pages higher if it considers them to be "important" or more relevant than other pages. One factor that influences this ranking is link popularity. A web page that has high quality links pointing to it from other websites will naturally rank higher in search engines.
Link Quality
When it comes to links, quality is more important than quantity. Having thousands of links pointing to your site will not help the rankings if the links are from pages that do not contain relative content. It is important to build links that are from websites that are directly related to the subject matter of your website.
PageRank
Google has developed a ranking system that measures the relevance or importance of a web page based on a scale of 0-10. This is known as PageRank and is trademarked by Google. PageRank is determined by a number of factors including incoming links to the page.
A page that is linked to from highly ranked pages that are relevant to the content will rank higher itself. The PageRank tool is available as part of the Google Toolbar. When installing the toolbar, simply check "Enable PageRank" and you will see the PageRank of all web pages that you visit. A web page with a higher PageRank is viewed by Google as more important and will naturally rank higher in search engines.
Time and Longevity
Time is another important factor with SEO. Search Engines will rank websites higher if they have been around for a longer period of time. If a website has been scanned and indexed multiple times, it will have a stronger weight than a site that has only been indexed once.
Especially with Google, websites that are brand new will rank poorly for the first several months especially for the trophy key terms. This is known as the "Google Sandbox Effect." Pages that target particular niche areas are not subjected to this sandbox effect. The best way to combat the sandbox effect is to have unique relative content and strong inbound links.
Link Aging
Links that point to a website may not help the website rank higher if they are brand new. The longer the link has been in existence, the more it will help the websites rankings. Building strong inbound links to a website and allowing them to be scanned by the search engines over time is a process known as "Link Aging." This process can be one of the best ways to combat the sandbox effect and increase page relevance.
SEO Content
Web Content is the most powerful tool that attorneys can use to achieve high search engine rankings and dominate the competition. Most lawyer web design companies will use content that is generic and uninformative. At the same time, most lawyers don't know the difference. In fact, the attorneys may not even read the content of their own website. Even for those attorneys that do read the content, many do not play an active role in improving the content on an ongoing basis.
Having content that is more extensive than your competitors will give you a huge advantage in the search rankings. Information is the first thing that a consumer will seek out during the beginning stages of finding an attorney. They have a legal issue and they want answers. The Internet is the consumer's primary resource for information. The Internet is like a magnet. If you provide your audience with highly informative content, they will find you.
Keyword Research for Attorneys
The most important step when getting started with an SEO campaign is keyword research. It is important to understand what key phrases consumers are typing into search engines when they are searching for legal services. We make sure to target each of the most highly searched and relevant keywords. But we don't stop there.
The most highly targeted keywords are also the most competitive, and the more competitive, the longer it takes to rank highly. We make sure to put a great deal of effort into targeting more specific keywords that aren't as competitive. This will give our clients the advantage of ranking highly for keywords that are directly related to their niche practice areas. It is important to research other keywords to determine the specific practice areas that other attorneys are not actively marketing. This can quickly give you a strong advantage over your competition by ranking highly for keywords that are related to the types of cases that are most profitable to your Law Firm.
Using Social Media to Improve SEO on the Attorney's Main Website
Search engines love social media sites because they are extremely popular and are updated frequently with fresh content. It is very quick and easy to create a social media profile on a site like Facebook or Twitter and add a link to your website.
These links can help your website's Link Popularity a great deal because these social media sites get a phenomenal amount of traffic. However, a social media page that is not updated frequently will not help your website as much. It is important that there is some regular activity occurring on the page. By networking with friends and making regular posts you can keep the page fresh with new content.
Relevance is also a factor. If you have a website that is about a legal topic, then a social media site that is not relative will not help, right? Well the way to combat this is to "make it relative." Simply publish content to the page that is directly related to what you do. Adding several paragraphs of information about the type of legal services you provide will add relevance to the social media page, further strengthening its SEO capabilities.
Using an Effective Blog to Improve SEO on the Attorney's Main Website
Blogs are a form of social media that can be an extremely powerful tool for attorneys because they allow attorneys to publish unique and interesting information about their area of law. Blogs can rank very well in search engines for keyword phrases related to your specific niche areas of practice.
Blogging quickly allows an attorney to connect with their ideal clients. Consumers will often use the Internet to search for very specific information about their legal situation. A good blog will rank highly for these searches and increase the amount of traffic to your website.
Using Press Releases to Improve SEO on the Attorney's Main Website
A Press Release is an announcement to the press about a specific advancement or change within your business. A strong PR marketing campaign will consist of regularly published press releases about interesting topics. Press Release websites are very popular and can give your website a valuable and relevant link. Press Releases can also increase the professional image of your Firm further strengthening your reputation.
Creating and Publishing Articles to Improve SEO on the Attorney's Main Website
An article that is well written and informative can have a profound effect on your website. Articles can be published either on or off your website. It is good to use a combination of both. There are plenty of article sites that are popular and highly relevant to the legal industry. Article marketing can increase traffic and further strengthen your websites rankings. An interesting and informative article can be picked up by other websites and re-published, further increasing your exposure online.
Internet LAVA's Specific Formula for Attorney SEO
At Internet LAVA, we have developed a specific formula for achieving high rankings in Google, Bing, and Yahoo for attorney websites. Our strategy beings with a professional website design. We know about all of the resources that attorneys can use to boost their rankings while marketing the law firm. More importantly, we work with our clients to utilize each and every one of these resources to achieve maximum search visibility. By publishing comprehensive and informative content on your website, blogs, online profiles, press releases, and articles, we build an online presence for your Law Firm that increases credibility and improves reputation.
Search Engine Optimization can be a drawn out and time consuming process. To achieve high search rankings that last, several different steps must be taken. Internet LAVA's comprehensive web marketing package includes each and every one of these steps. We know what you need to achieve the desired results of SEO for law firm websites, and we take care of all of it for you. Contact Internet LAVA today to get started and be on your way to complete search engine domination for legal professions including:
Our Solutions
Contact Internet LAVA for a free consultation to discuss how our company can meet your internet marketing, seach engine optimization (SEO) and website design goals. Read more about our internet marketing solutions for legal professionals including:
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SEO for DUI and DWI lawyers - Search engine optimization or SEO tips for DUI attorneys representing individuals charged with drunk driving, driving while impaired or intoxicated with drugs or alcohol. Find out important tips to optimize the website for terms such as drunk driving, DUI, DWI or related terms.
SEO for personal injury attorneys - Read more about optimizing terms related to personal injury law for the search engines or SEO through developing better content for the search engines.
SEO for medical malpractice lawyers - Our SEO tips for medical malpractice attorneys include using keywords, descriptions, better content, and business profiles to great powerful internal and external links for this popular personal injury niche category.
SEO for divorce and family law attorneys - As more divorce and family law attorneys turn to internet marketing, optimizing websites for the search engines becomes more competitive. Read our SEO tips for family law and divorce attorneys including blogs, social media, internal links, descriptions and keyword optimization to rank higher in the search engines for terms important to your ideal clients when they begin their search for a family law attorney such as alimony, high income divorces, high net worth divorces, military divorces, paternity actions, child support, and child custody.
SEO for immigration attorneys - Search engine optimization or SEO for immigrations attorneys requires understanding the terms used by your ideal clients, and then optimizing the unique content on your website to rank higher in the search engines through business profiles, local business listings, internal and external links, and content page organization. Call Internet LAVA to discuss ways to optimize your website to rank higher in the search engines for immigration law.