Be Wary of Law Firm Web Marketing Providers Who Offer A List of Exact Keywords They Will Target
Law firms have numerous options when it comes to choosing a legal Web marketing provider. There are a multitude of vendors to choose from who offer a range of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) packages, services and strategies. One strategy currently being used by several law firm Internet marketers is not advantageous for law firms — and it may actually prevent them from maximizing their success and return on investment (ROI) on the Web.
Some legal Web marketing providers limit their SEO focus to a list of targeted keywords. For example, the vendor will sell a law firm a set of 50 to 100 keywords and claim that they will not require payment until each keyword has accomplished Top 10 rankings for the firm’s website. Although this is a strong selling tool, it is often not the most beneficial strategy for a law firm to consider.
In most cases, the vendor will ask the law firm to generate the list of keywords themselves. Most lawyers are “sold” on this option because it allows them the opportunity to focus on their most preferred practice areas. However, most lawyers are not aware of the tools that are available to the public which will help determine the most searched terms for any specific practice area. If you are limited to a certain number of keyword phrases a vendor will target for you, it is absolutely necessary that you develop a list of the most searched keywords that your SEO provider will target. This tactic is used to benefit the SEO firm because, in general, most law firms will choose less competitive search phrases with limited traffic — ultimately limiting their success on the Web.
Long Tail Keywords
Another disadvantage to targeting a select number of keywords, or search phrases, is that it limits a firm from reaching out to the long tail keyword searchers. The ‘long tail’ of search refers to the large number of less competitive search phrases that are searched for when compared to the most popular keywords being searched. “Tail” refers to the horizontal axis on a graph when illustrating search volume and search phrases. The most popular search phrases (keywords that are most often used) are going to be the most competitive. A law firm that is primarily focused on ‘City Name Personal Injury Lawyer’ is going to have much more difficultly achieving Top 10 rankings when compared to focusing on ten or more long tail search phrases due to the competitive nature of the search terms. See the below graph illustrating long tail search volume.
It is important to understand the search volume for long tail keyword searches. Take for example one of our clients who targets personal injury and social security disability. In a 30-day period, our clients’ website analytics illustrate that 88.03% of all traffic visitors used a unique (long tail) search phrase to find the website. If our client were to exclusively target 50 to 100 of the most popular keyword search phrases, they would miss out on a significant amount of the traffic they are currently receiving through the help of a broad and extensive search marketing campaign.
Importance of Content
Having high quality, relevant content on your law firm website is critical in order to reach out to long tail keyword searchers. It is impossible to target thousands of keywords that potential searchers may type to find your website through simply properly structuring meta data within your website. That is why high quality, optimized content on your website is important for SEO success. Consultwebs.com employs multiple licensed attorneys and legal writers to develop content for our law firm clients. First and foremost, visitors must find content that is easy to read and easy to comprehend. Secondly, in order to reach out to long tail keyword searchers, the content on your site must include a variety of keywords that will enable the search engines to associate your site to specific long tail search phrases. If the content on your site is not fully optimized for long tail keyword searches, your law firm is not maximizing its potential to obtain cases.
Conclusion
If your law firm is being limited to a set number of keywords, it is time to reconsider your current Search Engine marketing strategy. Be cautious of Internet legal marketing providers that restrict your campaign to 50 to 100 keywords. In the above example, if you are only targeting the most popular keyword searchers, you are missing out on 80% or more of potential visitors to your law firm’s website!
To discuss the Consultwebs.com Search Engine Strategy and how we effectively reach out to both popular and long tail keyword searchers, contact us today at marketing@consultwebs.com or (800) 872-6590.
