With over 1.1 million licensed attorneys in the U.S., it’s become a monumental challenge to stand out and get found. Especially online. Big firms drop millions of dollars on their marketing efforts. How can a small firm even compete?

Answer: With the right selection of keywords.

Here’s how to refine the keyword research, selection, and usage…

Pull the Records

There’s more to the website and its design than having a pretty hub for the business. Behind-the-scenes is a treasure trove of information on the search habits of visitors.

Analytic tools/services give a page-by-page breakdown of how visitors are interacting with the site. A valuable part of this is running reports on the keywords used to find specific pages.

A pattern will emerge and reveal a variety of long-tail keywords. This is used in content development, site SEO, and link building efforts.

Service + Location

Google does a great job at pulling results based on geographical location. Mobile browsing using Chrome will even ask for permission to use location data to refine results.

Yet, don’t completely rely on automatic services for search results. Pepper the site, content, and sales pages with the main/secondary keywords plus a call-out to the location.

For example: Combining “car accident lawyers” with “Asheville, NC” will provide a highly-targeted set of results for those in the area and searching abroad.

It takes a few minutes to have lasting improvements to the SEO.

Reverse Engineering

Why do the hard work when the competition has done it already?

A larger competitor has the money to conduct deeper keyword research. Exploit their efforts by doing a free site audit with their website URL. Pull data on used keywords, site health, usability, and find their internal/external links.

Tailor the keyword usage to the business. Get content (and links) on the same authority sites. Cover similar topics and play off their success with social media.

Say What’s Natural

It’s easy to become inundated with the jargon used within the industry — that’s not how real people talk.

Instead:

• Send a survey to the client email list asking how they found the business
• Sit down and talk with people face-to-face. Learn how they reference the business, industry, and identify their needs

This will provide phrases that are natural. The same phrases that interested parties will type into search engines and social media platforms. Start replacing the industry-level jargon with common phrases.

Buyer, Inquiry, and Learn

Keywords have different intentions based on the query or phrase before it.

The “buyer” keywords have an intention to make a purchase. These include terms like “hire” or “request a quote”. The person is seeking services.

The “inquiry” keywords have an intention to research. These include terms like “reviews” or “cost”. The person wants to learn more before they’re ready to decide which law firm to use.

The “learn” keywords have an intention to get educated. These include terms like “how to” or “strategies”. The person isn’t going to buy; they want to understand a topic.

Take focus on the “buyer” keywords. These are the ones that make money. Then work through the other two.

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The law industry is a tough nut to crack when it comes to online marketing and advertising. Though, with the right selection of keywords the organic traffic, and all strategies built on them, they will show promise.