Law Firm SEO Best Practices
Things to understand when structuring an effective search engine optimization strategy in Northern California
A sound Search Engine Marketing (SEO) strategy is one of the most important factors of any online marketing plan, and it is not difficult to know why. More than 90% of all Americans who are online will use search engines to find the information they need. Law firms at the top of search results will see greater traffic to their websites, and ultimately more opportunities to make connections with potential clients.
As a consequence of the vital nature that search has, there has been a rise of an entire industry that is dedicated to artificially manipulating search engine results. Several of these SEO "consultants" will even “guarantee” high search rankings for their clients--something nobody can guarantee!
It is clear that while some of the methods could potentially work in the short-term, they are certainly headed for failure. What eventually happens is Google, Bing and other search providers regularly revise their algorithms--and will penalize SEO companies that attempt to game the system. Get caught, and your website can potentially be blacklisted, disappearing from search results altogether. Don't keep up with the changes, and you will also risk being pushed out of sight, and not attract the clients and customers you need for your Northern California law firm to attract profitable leads online.
Sound SEO strategies firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area
The most effective long-term strategy that has been approved and proven time and again, is to provide high quality, regularly updated content. If your website has useful information, it will attract visitors and motivate webmasters to link to it, which will naturally drive the website higher in search results. So what is quality content? Quality content is any material that is relevant and adds value for its target audience. Your website, for example, should include everything from information on the law firm's partners to articles and blog posts on specific topics as they relate to your practice focuses. But while content is an important part of the strategy; it is not the sole component in the SEO plan. As an example, website navigation, structure and design also play a very important role. Search engines seek out websites that feature a logical, user-friendly design and layout, and load fast compared to other sites. Broken links can negatively impact search rankings, as can websites that are not formatted to the many different web browsers and mobile devices that are available today. See our page on Responsive Websites for Northern California Law Firms.
To get an understanding directly from Bing and Google, follow the links below:
Quality links vs. bad links
Linking strategies is a very popular topic of discussion these days because more links pointing to your website can raise your search rankings. In early 2012, Google dramatically increased its pursuit of penalizing companies for what it calls “unnatural linking practices.” Examples include:
- Paying for links
- Excessive exchanging links, especially between companies with no logical relationship with each other--irrelevant links
- Over optimization--excessively stuffing website pages with keywords that are used to boost search results
- Purchasing access to post content to blog website networks for the sole purpose of building links
What is a good link? Google and Bing state that a good link is a “natural link”—i.e., one that is created when other websites see your content as valuable enough to link to it.
SEO Consultants - What to ask and what to look for
How do you find a reputable SEO provider? It’s actually quite simple--find a reputable company that has extensive website development experience and which adheres to SEO best practices. For more information on finding an SEO provider, check out our Blog article: Tips to Increase Search Engine Visibility for Your Northern California Law Firm.
BWM Lawyer Marketing: A track record of success
BWM Lawyer Marketing has a proven track record of providing exceptional SEO services — we work exclusively with law firms in and around the Northern California Bay Area to Sacramento. We strictly adhere to the guidelines that are established by the major search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo and others. And we focus on the creation of custom, value added, and compelling content to connect prospective clients with our clients. We focus on search quality metrics such as:
- Authority
- Relevancy
- User engagement
Success is also measured based on how these proven metrics drive more high quality prospective clients to your law firm. Fill out our FREE WEB AUDIT form today to learn helpful tips on how to improve your visibility online! Contact us online today to begin the process of building a comprehensive online marketing strategy for your Northern California law firm that works!
