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How do you improve your law firm ranking on Google? Should you employ a search engine marketing agency or put your own support staff on it? These are all incredibly valuable questions. You need to be able to make sound judgments about them in a decisive way. These five steps can help you understand and utilize search engine marketing more effectively.

1. Use targeted keywords

Law firm ranking on Google is competitive. If you make your keywords broad, they'll get lost in a sea of other law firms also using broad terms. These terms also don't necessarily earn more searches. Use a tool such as Google Keyword Planner that allows you to research what terms are searched for and how often other businesses use those keywords.

For instance, if someone's looking for a lawyer, they're not going to enter “Palm Beach lawyer.” They're looking for a specific reason, so they're going to search for “Palm Beach DUI lawyer,” or “Palm Beach divorce attorney.” They may also simply cut to the chase and put “best” in front of every search, so use keywords like “best Palm Beach divorce attorney.” Keywords like “Palm Beach divorce attorney reviews” can lead to a page on your website that features a compilation of reviews and articles on your law firm.

Many people will seek out more diverse attorneys because of comfort level. Women in a divorce or child custody battle will often seek out a woman attorney to represent them because they feel more safer talking to another woman about these matters. “Palm Beach woman divorce attorney” or “Palm Beach female divorce attorney” will turn up unique searches that automatically discount certain other law firms that may not be able to offer the diversity a client seeks out.

2. There's more than just Google

Google is by far the largest search engine out there. It has to be part of advertising strategy, but it doesn't have to be the only search engine you include. Depending on the types of law your firm specializes in, consider also using Bing. Why is this?

The average Bing user is wealthier than the average Google user. A full 30% of Bing's users have an annual household income of $100,000 or more. It can be important to focus on your Bing rankings as well as your Google ones. If you use a pay-per-click (PPC) model, Bing is also less expensive per click than Google. In other words, you can pay less per click in order to have access to wealthier clients. (One productive approach is to lean on SEO more heavily for Google, and PPC more heavily for Bing).

3. Videos are becoming crucial

Any search engine marketing agency worth its salt knows that video accounts for the vast majority of online traffic. It contributes to higher conversion rates, and Google prioritizes video content when ranking content. An easy way to improve your law firm ranking on Google is to incorporate video.

These videos should be professional and focus on simple answers to legal questions. They can demonstrate both expertise in the field and an ability to take complex ideas and streamline them. This helps clients feel comfortable about how you can help them understand legal ideas, as well as how confidently you can speak in different legal contexts.

4. Blog posts allow frequent keyword use

Blog posts are a great way to present regular material that features and diversifies targeted keyword use. Like video, these are an opportunity to boil down complex legal ideas to help potential clients understand them. Talking about individual cases and how you solved a problem is always popular. This helps them view you as an expert they can trust. You can also embed video to improve Google rankings.

Use Schema embed codes instead of the regular YouTube embed code and you'll even get a thumbnail next to the Google result. Clients are much more likely to click on a link that uses a thumbnail like this – just make sure the thumbnail selection is a good one.

5. Work with a search engine marketing agency

This isn't even getting into on-page SEO and a variety of other factors yet. The truth is, if you're reading this you're likely an expert in a legal field or you work as crucial support staff in a law firm. You're not an expert in SEO, online marketing, or social media sharing. You also probably don't have the time to become one.

A search engine marketing agency can handle many of these factors for you while also educating staff in managing them for the future. Just like you break down complex legal ideas for your clients, the search engine marketing team at THAT Agency can break down complex ideas so that you can make the best judgments for your marketing. Then they can put them into effect for you. Call us today at 561-832-6262 to learn more.