Digital Marketing for Plaintiff Attorneys: Tips for Corporate Law Firm Marketers

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of a plaintiff law firm’s best tools for maximizing the investment(s) made in their website. At its core, the purpose of SEO is to drive qualified traffic to a website so that it converts into an email lead, phone call, chat or text. A healthy percentage of these leads then become new business for the law firm.

When I speak about lawyer advertising, my favorite saying is, “The one constant with digital marketing is everything changes.” Marketing is constantly evolving and the rules for success today rewrite themselves tomorrow. Why does this happen? It’s for several reasons. The easiest way to explain is there are always new technologies, platforms and marketing channels entering and exiting the market. Another reason is Google’s algorithm, which is designed to change on purpose because it regulates the largest channel — Google Search.

New Technologies and Platforms

If you google “search engine optimization” in Chrome, it returns over 1.8 billion results. There is a ton of SEO information to sift through and it is difficult to ascertain the value of what you find. The job of SEO itself has become increasingly tougher and more complex over the years too, as we now have many more marketing channels to consider.

Having a website used to be enough. Now there are social sites, video, apps, automation and new channels like TikTok to weigh into our marketing strategy. Audiences are also more fragmented than before, so it is more difficult to reach the same volume of people on these channels.

Still, if you could only focus on one area, I advise having a website and doing well in Google Search. It’s the long game, but Google Search remains the largest target market and usually boasts the best return on investment.

Constant Change From Google

Google is constantly evolving its algorithm. It does this to factor in market changes, such as new technologies, but to also avoid being easily gamed by clever marketers or businesses. Google prevents easy manipulation of results by analyzing hundreds of factors when it considers how to rank content. Many of these are viewed in healthy and unhealthy ranges to further compound the complexity.

Top search engine results yield the most traffic and market share, and are highly coveted and competitive. There is no perfect formula for optimizing website content because the algorithm is constantly changing in real-time. Understanding this principle is empowering and can help you build a more effective SEO strategy with long-term benefits.

To help keep up with the constant Google changes, consider the following examples of good and bad SEO tactics.

Good SEO techniques include:

• Copyediting around targeted key phrases
• Speed improvements to code and media
• Tactful link architecture — how important content resides within your website
• Strong website usability and engagement
• Positive mobile experience
• Building authority

Bad SEO techniques include:

• Keyword stuffing
• Short, weak and unengaging content
• Buying links versus earning links
• Serving different pages to Google crawlers versus visitors
• Hiding links or content with styling code or images
• Creating spam; targeting cities with pages of similar content

The Key to the Top

So how does a plaintiff attorney rise to the top of search results? Authority and time. Don’t fall into the trap of writing content on your website just for the sake of adding content. That’s taking unnecessary steps that aren’t useful to your visitors, Google or your firm.

Every lawyer and firm operates differently, each with their own style, knowledge, process and staff. This individuality is an opportunity to establish authority on the web through content that is aimed at your target audience, answers popular questions, explains your process or walks website visitors through your elevator pitch.

Adding content to your website in this manner is very effective. It helps people find the answers they were looking for through Google. Positive user experiences make Google look good to users since Google served relevant results, which helps build your law firm’s authority. Google then rewards these positive engagements with more traffic. Over time, these interactions improve your rank.

Lastly, when devising an SEO strategy, focus on the target audiences’ experiences. Design websites and content for the reader, not yourself. Strategies built around this principle will age well with Google because it covets positive user experience. Keep in mind, many people who search for legal help do not realize how many different types of law practices there are. Helping them find answers and make the right connection will help your website perform better.

Bonus Takeaway

Buy your attorney’s name and put it to work. Find a domain registrar such as GoDaddy and search for their full name. If it is a common name and unavailable, add a dash between their first and last name like this: fistname-lastname.com. Purchase it and add a redirect to either a) your attorney’s bio page on your website, b) their LinkedIn profile or c) their link for leaving Google reviews, and make it easy for clients to find by following their linked name in an email or text.