If you are attempting to optimize your law firm’s website to gain the coveted top spots on Google’s search engine, one of the best ways to do so is through fresh content on your law firm’s website. This article is the first of a four-part series for December, which will focus on why new blog posts and fresh content on your law firm’s website matters, how to actually create and format your articles, and how to promote your articles once they are published on your law firm’s website.
What is Considered Fresh Content For Law Firm Websites
Google has an ever-changing algorithm that determines which law firms get served up first when potential clients search for legal services. However, one thing that has never changed is that Google believes that a website is either growing or dying. In many ways, there is no middle ground. If Google sees that an excellent law firm website does not produce any new content, over time, they will drop that law firm’s website in the rankings to allow room for law firm websites that do continually produce fresh content. However, the content can not only be new, it must also meet certain criteria including relevance, usefulness, and value all while having the appearance of expertise. Some examples of fresh content on law firm websites can include the following:
- Completely new articles, pages, or posts
- Significant additions made to already published content
- New pages or sections added to a law firm website
- New announcements or offerings from you law firm
- Additional areas of expertise (adding a type of legal practice, or expanding on an already existing area of expertise)
Why Fresh Content Matters for SEO Purposes
SEO is search engine optimization, and it is the way that Google integrates all of the information about your law firm from the entire internet to determine whether or not to place you on the first page of their search engine. Law firms have an additional hurdle to jump for Google, as they are considered YMYL businesses (“Your Money or Your Life”). As a result, because the information a law firm provides to its potential clients can have a direct impact on someone’s future, law firm websites are held to a higher standard regarding their content. All content must be up-to-date, relevant, and accurate regarding the law. Therefore, if your law firm has more recent information regarding updated personal injury or bankruptcy laws, Google is more likely to serve that up to their searchers than older content even from a more established law firm website. When you create and publish fresh content on your law firm’s website the following will happen:
- Google will add your information, new article, or new page to its content index
- Adding this additional content to the Google index allows it to process it and then serve it to potential searchers looking for that specific content
- Potential new clients will then start to view your content, increasing your law firm websites monthly searchers, thus increasing Google’s belief you are an expert in your field (and serve you up more often for your other published content as well)
Fresh Content Helps Potential Clients
While so far the discussion has centered around how Google will use your fresh content to boost your search engine rankings, the truth is that your fresh content should also theoretically be helping your potential clients. If you are writing articles regarding the law, potential clients may use this to calm their fears regarding a legal issue and see you as an expert in your field. Both of these will ultimately encourage and prompt a potential client to pick up the phone and book a consultation with you. If you are producing content related to new areas of practice, it can help potential clients understand that you now offer legal services in other areas of law. At the end of the day, providing this useful content to those landing on your law firm website not only helps them with their legal questions, it helps them view you as the expert that answered their questions immediately. In many cases, once a potential client trusts you to answer those questions, they will pick up the phone and schedule a meeting.
Not All Fresh Content Is Equal
While fresh content is important to keep in Google’s good graces, not all fresh content is created equal. Some types of content are considered by Google to be more valuable than other content. For example, if you simply add an accolade or an award received by your law firm, this will help show additional expertise in an area of law. However, it does not have the same overall impact as an article regarding a significant change to an area of law that will impact thousands of people in your state.
Additionally, Google tends to always favor video and infographics over simple content. If Google needs to decide between two articles from two different law firms on essentially the same topic, with the same amount of words, Google will choose the article with an embedded video or infographics over the plain content. Google understands that users consume content in different ways. The more ways you can include different types of content, the more valuable Google will see your fresh content and place your law firm ahead of others in their search engine.
This Week’s Digital Marketing Action Steps:
Take an Inventory of Your Law Firm’s Content: Take an honest look at the content on your law firm’s website right now. Do you have fresh articles? Are all of your practice areas clear to a potential client that searches your website? Do you have updated accolades and awards? Do you have a strategy for determining what new content needs to go on your website? Consider what steps you need to take in order to start developing a fresh content strategy for your law firm’s website. Next week we will examine how to actually keyword your articles to get better placement on Google and increase your rankings.
Annette Choti graduated from law school 20 years ago, and is now the CEO & Owner of Law Quill, a legal digital marketing agency focused on small and solo law firms. Law Quill is the only legal digital marketing agency that provides unique, SEO-optimized content, pre-packaged content, and courses for lawyers to learn SEO themselves through Law Quill Academy. Annette used to do theatre and professional comedy, which is not so different from the legal field if we are all being honest. Annette can be found on LinkedIn or at annette@lawquill.com