What are Keywords and How Should I Use Them?
Did you know that the most common way that people and businesses find an attorney is through the internet (American Bar Association (ABA))? For that reason, it is more important than ever before that lawyers and law firms have a strong digital presence. Keywords can help you drive organic traffic to your website. Here, our legal marketing team provides a comprehensive guide to keywords and how you should use them.
Understanding Keywords in Legal SEO
Keywords are the foundation of search engine optimization (SEO). When search engines “crawl” web content, they use specific words and phrases to help categorize the content for the purposes of search results. Keywords are the specific words and phrases that potential clients type into search engines when looking for legal services.
Here is a simple example: A person injured in a car crash might search “personal injury lawyer in Miami” or “car accident attorney near me.” If your firm’s website content contains relevant keywords, search engines, including Google, are more likely to display your site in the results. For law firms, targeting the right legal keywords helps attract highly qualified leads.
Using Keywords the Right Way: Strategic Placement Matters
Effective keyword use goes beyond simply inserting legal terms throughout your website. Search engines prioritize quality and relevance. With that in mind, keywords should be placed naturally in strategic locations, including your page titles, meta descriptions, headers, body content, image alt text, and internal links. When keywords are located in the right place, they can drive far better SEO results. Strategic placement is one of the keys to content marketing.
Is Stuffing My Website With Keywords a Good Strategy?
No. That type of strategy has not worked well for decades. Indeed, lawyers and law firms should avoid “keyword stuffing.” If Google or another search engine identifies your site as “stuffing” keywords, it will actually downrank it. There can be serious SEO penalties. Search engines caught on to this low-quality strategy many years ago. Not only does it fail to work, but it is also outright counterproductive. Instead, lawyers and law firms should focus on clear, consistent, high-quality content that strategically uses keywords in a sensible manner.
Choosing the Right Keywords Can Improve Your SEO Results
What keywords should lawyers and law firms use? The short answer is that anything that a potential client might search for that is related to your practice can be a good term for a “keyword.” To succeed in legal SEO, choose keywords that reflect your firm’s practice areas, geographic location, and the specific questions potential clients are asking. Lawyers and law firms should generally focus on both “short-tail” keywords (divorce lawyer) and “long-tail” keywords (how to file for divorce in Florida). By doing so, they can better capture client attention.
We are Leaders in SEO for Lawyers and Law Firms Nationwide
At Fuel Web Marketing, we are proud to be the leader in SEO for lawyers and law firms. If you have any questions about selecting and using keywords, we are here to help. Contact us today for a confidential consultation. We work with lawyers and law firms nationwide.