SEO for Lawyers Explained by SEO Consultant Blake Smith

Australian search engine optimisation (SEO) consultant Blake Smith recently explained the importance of SEO for lawyers and law firms.

Blake recently contributed to an article by legalsites titled "Blogging For Lawyers (2021 Starter Guide)" to provide expert insight into how ranking high in search engines is a huge benefit to lawyers looking to attract high-quality client leads, boost their website’s traffic and increase referrals.

Blake says SEO is good for lawyers to gain credibility in their industry. "SEO helps you improve your authority and credibility as a trusted source. Google and other search engines are doing their best to showcase credible sources in the search results, too. So when people search for legal services over the Internet, they are more likely to trust the law firms that appear on the first page of their search results."

"I encourage my law firm clients to stop worrying about publishing short articles every week. Many lawyers say they need 2 articles a month based on an ‘imaginary’ deadline they’ve set themselves. For SEO purposes I recommend going more in-depth with articles that explore a topic in detail," says Blake.

Reeva from Cutting Edge Digital agrees with this sentiment, saying, "You don’t have to write over 2,000 words to rank. This just isn’t true. Shorter content can rank as long as it’s well-written, and is relevant to the keyword phrase you want to rank for."

Data from Search Engine Journal shows that typically longer content ranks better, but SEO experts argue that is because long-form articles usually get more backlinks. The data shows that longer content usually receives more links. Backlinks are one of the ways that search engines judge the quality of a webpage.

A 2017 study by Accuranker also found the legal niche to be the most competitive when it comes to SEO. The study examined 111,000 local keywords for the three largest US cities – Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. The data showed that legal keywords have the lowest number of search engine results without local map packs. Combine this with the fact that the industry has high cost per click keywords in search advertising and the outcome is a very competitive industry.

For lawyers and law firms looking to generate more clients, get in touch with SEO consultant Blake Smith to start an SEO campaign and generate more organic traffic.