If you have a website for your practice, it’s likely you have either hired an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) firm or specialist, or your website is lost somewhere on page two zillion of Google’s search results when people search for your business’ keywords. Search engine optimization for law firms does have its place. As a website owner, you want to anticipate the search terms that people are likely to use to find a law firm like yours, and use those keywords yourself on your website so that people can find you when they conduct searches using major search engines. The desired result is that if your website is the most relevant and current website that features those search terms, your website will be one of the topmost search engine hits. For more on lawyer website development and law firm SEO, see Pros and Cons of Lawyer Website Development and SEO.
The search engine technology is complex and ever-changing, so most of us have to rely upon reputable and skilled law firm SEO experts to optimize our sites for search engines. And when we say search engines, we mean Google, which handles the lion’s share of all internet searches. Yahoo scores a distant second place and Bing an even more distant third.
Looking for SEO Specialists
One good way to choose an SEO firm for search engine optimizing your law firm website is to Google “SEO Firm” and see who comes up in the top 5. That seems to prove that they know how to move you up too. Canvass other website owners to see how happy they are with their SEO. Check how the SEO firm structures its fees. Some SEO firms charge a hefty fee just to look at your website, tell you how sick it is and then tell you how much they will charge you to cure it. If you don’t pay your grocery store manager to tell you how much his bread costs, then you might want to keep looking.
Ask for references. Ask their prior customers about the cost, timeliness of performance and results. The small business operator may save you a lot of money and still do a good job, but expect to have a delay if his kids get sick or he’s attending a funeral in New York. With the big firm, there may be people to fill in when your #1 person is unavailable.
Do not hire any firm that uses any black hat techniques. There are manifold dirty tricks to move a website up the search list. They will produce dramatic results in 5 days, but when Google discovers the ruse, your site will be invisible to Google users for years.
Keep an Eye on the Bottom Line
It’s a constant battle for the top search engine spots. Consequently, many SEO firms will push monthly service contracts forever in order to keep you on top. You’ll have to decide if your budget will allow that, or whether you can be satisfied with a one-time fix, a one-time fee, and keep updating your site with a blog. You might also look into buying keywords as an alternative form of lawyer search engine marketing.
When choosing an SEO firm for search engine optimization for your law firm, choose carefully. Don’t be like the villain at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, who crumbled to dust as the Holy Crusader observed, “He chose poorly.”
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