What Your Visitors & Clients are
Once you understand the different types of keywords, you can begin researching the actual words and phrases that your ideal clients will use when searching for a lawyer.
What are the best ways to find out?
How to Understand your Future Clients' Search Habits
WHAT ARE YOUR VISITORS AND CLIENTS SEARCHING FOR?
How to choose the right keywords
We have covered the various types of keywords, so what are the actual words and phrases that your ideal clients are going to be using when searching for a lawyer? There are a couple ways to find out.
We subscribe to multiple SEO tools that provide this data. We also have millions of annual visitors that click on our clients' law firm websites so we know first hand which keywords convert the best.
Although this type of keyword may have see high search volumes, simply slapping “lawyer” at the end of your practice area won't necessarily deliver your best leads or the best user experience on your website.
You have to think about every visitor to your website a customer. Some are shopping for a lawyer. Others are shopping for information. If you can deliver a valuable user experience to the information shoppers, you are more likely to attract the more valuable kind of visitor; the person who needs a lawyer.
Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
An easy way to get started is with a tool like Ahrefs Keyword Explorer. If you plug in a starter keyword like “personal injury lawyer” you can see similar kinds of keywords and variations like “personal injury lawyer near me” or “best personal injury lawyer.”
Under the “Keyword Ideas” section, you will see a “Questions” column which takes us to another kind fo keyword which is the Question & Answers, a type of Informational keyword.
In this example, one of the questions listed is “5 key factors to consider when hiring a personal injury lawyer in houston.” You can use that as inspiration for your firm. If people are asking that question, they may also be asking “5 key factors to consider when hiring an estate planning lawyer” or “...when hiring a bankruptcy lawyer.”
ChatGPT
Tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush have a ton of data that is helpful for recommending keywords. Their data is proprietary and likely more accurate than ChatGPT. But chatbots like ChatGPT can also inspire you if you know what to ask.
Example Prompt: “I am a criminal defense lawyer in New York City. What are 20 keywords my potential clients are using when searching for a criminal defense lawyer?”
The list has mostly keywords that you probably could have come up with on your own. However, “affordable criminal defense lawyer” and “top-rated criminal lawyer” are helpful.
The “affordable” keyword could be approached with content that gives a value proposition for hiring the most experience lawyer instead of bargain shopping when your rights and freedoms are on the line. The “top-rated” version shows you a similar variation to “best” that you should include in the content of your law firm’s website.
Note: Some state bar’s have advertising guidelines for lawyers that prohibit the use of terms like “best” or “expert.” Be sure to check your local guidelines to ensure that you stay compliant with your ethical requirements.
How many keywords matter?
When you think about all of the variations of keywords, types of keywords, and include your regional targets, it can be a lot. We have clients with 200 - 3,000 targeted keywords. If you add multiple languages, that number can quadruple.
If you’re just getting started, focus on the general keywords first. Make sure they’re well represented in your technical SEO infrastructure, blogs, and practice area pages. Then, look for additional opportunities.
Or, let the pros at Custom Legal Marketing empower your firm with law firm SEO that works! Schedule a free consultation today.
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- Paul Greenberg, Briskman Briskman & Greenberg
We have been using CLM for our websites for a number of years and they have been outstanding! Their entire team has always been highly responsive and met all of our marketing needs.
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