How Law Firm Website SEO Continues Growing and Evolving
SEO, which some in marketing also call search engine optimization, keeps growing and changing with each passing year. Twenty years ago, SEO hardly mattered. Websites didn’t have much competition, so best practices didn’t exist.
SEO for lawyers didn’t have rules. Now, you must use an SEO team or agency that knows the latest techniques. Otherwise, other law firms will snatch your potential clients.
Let’s talk about how law firm SEO started and where it’s going.
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The First Law Firm Website SEO Days
Twenty years ago, or even twenty-five years ago, law firms created websites and launched them on the young internet. Few people used them. As time passed, more individuals started venturing online. Many started looking at this new tool and imagining the possibilities.
Some saw that they could find services they needed there. They abandoned phone books and looking up law firms that way. They started using search engines and keywords, though they didn’t know that term yet.
Law firms started developing best practices when creating websites. The process involved adding certain elements, like a landing page and product pages. They also started employing SEO specialists who used the time’s best practices when setting up these sites.
How Were Those Old Websites Different?
Primitive law firm websites employed several tactics that let them climb the SERPs. These strategies don’t work today, though.
Keyword stuffing happened frequently. These early SEO specialists realized if they used more legal terms on a site, they’d get more website visitors. The text didn’t sound good, though. They wrote it using keywords liberally, and the content was borderline nonsensical more times than not.
These days, Google considers tactics like that black hat SEO, and they don’t allow them. The algorithm can drop your site down the ranks or disable it entirely if you use keyword stuffing, private link networks, cloaking, etc.
Modern Law Firm SEO
Modern law firm SEO involves keywords and keyword phrases, but you must place them carefully. It involves inbound and outbound links. You can also get the Google algorithm’s attention using optimized h1, h2, and h3 tags.
You can add compelling pictures and videos and do well with them. You can add calls to action throughout the site. You might add a blog section and talk about your services there. All these SEO best practices show the industry’s ongoing evolution.
What Does the Future Hold?
SEO constantly changes, and voice search might play a significant role. Already, more website traffic comes through smartphone usage. Fewer people find law firm websites using laptops, desktops, and tablets.
In the near future, SEO experts must optimize law firm sites with voice search capabilities in mind. They might also infuse websites with the latest AI technology.
SEO should stick around in some form, but in twenty years, it won’t resemble the current version. This technology moves fast, and you must keep up in the marketing profession. Law firm website content creators must stay current as well.