If you are an attorney working on building your online presence with a website for your law firm, you have probably come across a plethora of information and tips on how to get the most out of SEO. There is a lot of information out there on the inter webs, but as we know, not all of it is accurate. In this post, we will go over SEO myths attorneys should ignore.
SEO MYTH: SEO Offers Fast Results
We should know by now that any kind of get rich fast scheme, like losing weight while you sleep, or speedy SEO results is (sadly) most likely a scam. When you come across a service promising to deliver top rankings for your firm in less than 30 days it should be an indication that the service is probably not credible. That’s simply not the way Google works. Google takes time to find, index and rank new content. As you may have realized by now, the legal space online is quite competitive. It seems as if every attorney in town is trying to hop on the SEO bandwagon. It can actually take as much as six to nine months to see measurable SEO results on Google.
SEO MYTH: SEO is a Set It and Forget It Project
Just like with any good strategy, your SEO strategy is going to need some love and attention. You’ll want to be pumping out SEO content on a somewhat consistent basis in order to see the best results. As we said, the SEO legal space is competitive, so you’ll want to be devoting some time and energy to your SEO strategy and content so that you don’t lose your rankings to other law firms.
SEO MYTH: Keywords are Everything
Yes, keywords are important, but keywords are not everything because sometimes keywords can seem unnatural and keywords can be annoying. See how awkward that sentence was? If you live by the adage that keywords are everything, you will be awkwardly placing them all over your web content and it will become extremely unnatural to read. It’s not an enjoyable reading experience for your audience. But, it doesn’t end there. If Google figures out that you are using too many keywords, it will actually perceive your website as a manipulator and not as a relevant source. Google is getting smarter and better at recognizing natural language patterns, rendering your incessant use of keywords practically useless. Plus, as stated, jam packing your website with keywords really adversely affects the readability.
SEO MYTH: Content Doesn’t Matter
Some people believe that the people of the Internet don’t have the time or patience to read the content you are posting. This is simply not true. Especially if you are offering pertinent advice on your law firm website, it can become an extremely useful resource for your clients as well as people around the world. Content is king for SEO and that’s not going anywhere.
SEO MYTH: Content Is All That Matters
Not to be contradictory to what we just said but the saying “content is king” does have a limit. Content is important but so are links. You need to have both in order to make the most out of your SEO. Content is King, but the Queen has a great linking strategy.
SEO MYTH: Links Do Not Matter
We just established that in order to best optimize the SEO of your attorney website, you need both links and content. We just wanted to reiterate that because there are several rumors on the Internet that say it is time to remove all links. This is simply not true. Links will help you get visibility and both links and content are correlated with higher rankings.
SEO MYTH: If You’re Not First, You are Last
There’s another popular SEO myth that says only the #1 position on Google matters. Research does show that the number one position on Google yields about 35% of all clicks, but that still leaves 65% of clicks for the other guys. If your content is tailored, SEO optimized and relevant, people will take the time to search a little more to find it and be glad that they did.
Navigating through the world of SEO can be a pretty overwhelming process. Especially when you have clients to serve and a law firm to run. These now-debunked myths are a good start to understanding the services Wiltwyck provides to our law firm (and other) clients. SEO, when done correctly, is a value to your law firm that helps you get more traffic, and generates more leads, and more importantly, BETTER leads, to your law firm.