How Law Firms Can Create Content Based on Search Intent

To make the most of your law firm’s SEO strategy, you should work to create content based on search intent. This idea may be foreign to many law firms, so take a few minutes to understand search intent and why it matters before getting into how to create content based on that intent.

Understanding Search Intent

Search intent refers to the reasons that people make a particular search query. In the case of a search query that leads them to your website, it would be something like wanting to learn about an area of the law or looking to hire a lawyer for a particular reason.

You can divide search intent into four main categories: informational, navigational, transactional, and commercial investigation. Informational search intent involves looking for information, whether basic or more in-depth, such as a state capital or the law regarding a situation. Navigational searches refer to when the person in question wants to find a specific location. An example would be Googling your law firm’s name to find out where your office is.

Transactional searches have the goal of making a purchase, so they may include terms like “hire” or “buy.” Finally, commercial investigation searches are for when someone knows they want a good or service but still has not chosen the one they will buy. An example would be something like “top real estate law firms in Miami.”

Importance of Search Intent

The main reason search intent matters is that Google aims to deliver the most relevant content to users. This means that the search engine wants to deliver content that matches the intent of a person’s search. Because of that goal, Google pays attention to search intent and will rank pages that provide content for that intent higher.

Inferring Search Intent

Before you can create content based on search intent, you need to be able to infer the intent of the search. You can typically infer the search intent based on modifiers or words within the search query. For example, navigational searches will include firm or attorney names or brand names. Commercial investigation will include words like review, comparison, top, or best. Transactional searches will include buy, hire, purchase. Informational searches will include who, what, where, why, when, how, tutorial, ideas, guide, learn, examples, or something similar.

Additionally, you can infer content based on Google results. If there is a featured snippet or video at the top of the search engine results page “SERP”, this is likely an informational query. If there is a list of featured items for purchase, it is a transactional query.

Creating Content for the Search Intent

Now that you can understand the intent behind a particular keyword or search term, it is time to optimize for that search intent. Start by ensuring that the SERP does not change. In other words, you do not want to judge the intent based on a snapshot. To avoid this, look at the keyword’s search history.

Then, as you craft your content, ensure it aligns with content type, content format, and content angle for the search intent. The content type refers to the type of article people want, whether that is a landing page, blog post, category page, or a practice area page. The content format refers to the overall structure of top-ranking pages, such as how-to guides, opinion pieces, lists, or reviews. The content angle refers to selling points used, such as “perfect” or “best.” Do not be afraid to get cues from the top-ranked pages and the search results. This includes looking at the box “People also ask.”

Takeaway

If you follow the advice in this article, you should be on your way to crafting content that responds to the search intent of your chosen keywords. If that sounds like something you could use help with, we are just a click away!