Podcast Ep. 135: How to Make Your Law Firm’s Website a Lead Generating Machine

In this episode of the Legal Marketing 2.0 Podcast Guy is joined by Lauren Osborne, a marketing and business development professional who has worked in both the legal and accounting industries for over 13 years. She has been successful in leveraging search engine optimization (SEO) techniques for business generation. This week’s podcast focuses on the basics of search engine optimization for lawyers, the benefits of using the WordPress platform, and how law firms can transform their new website into a lead generating machine. You can connect with Lauren on LinkedIn.

Podcast Show Notes

1. What is your number 1 tip before developing a new website?

I would say the number one tip is, especially looking at smaller firms, to use a WordPress website. Both law firms that I worked at didn’t have WordPress websites and usually these firms would be using proprietary software that wouldn’t allow you to make changes to the website, instead you must rely on website developers for such things. WordPress is a content management system that is free to use. There are some features that do cost money, if you want to build on a theme, but it is a great open-source platform.

2. What are the first things you should look at when your new website is complete?

The first thing you want to do is to make sure that the SEO has been done on the back end of the website. I know that may sound like a daunting task, but WordPress has made it so simple to be able to go in there and optimize the website so that it can be found through search engines. The next step is to make sure each page on your website has an SEO title and meta description. WordPress provides a free widget known as Yoast SEO that will help ensure that you have these things in place. You would be surprised thinking website developers would get these things done automatically, but they don’t.

 3. How do you get found online?

The first thing I would do to get found online is to make sure that the content on your website is specific. Using specific, targeted keywords can push out your competition that aren’t using the same keywords or aren’t narrow enough on their website. The other thing you want to do is make sure that you are in the Google My Business directory and other directories online so that Google, not only will pull up your website, but if somebody does a search for a specific practice in your area, you’ll show up in the Google My Business directory, in addition to your website page being shown in the search results.

4. How do you pick a relevant blog topic?

One of the easiest tips that I can give you is to go on Google and start typing in search queries, as if you are the person that’s searching for the service that you provide, and note how Google populates similar searches. This should give you an idea of what people are searching for that are similar topics within your practice and using those questions in your blog post.

Related: What should your law firm blog about?

5. How do you gauge your website’s success?

To gauge the success of your website it’s important to look at the analytics. Google provides a free tool called Google Analytics which will show you how many people are landing on your website, how many searches that people are finding you organically, through a yelp posting or listing, etc. There’s also a tool called Google Search Console which allows you to see what terms people are searching for to find your website. If you notice a blog is getting a lot of hits you can create more content similar to that or tweak the information so that Google can acknowledge that it is not an old page.

Takeaway

Creating a new website for your law firm no longer requires a team of specialized experts. Tools such as WordPress, Yoast SEO, Google Analytics, and Google Search Console make it easier than ever for small to mid-sized law firms to take more control of their digital marketing efforts. Leveraging free to use tools can offer law firms the opportunity to take a more hands on approach to establishing their online presence and focusing their content on what they specialize in; their niche.

If you’re in the midst of evaluating SEO agencies for your law firm, look no further. We develop customized SEO strategies for law firms of all sizes and practice areas. Contact us today for a free consultation and we’ll let you know how we can help you improve your search visibility and increase the number of visitors to your firm’s website.