Should You Add Coronavirus-Related Content to Your Law Firm’s Website?
By Nancy Rapp on April 8, 2020 in SEO Content Writing
Incorporating COVID-19 into Your SEO Content
At PaperStreet, business hasn’t slowed down as a result of COVID-19. We’re fully operational, and we understand that this time is still the critical time to maintain your law firm’s SEO and PPC campaigns.
One of the tasks that’s kept us busy is the writing, editing and posting of Coronavirus-related content to our attorney clients’ websites. Some of these posts have had immense success–one law firm ranked #1 for their material in mere hours! Certainly not all pages will have that kind of ranking power, but should your law firm join the bandwagon and add this kind of content to your site?
Maybe.
Certainly there are legal issues and questions now that have clients seeking answers via Google. Content for the sake of content, however, won’t effectively build your brand or increase your search position. It’s the right kind of content written in the right way that will earn your law firm success.
If you decide to produce COVID-19 themed content for your site, here are some tips to keep in mind.
Write About Topics Your Legal Clients Would Want to Know About
Many law firms are posting content about new courthouse hours and similar administrative information. Do your clients want to know about that? Possibly. Is your post any more or less valuable than the other 4 law firms who posted the same information? Probably not.
We’re not telling you to avoid content about operating hours and other generalized topics. They’re fine as blog posts. Just be aware that they won’t make a huge impact from an SEO perspective.
Instead, write about the legal issues that are plaguing society right now. Topics like:
- What are real estate sales like?
- Are business, performance or sales contracts going to automatically be extended?
- Have elder law procedures, like advanced healthcare directives and the creation of wills, changed?
- Can I get parole earlier than expected as a result of COVID-19?
- How does child custody work with social distancing?
- Can I sue my parents’ nursing home if the patients contract the Coronavirus?
Think about the potential legal issues your clients may face or the questions they’re currently asking you. Maintain your reputation as a legal authority and provide easy to understand information that will make your past and future clients reach out to you; whether that be now or when shelter-in-place orders have ended.
SEO Tricks MUST Be Applied to Your COVID-19 Content
Having a great topic in a well-written article is only half the battle. Next, you need SEO techniques to actually get your legal content readily available on Google.
You may not have keyword research for your topic and that’s ok. The subject matter may not have enough data to give accurate numbers. (Bonus points if you have the research.)
If the keywords aren’t obvious, just be sure to use the appropriate legal buzzwords — your location, practice areas, mention of COVID-19/the Coronavirus more than just once, etc.
As always, be sure the keywords appear in your title tag, meta description, your H1 heading and several other lower level headings. Additionally, make sure that the buzzwords you used have internal links to the other core content on your site.
Lastly, though this is not an SEO technique per se, be sure that your Coronavirus content appears in an extremely visible location. Your homepage, your practice area page, the about us page, etc. Yes, you are relying on SEO to get your content on Google, but visibility on your main site also helps you connect with clients perusing your site as a result of a direct search for your brand or because they’ve visited your site before.
Make Sure You’re Sharing Your Content
Maybe your past clients aren’t searching for legal content connected to the Coronavirus. Part of the problem could be that they don’t know that there are issues that could impact them. Make sure you promote your Coronavirus content on a multitude of channels: social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), via email newsletters, etc.
The beauty of sharing your article to a past client is that they may know someone else who is impacted by these new legal challenges and could do your law firm promotion for you.
Overall, if your SEO campaign is suffering for your key practice areas, that is perhaps more important than COVID-19 legal content. If, however, this content could increase clients or traffic to your site due to novel legal issues, be sure you take the time to craft a relevant and helpful article. As always, the Internet Marketing and Content teams are here to help you brainstorm ideas, write the content you need or simply edit what you’ve written. Reach out to us today, and let PaperStreet know how we can help.
