During the 10 years we’ve spent creating law firm websites and SEO campaigns, we have noticed trends that separate successful internet marketing campaigns from campaigns that fail. Let’s discuss those.

The SEO Campaign Dominates for a lot of Phrases (Core and Long-tail)

• They dominate in the search results;
• The keywords they target actually have traffic (targeting low search volume terms does not work – unless you are going after long-tail);
• They rank high for both the core keyword phrases and long-tail; and
• They are #1 in the entire state and local city for their specific practice area.

They have a Professional Web Site, not done in-house, and not a template

• The site is easy to navigate;
• They use great calls to action;
• The website is focused on your target market;
• The website is focused on a practice area; and
• The website has key differentiators and an overall brand.

They Publish A Lot of Content.

• They dedicate time to their web site (“But I don’t have time!!!” Tough, make time or hire someone to help. Then you can sit back later and relax from your earlier hard work);
• They put out weekly, if not daily, content on their web site and blogs;
• They review analytics and try to improve;
• They are on social media and learning to improve communication; and
• They have PPC campaigns to support their SEO (not that those are related for higher rankings, but it helps to bring in more traffic when SEO is starting up);

Testing & Budget

• They are not afraid to try new things. Not all new ideas work, but many will. It is important to test, test and more test.; and
• They spend significant amount of time and money on their sites (think 5-figures per year). Sorry, but Internet marketing needs to have a dedicated budget to thrive. Dedicating just a few hundred or few thousand dollars a year does not work against competitors who are spending many times that. However, it is important to spend it wisely on good design, content, architecture and ideas.

Overall

The key things that top firms have in common is that they publish useful content, create a unique brand for their firm, and review/improve their online campaigns over time.

Specific Articles

We have separated this post into a series of short articles. Read up.

1. Is SEO Snake Oil? Yes, Just as All Lawyers are Ambulance Chasers
2. Did You Get High Rankings and Traffic, But Still No Inquiries?
3. What SEO Results Can You Expect?
4. How to Run a Proper SEO Campaign for a Law Firm
5. 7 Things to Avoid With Law Firm Internet Marketing

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