Law firm marketing is changing rapidly.  Word of mouth is great, but increasingly the socially-connected world means the Internet and “social acceptance” is even better.

What is a law firm, particularly smaller firms that have more limited budgets, to do?

There are a number of things and these are some tips to help propel your law firm up the search engine rankings and thereby create more business.

Good Content

First, you need good content.  The generic law firm websites that talk about “leading lawyers”, “award-winning attorneys”, “great teams”, “top litigators” and all the other terms we see in the me-too sites that plague the net will not make you stand out.

So do some brain storming – if that’s necessary – and work out exactly what your firm DOES do that makes you stand out.  What is or are your areas of specialty and particular expertise?

Once you’ve decided that you need to generate some great content.  Google and the other search engines want relevant content and fresh content.  You need to provide that via a good blog onsite, or through refreshing your content rather than creating your great website masterpiece and then leave it to degrade and become increasingly irrelevant.

Good Keywords

Keywords are also still important, but Google has become ever more aggressive in its relegation of spammy articles and content that simply creates highly keyword-populated content that is focused on trying to game the system rather than to providing top quality content for your clients (and potential clients).

Searching for the right keywords is something that you or your SEO consultants can do and a key tip is to also use synonyms and related keywords as well as your primary keywords when you creat your content.

Use press releases

LawFuel is a great ally in the press release world because we are a highly relevant law news site.  That means that when you have a release about your law firm, on a law site, about law issues, you will be seen by Google to be a much more relevant LAW site.

Press releases can gain immediate Google traction, as well as putting your name out among the general and online media and social networks.  Well written and optimised they can quickly create a firestorm of interest in your firm and your areas of specialty.

Relevant Directories

While directories may seem somewhat old hat and they are a dime a dozen, they still feature near the top of Google’s list in terms of how relevant your firm is to them.  They not only help create links back to your site, but they rank well with Google’s algorithm, helping your firm’s page rank and creating hyperlinks to your keyword phrases.