Practice Area Pages
Practice area pages are the most important pages on a law firm’s website. They’re bottom-of-the-funnel pages where you go for more of a hard sell and try to convert visitors into paying clients.
Imagine someone is going through a divorce in Austin, Texas. They might search “divorce attorney Austin.”
If this is the type of case you handle, then you should rank for that keyword. Having a practice area page that’s dedicated solely to divorces in Austin is how you do that.
Your practice area pages should cover only one practice area at a time and be as specific as possible. For example, family law attorneys should have one practice area page for child custody issues and another for divorces.
See how granular the DWI practice area pages are for Richard Hochhauser DWI & Criminal Defense.
Your practice area page (in this case, divorces in Austin) should accomplish these three goals:
- Target relevant keywords like “Divorce Attorney in Austin”
- Provide searchers with information about filing for a divorce in Austin
- Address specific laws and rules that pertain to the state and/or city you’re targeting
- Have sales-driven copy to convince searchers that you’re the right attorney for the job (and drive them to reach out to you)
It’s your chance to sell yourself. Don’t shy away from providing too much information (think 2,000 words rather than 200 words), and don’t forget to include CTAs.
Attorney Bio Pages
Potential clients will be interested in your experience and expertise. An attorney bio page is a perfect location for this information. You want to supercharge your profile page to make it as enticing as possible.
Here’s an example for Long Island attorney Richard Hochhauser.
Blogs
Did you know that companies that blog get 55% more website visitors (and 67% more monthly leads) than those that don’t?
Producing content costs 62% less than traditional marketing formats but generates 3x the leads.
So, if you run a law firm, you can’t miss out on blogging. It’s an essential marketing tactic for increasing your rankings, website traffic, and leads.
One of the best strategies we’ve found with blogging for lawyers is to answer the questions your target audience asks.
Here’s a good example about suing an insurance company after an accident.
Blog posts aren’t necessarily designed to sell your services.
High-quality, informative blog posts are shared widely online. They attract links and shares, build awareness, and highlight your expertise. You should target high-volume, long-tail keywords with your blog posts.
Consider answering frequently asked questions and industry topics related to your practice area (that also has a substantial search volume).
FAQ Pages
A well-crafted FAQ page can help you accomplish two things:
- It will help your website rank well and attract new visitors
- It will help move visitors through your marketing/sales pipeline
When you’re brainstorming questions to answer, think about the types of questions you get asked every day by potential and current clients. These are the questions first-time visitors might want answered before reaching out to you.
They could relate to your services, answering questions like “How much does it cost to hire a divorce attorney in Texas?” Or, they could be more general, answering questions like “How do I file for divorce?”
FAQs can feature on the homepage or be scattered throughout your practice area pages, like this one from Houston Personal Injury Attorney Ryan Dehoyos.
Alternatively, you can build dedicated FAQ pages, like Spectrum Family Law in Edmonton.
Long-Form Content (Guides, Whitepapers, etc.)
Consider creating long-form “gated” content like whitepapers, eBooks, and guides.
This type of content is often more in-depth than a blog post and is often locked behind a sign-up form. Once a visitor fills out the form, they’re taken to a landing page that’s designed to convert readers into paying clients and send positive SEO signals to Google.
Step-by-step guides that break down complex topics into easy-to-understand pieces are effective for blog posts, eBooks, and other downloadable resources. They can help you attract attention and capture contact information from prospective clients.
Here’s an example of a step-by-step guide.
This type of content can increase your dwell time and link out to tons of other content on your law firm’s website. A great way to keep visitors engaged with your brand.
Images and Infographics
Did you know that 43% of people admitted to skimming blog posts? And we expect that number to be much higher.
You should use images on your website (not just on your blogs) to showcase the lawyers at your firm and to enhance your website content.
They do more than just make your pages visually appealing. Blogs with images get 94% more views than those without, and blog posts with more than seven images get 116% more traffic than those without images.
You could also create infographics to showcase stats related to your practice area in an appealing way. These are great for communicating statistics and are also highly shareable.
Video
Video marketing for lawyers is much easier than in years past. Now, with advancements in tech, almost every one of us carries a video production studio in our pocket.
We recommend our clients create simple videos using their iPhone or Android device.
The video can be edited to include a logo sting, background music, and a call to action. It’s an excellent way to attract video views on YouTube and increase the time on-site for key web pages.
Here’s an example from Trey Porter in San Antonio.
What Are “Topic Clusters” and How Do They Affect Content Architecture?
With “Topic Clusters,” a primary page or “pillar page” acts as the centerpiece of a particular topic, and supporting pages that go deeper into each element of the topic link to it. These pages feed attention and authority back to the pillar page.
This is a great way to strategize your firm’s content, as topic cluster models may become more prominent in SEO. In fact, law firm SEO services are focusing on this model.
So, a law firm focusing on DUI in Florida might work towards this model with its content.
The main pillar page is DUI Attorney, and the clusters provide further information and raise the authority of the main page. They also allow you to target more individual keywords (great for SEO).
Optimizing Your Law Firm’s Content: Structure and SEO
Regardless of the type of content, certain structural elements are important for both readability and rankings.
Google’s Quality Guidelines document states:
“The page layout on highest quality pages makes the Main Content immediately visible.”
This means that the structure of the content on each page is likely important for rankings.
Focus on the following structural elements for your content.
Create Long-Form Content
Longer blogs, on average, tend to outperform short blogs.
We recommend at least 1,500 words as a baseline for most blogs. But don’t just write to increase your word count. If you’ve covered the topic thoroughly and are below 1,500, go ahead and publish it.
Write Short Paragraphs
Make your content easy to skim by breaking up text like the example below.
Use Expressive Headers and Sub-Headers
Descriptive, well-placed sub-headers are important for scan reading and general readability, as well as for the opportunity to use keywords.
It’s beneficial to use headings and subheadings to pose a question and then answer the question directly below. This approach makes it easy for a user to skim a page and find information relevant to their situation.
Make It Easy to Read with Bullets and Numbered Lists
Bullet points and numbered lists are a great way to organize content into a logical, easy-to-read order.
Include Relevant Images and Videos
Images and videos are an effective way to break up text and make it more “digestible.”
Remember to Include a Call to Action
People are on your website for a reason. Whatever the reason is, you can help them take the next step and stay on your site for longer (great for SEO) or convert to a lead (the ultimate goal of SEO).
If they’re searching for information, the next step may be to download a guide. If they’re looking to hire an attorney, the next step may be to call or email you for a free consultation.
Either way, calls to action should be dispersed throughout your content.
Additionally, you should should:
- Additionally, your content should:
- Include the relevant keywords to drive searchers to your website’s page
- Be readable by the everyday person (think a grade 7 or 8 reading level)
- Format your headers so they answer questions (many searches are posed as a question, like “How can I get out of a DWI?”
- Keep your law firm’s content updated with relevant statistics
- Periodically refresh old content so that it stays relevant
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