Specialists in SEO for Law Firms in the UK

Law firms have a difficult time in modern day marketing, especially when it comes to SEO.

The abolishment and crackdown of referral fees shook the market, losing millions of cases across the UK market, that seems to be just the start with more restrictions on the way for email marketing.

That leaves only a handful of options for lead generation across the industry.

Luckily we’re specialists at just that, we’ve been operating in the law and claims management arenas for nearly a decade, delivering leads and cases worth over a billion pounds.

How does SEO for Law Firms differ?

SEO is fairly cross-transferable to any market but there are obviously certain restrictions, guidelines and rules that we have to be aware for link building, content marketing and social media for example.

Luckily for you we’re well versed in the do’s and don’ts of SEO for law firms, we’ll just get on with it and start putting leads through the door.

Typically our search engine optimisation for law firms isn’t a lot different to the tactics used in other large and competitive markets, often we find ourselves targeting a mix of services, locations and complexities.

For example a law firm we work with target a mix of the locations they cover and the top level keyword-services they sell.

So what other options do I have to get cases?

Generating leads for law firms can be tricky depending on the channel and massively expensive in others but we operate a bit of a mix, from those quick wins but high cost methods to the slower burn but more permanent and cheaper tactics.

Here’s a cross section of the channels that we always recommend as viable options, which is most suitable will depend on your particular requirements but all have their merits:

• PPC Advertising
• Email Marketing
• Press Advertising Local/National
• Affiliate Marketing
• PR and News
• Social Media

If your law firm is looking to add to its lead generation numbers through SEO or other marketing tactics, or you just need numbers and are not sure how to achieve it, give us a call and we’ll go through your options.

Beginners Guide to Law Firm SEO

With so much competition for law firms in modern day society, it can be difficult to lead the way in your marketing strategies.

In order to gain success in the industry, it is essential that your company keeps up to date with innovative new strategies to maintain its visibility to potential clients.

There is no doubt that search engines are currently one of the most popular ways of sourcing information, services and products.

A website can maximise a company’s overall visibility substantially, allowing potential customers to find your services easily and converting to clients with one easy phone call.

However, without good rankings on search engines, it is likely that potential customers will struggle to find your services, and you will be left lagging behind your competitors.

In order to make the most out of your website, it is highly important to obtain good rankings for relevant keywords on Google searches, so that potential customers can find you.

What is Law Firm SEO?

Search engine optimisation, more commonly referred to as SEO, is the process of using several tactics to improve the ranking of a website on search engine results when potential clients search for a keyword or term.

This is done by selecting appropriate keywords which are likely to be searched by potential clients when interested in your services, and targeting them with great content and the right strategies.

What are the benefits of SEO for law firms?

There are hundreds of law firms around the UK, and each one is constantly competing for business. In the race against your rivals, it is highly important to be at the top of the game when it comes to all your marketing options.

There are many different marketing strategies to choose from, all of which are likely to help your business to succeed in different ways.

It can be difficult to know which will be the most prosperous option for you, but the fact is that Google searches are the most popular way to find services and products.

We think the decision is easy: a website and good SEO is your key to success.

SEO is the most cost-effective, innovative solution to suit all your marketing needs.

SEO is one of the most important ways of advertising your law firm, and is a current trend, which is likely to become more and more popular as time goes on.

It is a good idea to get a head start as soon as possible; other companies may be employing similar tactics to you.

SEO will allow your business to climb up the search engine results, meaning more online visibility and more traffic towards your website. Naturally, this will result in more business and a growth in your online platform.

SEO is a great way to target your marketing efforts towards relevant potential clients. Investing in law firm SEO ensures that your website will be seen by people who are likely to be interested in your legal services.

This is more efficient than other very pricey advertising methods such as radio or television advertisements, which are likely to reach a lot of people who have no need for your services, as well as a minority of people who may find the advertisement to be relevant.

To sum up, a good law firm SEO campaign means increased search visibility, more traffic towards your website, more enquiries and ultimately a website put to good use to maximise your business opportunities.

What more could you need?

Why choose SEO as a law firm marketing strategy?

Considering the options for marketing a law firm, some usual choices include social media, press advertising, and affiliate marketing.

Much like other marketing strategies, SEO is not an overnight solution, but research suggests that it is the most fruitful option, resulting in creditability, business visibility, and a high amount of traffic coming towards your website, all resulting in more business.

The number of Google searches conducted is on a constant increase, as websites and the internet become more and more accessible wherever a user finds themselves by use of smartphones and tablets.

When choosing a law firm, individuals are highly likely to conduct research via a Google search to pick a law firm for their needs.

Due to the importance of many law cases, it is highly likely that individuals would choose a law firm which appears to be well established, highly regarded with a quality website, not to mention popular.

A good search engine ranking for a potential client’s keywords or search term is likely to suggest all these good qualities in one first impression, and we all know how important first impressions are in the world of business.

After a good ranking is achieved, a well-presented, modern and efficient website which is optimised to the maximum is the next step to conversion.

SEO consists of two different elements: the offsite techniques, and the onsite strategies. At dapa Marketing, we have an offsite team and an onsite team, some of which are law firm SEO specialists.

The onsite team work on web development, website hosting, maximising the website for conversion optimisation, and the general upkeep of the website and onsite materials themselves, making the website more appealing and usable for potential clients.

At dapa Marketing, our onsite team offer full support for all your website needs, working with you and your requirements to ensure that your website meets the needs of your company.

Meanwhile, the offsite team at dapa Marketing work hard to create quality content which will be used for the landing pages of your website if needed, or for the architecture of links being constantly built towards your website.

Our offsite team are enthusiastic writers who learn reams of information about your industry in order to create quality, relevant pieces of writing.

We build varied links of high authority and low authority to ensure that your website is analysed by Google to be natural, well-established and relevant to your keywords.

Unlike other marketing options, SEO for law firms is a long-term investment.

The results may not be instant; they require hard work, dedication, the right strategies, and time to make a significant difference to the overall visibility of your website.

However, the benefits of this are that once the work is done, your money is not lost.

Unlike PPC, SEO also has a lasting effect on your onsite visibility and the credibility and optimisation of your website.

Do I need a specialist for my law firm SEO?

At dapa Marketing, we know that Google is tricky beast to tame at the best of times, with algorithms and complexities constantly changing.

With over a decade of experience, a wealth of knowledge and an unmatchable team of law firm SEO experts, we understand how to combat the SEO difficulties many people face when going it alone.

As well as knowing all the top secret fruitful ways of creating a great law firm SEO campaign, at dapa Marketing we have also seen the dodgy tactics which many people believe will improve their SEO. What’s more, we know what will work and what should be avoided.

In the past, many illegitimate law firm SEO methods were used which are now deemed as unacceptable. In fact, methods which were once considered to be permissible are now not accepted by Google, and are likely to do more bad than good for your rankings.

If Google analyses your website to be practising unacceptable or obvious SEO methods, a penalty may be put in place, meaning that your website could not rank at all.

In terms of SEO for law firms, it is highly important that your company maintains a good reputation, particularly when it comes to your website.

This could involve associated sites, links, and the maintenance of the website.

If your website is in the wrong hands, it could end up being linked to inappropriate websites, highly affecting your company’s reputation.

To avoid penalties being put in place, make sure a good reputation is being upheld, and to make sure that your efforts are being put to good use, it is highly advisable to employ a professional SEO company like dapa Marketing to deal with all your SEO needs.

Choosing your keywords

When starting a law firm SEO campaign, the initial stage of choosing your keywords is one of the most important steps to getting your campaign off on the right foot.

With so many different law firms to compete with in terms of SEO, it is highly important that you choose keywords which you feel are most relevant to your particular firm.

This could include particularly popular services, services that your lawyers specialise in, and location. An example of this could be ‘Injury Lawyers Plymouth’.

By choosing keywords specific to your particular firm, you will be able to ensure that your campaign is targeting people who are most likely to be interested in your services, meaning that your traffic rate will be higher alongside your conversion rate.

As well as making sure your keywords are highly relevant to your company, it is also essential to consider other factors such as the search volume of your search term, to make sure that your search term is a realistic term that people will actually be searching for.

This will ensure that your efforts are not wasted on ranking for a keyword which nobody will search.

dapa Marketing have much experience in law firm SEO, and we can help you to pick keywords which will be the most beneficial for your campaign.

On considering your campaign, we will work with you to understand your business and your aims to pick the right keywords for you.

How is SEO for law firms different?

SEO is a fairly transferrable process for most markets, consisting of tactics which can be adapted according to the industry and aims of the company.

However, when it comes to link building strategies, there are certain restrictions, guidelines and rules which are advisable to follow in order to maintain a well-presented law firm SEO campaign.

In most instances, we are able to employ the same SEO tactics for law firms as for other industries, as the skill set is transferrable.

However, having much experience in this sector gives us a heads up for the kind of keywords, content and tactics which will be most effective for the progression of your campaign.

For law firms, it is of particular importance that an law firm SEO company should take care over the links and references made in the content for the client.

This is because the matters dealt with and the issues associated with law firms can occasionally be somewhat sensitive and/ or controversial.

dapa Marketing have much experience in dealing with SEO campaigns for law firms. Our team of experts are well-versed in writing appropriate content, ensuring a top-quality website is maintained, and making sure the law firm SEO campaign progresses with no complexities.

Why choose dapa Marketing for your law firm SEO?

When choosing a law firm SEO company for your firm, it can be difficult to know where to start, with so many options available to you.

You are likely to be bombarded with companies promising you excellent results instantly and a number 1 spot in no time.

At dapa Marketing, we don’t give out unrealistic promises.

We understand that there is a lot of competition in the legal sector, but we have the correct tactics to ensure that you will climb up the results. Instead of offering highly improbable guarantees, we aim for attainable targets particular to your industry and company.

We don’t pretend to know more about your company than you do, but we will give it our best shot to understand all that we need to create a successful campaign, and we already have a pretty good grounding, having much experience in the legal industry.

Using our experience, a wealth of knowledge and unmatchable expertise, we can ensure a successful campaign from the outset.

We will never keep you in the dark about the progress of your campaign; instead we will be completely and brutally honest about your prospects and aims.

We wouldn’t take on a campaign which we suspected was not going to be beneficial for the client.

At dapa Marketing, we are also committed to giving you regular updates as to how your law firm SEO campaign is progressing in terms of keyword rankings and the overall results.

With law firm SEO being a constantly changing, tricky game, some months may be good, others perhaps not so hot, however we will always be honest with you and we will ensure that the overall results of the campaign show upwards movements, reaching the aims we have proposed.

At dapa Marketing, we understand that if we do a good job on your law firm SEO, you will be successful, possibly able to expand your campaign with us, and everyone will benefit.

In simple terms, the success of our clients means success for us, so we are dedicated to your campaign, not only for you but for us as well.

If your law firm is looking to expand your business, gain more clients and be at the top of the game, give us a call to discuss your options for a successful campaign.

What Is Branding And Why Is It Important For my Law Firm?

The fact is that there are multiple definitions for branding, which perhaps adds to the overall confusion for most people.

Initially branding referred to a name, sign, slogan, symbol or brand design or maybe a combination of these things that identified the services or products of a company.

A brand helped differentiate the products or services of a company from its competition.

However, the meaning of branding has evolved and these days its interpretations are not as straightforward as it once was.

Today the meaning of a company’s brand is more strongly identified with the perception a consumer has when he or she hears or thinks about a company’s name, product or service.

Branding is not just a means by which your target audience picks your business over your competitors, it is also about your potential client base considering you as the sole solution to the problem they are encountering.

Every good law firm marketing agency should focus on the following when creating a brand:

• Delivering a clear message
• Ensuring that the credibility of a business is confirmed
• Creating an emotional connect with a company’s client base about the product or service that they provide
• Motivating prospective buyers to choose a business over its competition
• Garnering loyalty amongst the client base of the business

How Can You Develop A Strong Brand For Your Law Firm?

Brand development is the process of developing as well as strengthening the brand associated with your products or services.

Brand development can be classified in three phases:

• The first phase entails the development of the right brand strategy for your business such that it is in sync with your business objectives.
• Second is creating all the tools (for example, logo, website and tagline) you will require to communicate the message of your brand.
• Third phase involves strengthening your newly created or updated brand.

Here are some ways a business can develop a strong brand identity:

Law Firm Websites

Think of your website as perhaps the most important tool you have in your arsenal for developing the brand of your company.

We live in a digital era and a website is where all customers go to when they want to know what a business does, how it does what it does and who the clients are of that business.

This does not mean that prospective customers will choose you solely on the basis of your website.

But they might ignore you if you send out the wrong message through your website.

Moreover, your website will be where you will house your content. The content you create will act as the prime source of your law firm SEO efforts.

SEO assists in broadening the visibility of your brand so that prospective clients, referral sources and potential employees can find you and learn more about your business.

Any modern brand development strategy revolves around the creation of quality online content.

These day’s business websites come in two varieties.

The First type is known as a branding website. Such a website narrates your story, who you are as a business, who you hope to serve and what you do. Basically it puts out your brand message.

The second type does all of the above and in addition generates new leads for your business. Such sites are known as High Performance Sites.

Developing A Content Marketing Strategy

In today’s increasingly digitised era, content marketing is ideally suited to firms that offer professional services.

It does everything that traditional marketing does but in a more efficient manner.

It uses educational content to attract and qualify prospective customers or clients.

Remember you strengthen your brand by both visibility and reputation.

Being visible without first authenticating your reputation will rarely be of any value for your business.

That’s why traditional advertising that was geared towards building awareness towards a brand often yielded disappointing results.

Content marketing on the other hand improves both your reputation and visibility at the same time.

It is also a great way in delivering relevancy about your brand in the minds of your target audiences.

Identify And Research Your Target Client Group 

It is important to target only your target client group with your brand. If you go in thinking “lets target everybody” you are probably making a huge mistake.

Our research and experience working with many high profit firms has shown that high growth can be achieved by having a clearly defined potential client group.

You can accelerate the speed of your growth by narrowing down your focus.

If you look to target a large diverse group, it can severely dilute your marketing efforts. How can you find your ideal client group?

Simple, by doing the requisite research.

We believe that by doing methodical research on your ideal audience group, you can grow your brand faster and become more profitable.

Research assists you in understanding what your target audience group is on the lookout for, what their priorities are, how you can anticipate them and then formulate a message in a language that strikes a chord with them.

It can also tell you about how your firm is viewed and the strengths and weaknesses of your current brand.

Research will drastically reduce the marketing associated with the development of your brand. 

Develop Your Law Firm’s Name, Tagline And Logo

A name change is not needed for most firm’s, but if you are a new firm or are in the process of going through a merger or have been saddled with a name that does not accurately reflect your current positioning, a name change might be required.

Even if you don’t wish to change the name of your company, you can improve your brand’s positioning by creating a new tagline and logo.

The name or tagline or logo you use is intended to communicate the message of your brand and does not by itself reflect your brand.

You have to live the message for it to be real.

Remember the name, logo or tagline is not intended for you so there is no point in being too bothered about the internal consensus surrounding it.

They are for your client base and should not be judged on whether or not they are liked by your partners.

How SEO Can Improve Your Business’s Brand

At DAPA we are often confused when most marketers term SEO and branding as being mutually exclusive.

The fact is that not only do these two strategies support one another, but they also strengthen each other’s efforts in creating a unified marketing front.

The trick is to do it right and if you manage to do that, the effect will be positive, measurable and long lasting.

We believe in creating smart strategies that unifies all aspects of your branding efforts. There is no point in wasting time in arguing which strategy is more important.

The bedrock of any successful marketing strategy involves a holistic view of all of the latest top strategies. Here we discuss how you can mesh both your SEO and Branding efforts.

Use Link Building To Build Your Brand Awareness

Strategic Link Building 

It matters to search engines where your website is located on the web.

If you attract links from trustworthy sites that have a lot of domain authority, you are viewed as a good strong brand and are therefore located in a ‘good neighbourhood’.

However, if the links you are attracting are from low quality or spammy websites, you are termed to be a weak brand located in a ‘bad neighbourhood’.

Strategic link building can assist in increasing the value of your company’s brand. As you build links, you are transferring the message and intellect of your brand in front of large client groups.

Improved awareness can bring a lot of benefits to your business such as:

• Reinforcing customer loyalty
• Recapturing the focus of lost customers
• Lowering the costs involved in customer acquisition.

Link Building Tactics That Still Provide Value 

To get your website in a ‘good neighbourhood’ you need to employ high quality link building and it is important to realise that such a thing cannot be achieved overnight.

But, by using a few different tactics such as the ones mentioned below you can observe great SEO as well as branding results:

• Broken Link Building– Locate websites with high domain authority in your business niche that has pages with broken links on them. Contact the owner of the website with the assistance of an individualised email that brings the issue of the broken link to their notice. Suggest your relevant link as the solution to the problem.
• Infographics– Even though infographics is not the same force as it once was, you can still observe strong branding and SEO results by designing a good one.
• Being Proactive On Social Media– Along with the usual social media posting, you should look to be active in sites like StumbleUpon, Reddit and Growth Hackers. 

Once you have managed to build a strong brand for yourself, you will start attracting backlinks naturally through SEO results and improved brand recognition.

At DAPA, we focus on directing our link building practices to improve the brand awareness of a business, which then becomes a win-win situation for clients both from the perspective of SEO and Branding.

The priority is to increase revenue through greater brand recognition and not just to gain more customers through search engine rankings.

Look To Incorporate Branding Practices In Your Content Creation

Content marketing is very important from an overall digital marketing standpoint.

To provide the best content look to infuse the best of both branding and SEO practices.

We focus on creating content that serves both the target audience of the website we are working on as well search engine algorithms. Content that fails to incorporate the best optimisation and branding practices is not likely to get you very far.

We look to devise SEO strategies that focus on the audience of the site we are working on. This assists in creating an impressive content marketing engine that boosts both our branding and SEO efforts.

How Keyword Research Can Assist You In Focusing On Brand Identity

We have seen many businesses trying to cater to almost everyone.

What they lack in the process is a focused brand.

This causes the exact opposite reaction. In an effort to please everyone some businesses do not manage to develop a strong enough bond with their customer base.

We have found that smart keyword research can assist businesses overcome this problem in a couple of ways:

• Zeroing in on your niche

You will find a lot more success if you focus on your own specific niche rather than trying to cater to everyone. A narrower niche will give you more opportunities to connect with your audience base, target your offers and fine-tune your messaging.

• Finding New Pathways For Branding

Exploring a more specialised part of your industry will help you bring many new ideas to the table.

Keyword research can help you create a targeted content strategy and also enlighten you on new services you can provide to your customer base.

A focused brand identity gives you more opportunities to dominate your competition.

Developing Your Law Firm Do’s And Don’ts

Do: Devote The Time To Do Proper Research

Proper branding requires you to have a strong grasp on what your target audience is looking for, your industry and on what your competition is doing.

By having complete clarity on the aforementioned things, you can develop a more defined brand for your business, the kind that resonates with your target audience giving you more staying power.

Don’t: Be Too Obsessed With What Your Competition Is Up To

Yes, it is important to know how your competitors are creating a brand for themselves, but ensure that what they do is not influencing your own choices.

Creating a brand with the intention of responding to your competition is unlikely to bear any fruits in the long term.

It is important to find the right balance between being aware what the competition is up to and creating a brand that reflects your business accurately.

Do: Take Assistance From Professionals

Your brand speaks about your business to potential customers, so it is important to not leave anything to chance.

Do not hesitate from approaching a brand agency or specialists to help you achieve your branding objectives for your law firm SEO campaign.

Consider it as an important investment you make in your efforts to develop a holistic brand that appeals to all customers in your niche. 

Don’t: Make Promises You Cannot Fulfil

Remember your brand represents your business to the general public, so do not try to promote an image of something you are not. This can just serve to cause more confusion in the minds of your customers as to what your company does.

What DAPA Can Do For You?

You can count on us to create and execute your business’s complete branding requirements. From designing a logo to creating websites to full-fledged SEO/SEM, SMM or email marketing, DAPA does it all.

DAPA is home to the biggest and most talented team of law firm SEO specialists in the region. The team here includes SEO specialists, project managers, a content team, and of course the best web developer in the area

We do not guarantee a magical fix to all your problems (and we strongly advise against choosing firms that give you such promises), but we can assure you that in time we can achieve all the long-term SEO targets of your business.

We are honest to all our clients (sometimes quite bluntly so) and are always at hand to fill you in or answer any queries you might have with regards to the progress of your campaign.

If you need help with your law firm SEO strategy, contact us at DAPA Marketing on 0800 634 3007 to find out more about our services.