Did you know Google listens to your potentials clients’ intent.
They do this because they want to give the most relevant search results by presenting website content, that not only matches their users’ keywords or voice searches, but their intent too.
You can also use this same method to help with content ideas for your law firm website. This will help you appear higher on the search results pages along with other methods.
Typically Google looks for terms that not only help them separate types of intent but service offerings too. For example this could be lawyerssearching for jobs with terms like “legal employment” or potential clients specifying “family, criminal or divorce lawyer”.
We call this difference in searches “intent modifiers”. It’s just a way for us to present the right sort of content for your website based on what they are searching for.
How do we spot intent modifiers in search requests.
Let me give you two examples of how this works. If we start with a common search "Show me best law firms", this implies your potential client is researching and wants to compare law firms. When the user adds other modifiers for example “find me best criminal lawyer near me”, this implies the user is of an “enquiry” mind set and it’s a local search.
So you can see now why it’s important for law firms get their websites appearing in the search engines for not only relevant search phrases but intent too. Not considering your potential clients intent could lead to a mismatch between what they are looking for and what your law firm offers – or in the worst case search engines won’t offer your website to its users because there is no matching content based on their intent.
You may find it helpful to understand better which searches are already bringing people to your website. You can do this with Google and Bing Webmaster Tools.
What content should you provide for the “researcher?”
When you spot a potential client is researching we know it’s more than likely, they are not going to engage with your lawyers yet, so don’t “sell to them”. Instead, show them your;
- Your expertise.
- How you help solve their problem.
- Your results.
So to get your ideas flowing I’d recommend making a list of intents based on your law firm offering, then provide problem solving content around those offerings. You can test your list by researching search term volumes in Google, this will give you an ideal of the search popularity of your offerings.
To add to this you may want to encourage them to subscribe to your webinars, white papers and social channels as they get to know you. You can learn about the right sort of content for your website here.
You should always make sure your potential clients’ searches and intent match the content you provide on your law firm website.
What content should you provide for the Enquirer.
It's worth noting enquiry searches aren’t always just about enquires, that’s why they also need to be included in your user research phase. Potential clients who want to make an enquiry will typically need content types that help them convert into clients, we’d recommend;
- At least one page per law firm offering.
- A strong unique value proposition for each of your offerings.
- Case studies with results.
- Who to contact for each offering.
- The next steps – that is what happens after I make an enquiry.
Guiding them to your team pages and contact forms is the most important step, we do this because it lets them see who they could be working with. Adding social proof to your contact pages will help too.
This method is really exciting and can be so effective - you are now on the way to creating a great law firm website!
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Know your potential clients >>
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WEB invites you to take the Online Marketing Law Firm Benchmark
This survey is being conducted solely for the law firm online marketing community. The subsequent report will highlight key trends, stats and averages, allowing law firms to benchmark themselves against their peers. It’s fantastic opportunity to reflect the reality of the online marketing community capturing your successes, challenges and expectations of the year ahead.
This is not about you all as competitors but as a community who can learn from each other in an open and sharing way. Here is a sample of what we will provide for you:
- What method has been most effective in picking up new clients online.
- How many enquires a successful law firm websites produces.
- Marketing tools or technology you couldn’t live without.
The survey takes about 7 minutes to complete and as a thank you for taking part, you'll receive a copy of the full results.
Remember if you have any questions about your websites redesign - you can start a conversation on 0131 454 3311 or just add your contact details here and we'll get back to you.