Elaine Pasini

As an award-winning SEO specialist and self-professed geek, I know a thing or two about SEO keyword strategies for law firms. By far, the question I get asked most from companies is how will they know which keywords will be effective in Google searches, and also help their webpages rank highly in a search.

With GenAI and Bing making waves too there’s never been a better time to work on your SEO keyword research and content optimisation plans. Where do Co-Pilot, ChatGPT and Gemini find their answers to your prompts…? Through highly authoritative webpages on the internet. And how does a website page with authoritative and trustworthy content get found by AI online?

How GenAI works for law firms

Finding trustworthy and authoritative answers involves a bit more than just crawling keywords—it’s about understanding context, evaluating sources, and thereafter producing information. Here’s a glimpse into how ChatGPT and its competitor friends do it:

• Source Evaluation: GenAI prioritises information from reputable sources. Websites like educational institutions, government organisations, and well-established news outlets are considered more reliable. For example, when looking up medical information, sources like the NHS are highly trusted. In the legal profession, I typed into ChatGPT “which law firms in London are great with media disputes”? It gave me a list of 10 law firms with a snipped of what they specialise in via a comprehensive list. Why? Because each law firm (search yourself) has a great team of content and SEO marketers behind the scenes. It won’t surprise you however, that the top of the list was Index on Censorship, because it is a publisher.
• Cross-Referencing: GenAI cross-checks information from multiple sources to ensure consistency and accuracy. If several reputable sources agree on a fact, it’s more likely to be reliable. This doesn’t mean that you should copy and paste content from another source that you see as accurate. The search engines know what you’re doing…….
• Understanding Context: Context is key. GenAI uses the context of a user’s question and the surrounding conversation to narrow down the most relevant information. This ensures that its responses to a “prompt” are tailored to specific needs of the prompter (that’s the searcher or user).
• Timelines: Information is constantly evolving, GenAI models look for the most up-to-date content. Older information might be outdated or superseded by new discoveries or developments. Another reason I tell my clients that they should update their older blog posts (re-publish with ‘updated on date [  ]’).
• Authority and Expertise: This is a huge consideration when working on SEO strategies – the authority of the author or organisation behind the information really helps them.  For example, an article written by a leading expert in a field carries more weight than one written by a non-expert – are you deemed as an expert? Articles you write on LinkedIn, spoken about on a podcast, interviewed in a publication are all ways to impart your expertise.
• Relevance: GenAi aims to provide information that is directly relevant to the query it is asked. This involves filtering out superfluous details that don’t add value to the specific needs of the person searching for answers.

To give you a real-life application:

If I ask one of the GenAI platforms a question about tech, they might look at sources like Wired, TechCrunch, or official developer blogs from companies like Microsoft or Google to help me. How great to be cited this way?

Before I head back into SEO keyword strategies, please remember that GenAI responses come from complex dance of algorithms and context-awareness, because the answers it wants to provide us should be accurate, as well as relevant and trustworthy.

NOTE: Always check specifics from the source, if in doubt.

Right …back to helping with how to find your perfect keywords for optimisation on your websites and blog pages. Don’t forget that keywords are important to use in any content online (images through Alt Text for example).

Top 10 SEO keyword strategies

Do you know how your clients find you? Heard of person persona? Check your competitors out? Ever used Google Ads to do a cheeky search (without paying for the ads)?

Here are my strategies:

1. Identify Your Ideal Client: Before diving into keyword research, it’s crucial to know who your target clients actually are! Consider demographics, needs, and pain points. Tools like Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools can help gather data on your current audience. You might be busy with clients, but are they your perfect client? Paying on time? Giving you great feedback, reviews and more work? Don’t forget how important CASHFLOW in a law firm is. Understanding your client’s persona will shape your keyword strategy. For example, a family lawyer’s clients might search for terms related to divorce, custody, or adoption. Know where your bread and butter are for long hanging fruit, but then think of the biggie client in a year’s time too.
2. Understand Searcher Behaviour: Analysing how potential clients search for legal services on Bing and Google can reveal valuable insights. Look for patterns in search queries and identify common questions or concerns. I can’t tell you how helpful Google Analytics is for example, as well as asking new clients how they found you. Think like your searcher: What legal issues are they facing? How urgent is their need? What language do they use?
3. Competitor Analysis: Identify your top competitors and analyse their SEO strategies. Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs can help you see which keywords they rank for and how they structure their content. If you don’t have a marketing person or outsourced agency working on SEO then you probably won’t be able to get your hands readily on this information however. Don’t forget that your competitors may well be coming up highly on search engines, winning awards and seemingly doing very well from a PR perspective, but under the bonnet is all their PR, BD and marketing converting into client onboarding? Conversion rates in digital marketing terms, are defined by the percentage of visitors on your website that complete an action, such as the percentage of visitors that signed up for the newsletter or who have joined a webinar. Understanding what works for your competitors can give you a competitive edge. Look for gaps in their strategy that you can exploit. Harsh, but true.
4. Utilise Targeted Keywords in Ads: Running targeted ads on Bing Ads and Google Ads can help you capture potential clients actively searching for legal services. Remember, you don’t have to pay for an ad, it’s just a way to do some research. You never know, you might think PPC is great too. PPC= pay per click (so if a searcher clicks on the ad you will pay for it – whether they convert into clients or not.). Focus on high-intent keywords—terms that indicate a strong likelihood of conversion, such as “need a divorce lawyer” or “best criminal solicitor in Manchester.”
5. Leverage Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are more specific and often less competitive than short, broad keywords. They can help you attract highly targeted traffic. Be strategic! Can you imagine how many hundreds of law firm websites include the keyword “lawyer”? For example, instead of targeting “lawyer,” you might use “child custody lawyer in London.” It’s more niche and therefore the person searching is more likely to come to your site if using those specific keywords. That said, there’s no point using keywords that you “think” are niche if Google/Bing et al are telling you that no-one searches for them.
6. Understand Keyword Costs: The cost of keywords can vary significantly. Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner can provide estimates for cost-per-click (CPC) and competition levels. High-cost keywords are often highly competitive, but they may also bring high-value clients. Balance your budget by incorporating less expensive, long-tail keywords.
7. Create High-Quality Content: Content is king in SEO. It’s just fact. Want to get found online? It’s not just about adding some keywords willy nilly into your homepage. You need to write informative, engaging, and original content that answers the questions your potential clients are asking. Use your targeted keywords naturally within your content to improve your chances of ranking. Also, you have to add “keywords” into headings and meta description in the back end of your website too.
8. Optimise for Local Search: Law firms often serve clients within a specific geographic area. If you haven’t claimed your Google Business Profile yet, and thereafter optimised it, you’re missing out on a trick, especially as it’s free. Do optimise your website for local SEO by including location-specific keywords too. Make sure your business is listed on Bing Places for Business.
9. Stay Updated with SEO Trends: SEO is constantly evolving. Stay informed about the latest changes to Google’s and Bing’s algorithms by following reputable sources like Search Engine Journal and Google’s Webmaster Central Blog. I hate to say it but X (formerly Twitter) is rather good for staying on trend in these matters. One of my favourite people at Google, John Mueller said, “The best way to stay ahead is by focusing on user experience and providing high-quality, relevant content.”
10. SEO Keywords and GenAI: SEO keywords are not just for attracting prospects but also for being cited in AI-generated content. As GenAI becomes more prevalent, having a strong SEO strategy ensures your content is referenced by these models. How cool is that to be cited in their prompt responses!  

In line with the way SEO, GenAI and market research is processed this quote is bang on,

 “The perfect client is one who trusts your expertise and is open to new ideas.”

Steven Bartlett, Diary of a CEO

This applies to SEO as well—clients who understand the value of strategic keyword use are more likely to succeed online because the law firm who sells and markets to the perfect client has done their due diligence with their content.

I hope my top 10 strategies have helped!

Elaine

Ps try and get at least ONE article out a month if you can, and if you can afford to invest in writing for publications that you know your ideal client reads, get some informative and helpful content in there too.

Want my help with SEO and beautifully crafted content?

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