How to Think Strategically About Legal Keyword Phrases

This post is the second in a series on how to find effective keyword phrases for law firm websites.  In the first post, I talked about the importance of keyword research to effective search engine optimization:

It’s almost time to start putting together our initial keyword list.  But before we do, I want make a distinction between keyword types that will help you think strategically about your keyword research and your overall website design.

Categorical Seed Lists

Keyword research begins with a seed list—a collection of keyword phrases that may be important to your website. Your keyword phrases can be composed of root (attorney), secondary (bankruptcy attorney), and tertiary terms (Louisiana bankruptcy attorney) terms, and so on.

When I am putting together a seed list, I group keyword phrases into two broad categories: Provider-based terms and information-based terms.  An understanding of each of these type of terms will help you to develop an effective keyword strategy.

Provider-Based Terms

Provider-based terms are keywords that people use to look specifically for attorneys.  Louisiana bankruptcy attorney is an example of a provider-based term.  Searchers who use provider-based terms aren’t just looking for information.  They already know that they need help and are looking for an attorney.  In other words, searchers using provider-based terms are already in buying mode.

Because people who are looking for a buyer are already in purchasing mode, provider-based terms tend to be high-converting keywords.  In other words, people who use provider-based search terms are more likely to convert to paying clients than people who are just looking for information.  But because your competitors realize this too, the highest-converting keywords will often be the most competitive.

Information-Based Terms

People use information-based terms when they are looking for information on a topic.  They may not know whether they need an attorney, but they have questions they need answered.

For example, a person searching for bankruptcy auto loans is probably wants to know whether she will be able to keep her car if she files for bankruptcy.  She may or may not decide to hire an attorney or file for bankruptcy.  She simply has an immediate question and is looking for an answer.

As you may guess, information-based terms tend to have much lower conversion rates than provider-based terms.  A high percentage of information seekers will find their answer and move on.  But this doesn’t mean that you should ignore information-based terms.  In fact, I believe that information-based terms are more important to your overall website strategy than provider-based terms.  Here’s why:

• Depending on your practice area, there is probably a much higher volume of searches for information-based terms.  The higher traffic volume will often make up for the lower conversion rate.
• There is usually less competition for information-based terms.  Grab the low-hanging fruit.
• Using information-based terms helps you build your content around your clients’ needs.  Answer your potential clients’ questions.  When they do need an attorney, they will be much more likely to call you.
• Because informational pages are not overtly commercial, they are more likely to naturally attract links than provider-based terms.
• It is much easier to develop content to support pages that are optimized for information-based terms.  There are only so many ways you can naturally incorporate “bankruptcy attorney” without drifting into keyword-stuffing.
• Building a site around information-based terms is the right thing to do.  Don’t make your clients pay for a consultation just to get a basic answer to a simple question. Answer their question up-front and save the consultations for clients that really need your services.

When I was building my own law firm websites, I focused almost exclusively on information-based terms.  I started with my clients’ needs and worked out from there.  This attracted more traffic and garnered more links.  As a result, the pages that were focused on provider-based terms naturally shot up in the rankings.  I ended up ranking well for both information-based keywords and provider-based keywords—a win/win.

The next post will get to the specifics of how to put together your provider-based and information-based keyword lists.