Law firm websites have gone from merely advertising legal services to becoming full-on resources for people searching for specific legal information. Content is how to get attention, and getting the attention of the right people is what car accident lawyer SEO content is all about.
People with legal issues expect to be served content that gives them what they want, and in the way they want it. A law firm that is the source of authoritative, reliable, original content that can be comfortably consumed on a mobile device is going to rank well and attract clients.
Google has been pretty clear about playing by its rules if high search results placement is the goal. Law firm SEO content that is not thoughtfully and strategically optimized will likely never be seen or read. What this means for a law firm is no website traffic and losing clients to competitors.
Why SEO is Important to a Car Accident Lawyer’s Website Content
Search engines may not be the primary way people look to hire an attorney, but they are used significantly by persons searching for answers to legal questions. To the extent those questions can be answered by content on a particular law firm website, that law firm is recognized as an authority and comes closer to representing a new client.
Search engines are the gatekeepers that determine which car accident lawyer website content a user will see when searching for ‘car accident attorney near me’ or ‘what to do after a car accident in Dallas.’
SEO for car accident law firms can drive a considerable number of potential clients to a law firm website without paid advertising. According to Ruler Analytics’ recent Conversion Benchmark Report for Legal, close to 53% of a law firm website’s traffic is organic – meaning users selected non-paid (blue link) search results.
In order to have the opportunity for organic content to be selected, it must place high enough in search results so people will see it. How high does that need to be?
Page one of the search results is the goal.
Why?
A recent analysis of Google user behavior by SEO expert Backlinko offers some insight.
- Only 9% of Google users ever reach the bottom of page one of the search results.
- The average time it takes a searcher to click on a search result is 14.6 seconds.
- The top 10 organic search results (on page one) get 65% of the clicks.
- Only .44% (yes, less than half of 1%) of searchers look at page two of search results.
Optimizing for search engines makes it easier for Google to identify content that is the best response to a user search. When content is the best response to a search, the searcher sees it.
What Google is Looking for when Ranking Car Accident Lawyer SEO Content
No one knows for sure the entirety of factors Google uses to rank search results, but the search engine has provided some guidance to help content creators produce content that will rank well.
When Google attempts to satisfy a user’s search query, it’s looking for information that is going to be helpful to the searcher. It wants information that is relevant, reliable, and created primarily for people (not search engines). Google wants quality content.
Relevance is determined when content contains the same or similar words as used in a search query. Google also looks for words that are associated with those used in a search query to bolster the relevance of the content and allow the search engine to more fully understand the topic.
Once content is determined to be relevant, it is then evaluated for quality. With car accident lawyer content, Google is looking for indications of experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
Demonstrations of E-E-A-T are especially important in SEO for car accident lawyers because representing persons injured in car accidents can significantly impact their health and financial future. Google calls this kind of content YMYL – your money, your life – and scrutinizes it carefully to ensure its reliability.
SEO Tips Law Firms Can Use to Rank Higher in Search Results
Relevance and quality are two of the most important factors that help content rank higher in search results. The following are some tips to improve the ranking potential for car accident lawyer SEO content.
Use of Keywords
Don’t overuse keywords, but do give Google enough information to understand the content topic. Use a target keyword in the URL, title, one or two subtitles, and within the first and last 100 words. Use keywords related to the target keyword (LSI keywords) – to help Google gain a deeper understanding of the content.
Use location specific keywords so content is seen by searchers within a particular geographic area. Local keywords help Google further narrow the search results to those that are the most relevant to a given search.
Content Length
More comprehensive content on a topic tends to rank better over time than shorter, less complete content. Longer content is likely to contain more LSI keywords, making it easier for search engines to understand. In-depth content is also more likely to be linked to by other sites, which Google interprets as an indication of authority.
External Links
Linking to a few relevant and authoritative external sources can help boost rankings based on the reputation of the sources being linked to.
Originality
Google values content that provides a unique perspective, whether through analysis, reporting, or opinion. When content is duplicative or merely reiterates existing information without adding anything new, it doesn’t rank as well.
Freshness
Legal content needs to be kept up to date. Laws change. Circumstances develop. Refreshing content signals search engines that there is something new to consider and can give older content new visibility.
How Using ChatGPT and Other Generative AI Tools to Create Content Can Get Law Firms in Trouble
It can’t be denied that in the last 18 months, AI has made its way into the practice of law in a big way. Just how big an impact AI will have on the legal industry is not yet known. One obvious benefit of AI is its ability to analyze and draw conclusions from vast amounts of data in a very short amount of time. AI can help attorneys work more efficiently and better advocate on behalf of clients.
AI can also create documents and write content. Some law firms tried using ChatGPT to do legal writing. What they didn’t realize was that AI is not constrained by legal precedent or rules of professional conduct. AI can’t be trusted on its own and needs human supervision to ensure accuracy and ethical integrity.
Car accident lawyer content created by AI is limited to the data the AI was trained on. It cannot offer further interpretation or give an opinion. It may not be current. The more AI-written content on a topic, the more generic the content becomes over time. The more generic content becomes, the less likely Google will select it in response to a search query.
Google began improving its ranking systems to identify and filter out unoriginal content in 2022. The search engine recently completed the rollout of its March 2024 core ranking systems update, promising a 45% reduction in low-quality, unoriginal content in search results.
Where to Turn for Well-Researched, Strategically Optimized Car Accident Attorney SEO Content
For law firms that are in it to win it, quality content is the long-term play. Quality content is patient and well thought out. It does the work and plays by the rules. Quality content is current, well-written, informative, and expresses the unique flavor of a particular law firm. Quality content is not hastily compiled using language from other content without adding anything new or different.
At Blue Seven Content, we write quality law firm SEO content. Content creation is all we do. We have writers who specialize in legal content as well as other industry verticals. Our content is original, reliable, optimized for search engine approval, and written (by humans) so that it conveys a law firm’s message to potential clients. For car accident lawyer SEO content that stands out in all the right ways, contact Blue Seven Content.