Law Firms and Search Generative Experience (SGE)

Law firms are beginning to explore what the search generative experience (SGE) means for them. Surely, most law firm marketing directors or partners have spoken to their marketing agencies, and there may be some internal panic. 

At Blue Seven Content, we only generate written content for law firm websites, so SGE has the potential to significantly affect our business. In fact, if SGE and ChatGPT play out how many in the industry think, we won’t have a business at all. 

But I don’t think it’s as bad as people think. So far, as I’ve delved into SGE responses for law firms and law-related queries, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how it’s working. 

Law firms and search generative experience, how will Google's search revolution change the legal marketing industry?

The Law Firm Short-Tail Keywords

When thinking about where to begin my search generative experience journey, I figured the best place to start would be where it all started for me – typical keywords for crafting a law firm practice area page

You know what I’m talking about:

  • Los Angeles personal injury lawyer
  • Car accident lawyer in Denver
  • Palmdale slip and fall attorney

When it comes to the SGE results, it doesn’t currently seem like Google is trying to make waves. I typed in “medical malpractice attorney Charleston SC,” after I geocoded my location to Charleston. First, I got the usual SERP results, but there was also a “generate AI response” option for me to press:

Typing medical malpractice attorney charleston sc gives me the option to click an SGE button.

When I clicked the AI button, it seemed like it pulled a list of medical malpractice attorneys in the area, and it appeared to reward reviews from various sources (uh oh, back come the directories?). However, what doesn’t seem to play a role in this generative response (yet) are the PPC or organic results you’d usually find on the SERP. They give these as 4- or 5-pack for each search:

The SGE gave me a directory of sorts.

At the bottom of the SGE response, there were a few prompts for related follow-up questions, presumably what people typically ask around the same time they are looking for a medical malpractice lawyer:

  • How long do you have to sue for medical malpractice in South Carolina?
  • What is the statute for medical malpractice in South Carolina?
  • What are the limits for malpractice in SC

These types of responses are the norm for SGE when you type in the usual keywords that would bring you to a law firm practice area page. It does not yet give you an automatic generative response – you have to choose to click it. 

We should really pay attention to the follow-up queries on the bottom of these responses. These are the type of long-tail keywords that lead to responses we already write answers for, but this gives us an idea of what Google (and readers) want to see. 

These types of queries are harder for SGE to even make a coherent response for. What are they going to do – describe what a car accident or family law attorney is? No, I think these queries will remain relevant to the traditional SERP results. 

However, the long-tail keyword queries are a different story. 

The Law Firm Long-Tail Keywords

I’ve predicted that Google would keep legal queries YMYL, but that may not actually be the case. Of course, this is all still experimental, so I may be proven right. I could just as easily be proven wrong. 

So, I decided to delve into general queries such as “steps to take after a slip and fall accident” or “when should I call a lawyer after a car accident.”

I’ve found that these types of searches generate an automatic SGE response. For these queries, we’re getting a response you could expect to find on ChatGPT, except Google can draw from, well, Google. This AI can access the internet.

When you type in these types of searches, the SGE does give you a response, and it does show a 3-pack (4-pack if you scroll right) of pages where it draws its answer from. Usually, these are law firms, but there are other sources, depending on your question. 

My immediate questions, and ones that people smarter and with more experience than me are tackling, are:

  • What makes a page “good” for SGE to draw from?
  • How do we best optimize for SGE?

I geocoded myself to Charleston, SC, again and typed “steps for a medical malpractice case in Charleston.” I got the SGE answer straight away, above the fold:

Ask a long-tail keyword geared towards a legal question, and you get an automatic SGE response.

You can see a small photo of, supposedly, where the information used to generate the response comes from. Again, I want to know what makes these the “best” pages to use for an SGE response. 

Again, we get the same follow-up prompts on the bottom that we got when we looked up the “medical malpractice attorney Charleston SC.” 

Below the SGE, we go right into what we’re used to seeing on the SERP, but not sponsored ads. It goes right into the organic search results (my content writer’s heart sings when ads aren’t first), but I also know that so many searchers won’t go beyond the SGE response. 

Something funny happened when I typed, “when should you call a lawyer after a construction accident.” I got the sponsored results first, and THEN I got the SGE response in the middle of the page, finally followed by the organic results:

I’m sure these results will be replicated the more I play with SGE queries. Again, Google is experimenting with all of this, and they will try to figure out what works best for the average user AND for them. Google is not going to throw away revenue, so having the sponsored results show up first shouldn’t surprise anyone. 

Do We Already Know How to do This?

As I think about law firms and search generative experience exploration, I was curious as to how this would work when I entered the keywords that Blue Seven Content usually ranks well for anyway. First, I typed in “law firm practice area pages”:

We already ranked second in organic for this keyword (on most days), and we show up in the SGE as well. Look what happens when I expand the SGE result:

When I expand it out, Blue Seven ranks number one in the SGE response. Now, the results don’t show the meta description that we have for that page, but that’s not surprising. Google has a way of looking at your meta and ignoring it anyway, so there’s that. 

I did the same with “law firm FAQ pages” because we’re frequently number one with that search. Here’s the result:

Here, we show up number one in organic SERP and number one and two in the SGE response:

We Still Have ChatGPT to Deal With

As I’ve noted multiple times before, ChatGPT is a “threat” to us legal content writers. Not legal marketing agencies, though. Legal marketing agencies that handle all of a law firm’s online marketing will always be around, and they’ll adapt. No, it’s the content writers who have to worry.

But do we?

Okay, maybe some legal content writers have to worry. The ones who can’t produce content better than ChatGPT are certainly on the chopping block. But that was always going to be the case. What I think will happen, as I’ve said before, is that ChatGPT has had its sugar rush. It’s given the industry a high (or a bad trip, depending on what your role is). 

But as I’ve toyed around with Google’s SGE, I’ve seen that good content matters. Google is meeting AI in a way that (1) provides simple answers that users are looking for and (2) seeks to maintain the main revenue driver for the platform – ads. 

For now, SGE results are generally pulling answers from well-ranking organic content that already answers, or closely answers, the search query. Could SGE end up pulling content that someone generated with ChatGPT and published? Yes, of course. But not if that content isn’t better than what’s already out there. 

Currently, ChatGPT has many flaws. Phantom court cases and rulings. Massive plagiarism. Predictable writing that reeks of AI. Zero human touch. 

And, of course, there’s the issue of what happens to content online when ChatGPT gains access to the internet (it’ll happen eventually) and begins learning new stuff based on content people have generated using ChatGPT. It’s a self-feeding loop with little new input from actual humans. 

Content degradation is waiting to happen.  

Was there content degradation with human legal content writers consistently regurgitating each other? Of course there was. This is why I’ve said I’m grateful to ChatGPT for snapping us (at least Blue Seven) out of any comfort zone we may have fallen into. 

We have to constantly improve. We have to be better content creators, thinkers, researchers, and writers. Writers have to be better than the silver bullet LLMs that many (lazy) marketers think will be their golden ticket. 

With my intro research into SGE responses to legal queries, I’m positive that quality, human-written content will reign supreme. Humans can and should use the tools available at their disposal, much like SEOs use Ahrefs, Semrush, and Clearscope. They should use tools like editors use, including Copyscape, Grammarly, or Hemingway. These technological advancements didn’t kill the SEO or the editor, and those who are good at their craft don’t completely rely on the tools. Because they are tools used to build the larger product – a good piece of writing. 

Law Firms and Search Generative Experience (SGE) – My Take for Now

I think SGE will seek to answer basic queries with assistance from results that already rank. Perhaps this will go to paid results eventually, but Google is drawing from organic results for now. Ranking in SGE will be more competitive because it’s taking from 3 or 4 organic sources now, then the rest of the SERP responses appear. 

Who knows what this will look like in six months or a year, but I don’t think it’s the death of the legal content writer. I think it’s the beginning of a new search experience, and we have to adapt. What we’re adapting to is still up in the air. How will law firms respond to search generative experience? Stand by, we’ll be back for more.

Written by Allen Watson – Founder and CEO of Blue Seven Content

Law Firm SEO: Legal Copywriter’s Guide

UPDATED MAY 2023

Law firm SEO is a highly competitive legal market, and reaching your target audience organically may not be enough. Writing the best law firm content will improve the quality of your website and help you obtain higher rankings on search engines.

Luckily, when you need the best legal content writers for attorney search engine optimization (SEO), Blue Seven Content can offer considerable insight. 

  1. Why is SEO Important for Law Firms?
  2. You Need Fresh, Well-Researched Content for SEO
  3. YMYL and Law Firms – What You Need to Know
  4. Google Search and AI-Generated Responses
  5. What You Should Know About Keywords and Keyword Phrases
  6. Why Style is Important When Writing the Best Law Firm Content
  7. How Important is a Blog to Your Law Firm SEO?
  8. What Are Some SEO Do’s and Don’ts for Law Firm Websites? 
  9. Law Firm SEO Considerations for State Bar Ethics and American Bar Association (ABA)
  10. Why Lawyers May Not Be the Best Legal Content Writers
  11. Why You Need a Law Firm SEO Copywriter

Why is SEO Important for Law Firms?

Having the best legal content means nothing if your target audience never sees it. A recent study analyzed billions of search results on Google:

  • 70.7% of users click one of the first five rankings
  • The 10th position on Google only gets a 2.5% click-through rate

Users rarely proceed to the second page of a search engine. If your website is stranded in Google’s “no man’s land,” it’s time to step up your SEO. 

Law firm SEO is something your firm must take seriously.
SEO for Law Firms can be confusing, but it’s not an enigma.

You Need Fresh, Well-Researched Content for SEO

Google’s search criteria change constantly. For 2022, SEO focused on fresh, quality content. According to Google Search Central, the search engine defines quality content as content containing expertise, content that is authoritative, and content that is trustworthy (E-A-T). What you previously knew as E-A-T, though, has transformed into E-E-A-T (but if you say it out loud as one word, people will think you’re having a medical emergency) in search and SEO.

What is (E)EAT? 

Under the Quality Rater Guidelines, Google released a 167-page document describing E-A-T and how the search engine is focused on the human experience, not bots. In December of 2022, Google updated E-A-T to E-E-A-T, and it was clearly a response to the late November 2022 release of ChatGPT from OpenAI. The guidelines emphasize the following:

  • Experience. Does the content you put on your website convey to the reader that you have some degree of experience related to the topic at hand? That’s what this new “E” is all about. Artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT don’t have their own experiences – they take information from others and create a conglomeration of, sometimes incorrect, responses. This “experience” factor works to build on the other three parts of EAT by establishing the author as someone who has “walked the walk.” Google is looking mainly for first-hand life experience.
  • Expertise: Expertise is difficult to attain in the legal field. New practices may need to publish a substantial amount of content over time to be considered an expert by Google standards. Keep in mind that SEO expertise is very different from claiming legal expertise, which can put a law firm on ethically shaky ground. The idea is to have enough well-researched content on your site to position yourself as highly knowledgeable on the subject. 
  • Authority: Authority represents the evidence of your expertise online. How many other sites link back to yours? Do visitors to your social media sites find their way to a blog or news article you have published on your site? The more recognition your legal pages receive, the stronger “authority” you’ll have in your niche. 
  • Trustworthy: Making your law firm website trustworthy in the eyes of SEO involves proving your site as a quality source of information. Using external links to government sites and unbiased studies are great sources of data. Conversely, using an external link to an unreliable source, or source whose information can be altered by anyone, may hurt your SEO standing. 

Reader-Friendly

Reader-friendliness is crucial to any site. A lack of readability can increase your bounce rate, impeding your website’s ability to convert visitors to clients. Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your legal website after viewing only one page. 

According to research:

  • The average bounce rate is 41-55%
  • A high bounce rate is considered 70% or more
  • A bounce rate of 26-40% is excellent  

A good bounce rate tends to vary by type of business. For your law firm website, aim for a bounce rate of 50% or less. 

To reduce your bounce rate, consider the following reader-friendly factors: 

  • Avoid long, wordy blocks of text
  • Too many or too few images
  • Too much clutter (e.g., pop-ups, banners, pages without headers)
  • Reading level

Lawyers have years of education and experience to offer prospective clients. Still, no matter how educated you or your audience, keeping your readability at an 8th-grade level is important.  

Keep Content Fresh

Google loves fresh content for several reasons. Fresh and recently updated content tends to be more accurate, adding to the expertise and trustworthiness of your site. In addition, fresh content gets indexed more frequently, usually resulting in higher search engine rankings. 

To keep your website fresh, consider creating a schedule to add new content regularly. Your law firm website could benefit from adding:

  • Practice pages 
  • Sub-practice pages to focus your service areas
  • A weekly or bi-weekly blog
  • Firm news and community

Also, make sure to update old content. Refresh the statistics on your practice area pages each year. Update old blogs with recent news stories. Check external links and update the source information. If you have similar blogs, think about combining them into a new one. 

YMYL and Law Firms – What You Need to Know

“Your Money or Your Life.” Maybe you’ve heard that before, but you may not know why that matters for your law firm website content or law firm SEO strategy.

YMYL refers to how Google classifies certain content that could impact “a person’s future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.” There is no hard and fast rule about what is for sure considered YMYL, but some topics are clear. For example, pages related to medical advice, evacuation routes for hurricanes, local news about an ongoing natural or manmade disaster, how to fill out tax forms, etc. Law firm content/legal queries should be YMYL, but that’s not a guarantee.

There are also topics that could be YMYL, like weather reports, information about how to use certain products or when to replace products, and repair advice.

There are many other YMYL topics, but Google clearly states that YMYL topics should demonstrate the highest E-E-A-T levels of any content on the web. Google has not said that law firm content is for sure YMYL, but a few things are true – law firms and attorneys certainly help people in ways that affect their happiness, health, financial stability, and even safety.

As an industry, we NEED law firm website content to be considered YMYL, because that’s the only way SEO and SERPs matter. Google is experimenting with Bard, and AI responses could potentially be the norm at the top of the search results when you type in a query.

Google Search and AI-Generated Responses

Of course, Google had to respond to the rapid changes in internet user behavior brought on by ChatGPT. Millions of people were using OpenAI’s program within a week of its release, and it’s no longer a mystery that ChatGPT has affected many industries, including content writing, academia, medicine, coding, and others.

You may have seen the rollout for certain users as Google experiments with its own Google Bard to provide answers to users based on their search. They’re calling this Search Generative Experience (SGE). These answers pop up before any of the search results, paid or organic. The answers are presented similarly to ChatGPT, except in your regular search instead of a separate website. It’s an experiment right now, but you can expect it to become a reality. Google can’t fall behind because they know what happens to big tech that falls behind new competitors (anyone still missing their adjustable Myspace backgrounds?).

Google has said that this new SGE experience won’t affect YMYL queries, including legal ones, but that’s not a guarantee. Regardless of whether or not law firms get sucked into the AI responses for Google (we think organic and paid search will still matter for law firms), the content produced and put onto your web pages MATTERS.

Law firms should put out quality content that the reader can use and trust. They should do this for their potential clients and for their website’s trustworthiness factor, but they should also do this to prepare for any AI upheaval. Once ChatGPT and other AI platforms connect to the internet, the game changes.

But law firm websites won’t be replaced. Other YMYL websites will still matter. But these websites will be incorporated into the AI landscape somehow. We just don’t know what that will look like yet. We’re still figuring this new tech out. One thing we know is that 90% of what people think new tech will do for the world isn’t what actually happens. AI platforms like ChatGPT will grow a life of their own and, as with other tech in the past, carve out their own future while we play catch up.

What You Should Know About Keywords and Keyword Phrases

SEO basics center around the common keywords people search for a given topic. For example, if your law firm offers personal injury services in New York, some common keywords may be:

  • Car accidents attorneys in New York
  • New York Truck crash lawyers
  • New York Slip and fall injuries attorney

Keywords and keyword phrases help Google better categorize your page. A skilled team with experience handling content for law firm websites can help incorporate these keywords seamlessly.

Keywords for Law Firm SEO

Think about your legal practice and what services you offer. Do some practice searches in your area or use a keyword tool. A few companies, including Google, offer a keyword planner to get the best phrases for your SEO goals. 

 Consider the following when doing your keyword research:

  • What is the user’s intent?
  • How competitive is the keyword phrase?
  • Should you use long keyword phrases or short ones?

User intent, i.e., query intent, is what the user wants to find when doing a search. Does the user want information about a subject, or are they looking to hire an attorney? Keywords are phrased to capture the motivation of the user.

In addition, finding a set of keywords that are too competitive may leave your site stuck on page 2 or 3 of a Google search. Ideally, your keywords should be unique enough to offer low competition. Longtail keywords may be a great solution to lowering your SEO competition.

An example of a longtail keyword phrase could be, “Best legal content writers in Chicago.” A short keyword phrase may be “legal content.” 

The latter offers a much more generalized term, making SEO more challenging. Long keyword phrases provide focused results to drive prospects to your site. 

Don’t Forget to Include LSI Keywords

Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords relate to the meaning of your overall content. Mixing short and longtail keywords is important, especially for headers. However, LSI keywords help Google recognize that your entire page relates to the topic. 

For instance, suppose you are a criminal defense law firm in New Orleans and would like to focus on DUI defense. Your short keywords may be “DUI defense,” and your longtail keywords may be “best DUI defense in New Orleans.” An example of some LSI keywords may include “defense for driving under the influence in Louisiana” and “New Orleans defense attorneys for a DUI arrest.”

Learn how your clients (or prospective clients) are searching for your service. The power falls to those who know what their clients’ needs are before they need them.

Make sure you produce quality content as opposed to quantity for law firm SEO.
Dedicate time to researching the content. Google wants quality over quantity now.

Why Style is Important When Writing the Best Law Firm Content

Writing style builds your online brand. For legal sites, the difference between using victim or survivor is can make a deep impact on the tone of your page. Consider the impression you want to make using your blog or practice area page. Which stylistic terms suit your target audience?

  • Crash/Accident
  • Plaintiff/Defendant
  • Claimant/Liable party
  • Victim/Survivor
  • Header capitalization and punctuation 
  • Descriptive bullet lists/H3 (heading size 3)

Whatever your choice, remember to stay consistent. Style fosters your developing voice and brand. Inconsistent styling can make your legal site seem poorly managed.  

How Important is a Blog to Your Law Firm SEO?

A blog is an excellent way to add continuously fresh, quality content to your law firm website and establish credibility in your niche. It’s also a great tactic to build trust with your prospective clients.  

Unfortunately, the legal profession has led to some unfair stereotypes. Users looking to hire an attorney may feel put off by in-your-face advertising, especially if their legal issues are of a sensitive nature. 

According to a consumer research study, 82% of prospects feel more positive about a company after reading the company’s blog. Having a blog that helps the average user answer some simple legal questions or highlights a local matter can help bridge the gap. 

What Are Some SEO Do’s and Don’ts for Law Firm Websites? 

SEO is complicated, especially for those just getting started. For law firms, there are a few do’s and don’ts for the best legal content. 

  • Break up text blocks with bullet lists and headers (H2’s and H3’s)
  • Keep your sentences and information short and simple for the average reader
  • Get to the point and avoid lots of unnecessary fluff
  • Use the FAQ format for your headings to improve your organic searches and the possibility of a Google Snippet feature
  • Remember to include a call to action (CTA) on every page
  • Make sure you include relevant internal links and well-researched external links
  • Pay attention to your keywords and phrases
  • Remember your location matters in your keyword longtail phrases
  • Use too much CTA. A sentence at the beginning and end is sufficient 
  • Use legal jargon
  • Offer guarantees or absolutes
  • Write strictly for SEO 

Remember, your audience is human. While much of SEO involves keyword phrases and other taglines, your content should appeal to humans. Don’t write for a Google bot. Write for your prospective clients. 

Law Firm SEO Considerations for State Bar Ethics and American Bar Association (ABA)

After years of schooling and experience in the field, you’re likely familiar with all the ethical considerations for your practice. However, writing ethically for a website practice page may prove challenging. 

Specialization or Expertise 

After years in a particular field of law, you may feel like a true expert. Unfortunately, stating that you are an expert or specialist in a field can violate state and ABA ethics codes. The American Bar Association has its own board certification and specialization programs. 

Some examples of bord certifications include:

  • Board Certification in Family Law Trial Law
  • Board Certification in Criminal Trial Law
  • Board Certification – Consumer Bankruptcy Law

State bars also have their own certifications and specialty programs. Unless you are certified through the ABA or state board, refrain from using the terms expert or specialist

While you have the experience and education to accurately answer legal questions for your clients, remember to avoid giving legal advice. Instead, keep your explanations of law generally. For complicated topics, giving a hypothetical can help sidestep giving direct legal advice while keeping things simple for the reader. 

Avoid Absolutes 

As a rule of thumb, it is best to avoid words and phrases that are definitive or absolute. For example, replace always with can be or may be. 

Criminal trials are always a lengthy process.

Criminal trials can be a lengthy process. 

Speaking in generalities is a great way to stay compliant with the ABA and the State Bar Ethics Advisory:

Careful with Results

Many law firms like to put verdicts and settlements on their webpage. Showcasing your past successes can add credibility to your practice and value to your services. However, state ethics bards may regulate how verdicts and settlements are presented. For instance, South Carolina requires all favorable verdicts and settlements to be displayed with a clear disclaimer.   

Contingency Fees

Contingency fee structures can be a touchy subject online. While offering contingency fees can help drive prospective clients to schedule a consultation, the wording can be tricky. To avoid any issues with the bar requirements, use general terminology when describing your fee structure.  

Advertising vs. Blogs

Advertising is another tricky area in the ethics department. The ABA regulates how attorneys advertise for their services. In addition, many state bars have created advertising rules and regulations. 

Blogs, however, may not fall under the same strict code of ethics. Check with your state bar to see if blogs are free from ethical review. 

Writing the best legal content requires continuous upkeep, researching new guidelines, and knowing content style guides. While you know the law best, professional legal content writers know your target audience’s online behavior and how to drive them to your site. 

Whether your firm has been in practice for decades or is just hitting the stage, consider the following reason to outsource your legal copywriting. 

You would rather spend your time lawyering.

Writing copy tailored for SEO takes knowledge and work. Every hour you spend writing a practice page, a blog, or updating old pages is time away from lawyering. Every twenty minutes here and there you spend researching how to improve your website’s rankings on a search engine is a minute not billable to a client. 

Spend your time doing what you love. Leave the rest to a legal SEO copywriter. 

Legal SEO content is an entire field in an do itself. You focus on being a lawyer.
Focus on lawyering. Let someone else focus on your law firm SEO content.

Why You Need a Law Firm SEO Copywriter

You are a professional. Shouldn’t your law firm website support that? Point your law firm SEO strategy in the right direction.

Your legal content is an extension of the hard work and dedication you’ve given your field. Just as clients come for your experience and skill, every attorney deserves to have their content handled professionally.  Contact the Blue 7 Content Founders Allen Watson and Victoria Lozano today by phone or email to learn more about our tailor-made legal content pages. You can reach us at (843) 580-3158.

Written by Morgan Sprinkle – Legal Content Writer

Updated by Allen Watson – Co-Founder of Blue Seven Content