Geography + Keyword Targeting
“How do I effectively position my site to rank well for geography-based keywords like North Carolina injury lawyer and Memphis TN law firm?” The answer - it’s all about content. The search engines need to “see” that the firm is focused on cities X, Y and Z in a content-based manner. What are my top suggestions for optimizing legal websites for their target geography?
First idea: I would put a blurb in the footer that says something like “The Law Firm of John F. Jones, PC - DWI defense attorney serving Plano, Denton and Irving Texas since 19xx. ” By placing this copy in the footer, it will appear on every page, giving every page a little “bump” in their chance of ranking well for those geographies. Now don’t get me wrong; don’t put spam on your site. Accurately and succinctly describe your basic practice and service areas.
Next: something I’ve mentioned before, the firm’s address, including city/state, should appear in REAL text somewhere on every page of the site (not images of text). Having the primary address on every page further helps the engines associate the site with a geography and, thereby, rank it for that geography. Additionally, if the firm has multiple offices, these definitely need to be listed in full on the Directions or Contact page.
Physical location information aside, content developed about the attorney’s target geography is also an important piece. I suggest:
* content describing recent verdicts in those target geographies (and mention the town name once or twice in doing so) like a page presenting:
Williams vs. Town Hall
Metairie, Louisiana: Successful drunk driving defense
In this case, J Williams was pulled over on I-10 outside Metairie LA when the officer more text more text more text more text …Smith vs. Po-Lice
New Orleans, Louisiana: DUI expungement
In this case, M. Smith was pulled over when the officer… Louisiana DUI law was cited in that more text more text more text more text …
* content about the firm’s involvement in the community, citing events, sponsorships, etc. the firm has supported. Pictures of the events are a great idea for adding interest to the pages - make sure you ask your developer to use the ALT tags to briefly describe the event & location.
* having links containing those target keyphrases pointing to those pages would be advantageous. In other words, on the homepage, it would be useful to have a few text links like:
Recent Verdicts:
2nd DUI Charge - Metairie man released
Roadside Test Arrest - North Slidell case dismissed
more…
* it’s tempting to want to write pages about “San Diego Personal Injury Lawyers”. Geography, area of practice, everything all in there. When it comes to AOP content, the way I think about it is this: mention your geography maybe twice but otherwise develop content focusing on information about the area of practice itself. Sparingly mention your geographies on those pages - let the search engines assign geography it has assumed from footer information & misc. mentions of the geography. Put links to those AOP pages on the homepage & in the footer. So, instead of the Recent Verdicts approach as above, your links could be:
Focused on:
Louisiana DUI Law
DUI Defense
DUI Expungement
Blood & Breath Tests
DUI Schools
Remember, the best converting traffic is local traffic. As search moves more and more to a local level (associating websites and end-users with a geography), capturing and converting that local traffic should remain a top priority. With a few items like I mention above, your site should be well positioned for this local market now and in the future.
Technorati Tags: geography targeting, keyword targeting, optimizing legal websites
