SEO is the cornerstone of your online marketing strategy. With so much traffic coming directly from Google, not having an SEO strategy is tantamount to not existing. However, a surprising number of UK insurers consistently fail to invest in their SEO strategies.
To put it into perspective, 69% of insurance customers searched online before scheduling a consultation. Taking the time to finetune and execute your SEO strategy amplifies your revenue and provides more opportunities to cultivate customer relationships. Let’s discuss the ins and outs of the importance of SEO for the insurance industry.
How does SEO for insurance agencies work?
SEO has become a byword for Google because 90% of web searches are conducted through the platform. Every time you conduct a search, you’ll see a list of websites known as Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Google relies on keywords, reputation, internal and external links, and high-quality content to determine where each brand fits into SERPs.
What insurers must understand is that Google’s goal is to present the most relevant search results for users. SEO is about proving to Google that your site is the most valuable result for that search term.
In other words, SEO isn’t a linear concept nor an exact science. Insurance firms investing in SEO must address multiple on-page and off-page SEO elements to support their rise through the rankings for high-volume keywords.
How does being visible on search engines help insurance agencies?
Insurance agencies stand to gain considerably from spending time on SEO. In many cases, this is the most valuable return on your investment you can make.
Here’s a rundown of the advantages for insurers:
- Increase Visibility – Reach the top spot on Google SERPs, and your insurance agency will be the first thing people see. With just 6.6% of people willing to click through to the second page of SERPs, SEO puts all eyes on you.
- More Traffic – Additionally, more visibility results in more web traffic. One study found that websites in the number one position enjoy an average 27.6% click-through rate.
- Boost Brand Value – There’s a reason why certain sites are trusted without question. If you Google a popular search term and see the same few websites, it’s Google’s endorsement that this is a site you can trust. Instantly, good SEO gives you a natural authority among potential customers.
- More Conversions – Ultimately, more visibility, traffic and authority contribute to more conversions and more business for your agency – and that’s the purpose of SEO in the first place.
SEO is about driving more business in the online realm. However, actually doing this is a different issue entirely. Successful SEO isn’t a short-term solution like running Google or social media ads. Too many insurers start an SEO campaign and then give up because it doesn’t yield immediate results.
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How SEO gets insurance brokers seen online
Getting seen online is about understanding why Google positions one website above another. Google’s value proposition is answering queries and questions, meaning it wants searchers to click on the first result and get their answer. In this case, the searchers are looking for an insurance policy and/or information on a specific type of insurance.
Does it work? Here’s an example of how it works in practice:
UK insurer Compare the Market is the most dominant insurance provider based on Google searches. According to the stats in 2022, Compare the Market enjoyed a 28.4% share of brand searches, with Go Compare second and Admiral third. Of course, searches and clicks don’t convert to business. Plenty of websites have lots of visitors but comparatively low conversion rates.
In another study, Compare the Market was also the leading price comparison website for life insurance and non-life insurance. The study found that it enjoyed a 43.7% market share of the former and a 49.3% share of the latter. With the brand being the dominant force in both search and market share, it demonstrates the connection between them.
Google wants your site to demonstrate value, which it sees through metrics like click-through, bounce rates and time spent on each page. Showing value also increases the chances of generating more business. As you can see, do one of these things, and the other will follow.
How does your insurance agency being seen online convert into clients?
SEO is not a sales button – but it might as well be.
Although SEO is about visibility and driving web traffic, it’s the top of the sales funnel for your clients. The first step is seeing your website, which results in clicking on your website and entering your digital store. Here’s what that might look like:
Customer clicks on your website on Google.
Customer lands on a sales page, begins clicking around your website, and reads your content.
The customer is impressed and decides they want to learn more, so they get in touch with your team.
You conduct an initial consultation and explain the ins and outs of your insurance products, answering any questions they have along the way.
Customer purchases an insurance policy.
Naturally, this is an oversimplified version of the customer’s journey from seeing your website on Google to purchasing an insurance policy. It’s vital to mention customers all have different intentions and landing points.
For example, one customer may land directly on a life insurance landing page consisting of sales copy and a full explanation of how the policy works. Another customer may land on your blog to learn about a particular insurance topic. The route may differ, but the finishing line should be the same.
Every page should ultimately direct the customer to your desired action, whether that’s a purchase, getting in touch, or performing a price comparison.
A well-optimised website ranked high on Google should mean this doesn’t matter because you offer a “complete” experience that provides value to the customer. This is why SEO isn’t about plugging in keywords and hoping for the best. You must prove that your website provides value if you want to rank.
SEO is a long-term strategy
Google provides two options for advertising on its platform:
- Using SEO and acquiring organic traffic.
- Paying for Google ads.
Both have pros and cons, but it’s vital to understand that SEO is a long-term strategy with long-tail benefits. It can take years to rank for the most competitive keywords and dislodge the most recognisable brands. Although this sounds like a downside, it’s also beneficial if you make it to that point because it cements your position for the future.
At Tao Digital Marketing, we understand the value of SEO and how to accelerate your results whilst remaining compliant with Google’s latest algorithm changes. If your insurance agency is ready to experience the measurable long-term impact of SEO, contact us today.
Content marketing is the driving force that elevates your brand and wins new customers; but what is classed as content?
Content could be anything designed to drive traffic, sales, signups or calls. It’s blogs, videos and social media posts all rolled into one. With 87% of B2B marketers using content to generate leads successfully, content must form the heart of any performance-driven insurance marketing strategy.
How you deploy content is what matters. Let’s dive into how insurance brokers can leverage content marketing.
Is content marketing important for insurance brokers?
Content is vital for everybody. Whilst a shop might focus on product demos and a charity might focus on human interest stories, insurance brokers focus on education. Insurance is confusing, and most people searching for policies are looking for answers.
Your content must provide these answers to:
- Elevate your SEO
- Drive leads
- Increase customer engagement
- Boost sales
But it’s not just about information. Content is a tunnel into your brand, and that’s the challenge. According to one study, 42% of UK marketing leaders said deploying brand as a strategy was their biggest challenge.
How content production differs for insurance brokers
Insurance is a booming industry in the UK, illustrating the need for quality insurers and brokers to serve this market. In fact, the insurance industry grew by 9.9% in 2023 alone, but standing out means producing content that also serves this market.
We’ve identified five pillars that separate insurance brokers from other industries:
- Educational Focus – Insurance is often complex, meaning taking an educational focus is the key to engaging with this audience. Informative guides and simple videos can clear the confusion and help to win business.
- Trust Building – Concentrate on content that builds trust through providing testimonials, case studies and content that provides answers in an authoritative tone. Display your expertise.
- Personalisation – Most brokers serve different market segments. Whether that’s a young person searching for their first car insurance policy or a middle-aged couple looking to save money when they renew, brokers must tailor their content accordingly.
- Visual Content – Simplify information through infographics and short, snappy videos. Take complex concepts and make them so comprehensible that anyone can understand them.
- Emotional Appeal – Insurance isn’t the most exciting topic, so generating interest can be challenging. Overcome this issue by building real-life stories to create that connection and empathy with potential clients.
What can content marketing do for your online presence?
Content marketing doesn’t improve your online presence. It is your online presence. Without content, you only have a generic website and a brand name. Nobody will respond to a barrage of sales content.
Instead, content is there to:
- Improve your ranking in Google SERPs
- Segregate your brand from other brokerages
- Enhance your authority as a broker.
- Encourage your target audience that you are the best value broker for them
- Promote your brand and then encourage others to tell their friends and family
Content will spell the difference between success and failure. It’s impossible to underpin how vital it is.
Key considerations when creating content for your insurance agency
Building content doesn’t mean putting out the same generic content everyone has already done. Instead, it must be “purpose-driven.” In essence, every piece of content must have the following in mind:
What?
What content are you creating? As part of your content strategy, split it into different categories, such as blogs, newsletters, videos, infographics and social media posts. You can also split them into platform-specific sub-categories. This enables you to cover all the bases.
Who?
Who are you targeting with that content? Insurance brokers should have their ideal customer personas built before doing anything. However, the chances are you have multiple personas that you’re targeting with different products or messages.
Define who that piece of content is targeting.
Why?
Why are you creating this content? You can look at this from two perspectives:
- What do you want the customer to get out of it?
- What action do you want to happen?
So, if you’re writing a blog on “How to get the lowest life insurance quote?” what you want the customer to get out of it is obvious. However, the action you want to push may be to call you, use your quoting engine, or sign up for your newsletter for further tips.
What matters is that each piece of content has a dual purpose for you to measure its success against.
How to provide valuable insurance-focused content
Producing content that resonates is a process. Countless types of insurance-focused content exist, including:
- Insurance explainers
- Quote calculators
- Infographics
- eBooks
- Client testimonials
- Videos
But if content isn’t produced with a purpose, its effect will be minimal. Let’s go into the process of creating insurance content.
Focusing on your specific audience means knowing who your audience is and transitioning into what they need. Avoid spending too much time on what features your insurance products have and more on the questions and concerns your audience might have.
Insurance is unique in that industry language is a barrier. Industry jargon creates confusion and causes people to switch off. Remember, you’re selling to ordinary people, not others in your industry.
Explain terms clearly and avoid using terms that can’t be simplified, whether written or visual.
Insurance is a notoriously dry business. Generic content will switch off any readers/watchers immediately.
The secret to overcoming this is telling a story. Relate your content to real-life scenarios to turn the abstract into the multi-dimensional. Sharing stories provides security, peace of mind and sells all simultaneously.
SEO is one of the primary reasons why you’re creating content, and that’s what brings in the traffic. Keyword research is essential, but where most insurers miss the boat is search intent.
Align your content with why people are searching for those particular search terms. For example, if someone is searching for “cheap home insurance quotes in Manchester”, it doesn’t just tell you to target that keyword. It tells you why it’s a keyword worth targeting. Focus your content to answer the queries within.
Content marketing is a unique opportunity to turn a faceless insurance brand into a people-powered behemoth. Practice humanising your brand to make it stand out from the competition. Of course, tailor it to the platform.
For example, LinkedIn is great for building authority by reporting on industry insights. On the other hand, image-focused human interest content is the name of the game on Instagram and Facebook.
Above all, show your empathy by showing the humans behind the brand. Let them see your faces and hear your voice.
Valuable content is often defined as content that works. If nobody reads a well-written blog, it may not be valuable content. Harness the power of data to tell you everything.
Countless analytics tools exist, including those built into many platforms. Focus on the data to learn about refining your strategy and what works best for your chosen audience.
At Tao Digital Marketing, we rely on data-driven insights to generate results for the UK’s insurance brokers. To learn more about how we can help you produce better content, speak to the team today.
The cornerstone of any business is its ability to market itself to the right people. In the saturated UK insurance market, competing with the likes of Axa and Hastings Direct may be daunting, but add on smaller brokers and it feels impossible.
Whilst it’s a long, winding road, intelligent spending on digital marketing can propel your brand to the top. Let’s examine what digital marketing today looks like for the insurance industry.
What does digital marketing for insurance brokers look like?
Before going any further, having a brokerage that lends itself to a great customer experience is key. Driving traffic from Google and social media is meaningless if people click away instantly.
According to the UK Insurance Sentiment Index, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), UK-based insurers struggled with a lack of online service and inaccessible digital platforms. In other words, before throwing money at a market strategy, conduct market testing to ensure your platform meets the needs of your market.
With that in mind, let’s examine the various sectors of your digital marketing strategy.
SEO means targeting search engine rankings. Think about how many customers begin their search for insurance via Google alone. Worldwide, Google processes 8.5 billion searches daily, making this a prime traffic source.
For example, if you offer car insurance, ranking for search queries like “UK car insurance”, “car insurance UK”, and “UK car insurance quotes” would potentially bring thousands of people to your site daily.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. So, what makes up insurance broker SEO?
- Keyword research
- Incorporating phrases customers use, known as long-tail keywords
- Short-tail keywords
- On-page optimisation
- Off-page optimisation
The difficulty is there are no quick fixes, so expect this to be a long-term marketing strategy.
Content is king.
Create interesting, informative content that engages and supports your target customers. For example, write a guide on the most common insurance scams or provide tips on getting the best deal.
Produce regular, high-quality content and this will benefit your marketing efforts across every platform.
Most people are on at least one social media platform. Produce introductions to your brand, show what’s happening in the office, or showcase some of your staff. Every platform has its own approach, so don’t just copy and paste posts from one to the other.
British businesses spend £3.6 billion annually on social media, so don’t discount its value. Just ensure you’re targeting the platforms where your demographic lives. For example, if you sell short-term life insurance, Facebook will likely be more fruitful than the youth-leaning TikTok.
Email, or newsletter marketing, means building your list. Gain subscribers, and you’ve got the beginnings of a personal relationship. Providing free content, such as an eBook or guide, is one of the easiest ways to get someone onto your list.
But what can insurance brokers send to their subscribers?
- Exclusive discounts
- Guides to aid in the insurance search
- How to make the most of their policies
- Saving money on insurance
- Non-insurance-related content
Brokers with bigger budgets can get a head start on their marketing efforts by investing in paid ads. Your two primary options are Google’s Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads and social media ads.
Note that paid ads are a steep learning curve and will involve some trial and error. It’s time to return to traditional marketing principles, focusing on engaging graphics, eye-catching videos and persuasive copy.
Like any other business, brokers must take the time to test out different combinations until they find something that works.
Technically, video marketing is a type of content marketing, but its potential means it deserves its very own section.
Why are videos so effective? One study found that videos are 1200% more successful than other types of content, making it the standout for engagement and action. In terms of a brokerage, this could resemble:
- Reflecting your agency’s services
- Showcasing staff as the “fun” side of your brand
- Client testimonials
- How your customers have claimed on their policies
- Connecting your agency to what’s happening in the world
Video marketing isn’t a silver bullet, but through deploying innovative storytelling and interesting content, you can connect on a deeper level with current and future customers.
Best practices for digital marketing in the insurance sector
Digital marketing in the insurance sector can be trickier because when most people think “excitement”, they don’t think “insurance.” But that doesn’t mean you’re doomed. It’s all about thinking outside the box to build those authentic connections and become a standout brand.
If you’re just getting started, here’s a list of insurance digital marketing best practices:
- Be active on social media. Don’t just publish salesy posts, but become active in the circles where your customers are, demonstrating that you’re helpful and engaged.
- Give your customers what they want. Examine your competitors, and if you happen upon something that’s generated a buzz, adopt it yourself.
- Invest in building up your online reviews. Reviews are currency in digital marketing circles.
- Start a referral program. Reward your customers for supporting you and bringing others to you. There’s a reason why businesses in all sectors launch these programs.
- Concentrate on local SEO. Not only does local SEO drive immense amounts of traffic, but it also offers less competition. Start with your own city and then branch out to other major cities in your keywords, such as London, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds.
- Let your content drive your brand forward. Content differentiates you from every other broker on your site, social media, and other platforms.
- Improve your digital experience. Is your website providing the best experience? What are the pain points customers are having?
- Test, test, and test again. Digital marketing is an ongoing process in an industry that never stands still. Even when you succeed, you can’t afford to let up.
Which digital marketing strategies work well for insurance brokers?
No one digital marketing strategy works for every insurance broker. It’s all about finding what works for you. However, regardless of the angle you’re planning to take in your digital marketing strategy, three areas are the primary focus:
- SEO
- Content marketing
- Social media
Why these three areas? Because it doesn’t matter who you are as an insurance broker. These three digital marketing focuses are always relevant. Generally, the best way to avoid an expensive, time-consuming trial-and-error process is to work with a marketing expert.
At Tao Digital Marketing, our marketing professionals have worked with countless insurance brokers looking to rise head and shoulders above the rest. To learn how our team can support yours in pinpointing tactics that work for your agency, contact us today.
How many people see your website and then click on it? Knowing this number is essential for determining whether people are interested in your business’s presentation.
Although more relevant to paid advertising, it’s still a ranking factor in organic traffic. This is why paying close attention to it on Google Search Console is vital. Let’s discuss what CTR is and what a good CTR looks like.
What is Click Through Rate (CTR)?
CTR is a marketing term that denotes the number of people who see a link divided by the number of people who click on it. Within an organic search context, it’s how many people see your website vs. how many people click on it.
Google monitors CTR closely because if you’re lower than average, it’s a sign that you’re not worth a higher ranking. Ultimately, CTRs tell Google whether their results serve a user’s search query.
Unfortunately, it’s one of the most demanding metrics to improve. However, succeeding in improving it can also be one of the most impactful. Within an SEO context, you’ll be surprised at what counts as “good.” According to one study, a 3% CTR is considered a decent performance.
Of course, your CTR will depend on various factors, including search volume, industry and where you appear in SERPs.
What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console lets you track your website’s performance from an organic traffic point of view. Extract reports directly from the Console to gain a complete view of the consumer’s journey from performing a search to clicking on your website.
However, note that this isn’t the same data if you also run Google Ads. The Console only tracks your organic traffic, not paid.
What is considered a good Click Through Rate?
Everyone wants a good CTR to have a baseline against which to rank their website. Unfortunately, there’s no firm answer because it largely depends on where you rank.
According to a report from Smart Insights Digital Marketing, here’s what an average CTR looks like based on rank in 2024:
- Position One – 39.8%
- Position Two – 18.7%
- Position Three – 10.2%
In other words, you must reach the top three search positions to acquire a double-digit CTR.
Positions nine and ten gain CTRs of under 2%, so if you have a CTR of anywhere from 2% to 30%, you technically have a good CTR. In short, due to the nature of search in 2024, reaching the first page of Google SERPs is no longer good enough.
Can you increase Click Through Rate?
CTR is among the most difficult metrics to improve. However, we know that the higher you rank, the higher your CTR. This is why brands shouldn’t get too hung up on CTR alone and instead concentrate on their overall SEO strategy.
But how do consumers decide to click a link in the first place?
Google – Google is the most trusted search engine on the planet, controlling 91% of the search market. Users intrinsically click the first link because they trust Google to provide them with the most relevant result.
Brand Recognition – Users are likelier to click on a link if they’ve heard of the brand before.
Reading – Titles and meta descriptions matter. Searchers may be implicitly encouraged to click on a site because the description is most relevant to their query.
These three factors all go back to implementing SEO best practices and rising up the rankings. If you can gradually build a sustainable SEO strategy that yields results, you’ll also see your CTR rise.
What is expected to change in CTR due to Google’s algorithm?
The March 2024 core update is Google’s most recent update, following its Helpful Content Update last year. It’s considered the most impactful change to the search landscape in years.
However, it’s also transformed what SEO means for brands. Adjusting accordingly is vital if you want more visitors to your website.
Let’s begin with the biggest threat to CTRs: Google’s pivot towards incorporating AI into its search experience.
AI has changed the world like never before, and Google has already entered its fray with the Search Generative Experience (SGE). The basic premise is that Google is integrating generative AI into its search engines to provide overviews of search queries.
What this means for businesses is that searchers can get straight answers to their questions without clicking on links at all. In other words, it removes an opportunity for brands to sell and could eventually see the death of traditional search.
But it’s not the only thing that could impact CTRs. We also must examine how Google ranks websites, as where you rank in SERPs is the most important factor in your CTR.
Google Ranking ‘Leak’
In May 2024, Google experienced one of the most profound leaks in its history, providing more insight into how Google Search (potentially) works than ever before. This leak has offered a lifeline for businesses looking to negotiate the new SEO landscape and increase their CTR rates.
In particular, the role of click data has put to bed something that Google had always denied – that user data from Chrome had no bearing on its rankings.
The leak revealed the potential that Google relies heavily on click data and user behaviour through the Chrome browser to rank sites. Unfortunately, this heavier-than-expected reliance could open the way for artificial CTR strategies, such as clickbait and browser manipulation.
What could this mean for the SEO community in the future? It could mean nothing, or it could mean Google scrambles to unveil new updates to prevent its algorithm from being exploited in light of the leak.
- It’s important to note that the latest Google ‘leak’ was incredibly insightful, but is in no way an exact indicator of Google’s behaviours. Our advice? Take everything you see from Google with a pinch of salt, and work for your audience first, always.
How should businesses prepare for a changed SEO landscape?
We know very little about what could happen regarding the overall SEO landscape. However, what is clear is that SGE is causing huge fluctuations within rankings. This level of volatility hasn’t been seen in over a decade, making it challenging for businesses to adjust.
It’s why countless stories of businesses seeing their traffic wiped out overnight have appeared online. Although many have already declared the death of traditional SEO, this is far from the case.
SGE is designed to provide a mere overview, not to eliminate the need to click on websites completely. Much like the race to acquire Featured Snippets, brands seeking to improve their CTRs may alter their content accordingly to be that AI-generated overview.
In the meantime, the best defence against Google’s volatility is to team up with an agency to manage it. At Tao Digital Marketing, we steer our clients through the turbulence to enable them to rank higher and increase their CTRs. To learn more about how we can do the same for you, contact the team now.
Is your content struggling to perform? Is your Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) brand finding it challenging to attract new customers through organic traffic?
Google’s March 2024 core update changed the game again, forcing UK businesses to redefine their SEO strategies. If you’re unsure what to do, it starts with a comprehensive site audit.
So, how do you conduct an audit that yields results?
What is a SaaS SEO audit?
SEO audits uncover the issues that prevent your business from featuring higher for your target keywords. Google has always kept its cards on the table regarding exactly how its algorithm works, meaning SEO has always been primarily a game of trial and error.
What we know is that Google uses over 200 factors in its algorithm to rank websites. The problem is you can’t assume that one aspect or another is holding your band down. This is why SEO audits are so crucial. They give you a clear understanding of where to focus your efforts to:
- Rank higher than before.
- Prevent unexplained ranking drops.
- Being outranked by your competitors.
Remember, 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, so audits should be a regular facet of your marketing strategy.
Do SEO audits need to be conducted differently for different types of websites?
Most of the top SEO factors people discuss apply to every website. Whether it’s keywords, mobile responsiveness or optimised content, they apply to everyone, but different types of websites must think about specific factors applying to them.
For example, an eCommerce website must optimise its product pages, including images, descriptions and schema markup. Blog-based websites are more focused on building authority, such as through backlinks, and keeping their most important posts evergreen with constant updates.
As a SaaS business, you’re a service-based business with a service-based website. In this case, your SEO audit would focus more on keyword optimisation, long-tail keywords, case studies and portfolios.
Overall, although there are differences, SEO audits follow a similar mantra for all businesses.
Why is an SEO audit important for a SaaS site?
SEO audits matter for any business for the same reason you take your car to the garage for an MOT every year. Audits analyse performance and ensure the long-term viability of your business’s SEO strategy.
Remember, you’re constantly swimming against the tide. Google alters its algorithms constantly, meaning what worked five years ago may not work now. Plus, your site is constantly being compared against your competitors. If Google deems their site more helpful for a searcher, they’ll rank it above yours.
Regular audits check that your SEO strategy is current and still has the same impact as before. Likewise, if your SEO tactics aren’t working, an audit tells you what you need to work on to improve.
How to perform an SEO audit for SaaS
SEO audits can be as basic or as in-depth as you want them to be. Technically, there are four types of SEO audits you can perform:
- Technical Audit – Focusing on the technical aspects of your site, such as page loading times, mobile friendliness and duplicate pages.
- On-Page SEO Audit – Ensuring every page is optimised for ranking higher. Examples of on-page elements include titles, meta descriptions, images and schema markup.
- Off-Page SEO Audit – Checking the factors influencing your ranking away from your website, such as backlinks and social media activity.
- Content Audit – Reviewing the content on your website, including blogs, sales pages, images and more.
We’ll introduce you to some main elements within each audit type to provide the baseline information needed to analyse your SaaS site.
- Scan your site using tools like Ahrefs and Moz to ensure Google can crawl and index it.
- Audit your site’s architecture to ensure all your pages link together logically and hierarchically.
- Eliminate duplicate pages to prevent indexing issues. One option is to delete said pages outright or use 301 redirects.
- Fix internal linking issues to distribute link equity across your website. Again, tools are available to identify issues like orphaned pages or broken links.
- Optimise your title tags to avoid duplicates, and ensure they’re optimised using your target keywords.
- Go through your meta descriptions to check for duplicates, poorly written ones, missing ones or those that are too long. Remember, these are important for Google and anyone who decides whether to click on your site.
- Include relevant images alongside alt tags to provide context to Google’s crawlers.
- Add schema markup to help Google understand your page. Proper schema markup code within your page could win you a featured snippet. They win approximately 35.1% of all traffic, so they’re worth pursuing.
- Use tools like Ahrefs to get an inventory of the quality and authority of your backlinks. They can even highlight backlink profiles from your closest competitors.
- Use social media management tools to track your engagement. While not a direct factor, Google does notice the extra engagement.
Register for Google My Business/Google Business Profile to claim your local search profile. Although this might not be as relevant to SaaS businesses, it’s still a way to generate extra traffic from local searches.
- Rework poor-performing content.
- Update outdated content.
- Improve existing pages and relaunch them.
Which tools are best for SaaS SEO audits?
SEO audits can be done manually, but with so many tools to power in-depth audits, you can make your audits faster and more impactful. Here are our top picks:
Ahrefs – Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO audit tools, and it’s what we use internally at Tao. It offers site audits, backlink analysis, keyword research and competitor activity insights. In short, it does just about everything.
SEMrush – SEMrush offers the same all-in-one package for SEO auditing as Ahrefs, including competitor analysis and an array of content optimisation tools. It also tracks keyword performance, which is always beneficial for high-growth SaaS firms.
Moz Pro – Moz Pro includes rank tracking, link analysis and on-page SEO optimisation within a single intuitive interface.
Screaming Frog – Screaming Frog offers free and premium site auditing options. This tool crawls your website and pinpoints issues like duplicate content and broken links. Even better, it integrates with Google Analytics.
Google Search Console – Gain insights directly from Google itself. The Google Search Console supports your auditing efforts with index coverage, mobile usability reports and URL inspections.
There’s no single best tool for auditing your website. It depends on your goals and what you want to achieve through your audits. However, what matters the most is the insights you gain and how you use them within your SEO strategy.
And that’s where an SEO agency comes in.
At Tao Digital Marketing, we support SaaS businesses that are serious about their SEO to achieve the high-impact results they expect from their online marketing efforts. If you’re ready to get started, contact the team today.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) vs. Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) has recently been a subject of heated debate. Many businesses ask, “Which one should I invest in?”
Truthfully, there’s no comparison between the two. They’re on the same side of the equation, meaning you cannot have one without the other. Understanding both SEO and CRO is crucial for success in any industry.
So, with that in mind, let’s jump into everything you must know about SEO and CRO.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) 101
SEO is crucial if you want to be found in Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Think about how often you start your search for the right brand based on Google. Yet only 71% of businesses have a website in 2023, showing how much value the UK’s business community misses out on.
But having a website isn’t enough. Businesses need an SEO-optimised website. You appear in Google SERPs by creating a website and optimising your pages by following Google’s algorithms. Techniques include targeting relevant keywords and acquiring backlinks. Rank higher in SERPs, and you’ll attract more traffic.
SEO is simple to understand as a concept, but executing an impactful SEO strategy is easier said than done because you’re competing against millions of other websites.
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) 101
On the other hand, CRO is the process of optimising your website for conversions. In other words, once someone visits your website, your site is set up to encourage action from your visitors.
Different elements you might focus on include landing pages, menu bars and content. Excel in CRO, and your sales-to-visitors ratio will increase.
What does an excellent CRO look like? According to Forbes, an eCommerce website’s average conversion rate ranges from 1.84% to 3.71%. It may not sound significant, but this can have a massive impact on your bottom line over thousands of visitors.
Key differences between SEO and CRO for business growth
SEO and CRO are essential for driving traffic to your website and landing new customers. Although they work in tandem, they have several key differences that mark them out as distinct, including:
- SEO focuses on increasing traffic quantity and quality.
- CRO improves the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as contacting your sales team, subscribing to your newsletter, or making a purchase.
In short, SEO is focused on encouraging people to visit your website, whereas CRO’s purpose is engagement.
How SEO and CRO Work Together
SEO and CRO are not the same, but they are interdependent. For example, your SEO may have ranked you on the first page of Google SERPs, but if people land on a low-quality website, they’ll click away.
Likewise, you can have a website geared for conversions, but if your SEO isn’t on-point, nobody will see your brand’s site in the first place. Moreover, Google’s algorithms increasingly account for the on-site user experience for SEO purposes.
Over time, SEO and CRO have become more closely entwined, meaning you can only succeed in one if you succeed in the other.
Why are both SEO and CRO important for business growth?
Establishing that both impact business growth is one thing, but why do they combine so well to drive results?
Sites that fail to rank will not result in conversions or business revenue. In contrast, if your plan solely focuses on ranking, you will unlikely acquire the desired results. The key to achieving business growth is to ensure that every element of your site answers the searcher’s query.
Let’s focus on content as a means to drive business growth. Here are three points to consider to generate business growth:
- Create Content to Match Intent—Which content best answers the searcher’s query? Google asks this question every time, but it also includes the caveat that the page must offer the best possible user experience.
- Optimise Content for Conversions—Strategically telling people what you want them to do turns informative content into converting content. Again, this increases click-through rates and creates action, which Google recognises for SEO purposes.
In other words, SEO and CRO optimisations inform each other. Succeeding in one area will enable you to succeed in another area. Moreover, if we examine SEO principles, time-on-page and click-through rates are as important in SEO as in CRO.
How to find the right balance between SEO and CRO
Achieving optimal results means striking the right balance between SEO and CRO. But what does this look like in the field?
- Align Your Goals —Your SEO and CRO goals should complement each other and be aligned with your overall marketing objectives. In other words, they shouldn’t compete; they should collaborate.
- Keyword Optimisation for CRO – Bring high-converting keywords into your landing pages and other content to deliver synergy between SEO and CRO.
- Operate on the Data – Data analytics should be at the heart of your online marketing decisions. Don’t separate your SEO and CRO data or examine it in isolation. Combine both to make informed decisions, whether improving the user experience or optimising your landing pages.
- Make User Experience Your Number One – The user experience is everything. Focus on what makes your business more appealing to users, such as fast loading speeds and persuasive content writing.
- Test and Repeat —Make A/B testing part of your typical marketing schedule to determine what works and what doesn’t. Likewise, constant testing ensures your website doesn’t get stale and tumble down the rankings.
- Personalisation —Personalisation is a powerful tool for targeting different customer segments. Tailoring your messaging increases the odds of making an impact on each segment. Combining your personalisation strategies with SEO can also inform landing page optimisation, which will only boost your rankings.
As you can see, countless options exist for combining SEO and CRO. It’s less about finding a balance and more about understanding that you cannot have one without the other.
Tracking the impact of SEO and CRO
Any marketing campaign requires monitoring to understand whether it’s achieved success. Some examples of both SEO and CRO impacts include:
- Organic traffic
- Keyword rankings
- SERP visibility
- Click-through rate
- SERP visibility
- Bounce rate
- Conversions
- Website authority
Which metrics you focus on must be defined before you launch your campaign. Every marketing effort is different, meaning no two businesses will draw the same line between success and failure.
Achieve SEO and CRO Synergy With Tao Digital Marketing
Managing SEO and CRO can be complicated. Even if you understand how both work, running these campaigns takes valuable time and resources away from your business.
Kickstart your next online marketing campaign by working with a team of experts who understand what works for you. We incorporate your goals, expectations and niche to provide the best possible solution. To learn more, contact Tao Digital today.
Winning a big client who decides to keep your law firm on retainer is the dream. Realistically, most of the UK’s 208,000 law firms must continually generate new business to thrive. Although many firms continue to rely on traditional marketing, the true rewards are online.
According to the latest stats, over a third of clients start their search online before examining any other channel. This is an opportunity, and lead generation is one of the most impactful ways to snag this group.
Want to know how to make lead generation work for you? Let’s dive into everything you need to know about lead generation in the legal trade.
What is lead generation for law firms?
Leads are anyone interested in using your law firm’s services. For example, if you specialise in helping your clients through messy divorces, anyone searching for a divorce lawyer would be a potential lead.
Leads can come from anywhere. They could be someone local Googling for a “business lawyer in Manchester” or someone asking about a “road traffic solicitor in Durham” in a local Facebook group.
Lead generation aims to acquire those leads and get them to choose you as their lawyer. In other words, it’s the business of attracting and selling to clients who can benefit from your services.
The benefits of lead generation for law firms
Lead generation is viewed as a priority for marketers in every sector. According to one figure, 53% of marketers sent 50% of their total budgets to lead generation, which shows how powerful it is.
So, what’s the benefit of doing this in the legal sector?
- Grow your client base.
- Increase your conversion rates.
- Reduce your marketing costs.
- Turn to precision targeting.
- Gain a competitive edge.
- Save time and resources.
- Build brand awareness.
Finally, strong lead generation campaigns can establish yourself as the go-to legal authority in your niche. Whether you help clients with speeding fines or criminal law, lead generation positions you as the number one brand in your playground.
The lead generation process for law firms
Lead generation isn’t about throwing up a few ads and hoping for the best. In the past, this was marketing’s best-kept secret, but times have changed. Today, 61% of marketers claimed generating leads was now their biggest challenge.
Most guides treat lead generation as an abstract concept. Let’s consider what it might look like for a solicitor in the field.
- John is being sued for libel and needs legal advice. He discovered your firm through Google and signed up for a free consultation. This makes John a lead.
- You already know John is interested, but he’s probably taking free consultations with several solicitors. During your call, you learn about his case, which is scheduled for next month.
- Throughout your call, your rep found out he can afford you and lives in the same city. This makes him what’s known as a “qualified lead”, meaning John is worth pursuing.
- Your firm will then “nurture” John as a lead. This could be through personalised offers, discounts, or something else. If successful, John will convert from a lead into a customer.
Successful lead generation relies on your marketing and sales team working in tandem to bring in leads and guide them down the sales funnel. The problem is your competitors are also doing the same thing.
How can you ensure that the leads generated are high-quality?
Not every lead is worth your time. Just because someone needs legal services doesn’t make them a good lead.
For example, if you’re based in Southampton and someone in Edinburgh has found you, that makes them a low-quality lead because most lawyers aren’t going to travel the length of the UK for a single client.
Here are some simple ways to ensure the leads you’ve generated are worth pursuing:
Add more fields to your lead generation forms. Not only does this provide more information, but it also scares away people who aren’t serious about hiring you.
Make your lead generation questions more thoughtful. Again, it’s all about separating the serious people from the window shoppers. The last thing you want is to waste your secretary’s time on free consultations that won’t lead anywhere.
Although providing more hurdles to jump through and reducing the number of people you target may seem counterintuitive, it’ll actually increase your success rates while reducing the drag on your resources.
Plus, you might even find a relatively sparse niche and gain a competitive edge!
Generating leads for multiple legal practice areas
Generating leads for multiple legal practice areas is often a point of contention among both marketers and solicitors. However, since law firms may address several areas of law, you’ll need separate lead-generation campaigns for each.
It all begins with your law firm’s website. Since you’ll drive 90% of your traffic here, you need individual landing pages for each practice area. Furthermore, this will likely mean running multiple paid marketing campaigns, including SEO, PPC and social media advertising.
SEO is especially pertinent because growing your brand’s visibility as a whole will support each practice area’s lead-generation campaign. This is where hiring an SEO agency that can build these foundations proves its value.
Ultimately, you must also consider resource allocation if operating in multiple practice areas. Does it make sense to allocate half of your resources to individual libel when most of your business comes from business libel? Of course not, so campaigns must be tailored to your firm.
Measuring the success of law firm lead generation
How do you know if your lead generation campaign has been successful?
Measuring any campaign’s success is critical to optimising future campaigns. Directly attributing new business to your lead generation efforts tells you whether you need to continue with what you’re doing or change.
Follow these tips to measure the success of your lead generation campaign.
Focus on the right metrics
Concentrating on core metrics provides actionable insights into what’s working. Here are the top metrics to use:
- Conversion rate
- Cost per lead
- Revenue per client
- Return on Investment (ROI)
Set up analytics and tracking
Analytics and tracking tools are essential to working out where your new business is coming from. Without certain tools, you’re entirely blind to your marketing efforts.
Basic tools like Google Analytics will tell you about the performance of your website and its landing pages and offer insights into how your visitors are behaving. In terms of lead generation, you also need conversion tracking tools. Several platforms have native tools, such as Google Ads Conversion Tracking and Facebook Ads Manager. However, all-in-one suites are also available.
Use a reliable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
CRMs are essential for tracking and managing your leads. Some of the benefits include:
- Tracking interactions.
- Centralising lead data from each channel.
- Analysing lead behaviour.
Some of the most common CRMs law firms use include HubSpot and Salesforce. Some firms may prefer niche-specific CRMs, though.
Launch A/B testing
A/B testing is a technique for measuring lead generation ROI. It involves creating at least two variations of your landing pages, copy, campaigns and more. Each variation is tested against the other to see which performs best.
Constant A/B testing will tell you what works, but it relies on making incremental changes to see which alterations have the most impact. After all, the secret of lead generation is that you’ll never get the best possible results from your first campaign. It’s a long-term process.
How to generate leads for your law firm
There’s no getting around the fact that lead generation is time- and resource-intensive. Get it right, and you will see your leads increase exponentially. The transformative potential of mastering lead generation is undeniable but requires expertise.
Legal professionals are busy people and may not have the time to learn about and run lead-generation initiatives, and that’s where Tao Digital comes in. In the past, our efforts have led to one law firm increasing its leads by 174%.
If these types of results are what your firm is looking for, reach out to the team today.
Marketing your law firm is essential to your survival in today’s digital world. Currently, the UK’s legal market has seen the number of registered law firms falling, with the Solicitors Regulation Authority counting 9,334 firms in February 2024.
The legal market remains abundant despite the number of operators falling from record highs. Remember, 96% of people said they started their search for legal advice online. Everyone looking up legal advice is a potential lead, but how do you target them?
It’s all about your target audience, and this guide will discuss how to reach them online.
The importance of a target audience
Your target audience is your people. If you think about all your current and former clients, these are your target audience. Yet even professional marketers often don’t know their target audience. According to HubSpot, just 42% of marketers had basic demographic information for them.
Without that information, you’re flying blind. You’re making assumptions and hoping for the best, which means wasted time and money. So, why should you know your target audience?
Of course, knowing your target audience is one thing, but targeting them successfully is quite another.
What is the typical target audience for a law firm?
Solicitors can serve every adult in the UK. Your law firm’s target audience comprises the likeliest people to become your clients. The easiest way to figure this out is to examine your current client base and find what binds them. Basic demographics include age, education level, income and occupation, but law firms must dig deeper.
According to Spotify, poorly targeted ads waste an estimated $37 billion USD annually. Avoiding wasted marketing pounds means going deeper. Some examples include:
- Values
- Pain points
- Lifestyles
- Needs
Never make assumptions because the target audience for a road traffic lawyer will be very different from a business lawyer serving the needs of companies.
How to define and segment your law firm’s target audience online
Defining your target audience leads to segmenting that audience. Remember, many law firms operate in multiple practice areas, meaning they may have several target audiences – or segments – to consider.
Here are some tips to begin learning about your target audience.
Here are some tips to begin learning about your target audience.
Analyse your current clients with data analysis
The story is in the data. Solicitors nationwide are embracing technology, with the Law Society Gazette revealing that a quarter of lawyers use generative technology. So why wouldn’t you use data analytics to learn about your target audience?
Focus on your current and past clients and identify their patterns and characteristics. This will give you a benchmark against which to continue your research. Remember, this is an ongoing process because you’re constantly acquiring data.
Moreover, you can do the same thing with your competitors’ audiences to identify gaps in the market.
Research the broader legal market
Keep sight of the broader legal market, or you risk not seeing the forest for the trees. Explore the market landscape to spot the trends and opportunities within your practice area.
Keeping up with the market doesn’t require reading dry market research reports. Instead, surveys should be conducted on current and potential clients to learn more about their needs and preferences.
Invest in psychographics
Psychographics focus on psychological variables and offer a way to understand the minds and motivations of your target audience. Examples of psychographic metrics include:
- Motivations
- Values
- Interests
- Lifestyles
Again, this is where data analytics comes in handy. Acquiring this data helps you craft the targeted marketing messages that compel your audience to act.
Segment based on behaviour
Segmentation divides your target audience into different groups. This enables you to target campaigns based on the characteristics of groups within your target audience.
Tracking what your target audience does provides clues as to what’s likely to resonate with them. Some examples of behavioural metrics to track include:
- Time spent on your website.
- Number of times visiting your website.
- Pages clicked on.
- Downloads.
- Newsletter opens/clicks.
Analysing your audience’s behaviour can help you make better choices regarding every aspect of your marketing campaign.
Continue gathering and analysing
No person was the same ten years ago as they are today. The same goes for your audience. What worked a few years ago isn’t necessarily going to work now.
Law firms must continually analyse their clients and activity across all their marketing channels. This enables them to spot any client changes and adjust accordingly.
Creating audience personas for your law firm
Did you know that 44% of marketers used audience personas in their business? But what are audience personas?
Your target audience defines a group of people, whereas audience personas zoom into individual members of that audience. Personas drill down to define what an ideal looks like within the various segments of your target audience, making them powerful tools.
Here’s a short guide for building out an audience persona:
- Begin With Demographics – The foundation of any audience persona is the demographics. Understanding this provides the high-level data needed to continue.
- Know Their Pain Points – The next step is to know their pain points. In other words, what’s the problem they need you to solve, and what do they expect from you?
- Research the Noise – Noise in the marketplace stops them from acting. This is where analysing your competitors comes in useful. Understanding what others say to influence your target audience helps you find the gaps to undermine these efforts and win the client.
- The “Why”—Why should they hire your firm? Conceptualise your unique selling points to help understand why someone would hire you over your competitors. Every law firm should know this because it’s what makes you special. Without those points, you’re just another law firm.
- Finish With Emotions – People don’t always purchase based on cold, hard truths. They make them based on emotions. When creating a client persona, define the journey of working with you. Moreover, map out the emotions of that persona in both win and lose scenarios. This will help you customise your marketing messaging.
Companies worldwide spend billions of pounds on finding their target audience and building audience personas in every industry. But you don’t need to cripple your cash flow to find your target audience and boost your marketing success rates.
At Tao Digital, we specialise in helping the UK’s lawyers branch out online and achieve their goals. In one case study, we collaborated with one firm and they experienced a 174% increase in leads.
If you need a partner who can find your target audience and win them over to your brand, contact the team today.
Link building is a staple of law firm SEO. Successful link-building campaigns can elevate your brand to the top of Google’s search results for the most lucrative keywords.
For example, the first Google result holds a 28.5% click-through rate. Understandably, reaching these top spots can deliver more eyes and business for your law firm.
So, how do you run a successful link-building campaign?
The purpose of link building for law firms
Link building means getting other websites to insert links pointing to your content. It’s a critical signal Google looks for. It is thought, based on data through many studies, that the more backlinks from reputable websites, the more trustworthy a page is.
From a law firm’s perspective, link building is one of the key performance indicators for their SEO campaigns. Solicitors across the UK build links to boost their rankings and attract more traffic.
However, it can also be used to build and solidify relationships within the industry, which can support their businesses in other ways.
What do backlinks accomplish for law firms?
Backlinks accomplish a range of goals. The obvious benefit of attracting backlinks to your website is bolstering your SEO efforts. According to Search Engine Land, backlinks are one of the top two criteria Google looks at when determining their rankings.
Not all backlinks are equal, though. It’s all about quality over quantity. This is why a backlink from the BBC News website will always outweigh backlinks gained from local UK newspapers.
Besides rising up the Google SERPs, why should your law firm invest in link-building campaigns?
Expand Your Reach – Naturally, the higher you rank, the greater your reach. Hit the top three spots, and you’ll get the most traffic from that search term. A more extensive reach means more business.
Build Industry Relationships – It’s also a chance to enhance your site’s credibility and forge relationships with others in your line of work.
Open Collaboration Opportunities – Every time sites link to each other, a professional relationship is launched. This can result in future collaboration opportunities online and perhaps even in the real world.
In short, if you consider online to be an essential channel for attracting clients to your practice, you cannot afford to ignore the role of backlinking in digital marketing.
Basic link building terms to know
Unfortunately, link building takes time and patience. Approximately 41% of SEO experts agreed that link building was the most challenging part of optimising a business for the web.
Whether you’re managing your link-building campaign in-house or outsourcing it, it’s important to know specific terms. Here are the top 10 link-building terms with definitions.
Backlink – A link from one website to another.
Anchor Text – The clickable text of a hyperlink.
Link Juice – The value passed to a website through a backlink.
Internal Linking – Links that go to other pages on your website.
NoFollow Link – A link tag that tells a search engine to pass no authority to the page you’re linking to.
DoFollow Link – A link tag that tells a search engine to pass authority to the page you’re linking to.
Link Building Outreach – Connecting to other websites to acquire backlinks, such as through pitching post ideas and networking.
Broken Link Building – Gaining new backlinks by finding broken links on other websites and offering your content as a suitable replacement.
Domain Authority (DA) – Developed by Moz, DA predicts a website’s ranking potential based largely on link profile. The higher your DA, the likelier you are to rank higher.
Natural Link – A backlink acquired organically without any intention on your part.
What makes a good backlink?
Most marketers begin by examining the domain authority. According to Aira, 65% of marketers begin their journey by assessing a website’s domain authority to evaluate the quality of a backlink.
However, remember that Google hasn’t developed the “authority” metric. On the other hand, since link-building works, we know that Google definitely evaluates authority, somehow, within its algorithm.
Nevertheless, five factors should be used to evaluate the strength of a potential backlink:
- Organic Traffic – Large amounts of organic traffic indicate that Google believes a website to be trustworthy and reliable, making it more valuable.
- Relevance – How closely related is the subject website? As a law firm, a link from another law firm is more valuable than one from a cleaning company.
- Anchor Text – Anchor text is part of what Google looks at when ranking a page. In short, anchor text should accurately describe the page a link is pointing at.
- Placement – Where is the backlink placed? More prominent locations in a piece of content increase the likelihood of users clicking on it, which makes it more valuable in Google’s eyes.
- Destination – Obviously, you want to win more business, so a link to your contact or home page is incredibly valuable. The same goes for content-rich pages that can prove your authority and professionalism.
Generally, you should aim to get links from websites that already rank highly. Lots of backlinks to no-name websites won’t offer much in the way of value.
Link building techniques for law firms
Building backlinks is a time-consuming process, and SEO experts claim that the process is taking longer than before. In fact, 46.4% of SEOs said the process now took one to three months more than it previously did.
Commit to the ongoing process, and you’re likely to get the results you want. Let’s examine some actionable strategies for building backlinks.
Build the content that people want to link to. Link-worthy content in the legal business is often relevant and newsworthy.
For example, many UK lawyers published content in 2023 about the UK government’s courtroom loss on their Rwanda asylum seeker plan. Obviously, ensure that anything you create relates to your speciality.
While not as powerful as it once was, getting your practice into UK legal directories and claiming your social profiles on sites like Yelp is a great idea.
Some examples of prominent directories to tap include Infolaw, LawFirms.co.uk, and The Law Society.
Writing content for another site in exchange for a link is a prominent strategy solicitors use for getting backlinks when their online presence is small.
Choosing reputable, high-quality websites is the key to making the most of guest posting. If you’re struggling, consider tapping your professional network for potential guest posting opportunities.
It’s also a great chance to get other industry figures producing content for your site.
Appearing in your local newspaper for a major case or because you did something noteworthy is an excellent way to build backlinks quickly.
Some law firms with a budget have even launched programs like scholarships or apprenticeships just to get into the local newspaper.
Suppose you don’t have time to build your content, be a resource for someone else. Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is one such network that connects experts and reporters worldwide.
In exchange for providing your legal knowledge, you’ll get the chance to have your name and link appear on the publication’s website. HARO regularly attracts big-name websites, including Forbes, so it’s worth doing this.
The above five strategies will enable you to set the foundations for a successful link-building campaign; but, you can employ hundreds of different strategies and ideas to build up your profile.
Here are just some of the other ways to build backlinks:
- Get interviewed as an expert.
- Appear on a podcast.
- Leverage your university connections to produce content in educational settings.
- Do something newsworthy.
- Answer questions on Quora.
- Hire a link-building specialist.
How measure the success of link building for your law firm
How do you know if your link-building campaign has been a success?
Since we don’t have access to the innards of the Google algorithm, measuring link-building success isn’t an exact science. Generally, you can expect to focus on six key metrics, including:
- Quality of backlinks
- Anchor text optimisation
- Quantity of backlinks
- Link position
- Referral traffic
- Return on investment (traffic, clicks, social media interaction, increase in business)
Finally, you can use the same tools to measure your website’s DA to see how your link-building campaign has impacted your business.
However, successful link-building begins and ends with execution. If you demand excellence in execution (and why wouldn’t you?), connect with the brand that increased one law firm’s leads by 174%.
Reach out to us about link-building by contacting our team now!
Local SEO has grown, with every type of land-based business taking advantage of it.
Countless statistics illustrate the effectiveness of local SEO and why you should pay attention to it.
For example, “near me” keyword searches have grown 900% in the last two years, and we already know that searchers actively visit the businesses they learn about in this way. So, it makes sense that law firms should also be working on getting in on the act.
Want to know what local SEO for law firms looks like and how to do it? Let’s jump in.
What is local SEO for law firms?
Law firm SEO is working to boost your brand’s website and online presence to acquire more visibility and leads through search engines. You may be doing this by:
Countless other techniques exist for boosting your SEO; but what is local law firm SEO? Essentially, it’s the same thing, but you’re targeting a specific geographic area.
With 40% of smartphone users relying on Google to find out about local solicitors in their area, this isn’t something you can afford to ignore.
Why is ranking in local search results important for law firms?
Running a law firm means you’re likely already snowed under with all the tasks that come with being in the legal profession.
So, why should you worry about ranking in local search results?
Let’s start with the obvious. Approximately 99% of consumers said they used Google to discover local businesses, and those looking for legal help will be looking for a local solicitors practice.
Other than that, more benefits include:
- Better overall online visibility.
- Appear before other law firms in your area.
- Increase your in-office traffic.
- Tap into the local shopping boom.
- Gain more targeted web traffic.
All this adds up to more qualified leads that ultimately become paying clients for your law firm. Over time, this will only increase your law firm’s stature, resulting in more work and a bigger bottom line.
In other words, concentrating on your ranking is an investment that pays off every time, over time.
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Local SEO ranking factors
Ranking factors are the areas that SEO experts focus on in terms of getting the most results based on search engine guidelines. In other words, they’re the core battlegrounds your law firm should focus on.
So, what are the key local SEO ranking factors in 2023?
Google Business Profile – Formerly known as Google My Business, establishing your profile is vital to building your local presence.
On–Page Signals – This includes everything from the page titles you use to your meta descriptions and contact details.
Online Reviews – Well-reviewed law firms will consistently rank higher than poorly-reviewed ones. The more positive reviews you have, the more favourably Google will look at you.
Local Backlink Profile – Named in your local newspaper or recently won a community award? Google will see the links to these various articles and announcements and factor them into your local rankings. The same goes for online citations.
Searcher Proximity – Based on your map location, Google will rank businesses higher based on where the searcher is searching.
Searcher Behaviour – Click-through rates and the time a visitor spends on your landing pages will influence your rank.
Countless ranking factors exist, but focusing on the above will usually be enough to enable you to stand head and shoulders above the competition.
Suppose you have a well-optimised site that serves your target audience and a business name respected in the community. In that case, you’re already most of the way towards dominating your local SERPs.
Local SEO on Google
Whenever anyone talks about SEO, what they really mean is Google. Yes, Bing exists, but Google controls 83% of the search engine market, meaning this is where you should focus if you’re looking to improve your local SEO.
What exactly are the elements of local SEO SERPs? Or, what are the critical parts of the page you see when searching for a local business? Remember, 97% of first-page results will contain one or more of the following elements:
- Featured Snippets at the top of the page.
- Top and bottom page ads.
- Video carousels.
- Rich snippets containing extra information next to specific search results.
- Site links.
- ‘People Also Ask’ boxes.
Some elements are more relevant than others. In particular, there are three elements law firms targeting local SEO should look at.
Local Packs, also known as the “Map Pack, ” contains three local results for a particular type of business and a prominently displayed map. These are the top three brands as designated by Google.
They also have a separate algorithm that contains many of the elements detailed above, but Local Packs focus more on your Google Business Profile and getting great reviews.
Local Services ads are paid ads that enable local businesses to collect more leads via message requests and phone calls.
These are far more effective for local law firms because they are guaranteed to finish at the top of SERPs.
Previously known as Google My Business, your Google Business Profile is integral to your success (or lack thereof) in the local SEO battleground.
Claiming your business enables you to control how your business appears in local SERPs. This is where you can set your law firm’s address, map positioning, opening hours, phone number and more.
With 46% of all Google searches possessing local intent, not having a Google Business Profile is akin to being invisible.
Optimising your law firm’s Google Business Profile
Claiming your business and optimising your Google Business Profile isn’t rocket science. In fact, it’s so easy that a solicitor with no SEO experience can do it in just a few minutes.
To begin optimising your Google Business Profile, follow these simple steps:
- Visit the Google Business Profile website and either claim your law firm’s listing or create it.
- Ensure the business information you provide is up-to-date and accurate.
- Craft a business description that sells.
- Add high-quality images and videos.
- Collect as many reviews as possible from your clients.
- Share interesting content with the post feature to improve your discoverability.
- Leverage the Q&A section to provide helpful information about your legal brand.
Above all, ensure that the information on your Google Business Profile remains relevant and correct. Outdated information will only hurt your SEO footprint.
Or, use our “done for you” Google Business Profile service with Guaranteed top 3 ranking.
Local organic SEO for law firms
Local SEO is a slightly different beast, because whether you show up or not depends on many factors outside your control, such as who’s searching for you and where they’re located. However, hitting all the right local SEO ranking factors will improve your organic traffic, resulting in more leads.
Location pages
Law firms with multiple locations face a problem in ensuring they can individually target different geographical areas without causing any confusion.
For example, if you’ve got offices in Manchester and Liverpool, you don’t want someone from Liverpool clicking on your Manchester office and vice-versa.
Sadly, many businesses get these wrong because they don’t provide unique value and essentially copy-paste what’s already on their websites.
In other words, optimising for each location means making each location page unique so that you’re more likely to rank for each location search. This means creating separate but unique pages for your core areas, like ‘Family Law Solicitors Manchester’.
Local page optimisation
How do you optimise a location page to get the best results? Firstly, you should have a separate map pack and updated information for each location. It also helps to provide detailed information about every office’s service areas, complete with FAQs.
Here are some additional optimisation tips for managing multiple location pages:
- Don’t duplicate content to save time.
- Avoid spamming location-based keywords, such as “Best solicitor in Nottingham” or “Nottingham solicitor”. Add where needed (i.e. in your heading), and leave it at that.
- Follow basic best practices, such as optimising URLs, meta descriptions and images.
- Write content that’s specific to your location. In other words, what makes your Nottingham office different from your Leicester office?
- Take original photos of the area.
- Connect with other businesses local to you and show it.
The big takeaway for local page optimisation is to ensure it’s unique. Treat each location as a distinct business instead of just another part of your legal empire.
Building reviews for your law firm
Positive reviews for your law firm are one of the leading ranking factors in local SEO. Google’s philosophy is always to put the best businesses in the face of searchers to deliver value.
Naturally, a law firm with 500 reviews and an overall rating of 4.7/5 will be interpreted as the superior business compared to a law firm with ten reviews and a rating of 3.9/5.
So, from an SEO perspective, building up your Google reviews must be a priority. Other than providing an excellent legal service, you can generate reviews by:
- Asking your satisfied clients.
- Make the process simple, such as by providing a QR code.
- Educate your clients on how important reviews are to you.
- Integrate a “Leave a Review” button directly into your website.
Above all, there are no shortcuts to getting reviews. It’s a long-term process. Don’t try to game the system by paying for reviews for a quick SEO boost, as it will only cost you later.
Getting your firm featured in local directories and business listings
Getting your firm featured in local directories, business listings and publications is a primary local SEO ranking factor. It lends authority to your brand and proves you are a reputable staple in your community.
In most cases, this is as simple as searching for said directories and listing websites and either doing it yourself or asking them to feature you.
But like any local SEO strategy, it’s not about taking a single action or focusing on one area. It’s about your law firm’s overall digital marketing strategy, and that’s where Tao Digital comes in.
Our expertise has enabled countless UK law firms to generate more leads and win more business while they focus on serving their clients. To learn more about online success in 2023 and beyond, reach out to us now.
