Law firm SEO : Is blog most effective method?

Most law firm websites do poorly in search engine results.

The law firm’s marketing director is then charged with a hiring a SEO expert to improve things. Usually fails. Two reasons. One, the website was not architected to perform well for search engines. Search engine optimization is best performed when the site is designed and developed. Wait till after the fact and it’s too late.

Two, SEO is not cheap. Having just paid for a website, law firms do not want to pay much for SEO. A law firm marketing director I spoke with this week told me she was getting quotes ranging from $10,000 to $15,000. A good SEO firm here in Seattle just blogged about pricing an SEO campaign. $30,000 and up. The result is the firm pays a few thousand bucks and the SEO results reflect it.

Some marketing directors are evening instructed to learn about search engine optimization. They go to seminars and read books on SEO. It’s like sending a non-lawyer to a seminar on how to do estate planning. Not recommended.

What’s the best answer for SEO? A professional blog ought to at least be tested by a lawyer or practice area in the firm. A turnkey blog solution covering strategy, design, hosting, SEO, blog & RSS training, and free ongoing support costs a firm $200/month.

What do you get with such a blog? Do a Google search for Sacramento Estate Planning Lawyer, IP Litigation Lawyer, California Business Bankruptcy Lawyer, New York Legal Malpractice Lawyer, Phoenix Divorce Lawyer, Food Poisoning Lawyer, or Electronic Discovery Lawyer.

At or near the the top of the organic results (non-sponsored links) you’ll see such a law blog. May not be titled for Google as a blog headline in blue. But blogs nonetheless.

No one can guaranty perfect Google placement with blogs, but well done blogs often have what it takes to achieve cost effect search engine performance.

Technorati Tags: law firm marketing, seo