Yoast states, "A keyword, or a focus keyword as some call it, is a word that describes the content on your page or post best. It's the search term that you want to rank for with a certain page. So when people search for that keyword or phrase in Google or other search engines, they should find that page on your website."
A keyword is simply put a word or group of words entered into an online search engine to find information. For example, you would type the keyword "lawyer" to search for legal help.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is a method to increase your website activity without paying for placement. Search engines use SEO to determine which websites are ranked highest organically.
Blending keywords into the digital data of your legal practice's websites, business listings, and blogs is one way to improve your SEO. To be successful with SEO, however, you need to use the best keywords for your practice. Not all keywords are the same.
There are three different keyword styles.
Short-tail keywords are, as they sound, just one or two precise search word(s). Even though web users tend to use short-tail keywords such as "lawyer" or "legal services" when starting their online search, these popular keywords aren't enough to get your legal practice in the number one search result spot.
Why not?
Common short-tail keywords are often controlled by large corporations and brands.
Long-tail keywords have, as they sound, a longer word count. These more complex keywords allow you to stand out in your field by using keywords that relate directly to your services. Web users looking for legal help might use long-tail keywords such as "divorce attorney family law" or "personal injuries legal practice." These longer keywords help to automatically remove legal practices that do not provide these services. And in turn, help your legal practice advance in the search rankings.
Search engines will rank your digital data higher if you include a mixture of long-tail keywords specific to your industry.
Location-based keywords are, as they sound, referring to the physical legal practice location. Including Boise, Idaho in your digital data when your practice is in Boise can only be advantageous. Why?
It's simple. Web users tend to search the internet for legal help based on a specific location. This location could be where they live or where they were involved in a legal matter. Therefore, add "Boise" to your legal practice's digital data and jump ahead of any non-local practices in the search results.
They can. Knowing what a keyword is isn't enough to succeed. You also need to know what not to do with keywords as some keyword techniques can actually harm your SEO position instead of improving it.
Bulking up your digital data with every possible mix of keywords related to your legal practice is called keyword stuffing. This is not a beneficial SEO strategy that will work for your legal practice.
The key here is to focus on the "right" keyword combinations and not just the volume of keywords used. Search engines associate high search positions with quality digital data. If search engines detect monotonous digital data, they may drop your SEO position.
Search engines use sophisticated algorithms to locate sites and listings that are trying to deceive the system. These websites will see a drop in their SEO position if they are discovered. Black-hat methods are sure to prevent your website from being found in the top search results.
Here is an example of misrepresenting data. Although your website says that you have 20 attorneys in your legal practice, clients find out it's just you, and the other 19 attorneys are outsourced. Is it possible for clients to continue to trust you? Or was the negative review worth your distortion of the truth?
You can read more about SEO with this LOCALSYNC article - 10 Step Guide to Boosting your Site Rank.
But don't stop there. LOCALSYNC can be an excellent resource for your legal practice. Check out our online courses, tailored to meet your needs. Are you looking to continue with SEO or maybe switch to online marketing? There's also social media marketing or learning WordPress. So many tools under one roof!