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Gone are the days when you could focus on a handful of keywords or key phrases, plug them into your content, and win the search engine marketing game.
Now, using keywords is a subtler art, and it’s easy to make unwitting mistakes that can harm your overall marketing strategy. If you want to learn how to use keywords the right way for your modern online audience, let’s start by talking about how and where keywords can go wrong in your website content.
4 Types of Keywords to Avoid on Your Website
More keywords aren’t always better, and not just any keyword will do. As you write content for your law firm’s website, try to avoid these four keywords mistakes:
Keywords with awkward implications.
Are you accidentally giving off “Better Call Saul” vibes? It’s a common mistake, but calling yourself a “criminal attorney” in your content implies that you might need a “criminal defense attorney,” yourself. Even when keywords sound like something your potential clients might search for, you have to be careful about what they might mean to your readers in context and how they actually read on the page. Otherwise, you could end up giving the wrong impression about your law firm.
The same keywords over and over.
While your homepage and main practice area pages benefit from the use of your major target keywords, it is overkill to stuff those same keywords into every headline and every blog, FAQ, or article on your site. The real “meat” of your content should be written with your readers in mind, and they will notice if your otherwise helpful content is stuffed full of the same jarring keywords again and again. If you’re really writing for your perfect clients, powerful key phrases and keywords will naturally arise and attract search traffic. This can be a tough balance to find, so don’t be afraid to ask us for guidance. You can also find out more about including keywords in the titles, headlines, and meta descriptions for your website.
Overused, clichéd keywords.
Leaning too much on broad, general keywords for your law firm—"St. Louis car accident lawyer,” for example—puts you in direct competition with tons of other law firms that are also hoping to capture potential clients’ attention online. While having a handful of major target keywords is fine, you should aim to build an information-rich website that uses a variety of relevant keywords to attract exactly the types of clients you want to work with. The traffic you get for less competitive keywords and “long-tail” key phrases might even surprise you or outperform your “old standards.”
Keywords based on industry jargon.
The legal industry is full of jargon that might be used by colleagues, but not clients and their family members. That’s why you need to be in touch with the kinds of words people are really using to search. Don’t spend a lot of time emphasizing keywords that will only bring in other lawyers or legal content writers. Instead, do a little keyword research and decide which keywords work best for your law firm and your perfect clients. If you aren’t sure where to start, try asking your past and present clients what kinds of search terms they used when searching for you.
Are You A Lawyer Or podiatrist Who Wants To Learn How Solid Content Can Earn You More Clients?
If you are seeking a trusted, authoriative partner to help you write content that not only attracts but actually converts into clients, Foster Web Marketing is here to help. Contact us online or call our office directly at 888.866.0939 to schedule your free consultation. We have been helping clients throughout the United States and internationally since 1998 are confident we can help you not only reach, but exceed your goals.
