Law Firm Website On-Page SEO Best Practices Guide

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1 In Collaboration With Law Firm Website On-Page SEO Best Practices Guide When it comes to on-page content optimization for websites, there are very specific elements you need to review to ensure they re consistent with best practices. These elements help search engines establish the topical focus of your website and individual pages as well as identify the specific level of detail your website offers. This checklist identifies specific website on-page elements to review, as well as their importance and the best practices associated with each element. Outline of Content Elements Reviewed in this Guide Title Tag Meta Description Tag Meta Keywords Tag H1/Header Tags Body Copy Image-Based Tags Video-Based Tags Anchor Text This Best Practices Checklist will explain the best practices for each of the elements above and how to ensure they re optimized on your law firm website. NOTE: Where HTML5 tags are recommended, the search engines have not come out and directly stated they value specific tags. This guide s recommendations are based simply on grouping content in a concise and logical manner.

2 Title Tag Definition: The Title Tag is the title of your web page. It s also the link that shows up in search engine searches. Example: Code View Search Result View SEO Benefits: Search engines read/analyze your title tag to figure out what the page is about. If you don t have a title tag, the search engine will have a more difficult time establishing the focus of your web page. The search engines also want to see that you have a Title tag for your web page that will communicate what the topic of the page is to users who discover your page through their result pages. SEO Best Practices Checklist: Title tags need to be unique (no two should be exactly alike within the entire website) Title tags should be keyword/topic focused (based on topical/keyword research) Title tags should be around 6 to 12 words long (no more than 66 characters) Title tags should have the Company/Website name toward the end of the tag Example: A Title tag for a page that offers Chapter 7 Bankruptcy information Poorly Optimized: <title>website.com Laws Chapter 7</title> It s poorly optimized because it leads with the website name and doesn t contain the complete topical/keyword focus. Well Optimized: <title>chapter 7 Bankruptcy Information and Advice WEBSITE.COM</title> It s well optimized because it leads with the very specific topical/keyword focus of the page and is of optimal length.

3 Meta Description Tag Definition: The Meta Description Tag further describes what your web page is about. It s also what appears in the search engine results page right below the Title tag. Example: Code View Search Result View SEO Benefits: Search engines read the Meta Description tag to find out more about your site. If you don t have a Meta Description tag for your web page, the search engines won t have a description to include in results pages. SEO Best Practices Checklist: Meta Description tags need to be unique (no two should be exactly alike within the entire website) Meta Description tags should be topic/keyword focused (based on topical/keyword research) Meta Description tags should be around 12 to 24 words long (no more than 156 characters w/ spaces) Meta Description tags may contain the Company/Website name; however it should be placed towards the end of the Meta Description tag. Example: A Meta Description Tag for a page that offers Chapter 7 Bankruptcy information Poorly Optimized: <meta name= description content= WEBSITE.com offers a wide assortment of law-related information and details. We offer legal tips, FAQs, attorney resources and much more. We are one of the largest resources on the web for legal help and advice. Find out more. > It s poorly optimized because it s too long and doesn t focus on the specific detail of the page of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy information. Well Optimized: <meta name= description content= If you re looking for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy information, check out WEBSITE.COM. We are one of the largest resources on the web for legal help and advice. > It s well optimized because it contains the topical/keyword focus of the page and is of optimal length.

4 Meta Keywords Tag Definition: The Meta Keywords Tag is a comma-delimited list of keywords that summarize the topics discussed on the web page Example: Code View Search Result View The Meta Keywords are only seen in the code. The search engines do not use them in their result pages. SEO Benefits: NONE. Over time the search engines have devalued the Meta Keywords tag due to spamming, but this doesn t mean they won t make a switch to leveraging the meta keywords tag for other search-related analyses. The goal with meta keywords is to make sure the meta keyword tags on each page do not appear spammy (ie. overused and redundant). SEO Best Practices: Meta Keywords tags need to be fairly unique (no two should be exactly alike within the website) Meta Keywords tags should be keyword focused (based on actual terms/variations of terms used on the web page) Meta Keywords tags should be around 6 to 12 words long (if there are enough valued keywords to add to the tag) Do not repeat keywords more than 4 times within the Meta Keywords tag. If it s not possible to apply such best practices across all Meta Keywords tags on the site, you may remove them from all pages. Example: A Meta Keywords tag for a page that offers Chapter 7 Bankruptcy information Poorly Optimized: <meta name= keywords content= law, law services, law advice, law resources, law help, law information, law info, legal, legal services, legal advice, legal resources, legal help, legal information, legal info, > It s poorly optimized because it contains too many words and repeats the words law and legal too many times. It basically appears spammy. Well Optimized: <meta name= keywords content= chapter 7 bankruptcy information, chapter 7 bankruptcy help, resources, services, website.com > It s well optimized because it contains an optimal number of words and does not overly repeat words.

5 Header Tags Definition: Header tags are HTML tags used to stylize specific text. Header tags include <H1><H2><H3><H4><H5><H6>. Example: Code View <h1 id="" style="visibility: visible;" class="title"><span>types</span> of Bankruptcies</h1> On-page View SEO Benefits: Search engines look for Header tags to identify the structure and level of detail of your content. The search engines are looking for related keywords to be used in the header tags that show you are providing very specific details on a larger topic. SEO Best Practices: You should only have one H1 tag per web page Heading tags shouldn t be more than 10 words long (preferably 3 to 7 words) Use primary topical/keyword(s) in H1 Header tag Use secondary/tertiary keywords in additional Header tags If your site is in HTML5, use the following tags: o <hgroup></hgroup>: wrap header tags in sequence with these tags to better show the relationship between headers. Example <hgroup> <h1>personal Injury Services Explained</h1> <h2>what We Do at Bill Smith and Associates</h2> </hgroup>

6 Example: Header tags for a page that offers Chapter 7 Bankruptcy information Poorly Optimized: <H1>Information, services, resources, help, advice and tips on Chapter 7</H1> <H2>Hello World</H2> It s poorly optimized because the H1Tag contains too many words and isn t as topical/keyword focused; the H2 Tag doesn t appear to support the larger topic. Well Optimized: <H1>Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Information and Resources</H1> <H2>Frequently Ask Questions</H2> It s well optimized because the H1Tag contains topic/keyword focused keywords and is of optimal length; the H2 Tag appears to provide more detailed content on Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.

7 Body Copy Definition: Body copy is the text on the page. Anything included within the Body Tags on your web page will be seen as topically focused to the search engines. This may include navigation, ads, etc. Example: Code View On-page View SEO Benefits: Search engines need to be told what your web page is about. The Title tag and Meta tags give search engines an idea of what the page is about, but the body copy needs to drive home the point. By optimizing your content for top and secondary topical keywords, you re helping the search engine index your web page properly. SEO Best Practices: Body Copy should be unique on each and every page within your website AND across the Internet Body Copy should be about 500 words (preferably no less than 200 words) Body Copy should be interesting to the reader AND ALSO include the necessary keywords If your site is in HTML5, use the following tags: o <article></article> : wrap the text of your article with these tags to identify the specific content associated with the article. It helps reduce bleed over from other content that s not directly related to the article (like advertisements, navigation, etc.)

8 Example <article> Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go. </article> o <section></section> : wrap the text of specific content sections on one page with these tags when the content is not in an article format (e.g. home page or category pages). It helps identify separate thoughts/categories/topics within one page and the content associated with it. Example <section> We offer bankruptcy services Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. </section> <section> We offer personal injury services Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. </section> How to Analyze On-page Content The best way to analyze on-page content is to complete the following steps: Take the first three sentences of the on-page content and do a quoted search for it in Google o If other sites come up having the entire three sentences on their site, then the content is not 100% unique and should be rewritten. Next, read the primary content and ask yourself the following questions about the content: o Is it informative? If no, it needs to be improved so it provides value to the reader. o Is it well written? If no, it needs to be rewritten.

9 o Did you stumble over multiple keyword mentions? If yes, those keyword mentions need to be reduced o Did you notice specific keywords that clearly inform and define details about the larger topic? If no, find opportunities in the content to naturally include relevant keywords Read through all navigational/linked content Ask yourself the following questions about the content: o Does the content used within the navigation read naturally? If no, then adjust the navigation so it reads naturally o Do the content/keywords used with the navigation seem redundant across other navigational elements? If yes, then reduce the redundancy in content so that the navigation is simple yet topically focused Example: Analyzing content on a page that offers Child Custody information Is this content unique, informative, well-written and read naturally? Example: Is the content used within the navigation redundant? This page is well optimized because it reads naturally and is unique. This page has well optimized navigation because it doesn t use the term attorney repeatedly in the practice area links.

10 Web Images Definition: Web images are pictures utilized within a web page. Some images may be utilized on specific pages while others may be utilized site wide. Example: Code View On-page View SEO Benefits: Search engines look at ALL elements on the page, including images. Unfortunately, search engines can t see specific details in an image. But they can see the elements of an image including: Alt text Image filename Image title Text surrounding the image By optimizing these elements you ll be able to provide details to the search engines they can analyze. SEO Best Practices: Filename should use topic-specific terms that relate directly to the subject matter of the image o Do not stuff keywords in the filename. Create a natural and descriptive filename for the image. o Filenames should be all lower case. o Filenames should NOT contain spaces

11 o o Filenames shouldn t be more than 10 words Filenames can include dashes or be condensed together. Keep the number of dashes used in the entire filename under 10. Acceptable Examples: jpg Alt text should use topic-specific terms that relate directly to the subject matter of the image o The text should be similar to the filename but more specific o Do not stuff keywords in the alt text. Create a natural and descriptive alt text for the image. o Alt text shouldn t be more than 7 words Image title should use topic-specific terms that relate directly to the subject matter of the image o The text should be similar to the alt text but not identical. o Do not stuff keywords in the image title. Create a natural and descriptive image title for the image. o Image title shouldn t be more than 5 words Surround the image with content that supports the subject matter of the image o Typically a short caption is used to clarify the image when it s used within articletype content o In cases where an image is being used for advertising/header/banner, do not add additional content around the image. o If your site is in HTML5 and you have image captions, use the following tags: <figure></figure> : wrap each image and related content in these tags to connect all related elements more effectively <figcaption> </figcaption> : if your image has a caption, wrap the caption within these tags to better identify the content as a caption. Also, be sure to have these tags within the <figure></figure> to better connect the caption with a specific image Example: <figure> <img src=" " alt="bill Smith Personal Injury Attorney" width="304" height="228" /> <figcaption>bill Smith is a Personal Injury Attorney servicing the San Diego, CA area.</figcaption> </figure>

12 Example: Creating image filename and alt text for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy-related image Poorly Optimized: Filename: image1_blue.jpg Alt text: WEBSITE.com small image Caption: Image of Bill Smith Well Optimized: Filename: image1-billsmith-chapter7-banruptcy attorney.jpg Alt text: Bill Smith Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney Caption: Bill Smith is a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy attorney that specializes in bankruptcy cases in the San Diego area.

13 Web Videos Definition: Web videos are videos utilized within a web page. Videos are typically embedded within a web page and used as the main piece of content on the page or as a supplement to page content. Example: Code View On-page View SEO Benefits: Search engines look at ALL elements on the page, including videos. Unfortunately, search engines can t see specific details in a video. But they can see the elements of a video including: Title Tag Meta Data H1 Tag

14 Text surrounding the video By optimizing these elements you ll be able to provide details to the search engines they can analyze. SEO Best Practices: Each video should be on its own page with a unique Title Tag/Meta Data/On-page content supporting the topical focus of the video o It s OK to have a video player that allows users to browse through various videos without leaving the page, but there should also be a directory where each video is on its own optimized page If the video is NOT the main piece of content, there should be a caption explaining what the video is about. o If space does not allow for a video caption, at least provide a header/on-page title for the video in proximity to the video. Example: Elements surrounding an embedded How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy video Poorly Optimized: Title Tag: WEBSITE.com Law Chapter 7 Meta Description: We offer legal tips, FAQs, attorney resources and much more on Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. We are one of the largest resources on the web for legal help and advice. Find out more. Caption: Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Video Well Optimized: Title Tag: How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Video WEBSITE.com Meta Description: Watch this video on how to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Get all the information and details at WEBSITE.com. Caption: A video on How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. This informative video will inform you about all the ins and outs of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and what you need to know to file.

15 Link Anchor Text Definition: Internal Text links are links to additional pages confined within the site itself. Example: Code View On-page View SEO Benefits: Internal Text links are all considered to be highly relevant, in varying degrees, so important keywords and keyword phrases should be targeted in every anchor text link. It helps strengthen keyword relevancy. However, you don t want to overuse anchor text or links within your text. Links should be used to point to other information about the topic being discussed on the page. SEO Best Practices: Internal Text links should contain keywords focused on the page to which they re pointing o Feel free to use click here or read more, however it s better if you can figure out a user-friendly way to use keyword-focused anchor text. Try to only use one link for every 100 words of content on the page Don t repeat the same link over and over using different anchor text Try to link to a page only once within the text o The search engines will only pass value from the first link found on the page, from a code perspective

16 Example: Anchor text pointing to a How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy page Poorly Optimized: If you re looking for more information on filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, go to Well Optimized: For more information, read our guide on How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.