Like any business, law firms want to know that the resources they devote to content marketing are going to deliver the results they’re looking for. However, it’s worth noting that just because you have taken the time to create and implement a digital marketing for law firms strategy does not mean that it will continue to be effective as time goes by. Search engines like Google are highly motivated to update their algorithms at an alarming rate in order to deliver high-quality results to searchers. According to Google, the company ran a staggering 4,781 launches, 16,871 live traffic experiments, and 719,326 search quality tests in 2023 alone. With the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, search engines are now even more committed to keeping up with these capabilities and harnessing their power in order to improve the overall quality and accuracy of the search results.
As a small- to mid-sized law firm, it’s worth reviewing your current content marketing strategy to ensure that it is still working for you. In recent years, the best practices for SEO for lawyers have changed, as it’s increasingly clear that focusing on SEO tactics alone is no longer enough to keep your law firm visible to potential clients when they are searching for legal information or services in their area. Instead, it’s worth exploring how the increasing availability of AI Overviews (i.e., zero-click searches) is shaking up the ways in which lawyers boost their online presence and engage with the clients they are hoping to serve. This post will explore how AI technologies are transforming the legal marketing landscape and how you can use this information to create a new SEO strategy that supports and achieves your digital marketing goals.
How AI Overviews Are Affecting Law Firm Websites and Online Engagement
Before the widespread implementation of AI-powered search tools, businesses looking to market their services online followed a few SEO best practices, such as incorporating keywords into their content, creating a user-friendly and intuitive website design, and posting regular blogs that addressed common client questions or concerns. When someone had a question about a legal topic, they would enter the terms into the search bar and review the search results. Almost always, the searcher would click on links that were displayed at the top of the search results page and visit the website for more information. However, with the arrival of Google’s AI Overview tool, searchers can skim through an AI-generated overview that is displayed at the top of the search results page. Many searchers rely on this summary to provide them with the answers they need, which means that they do not have to click through to any other websites in search of information.
While the AI Overview does provide links to some of the top websites from which it gathered the information to compile the summary, searches may not see the need to click through to these sites once they have read through the AI Overview. As a result, many law firms are seeing a decrease in the number of visitors to their websites, which can affect the effectiveness of their current digital marketing strategy for law firms.
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Adapting Law Firm SEO Services to Accommodate AI Overviews and Boost Online Visibility
So, what can your law firm do to boost your online presence and remain competitive in the age of AI Overviews? By shifting your focus from traditional SEO practices to optimizing your marketing strategy for a more comprehensive set of channels, you can start to see a more steady uptick in website traffic and client engagement. Here are a few simple tips to help you get the most out of your digital marketing for lawyers strategy.
Optimize Your Law Firm’s Content For Snippets and AI Overviews
Since AI Overviews appear at the top of the search results page, and these summaries rely on high-quality websites to inform the summary itself, it’s essential to optimize your law firm’s content to appeal to the AI-powered generative tool. For instance, AI Overviews rely heavily on question and answer formats to provide short and reliable information, so you can revise your current content according to an FAQ model. Additionally, you can structure your content with clear headings, subheadings, and bullet points to appeal directly to AI models that favor these easy-to-read formats.
Include Multiple Channels to Increase Your Reach
Websites are just one way to appeal to AI-powered algorithms. As AI Overviews rely increasingly on a wider range of content (i.e., short videos, Reddit forums, infographics, podcast transcripts, etc.), it’s worth expanding your current law firm content marketing strategy across different platforms. You can work with a highly experienced and knowledgeable digital marketing for law firms strategist for more specific guidance.
Implement Voice Search Optimization Strategies
More people are using voice search capabilities (like Google, Alexa, Siri, etc.) for answers or information. This hands-free option is a convenient way for someone to learn more about a legal topic without the hassle of typing in a search query. In order to reach more of these potential clients, it’s important to structure content to align with conversational queries. For instance, voice searches are much less formal than traditional searches, so adopting a casual and conversational tone when creating content for your website is the best way for algorithms to find your content and use it in response to a voice search request.
Recognize That AI-Powered Searches are the Future of Legal Marketing
It’s becoming increasingly clear that AI-powered searches are here to stay. Now is the time to start adapting your current digital marketing strategy for law firms to ensure that you do not get left behind.
With our results-driven approach to digital marketing, the dedicated and highly experienced team at LegalRev is ready to help your law firm increase your online presence and draw more clients to your practice. Give us a call today at (800) 893-2590 to get started with a skilled and knowledgeable content marketing for attorneys strategist.
