Legal Content Strategy Tips: Creating Compelling Content that Maintains Professional Standards

Legal Content Strategy Tips: Creating Compelling Content that Maintains Professional Standards

The challenge of creating legal content sits at a critical intersection: engaging potential clients while upholding the highest professional standards. As law firms increasingly recognize the importance of digital presence, many find themselves caught between these competing demands. The result often manifests as content that either reads like a legal brief, alienating potential clients, or oversimplifies complex legal concepts in a way that undermines the firm’s expertise.

What Issues Do Law Firms Face in Content Marketing?

Most growing  law firms understand the necessity of maintaining an active online presence. Yet the reality of content creation poses significant challenges for practicing attorneys. Some of these challenges include:

  • Time constraints make regular publishing difficult
  • Concerns about accuracy and compliance
  • Staying on top of current SEO best practices
  • Creating content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T)

The pressure to maintain SEO visibility while adhering to professional standards creates a burden that often results in inconsistent publishing schedules or compromised quality.

Consistently Create Excellent Content

Professional excellence in law firm content requires more than just legal  accuracy. While precise legal information forms the foundation of any piece, effective content must bridge the gap between legal expertise and client needs and understanding. This means developing content that demonstrates deep knowledge while remaining accessible to potential clients who may be encountering complicated legal concepts for the first time.

Consider the typical client’s journey: They rarely begin with sophisticated legal questions. Instead, they search for answers to pressing personal or business problems that happen to have legal implications. Effective content meets them at this point of need, gradually introducing legal concepts within the context of their situation.

The Art of Accessible Legal Writing

Creating accessible legal content doesn’t mean oversimplifying complex concepts. Rather, it requires a careful approach that layers information effectively. The best legal content begins with the client’s perspective, acknowledges their concerns, and then guides them through increasingly sophisticated understanding of their legal situation.

This approach appears in content that weaves together practical insights with legal expertise. For instance, a piece about business formation might begin with common entrepreneurial concerns before exploring how different legal structures address these issues. By anchoring legal concepts in real-world applications, the content becomes both more engaging and more valuable to readers.

Strategic Content Development

A comprehensive legal content strategy needs to address multiple objectives simultaneously. The foundation begins with core practice area pages that establish expertise and authority. These pages should offer deep insights into your firm’s approach while anticipating and addressing client questions and concerns. 

Building on this foundation, develop interconnected blog content that creates natural topic clusters around your main practice areas. This approach serves both SEO purposes and user experience by providing multiple entry points for potential clients while establishing deep expertise in specific areas of law.

To AI or Not AI: The Evolution of Legal Content Creation

The emergence of AI tools has introduced new possibilities in legal content creation, but also new considerations. While AI can enhance research and content development processes, it requires careful implementation to maintain professional standards. The trick is understanding how to leverage these tools while ensuring human expertise guides the final output.

Professional legal writers who understand both content creation and legal requirements can effectively navigate this landscape, using AI to enhance rather than replace human expertise. This balanced approach allows firms to maintain consistent, high-quality content production while ensuring every piece meets professional standards.

Implementing Professional Content Standards

Creating effective legal content requires a systematic approach that begins with careful planning. 

Each piece should align with firm objectives while meeting strict quality standards. This means establishing clear guidelines for style, tone, and compliance, along with implementing robust review processes that ensure accuracy without creating bottlenecks in publication.

The most successful content strategies incorporate regular performance review and optimization. This means tracking not just basic metrics like page views and time on site, but understanding how content contributes to client acquisition and firm growth. This data should inform ongoing content development, creating a cycle of continuous improvement.

Contact Us for Professional Legal Content Creation

Law firms increasingly recognize that effective content creation requires specialized expertise. Just as clients seek legal counsel for their specific needs, firms benefit from partnering with content specialists who understand both legal writing and digital content strategy. This approach ensures consistent, high-quality content that serves both marketing objectives and professional standards.

Professional legal content writers bring more than just writing skills to the table. We offer a deep understanding of how to create content that resonates with potential clients while maintaining the professional standards that law firms require. This expertise allows firms to focus on their practice while maintaining a strong and effective online presence.

Looking to elevate your firm’s content strategy? Let’s discuss how our team of specialized legal content writers can help create engaging, compliant content that drives results while upholding your firm’s professional standards. Contact our Lexicon Legal Content today.

How Targeting Long-Tail Keywords Can Help Smaller Law Firms Get More Clients

Trying to compete for cases as a small or mid-size law firm can feel like David fighting Goliath. The largest law firms in any given market seem to have endless marketing budgets. You’ll see them everywhere – on TV, on billboards, and (most relevant to this article) at the top of the search results for highly competitive search terms. On the other hand, smaller firms often struggle to get noticed despite their skill and ability.


Fortunately, there is a way for solos and mid-size firms to compete: targeting long-tail keywords in their content marketing. What is a long-tail keyword phrase, you ask? They are longer keyword phrases that are much more specific to what a consumer is looking for and are much more likely to convert into clients. 

Competing for Vanity Search Terms is Time-Consuming and Expensive

Vanity search terms are those terms that have a high monthly search volume – but typically a low conversion rate. In the legal field, these search terms typically follow this format: [City] + [Practice Area] + [Lawyer/Attorney]. Some specific examples of vanity search terms include:

  • Denver Car Accident Lawyer
  • Chicago Divorce Attorney
  • Los Angeles Bankruptcy Lawyer
  • Miami Truck Lawyer

Ranking for these search terms is extremely different, especially in competitive markets like major cities. The firms doing it are likely spending tens of thousands of dollars a month on marketing, including content creation, obtaining backlinks, and technical SEO. As a result, it may not be worth it for smaller firms to even try to rank for these terms. 

Long-Tail Keywords are Usually High-Intent Searches

While it’s certainly nice to show up at the top of the results for terms like this, the fact is that these terms often generate low-value traffic (more on that later). The fact is that people who are searching for “car accident lawyer” are likely much further from making a hiring decision than say, a person searching for “what to look for in a car accident lawyer” or “how to find a car accident lawyer near me.” 

Long-Tail Search Terms are Much Less Competitive

The good news for law firms with smaller marketing budgets is that long-tail keywords are much less competitive, meaning they are easier to rank for. While large firms may be able to dominate the top of the search results for high-volume search terms, they often overlook opportunities involving long-tail terms, giving smaller firms an opportunity to outrank larger competitors.

For example, terms like “how to find the best personal injury lawyer near me” or “what to look for when hiring a divorce attorney in Chicago” have far fewer competitors vying for that prime real estate on the first page of Google. These are the types of queries that signal a user is seriously considering hiring legal counsel and is further along in the decision-making process.

How to Target Long-Tail Keywords with Content Marketing

Now that we’ve established how focusing on long-tail keywords can help smaller law firms compete, the next step is putting that strategy into action through content marketing. 

Keyword Research

The foundation of any successful long-tail keyword strategy is in-depth keyword research. Look beyond the high-volume, competitive terms and uncover the specific phrases your potential clients are searching for. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs can help you identify relevant long-tail opportunities based on search volume, competition, and relevance.

Create Informative, Specific Content

Once you’ve identified the most promising long-tail keywords, create content that thoroughly addresses those topics. This could include:

The key is to provide genuinely helpful information that answers the user’s query in detail. Avoid thin, keyword-stuffed content – focus on quality over quantity.

Optimize for Search Engines

Proper on-page SEO is critical for ranking well for long-tail terms. Ensure your content features the target keyword prominently in the title, headers, URL, and throughout the body. Use related keywords and LSI terms to reinforce topical relevance. Schema markup, alt text, and other technical optimizations can also boost your visibility.

Build Authority and Links

Search engines also reward websites that demonstrate expertise, authority, and trustworthiness on a given topic. Promote your long-tail content through social media, outreach for backlinks, and guest posting opportunities. Over time, this will help your pages rank higher and reach more of your ideal clients.

Track, Test, and Iterate

Continuously monitor the performance of your long-tail content and make refinements based on the data. Which topics resonate most with your audience? Where are there opportunities to create additional content around related queries? Stay agile and responsive to keep improving your results.

Need Help with Your Law Firm Content Marketing? Call Us Today

Establishing an actionable content strategy and regularly creating well-performing law firm content requires a significant amount of time and expertise. At Lexicon Legal Content, our skilled team creates accurate, compliant, and optimized content for law firms throughout North America.  To learn more about how we can help you get more clients through law firm content marketing, contact us today!

SEO for Law Firms: How to Rank Higher in Search Results

In today’s digital age, the first place most people with legal problems go for help is a search engine such as Google or Bing. For lawyers and law firms, appearing at the top of search results can significantly increase visibility, attract potential clients, and grow the business.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a powerful tool that, when leveraged correctly, can help law firms achieve higher rankings in search results. Law firms need to understand the power of SEO and take on actionable strategies to rank higher in search results in order to stay afloat in such a competitive legal market.

Read on to learn more about how SEO can help law firms grow and connect with new clients.

Understanding SEO Basics

SEO is the process of optimizing your website to improve its visibility on search engines. It involves various techniques, strategies, and practices designed to enhance the quantity and increase the quality of traffic to your website through organic search results.

The goal of SEO is to make your website more attractive to search engines, which in turn helps it rank higher for relevant search queries. When your website ranks higher, it will be more visible to your desired audience of potential clients. Robust SEO strategies are necessary to attract potential clients online.

What are the Key Components of SEO?

SEO is often divided into several sub-areas that focus on different aspects of website optimization. Some of these sub-areas include the following:

On-Page SEO

Optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic. Keyword optimization, meta tags, content quality, internal linking, and user experience all contribute to on-page SEO.

Off-Page SEO

Actions taken outside your website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages (SERPs). Building backlinks from other reputable websites, social media marketing, and influencer outreach all impact your off-page SEO

Technical SEO

Optimizing the technical aspects of your website to ensure that search engines can crawl and index it effectively. Improving site speed, mobile-friendliness, site architecture, and schema markup all improve technical SEO.

Local SEO

For most law firms, local SEO is crucial. Why? Because most of the clients you want to draw are local. Local SEO involves improving your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. It includes claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing, getting reviews, and ensuring your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all platforms.

The Importance of SEO for Law Firms

When it comes to marketing, law is an incredibility competitive field, with hundreds of firms competing for cases. AS more and more consumers look to the internet when searching for professional services, it’s critical for law firms to make sure that their potential clients can find them online.

SEO offers numerous benefits for law firms, including:

  • Increased Visibility – Higher rankings in search results lead to increased visibility, making it easier for potential clients to find your law firm.
  • More Traffic – Optimized websites attract more organic traffic, which can translate into more inquiries and consultations.
  • Credibility and Trust – Websites that appear at the top of search results are often perceived as more credible and trustworthy. Effective SEO can enhance your firm’s reputation and authority.
  • Cost-Effective Marketing – SEO is a cost-effective marketing strategy – especially when compared to paid advertising. While it requires an investment of time and resources, the long-term benefits can be substantial.
  • A Competitive Advantage – A strong SEO strategy can give your law firm a competitive edge over others in your area who may not be investing in SEO.

Actionable SEO Strategies for Law Firms

How can law firms start “doing’ SEO? Here are some actionable tips to begin optimizing your law firms’ website:

1.     Keyword Research

Keyword research is the foundation of any successful SEO strategy. It involves identifying the search terms that potential clients use to find legal services.

Steps for Effective Keyword Research:

  • Brainstorm Potential Keywords: Start by brainstorming a list of keywords related to your practice areas and services. Don’t overthink this part, as these can be extremely simple.
  • Use Keyword Research Tools: Utilize tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to find relevant keywords with good search volume and low competition.
  • Analyze Competitors: Look at the keywords that your competitors are ranking for to identify potential opportunities.
  • Identify Long-Tail Keywords: Focus on long-tail keywords (phrases with three or more words) that are more specific and have less competition. For example, instead of “divorce lawyer,” use “best divorce lawyer in Dallas.”

2.     Optimize the Technical Aspects of Your Website

On-page SEO involves optimizing various elements of your website to improve its visibility and relevance. This involves ensuring that your title tags describe your website and contain relevant keywords. Additionally, you should make sure that each page has a meta description that describes the page and encourages people to click on the link.

You should also make your site easy to navigate by connecting related pages with internal links. This helps both users and search engines navigate your site. Finally, make sure that your site is mobile-friendly – meaning that it displays differently on mobile devices like smartphones. This last step is extremely important, as more than half of all searches occur on mobile devices these days.

3.     Build High-Quality Backlinks

Backlinks (links from other websites to your site) are a crucial factor in SEO. They signal to search engines that your content is valuable and authoritative. Think of them as a “vote” for your website. In addition, be aware that these votes are not all equal. For example, a backlink from Forbes is more valuable than a backlink from a shady or spammy site.

You may be thinking “how can I get people to link to my law firm’s site?” Fair question. Here are some strategies that can earn you backlinks:

  • Guest Blogging – Write guest posts for reputable legal blogs or websites. Include links back to your site in your author bio or within the content.
  • Legal Directories – Get listed in reputable legal directories and associations relevant to your practice area.
  • Write Great Content – Create valuable content, such as blog posts, infographics, or whitepapers, that others will want to link to.
  • Networking – Build relationships with other legal professionals, journalists, and bloggers who might link to your content.
  • Press Releases: Distribute press releases for significant events, such as awards or new hires, to gain media coverage and backlinks.

4.     Focus on Local SEO

For law firms, local SEO is essential to attract clients in your geographic area.

Local SEO Strategies:

  • Google My Business: Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing. Ensure your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are accurate and consistent.
  • Local Citations: Get listed in local directories and legal-specific directories with consistent NAP information.
  • Reviews: Encourage satisfied clients to leave positive reviews on Google, Yelp, and other review platforms.
  • Local Keywords: Include local keywords in your content, title tags, and meta descriptions. For example, use “personal injury lawyer in St. Paul” instead of just “personal injury lawyer.”
  • Local Content: Create content relevant to your local area, such as blog posts about local legal issues or news.

5.     Optimize for Technical SEO

Technical SEO ensures that your website is easily crawlable and indexable by search engines.

Let’s dive into some essential technical SEO best practices that can significantly boost your website’s performance. First up is site speed – a crucial factor in user experience and search engine rankings.

To get those pages loading quickly, focus on optimizing your images, leveraging a content delivery network (CDN), and streamlining your code. Next, don’t forget about your mobile visitors! Ensure your site is responsive and offers a smooth experience on smaller screens.

To help search engines understand your site structure, create and submit an XML sitemap – it’s like giving them a roadmap to your content. Speaking of search engines, use a robots.txt file to guide them on which pages to crawl and which to skip. Lastly, secure your site with an SSL certificate. Not only does this protect your users’ data, but it also gives you a nice bump in search rankings. By implementing these technical SEO practices, you’ll be well on your way to improving your site’s visibility and user experience.

6.     Create High-Quality Content

Above all else, remember that content is king in SEO. Regularly publishing high-quality content can help you attract and retain visitors, build authority, and improve rankings. You can create content is a variety of formats, all of which can improve your site’s rankings for relevant search terms. Some of the formats you should explore include:

7.     Monitor and Analyze Performance

When it comes to SEO, you can’t simply fix it and forget it – especially in a competitive field like law. SEO is an ongoing process, and you need to regularly check your rankings and take steps to improve or maintain them. There are various free tools you can use to monitor you’re your site’s performance, including Google Analytics and Google Search Console.  In addition, you can take a deeper dive and get actionable advice using paid tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz.

Contact Lexicon Legal Content for Your Law Firm SEO Content Needs

It can often be challenging for lawyers and law firms to keep up with the demanding and ever-changing needs of SEO when it comes to website content. If you need help in this area or don’t have the time to keep up with it yourself, we offer solutions. Our experienced attorney-led legal content writers have what it takes to produce high-quality SEO content. To learn more about our SEO content services, call our office or send us an email today.

Creating Effective Law Firm Content: A How-To Guide

No matter what type of law you practice, the content published on your website must be accurate, informative, and engaging while adhering to ethical guidelines and SEO best practices. If this seems like a lot to balance, you’re right. However, creating effective content for your legal website will not only attract many potential clients but can also establish your authority and convert visitors into leads. Here are some useful simple tips for creating compelling content for legal websites that will resonate with your readers.

Understand Your Audience

Before creating content, you should understand your target audience. Knowing who you are writing for will help tailor your content to their needs and preferences.

Identify Your Audience

Determine the demographics of your potential clients. Are they individuals or businesses? What legal issues are they facing? What legal concerns might they have? Understanding their needs and challenges will help you create relevant and valuable content.

Client Personas

Develop client personas to represent different segments of your audience. Visualizing who you are writing for and what kind of information they might seek can make your content more effective. A client persona can include demographic information like age, gender, location, occupation, income, and relationship status, as well as psychographic details like motivations, interests, pain points, and likes or dislikes. All of this will depend highly on the type of law you practice and the type of clients you serve.

Common Legal Issues

Identify common legal issues your audience faces. This could be anything from personal injury claims to business contract disputes. Addressing these topics will make your content more relevant and useful. It can be helpful to start by making a list of these general topics and then digging deeper into more specific topics under each one. Then, you can brainstorm titles for blogs or the focus of newsletters based on these particular topics or sub-topics.

Craft Engaging and Informative Law Firm Content

Creating content that is both engaging and informative is critical to attracting and retaining visitors to your legal website.

Clear and Concise Writing

Always keep your legal content clear and free of jargon. Avoid using complicated legal terms without a layperson’s explanation. Remember that your goal is to make the information accessible and understandable to a broad audience.

In-Depth Articles

Be sure you provide detailed information on legal topics. Comprehensive articles will help establish your authority and provide value to readers. However, keep your audience engaged by breaking the content into manageable sections with clear headings. Using bullet points and pictures or graphs can also help break up the text, making it easier to read.

Use Case Studies

Case studies are a powerful way to illustrate how legal principles apply in real-life situations. They provide practical examples that can help potential clients understand how you can help them and how specific laws might apply to their situations.

Client Testimonials

 Incorporate client testimonials and success stories. These add credibility and can help build trust with potential clients.

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are a great way to address common concerns and queries. They provide quick and accessible information that can help guide visitors through their legal concerns.

Incorporate SEO Best Practices for Legal Websites

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential for making your legal content discoverable and getting it to the top of the search results. Here are some SEO best practices to follow:

Keyword Research

Identify relevant keywords that potential clients might use when searching for legal services. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to determine high-volume, low-competition keywords that you will want to incorporate into your content.

On-Page SEO

Optimize your content for search engines by incorporating keywords naturally into your titles, headings, meta descriptions, and throughout all of the content. Keep your content well-structured by using H1, H2, and H3 tags.

High-Quality, Helpful Law Firm Content

Google prioritizes high-quality, authoritative content. Always focus on crafting informative, well-researched articles with the purpose of providing real value to your readers.

Internal Linking

Use internal links to connect related content on your website. This helps search engines understand the structure of your site and keeps visitors engaged. However, be sure to only link to credible, reliable websites.

Be Sure to Leverage Different Content Formats

Diversifying content formats can help engage a broader audience and improve the overall user experience.

  • Blog Posts – Regular blog posts on relevant legal topics can attract new visitors and keep your audience engaged. Blogs are also excellent for SEO, as they provide fresh content for search engines to index. It’s best to publish a blog at least once, if not two or three times per week, if feasible.
  • Videos – Video content is increasingly popular and can be particularly effective for explaining complex legal concepts. Consider creating video guides, interviews, or testimonials.
  • Infographics – Infographics are a visually appealing way to present information. They can simplify complex data and make it more engaging and digestible to an everyday audience.
  • E-books and Guides – Create and offer downloadable e-books or guides on specific legal topics. Doing so not only provides something of value to your potential clients, but it can also help with lead generation by capturing contact information in exchange for the download.
  • Podcasts – Podcasts are another popular and effective method to reach your audience. Discussing legal topics, interviewing various experts, or sharing client stories can position you as a thought leader in your field.

Monitor and Improve Content Performance

A laptop showing a pie chart and a rising line graph

You will want to regularly monitor your content’s performance and make improvements based on the data you find. If you want to see ongoing success, this is a necessary step.

  • Analytics: Use tools like Google Analytics to track the performance of your content. Monitor metrics such as page views, bounce rates, and conversion rates to understand what’s working and what isn’t.
  • User Feedback: Pay attention to user feedback and comments. While not all feedback you receive will be helpful, this can still provide valuable insights into how your content is being received and highlight areas for improvement.
  • A/B Testing: Experiment with different headlines, formats, and calls to action to see what resonates best with your audience. You might be surprised at how small changes can impact the reach of your content.
  • Regular Updates: Regularly update your content to ensure it remains accurate and relevant. This is particularly important for legal content, as laws and regulations can change. It’s also an essential piece of SEO.

Creating compelling content for legal websites requires a strategic approach that combines many factors, including:

  • Audience understanding
  • Engaging and informative writing
  • SEO best practices
  • Ethical considerations

By following these tips and tricks, you can create content that not only attracts and engages potential clients but also establishes your authority and credibility in the legal field. But don’t stop there. Be sure to regularly monitor and improve your content to ensure it continues to meet the needs of your audience and supports your business goals.

Having Trouble Creating and Maintaining Effective Law Firm Content for Your Website? Contact Lexicon Legal Content Today

If you’re like most attorneys or law firms, you already have a lot on your plate. You probably understand the value and importance of quality content on your website, but maybe you don’t have the time or the experience to give your content the attention it needs. This is where we come in.

At Lexicon Legal Content, we know what takes to create effective content that captures the attention of your potential clients. Our experienced attorney-led legal content writers are ready to take your website to the next level. To learn more, call our office or send us an email today.