Investing in SEO: Benefits, Drawbacks, and Key Consideration

The field of marketing has changed drastically over the years which has caused companies from a variety of industries to reconsider their existing marketing strategies. Certain industries, such as legal, have been particularly impacted by the rise of digital marketing.

For those who find this unfamiliar, digital marketing refers to marketing practices in which a company connects with customers via the Internet, as opposed to traditional means.

With digital marketing growing at a stable rate of 10% per year, it’s clear that investing in this new form of advertising is the best way to grow a business. However, knowing where to start is something else entirely. To successfully launch a comprehensive digital marketing campaign, a business needs to build a foundation around search engine optimization to bolster its online presence.

Learn everything there is to know about this building block of digital marketing and how it can benefit your business.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

First and foremost, building out an SEO campaign calls for an understanding of the definition. Search engine optimization, SEO for short, refers to the complex process of increasing the number of visitors to a website to get that website to rank higher on Internet search engines.

Search is one of the primary methods by which a person finds information on the Internet, with up to 92% website clicks occurring on just the first page of a search engine result. By building an SEO strategy that increases a digital footprint, any company can successfully rank higher on search engines to drive more traffic to their site and create more brand recognition online.

How Much Does SEO Cost to Integrate?

Oftentimes, businesses refuse to adopt SEO strategies into their marketing campaigns because they feel it may be too expensive an investment to justify. However, the cost of SEO services is not expensive and even small businesses can afford a starter SEO package through the majority of providers. Considering the cost of a website, paying that bit extra for SEO is a worthwhile investment indeed.

For reference, the majority of businesses pay around four figures per month, with the upper end being $5,000 for SEO services every month. However, SEO services can be as little as $100 per month for basic services, depending on the scope of your business and project.

Some examples of common services that come with SEO integration for the above price include:

• A complete website audit that determines the current status of a website’s SEO
• Keyword research on behalf of an organization to identify the most relevant topics
• Internal linking and external backlinking help to build authority
• Overall content development and management
• Meta tag and header tag optimization

Typically, a business can pay a single flat rate for any of the above services to be performed. From there, it is up to the company whether or not they want to pay a monthly amount for SEO services to be continually monitored over time or if they are satisfied with what has been set up.

Common Ways SEO Can Benefit Lawyers

Weighing the pros and cons of any investment can be a challenge, but the best way to start is to identify what the potential business benefits would be along with what the potential downsides look like. For legal firms, search engine optimization offers the following notable pros and cons:

Pros of Investing in Search Engine Optimization

• SEO will bring a larger amount of organic traffic to your site that is actually interested in your content or services
• SEO allows a business to generate new leads at an extremely low start price point
• Effective SEO strategies allow a company to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition
• Brand awareness for a company will be increased through SEO, which is beneficial for creating additional marketing campaigns in the future
• A brand can establish itself as a subject matter expert in their field through SEO

Cons to Investing in Search Engine Optimization

• Implementing an SEO strategy takes time and results won’t be seen overnight, which can be frustrating
• Keyword research within an overly saturated industry is extremely and often less rewarding
• Search engine algorithms are constantly changing which means the perfect SEO strategy doesn’t last forever
• While the starting price point is low, SEO integration can quickly become expensive

Building an SEO Strategy from Scratch: Tips to Keep in Mind

After weighing all the pros and cons associated with creating an SEO strategy for your legal firm, and assuming you have decided to take the plunge, learning to build your SEO is the next step. There are a few primary tips to keep in mind as you begin designing a strategy that fits your business:

1. Know the keywords within your industry or find a partner who can effectively research the hot keywords you need to use
2. Ensure all content you publish to your website is evergreen content that will never go out of style
3. Always vet every link that exists on your site to be sure you aren’t linking out to an unaccredited page
4. Don’t forget to focus on page titles for your website
5. Use SEO analytical tools to evaluate your SEO campaign for modification
6. Define your SEO goals so that you can have a roadmap to follow as you begin building out the campaign
7. Start a blog section on your website so that you can educate viewers who visit your site
8. Always design content with people in mind, as opposed to search engines

Grow your legal practice faster with digital optimization

While enhancing your digital marketing strategy may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering how to grow your law firm, it is a necessity nonetheless. To that end, starting by building out your SEO strategy is the best first step.

This will allow your organization to establish a digital footprint that will bolster all future digital marketing campaigns launched. Start the process of growing your firm faster by investing in SEO improvements today.