In the ever-changing world of law firm marketing and search engine optimization (SEO), relatively short and weak pages generally cause more harm than good for website owners. That is especially true in the legal world, where current and prospective clients are looking for more information via long-form content. Long-form content consists of extensive print media combined with photos, graphics, videos and other complementary multi-media content.
The idea is to create a unique user experience, while providing a lot of useful information for website visitors. It is possible to interact with visitors, either live or via virtual assistance, to create a more personal and customized user experience. The more law firm websites engage visitors with long-form content, the more they can keep readers engaged.
While long-form content has many advantages, law firms with websites that contain a significant amount of short content do not have to redo their entire websites. Each page is already indexed by Google and other search engines.
Instead, the shorter content can be added up to create stronger pages or can be used to support long-form content.
How long-form improves SEO
Search engine rankings are what drive more online marketing efforts. The better the ranking on popular search terms, the more people are likely to visit a website for the first time. That means new client leads, more cases and greater profitability for law firms. Ultimately, this is the goal of your law firm's SEO strategy.
Long-form content typically ranks well in Google within a short period of time and also improves time on site.
Establish credibility and authority
Another way long-form content can help law firms promote their practices via websites is to establish authority and credibility among consumers. The more relevant content provided that informs readers of matters that are important to them, the more authoritative the website becomes. Also, long-form content can attract truly organic links if they have a lot of charts, graphs, and statistics that other websites can source.
Long-form content that informs the readers also keeps them engaged. The more time potential clients spend on a law firm’s website, the more likely they are to use that law firm’s services. Providing long-form content can help to keep those readers engaged and reading longer.
A study by WordStream shows long-form content increases user engagement by a great margin. During a testing period, WordStream determined publishing more long-form content increased average time spent on its website from 1:33 to 4:35. The additional 3 minutes spent on the site added up to greater conversions and profitability.
Where can law firms find the additional material they need for that engaging long-form content? They can find that content by culling through the existing library of shorter works, link to them, and create entirely new long-form content under the same URL. That new content keeps readers engaged, directs them to other parts of the website, and enables law firms to make more significant connections with potential future clients.