Keyword Lists for Lawyers

Keyword research is one of those topics that has become too confusing with too many shiny objects. Before we talk about keyword research, let’s understand that this is a process of marketing research.

Marketing Research

Marketing research is merely the process of gathering analyzing and understanding information about a particular market.  In its simplest form, marketing research can be understood by two unique processes. Primary marketing research and secondary marketing research.

Primary marketing research is essentially gathering the information yourself, and secondary market research is relying on that information that others have already gathered.

In a perfect world, primary marketing research is getting you to the best data for your company however in many instances this is not feasible therefore we rely on secondary research.

I feel in the discussion of keyword research far too often to business owners and Internet marketers rely solely on secondary research.  I’ve always said the best keyword research is with the clipboard and walking through your local mall.

Buying Cycle

The buying cycle is the process that every customer client goes through when they decide to purchase a product or service.  It is very important that you offer lies your website for the stages of your client buy cycle.

It is said law firms and their clients go through four unique stages while making a purchase of attorney services.  (SOURCE: Disruptive Advertising).  Those are:

  1. Awareness
  2. Research
  3. Comparison & Purchase
  4. Retention & Referrals

The two stages that are most important for us and the phase of keyword research is stage two and stage three.

Research Stage of the Buying Cycle

After a client has recognized that they have a problem, such as a DUI or upcoming divorce, prospects have now become aware that they may need help and they begin to research.

The first thing we have to think about here is the feeling of the prospect.  How do they feel? Are they scared? Are they looking for answers to what might happen to them? Are they looking for a peace of mind with the timeline of their situation?

The bottom line is this they have a problem and there was a negative feeling associated with that problem. It is your job as the attorney to rid them of that feeling and provide a sense of relief. 

During the research phase, your prospective client is going to be researching keywords and key phrases that are related to getting an understanding of their situation.

These searches on Google are typically what we call long-tail keyword searches and are in the form of a question.

ACTIVITY TIP

Think of all the questions your prospects have asked you in the past.  Group those questions into groups labeled as your services…such as DUI questions, or divorce.

Now prioritize these questions.  You should easily be able to come up with at least a dozen per service.

With your three, four or maybe five lists of a dozen questions for each of your services, in order of priority (for frequency asked), this list is going to be very helpful later in your keyword research stage, plus serve as a content creation schedule, we’ll discuss later.

Comparison & Purchase Stage of the Buying Cycle

Your prospect has now decided they need to hire an attorney.  In many cases, prospective clients will go through the research stage mentioned earlier, however, in some cases they’ll already know they need an attorney and will proceed to find an attorney.

Of course, if you’ve served the client in the past and did great work, you’ll be on their radar.  However, if personal experience and recommendations fail, almost everyone and anyone will jump to google.

Buying keywords are your #1 keywords you want to rank for.  I consider a buying keyword to have one, two or all three of the following components.

  1. Core Term
  2. Modifier
  3. Geomod (Geographical modifier)

The Core Term is your service.

The Modifier is your practice.

The Geomod is your location.

In many cases, Google determines or overrides the geomod.  Whether it’s GPS location, cellular triangulation, IP trace code or user input, Google tends to solve the problem of the geomod for its users.

You can also see that there are several subsets of the main core term.  In this example, [car accident] or [nursing home abuse] are examples of two umbrella core terms.

There are really only three main modifiers, Lawyer, Attorney, and Law Firm.  The term [attorney] is searched on average twice as many times as [lawyer] and four times as many times as [law firm].

ACTIVITY TIP

Open Microsoft Excel (of your favorite spreadsheet software) and start with a blank canvas.

In the first column, write down in order of your priority, all your Core Terms.

In the next column, put down your modifiers.

Finally, list your geomods. This will include your City, State, County, Zip Code and any potential abbreviated local terms describing the area…In some cases this is the airport (hence airport code).

Once you have your list in three columns, jump over to this handy Local Keyword Tool and combine the three columns into one single list.

You should have a list of 40 to 100 of your top keywords.

Tracking

Everything that is measured improves.  Plain and simple.

There are several keyword tracking tools out there today, and it’s been a thorn in my side since I began with SEO.

There is not one single SEO tool out there that I love.  Some I like, most I don’t.

As far as tracking keywords, many of the tools simply track the organic listings and not the local listings. Most tracking tools emulate a typical good search from a specific geographical location.  Most only give a perspective from a single physical location.

Another way to measure keyword performance is to determine where a business ranks on Google for a variety of specific locations.

Unfortunately, there are no online ranking tools that do both.  So a combination of some of the online ranking tools out there, along with Google Analytics and Google My Business Insights, you can get a good perspective of where you rank along with potential opportunities.

Attorney Keyword Lists

Bankruptcy Attorney Keywords

Core Terms Core Modifiers Geomods
Attorney Business
Lawyer Civil
Law Firm Litigation
Foreclosure
Bankruptcy
Real Estate
Litigation

Business Foreclosure Attorney
Business Foreclosure Lawyer
Business Foreclosure Law Firm
Business Bankruptcy Attorney
Business Bankruptcy Lawyer
Business Bankruptcy Law Firm
Business Real Estate Attorney
Business Real Estate Lawyer
Business Real Estate Law Firm
Business Litigation Attorney
Business Litigation Lawyer
Business Litigation Law Firm
Civil Foreclosure Attorney
Civil Foreclosure Lawyer
Civil Foreclosure Law Firm
Civil Bankruptcy Attorney
Civil Bankruptcy Lawyer
Civil Bankruptcy Law Firm
Civil Real Estate Attorney
Civil Real Estate Lawyer
Civil Real Estate Law Firm
Civil Litigation Attorney
Civil Litigation Lawyer
Civil Litigation Law Firm
Foreclosure Attorney
Foreclosure Lawyer
Foreclosure Law Firm
Bankruptcy Attorney
Bankruptcy Lawyer
Bankruptcy Law Firm
Real Estate Attorney
Real Estate Lawyer
Real Estate Law Firm

 

Personal Injury Attorney Keywords

Law firm Personal Injury
Law firm Auto Accident
Law firm Automobile Accident
Law firm Motorcycle Accident
Law firm Medical Malpractice
Law firm Nursing Home Abuse And Neglect
Law firm Defective Products
Law firm Insurance Bad Faith
Law firm Commercial Trucking Accidents
Law firm Sexual Abuse
Law firm
Lawyer Personal Injury
Lawyer Auto Accident
Lawyer Automobile Accident
Lawyer Motorcycle Accident
Lawyer Medical Malpractice
Lawyer Nursing Home Abuse And Neglect
Lawyer Defective Products
Lawyer Insurance Bad Faith
Lawyer Commercial Trucking Accidents
Lawyer Sexual Abuse
Lawyer
Attorney Personal Injury
Attorney Auto Accident
Attorney Automobile Accident
Attorney Motorcycle Accident
Attorney Medical Malpractice
Attorney Nursing Home Abuse And Neglect
Attorney Defective Products
Attorney Insurance Bad Faith
Attorney Commercial Trucking Accidents
Attorney Sexual Abuse
Attorney
 Personal Injury
 Auto Accident
 Automobile Accident
 Motorcycle Accident
 Medical Malpractice
 Nursing Home Abuse And Neglect
 Defective Products
 Insurance Bad Faith
 Commercial Trucking Accidents
 Sexual Abuse

 

Family Law Lawyer Keywords

divorce Attorney

divorce Lawyer

divorce Law Firm

child custody Attorney

child custody Lawyer

child custody Law Firm

child support Attorney

child support Lawyer

child support Law Firm

military divorce Attorney

military divorce Lawyer

military divorce Law Firm

alimony Attorney

alimony Lawyer

alimony Law Firm

paternity Attorney

paternity Lawyer

paternity Law Firm

family law Attorney

family law Lawyer

family law Law Firm

third party custody Attorney

third party custody Lawyer

third party custody Law Firm

mediation Attorney

mediation Lawyer

mediation Law Firm

father\’s rights Attorney

father\’s rights Lawyer

father\’s rights Law Firm

prenuptial Attorney

prenuptial Lawyer

prenuptial Law Firm

 

 

 

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