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:
- Awareness
- Research
- Comparison & Purchase
- 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.
- Core Term
- Modifier
- 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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