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Attorney Website Content: What It Is and Why You Need It

Attorney Website Content: What It Is and Why You Need It

Posted on by David B. Arato

Law firms tend to be in the slow lane when adopting modern marketing trends. The legal industry is understandably conservative, and that risk-averse stance is indeed reflected in content marketing successes and failures. What makes for stand-out, high-ranking attorney website content is often outside the comfort zone of most attorney brands. Safe, salesy content is regularly chosen over true thought leadership that converts readers not just into clients but into superfans who help expand your reach. Lexicon Legal Content can help!

Website Content for Law Firms: The Basics

Before we get started, let’s define some terms. “Content” refers to anything your law firm creates simply to offer value to your target market—articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, ebooks, printables, etc. “Website content” specifically refers to both blog articles and fixed pages on your law firm’s website that aim to educate, entertain, or otherwise help readers.

What Makes Law Firm Content Marketing Effective?

Stellar law firm website content builds relationships and creates trust with the audience. As Google says, “Focus on people-first content.” What does that mean? It means you are writing an article, creating a video, or designing an infographic with the primary purpose of giving something genuinely helpful to your target market, not with the goal of using a certain keyword phrase, hitting a certain word count, or boosting an SEO term that’s currently underperforming in your analytics. Of course, at Lexicon Legal Content, we are experts at finding creative ways to marry these two concepts, but good writing is non-negotiable.

Let’s break down what makes the difference between safe and high-performing law firm website content:

Creating Human-to-Human Connections

The best content marketing speaks directly to your audience in a relatable and authentic manner—it’s transparent. By adopting a conversational tone and using storytelling techniques, for example, you can create human-to-human connections that resonate with your target audience. This personal touch helps potential clients feel like you “get” them.

Give, Give, Give, Give, Ask

Too much law firm website content focuses on promoting rather than giving. However, the most effective content marketing takes a different approach. The right balance is to give 10 or more times before asking for something like a follow, visit to a contact page, or signing up for a newsletter. By consistently delivering high-quality content that educates, informs, and engages AND then asks for something, you build credibility that converts.

Avoid Creating Search Engine-First Content

In Google’s own words, you should focus on creating people-first content to be successful with Google Search rather than search engine-first content made primarily to gain search engine rankings.

When Lexicon Legal Content crafts content we strike the necessary balance between writing for humans while implementing SEO best practices. What we don’t do is look at your content as a keyword delivery system.

By providing thoughtful, relevant information, you not only improve your search engine rankings but also maximize what truly makes content marketing effective—the fact that it gives value that drives trust, loyalty, and authority.

How Does High-Quality Website Content Get Law Firms More Clients?

In today’s digital age, potential clients are increasingly turning to the internet to find legal representation. But how exactly does exceptional website content translate into new clients for law firms? Let’s explore the powerful connection between content quality and client acquisition.

Dominating the SERPs

The search engine results pages (SERPs) are the search engines’ results to a user query. In other words, it’s what you get back when you conduct a search.

Attorney website content screenshot

By optimizing your website content with strategic keywords, the right balance of internal and external links, and truly brilliant writing, you increase your chances of appearing higher in SERPs. As you would guess, the higher you rank for relevant search terms, the more visible your firm becomes, leading to increased website traffic and more clients. Very few people scroll past the first few listings in an online search, so if you want to get clients online, you need great content.

Better Content Builds Trust

By providing clear, accessible explanations of complex legal concepts – from the nuances of employment discrimination to the steps involved in estate planning – you position your firm as a helpful resource that transforms overwhelming legal challenges into manageable processes. This educational approach helps potential clients feel more confident in reaching out for professional assistance, as they recognize both your expertise and your commitment to helping them understand their legal situation before they even schedule their first consultation.

Quality Content Gets People to Reach Out

Great content doesn’t just inform – it motivates readers to take the next step. Well-crafted content drives potential clients to reach out by highlighting time-sensitive legal matters, statutes of limitations, and the benefits of early legal intervention, helping readers understand why they shouldn’t delay seeking legal help. Strategic placement of contact information, consultation offers, and clear calls to action throughout your content makes it easy for readers to reach out when they’re ready. Each piece should include natural transition points that guide readers toward taking action. Remember that different readers prefer different methods of contact, so your content should highlight various ways to connect – whether through phone calls, contact forms, email, or live chat. This variety of options makes it comfortable for every potential client to reach out in their preferred way.

Authoritative Link Building

Quality content naturally attracts links from other reputable websites, which search engines interpret as votes of confidence in your expertise. When other legal resources, news outlets, or industry publications reference your content, it strengthens your firm’s digital authority.

Crafting Law Firm Website Content That Ranks

Creating content that ranks requires a strategic approach. This is where Lexicon Legal Content excels—we weave the nuts and bolts of SEO with the finesse of good writing. Here are a few key elements to consider:

Create Unicorns

Law Firm Content Unicorn wth Disco Balll

In the world of SEO and content marketing, a “unicorn” is your break-out blog post that goes viral and generates a significant amount of traffic. It’s not uncommon for a unicorn to bring in as much as 70-80 percent of a law firm’s traffic.

How do you create a unicorn if you don’t already have one? What is the one blog post that only you could write? For example, if you are an immigration lawyer, but you are also someone who was granted citizenship through a VAWA petition, your unicorn blog post might be an insider’s guide to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) from the dual perspective of both an attorney and a survivor. Once you find the niche, then pour all of your story, experience, and knowledge into the post.

Be Aware that Your Law Firm Website is Held to a Higher Standard

YMYL is an SEO term meaning “Your Money or Your Life.” It refers to website content that can deeply affect the course of your life. As attorneys, understanding the YMYL philosophy is particularly important because legal issues can indeed be life and death.

Google holds YMYL content to a higher standard of excellence. If a gossip column publishes something inaccurate, the ranking penalty will be less significant than if an attorney did the same thing. Google pays close attention to the quality and credibility of YMYL legal content, so demonstrating your expertise becomes even more critical.

E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness)

A graohic explaining E-E-A-T for law firm content

E-E-A-T is Google’s guideline for what differentiates a poor blog post from a superstar. E-E-A-T is a primary factor in deciding whether to rank one article over another. E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

At Lexicon Legal Content, every law firm blog post we create is judged by our attorney editors on how much E-E-A-T it demonstrates. This can include information about your legal background, work history, previous cases, testimonials, or accolades you’ve earned to establish credibility and trust. Additionally, citing credible sources, referencing case studies and specific statutes, and providing valuable insights further enhance your law firm’s authority.

No Keyword Stuffing

Keyword usage must be natural and organic. “Keyword stuffing” refers to over-using a certain SEO-friendly phrase to the point that your article is awkward to read. It’s right up there with Blackhat SEO techniques, like leaving spammy blog comments that link back to your law firm’s website. Keyword manipulation makes your content less reader-friendly, which destroys the pure intent of offering readers helpful information. It also results in penalties from search engines. Yes, be strategic about putting a blog post together, but ensure your article remains reader-friendly.

Your Trusted Source for Stellar Law Firm Website Content

Let us worry about getting your law firm website content on page one while you focus on your clients. Lexicon Legal Content is a well-established, attorney-owned content marketing agency dedicated to helping hundreds of law firms around the country turn their websites into lead-generating machines. Contact us to discuss how we can help you grow your firm’s online reach today.

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

Posted on by David B. Arato

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!

FAQs: Can Lawyers Use AI-Generated Content for Marketing?

Posted on by David B. Arato

Right now, it’s nearly impossible to have a discussion about digital marketing without mentioning ChatGPT or AI generally. The technology is undoubtedly amazing; it’s capable of answering questions, creating a business plan, and even writing essays. One of the most obvious potential use cases for the newest generation of AI tools is content creation – but is it a good idea to use it? Let’s dig in and see what the issues are….

Table of Contents

Can I Post AI-Generated Content on My Website?

Yes, you can. That said , the last thing you should do is post AI-generated content on your legal site without significant oversight and review. On February 8, 2023, Google clarified its position on AI-generated content. In short, it said that using AI-generated content is not against its guidelines. Like other forms of content, it will rank well if it is helpful for people searching for information. Additionally, as clarified in March of 2024, if you use AI to create content in an attempt to “game” SEO, your site will likely be penalized.

Should I Use AI Content?

As the old adage goes, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. If your site deals with topics that can affect your money or your life (YMYL, in Google’s parlance), it will scrutinize your site’s content more closely. Specifically, it will look closely for signals that demonstrate experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).

YMYL sites include sites that relate to topics like medicine, finance, and law. As a result, it’s critical for lawyers to ensure that the content on their site is accurate, helpful, and in compliance with the rules of professional conduct. If you are using AI to generate content, it’s imperative that you (or someone with the necessary expertise) review every word of it before you post it on your website. At that point, it becomes a legitimate question as to whether using AI to create long-form legal content is truly more efficient than human writing.

If you need 100-word product descriptions for kitchen appliances, you’re likely fine to use AI to generate them and post them with a cursory review. If you are creating long-form blog content on complicated legal topics, you probably want to have more human involvement and oversight in content creation.

How Can AI Help in the Content Creation Process?

That said, there are certainly ways in which AI tools can help content creators make the process more efficient. Some of the ways that you can use AI to help in content creation ethically and without creating more work include:

  • Blog topic ideation
  • Client persona identification
  • Keyword research
  • Content outlining
  • Basic legal research
  • Getting over writer’s block

Is AI-Content Well-Written?

Whether you think AI-generated content is well-written depends on what you believe makes content “good.” To many people, it’s just too generic and “clean” to qualify as good content. The reality is that law firms and other professional service providers have a brand identity that they want their content to reflect, and content generated by artificial intelligence lacks the personality that achieves that goal.

Is AI-Content Bar-Compliant?

There is no guarantee that the content created by AI will be compliant with the rules of your state bar. It may make statements that inadvertently guarantee a favorable outcome, it may suggest that you are a “specialist” or an “expert,” and it may even provide incorrect information. Furthermore, it’s possible that some state bars may hold the position that using AI-generated content without oversight is, per se, a violation of the rules of professional conduct. 

In Conclusion…

If you are a law firm or a digital marketing agency that works with law firms, AI can certainly help you in your efforts. That said, you should be certain that there is a significant amount of expert oversight in the process. Using AI to mass-produce content and posting without review can land you in hot water with Google and even your state bar.

how to increase traffic to your website?

Posted on by David B. Arato

Your law firm’s website plays an important role in terms of marketing and reaching your target audience – and your content matters. Generating relevant and compelling content is the name of the game, but if you find yourself at a loss when it comes to choosing inspiring topics that resonate with your widest potential audience, you are not alone. Many firms find themselves recycling the same, tired titles time and time again, but you can do better, and we have some helpful hints to get you started. 

Think Seasonal

The seasons hit us all the same, and they make a great anchor for developing content. 

The Spring and Summer Months 

With summer nearly upon us, your content should focus on legal matters that relate to summer living, including:

  • With the kids out of school, there are summer child custody schedules to tweak, and child custody modifications are common. 
  • With warmer weather, we see more road trips, which can inspire a wealth of topics, including traffic accidents, road safety, travel routes, destinations, and much more.
  • Summer means vacay, which lends itself nicely to articles about premises liability claims related to hotels, resorts, and pools. 
  • Boats and jet skis hit their stride in the warmer months, which makes articles that explore related accidents a gimme.  

There are also the summer holidays to consider, which deserve some attention of their own. 

Memorial Day

This year, Memorial Day is on May 27, and it tends to kick off summer break for all the kiddos out there. Memorial Day is a three-day weekend that brings family and friends together for beer, brats, and yard games (or some variant thereof), and it’s a great opportunity to visit and spruce up the gravesites of our lost loved ones – with a focus on veterans. Memorial Day, however, is also closely associated with some heavy-duty traffic accident statistics, including (according to the National Safety Council, NSC) that traffic fatalities spike over the Memorial Day weekend (compared to the weekends that bracket it). In other words, you can treat Memorial Day as a springboard for a wide range of related articles. 

Fourth of July

The Fourth of July falls on a Monday this year, which – for many people – means a 4- or 5-day weekend. Fourth of July has everything that summer has to offer on tap, with some extras thrown in for good measure, including:

  • Elevated car accident statistics related to increased traffic, increased impairment behind the wheel and increased distraction
  • Water-related accidents
  • Injuries caused by fireworks

Labor Day

Labor Day means back to school and the child custody concerns that are often sparked by this transition. There are also topics about accidents on school grounds and accidents related to children making their way to and from school – including bus accidents, pedestrian accidents, and bike accidents – to consider. 

We can all relate to the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Labor Day – and all the other holidays – on a very personal level, which makes the summer holidays a great platform for blog topics. Don’t be afraid to give your blog entries and articles your own spin – it’s the best way to find your voice and to really speak to all those searchers who can truly benefit from your services. If you have a unique topic in mind, don’t back-burner it simply because it’s not what everyone else is doing – you might have a real winner on your hands, and when you speak from a place of authentic concern, it can have a profound impact. 

The Fall and Winter Months

As temperatures and daylight hours decrease, there’s a lot going on – and there’s plenty to keep you busy in terms of content. Consider all the following:

  • Winter driving risks
  • Holiday travel
  • Increased holiday traffic and traffic accident statistics
  • Increased impairment behind the wheel
  • Weather-related premises liability claims
  • Holiday-related stress and the accidents it causes

These basic topics are the starting point for articles that can be woven into your own masterpieces of content – that also address your potential clients’ needs. Remember, too, that a well-polished title and outline – about a subject of your choice – is going to take you farther than a rote reinterpretation of the basics. 

A Feast of Topics

If your firm focuses on personal injury, medical malpractice, workers’ compensation, or any combination of these practices, NSC has a treasure trove of potential topics on offer. Each year, they publish a Safety Observance Calendar that focuses on specific national health and safety awareness campaigns (replete with valuable resources for you to explore). For example, just a few of the many topics on tap for May and June of 2022 include:

  • May is Motorcycle Safety Month, National Bike Month, National Electric Safety Month, Trauma Awareness Month, National Water Safety Month, National Building Safety Month, and much more. 
  • May 21-27 is National Safe Boating Week.
  • June is National Safety Month.
  • June 5-11 is National Trailer Safety Week (tractor-trailers).
  • June 20 is National Ride to Work Day (focusing on those who commute to work on motorcycles and scooters). 

This is the tip of the iceberg. If you’re looking for current content ideas, NSC has got you covered.  

Keeping Your Content Fresh

In order to create quality content, you need great topics, but that – of course – is not the end of the story. The topic sets the stage, but your content has to deliver. Factors to focus on include:

  • Creating a strong outline that flows seamlessly from your introduction to a solid conclusion 
  • Allowing the reader to hear your voice 
  • Inspiring your readers to take the next step in moving from potential client to actual client

Finally, don’t shy away from revisiting older content and jazzing it up. Polishing the title, tightening the writing, updating the statistics, and including an eye-popping example or two can breathe new life into work that is down but not out.

Get More from Your Current Content with Historical Optimization

Posted on by David B. Arato

You recognize that content is king, but you may not be making the most of the content that you already have. And this is where historical optimization shines. Historical optimization sounds more technical than it needs to be – the bottom line is that it involves breathing new life into the content you’ve already published, which can do you a world of good in terms of giving your return on investment a bump.

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10 Legal Content Marketing Terms You Should Get to Know

Posted on by David B. Arato

Marketing your legal content seems easy enough – write stellar copy and get it out there where it needs to be. There are, of course, challenges along the way. One of the primary building blocks of solid legal marketing is understanding the terminology that populates its principles and methodologies. Because even major players use terms in different ways – sometimes with newly imagined meanings – it’s important to have a nuanced understanding of the basics. Others may play fast and loose with their legal marketing terms, but once you and your team have settled on meaningful definitions that work for you, you’ll be far better prepared to make your mark in legal marketing.

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What Is Content Readability and Who Defines It?

Posted on by David B. Arato

Most of us think something is readable if we enjoy it. We want a piece to have a beginning, middle, and end, preferably in that order. If it’s fictional, we want it to be about people we care about or like. Sometimes, it’s a book you just happen to come across or a title or a cover that drew you in, and you couldn’t leave till you finished the story. Sometimes, it’s something so powerful that you simply can’t let it go. However, these qualities aren’t the only kinds of readability.

When it comes to getting your law firm website to rank, content readability is an important factor. Search engines analyze readability and reward it. In other words, they rank (and put at the top of the SERPs) the articles that have the features the engine thinks will make a reader stick to the end. Aside from all the other things the contributed to readability, being current and up-to-date is one of the most important factors. Keeping your firm’s website current and up-to-date with content that people want to read will go a long way to keeping you high on that first results page.

Do We Know It When We See It?

One of the ways a search engine defines readability is by determining how long a reader stays in place before sliding on to the next result. It doesn’t just matter how many people click on your page; it matters how long they stay after they get there. There are ways to encourage them to stick around, such as with video and audio content and eye-catching graphics. Paying attention to these things takes more time than simply reading – or not reading – whatever copy you’ve offered. Still, words are usually far less expensive than sound, pictures, and graphics, so it is very much worth your time to offer the best and most readable content you can provide.

Key Readability Factors

Factors that Google will focus on when deciding the readability of your page include:

Sentence Length & Variety

You want short sentences but with some variation in their length and style. Avoid unnecessary or overly formal words. Additionally, it’s better not to crowd your text with words like “actually” and “usually,” which give you no value for the space. Avoid using too many adjectives and consider breaking up long, complicated sentences.

Structure & Style

Again, short sentences are vital. Each sentence should have a subject and a verb – preferably in that order. Make sure to include graphics and video here as well. They are supporting tools and hold your visitors. Avoid fussy fonts.

Paragraph Length and Formatting

Use short paragraphs made up of short sentences. Readable paragraphs are usually 5 or 6 lines long. Use a title and subtitles. Bullet points are your best friends, and you should always try to include at least one. Don’t forget to include keywords. You’ll want to put them in subtitles as well as in your paragraphs and try to repeat them without sounding like you’re just adding keywords.

Make It Work for You

All of these factors and more can make your website attractive and engaging to readers. You can contact us to help you provide the most readable copy for your website. We will even provide a free sample, marketing written expressly for you to help you decide how best to move forward with your legal content.

Content Marketing Considerations for Law Firms

Posted on by David B. Arato

ipad-605440_1920Content marketing is the prhttps://www.lexiconlegalcontent.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=782&action=editocess of creating custom content and sharing it with your potential clients in order to drive favorable consumer action. For a basic example, consider a blog post informing people of the serious consequences associated with a DUI arrest – by creating and distributing this custom content throughout the internet, you hopefully will reach people in this situation who are seeking legal representation.

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