So what makes a good keyphrase for your 2012 law firm marketing strategy?

It may come to you as a surprise but popularity is not all that makes a good keyphrase. A keyword like “lawyer” that gets millions of inquiries a month on Google will not serve your law firm because it is too general. This is why most of the results for the word “lawyer” return directories and information websites that have thousands of pages built into to their websites.

A Good keyphrase targets your region and your practice area in a format that proves to be the most popular.

A bad keyphrase could be one that is too general like “lawyer” or “lawyers” or too targeted. Long tail keywords can help give you a presence in a niche with little competition (i.e. Tampa Florida wills trusts and elder law attorney), but can often be a bad keyphrase. If it is so specific that nobody is really going to do a search for it, it is not worth using.

Keyphrase Selection Tips

1) The city or state (if you live in a smaller state) may go before or after the practice area. Use the Google Keyword Selector to try different variations.

2) More people search for lawyer or lawyers in the United States than attorney or attorneys but some metro areas break the rule. Again, confirm your search in the Keyword Selector.

3) If your area of law sounds redundant with your professional title (i.e. Denver Elder Law Lawyer) you may consider dropping lawyer and just optimizing your region and area of law (i.e. Denver Elder Law). In a situation like this, more people are prone to search for Denver Elder Law or Denver Elder Law Attorney.

4) Experiment with different terminology related to your practice area (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal).

Getting exposure for the right keywords is the right way to start your law firm's marketing in 2012.

Let's start out 2012 with a plan to build a bigger law firm...yours.

Let's Build a Bigger Law Firm™ Together

To learn more about legal marketing, law firm marketing, lawyer marketing, law firm marketing plans, and attorney websites visit SEOLawFirm.com or call 1.800.728.5306.

Other Resources: Find a Lawyer | The Bigger Lawyer Social Network | Legal News | Attorney Press Release Distribution