Keeping your website up to date is really important. And, I know, I know… it’s really difficult for busy professionals to do. (I admit, I’ve had a hard time keeping this blog up to date.)
So let the onset of Spring inspire you to renew at least some of the most important items on your law firm website.
It’s All About the Bio
Attorney bios have always been, and will always be, the most viewed pages on your website. Refreshing your attorney bio is the single most important thing you can do to (in fishing terms) keep that worm on the end of your hook.
Is your attorney bio up to date with your most recent experience? Are you positioned for the type of work you most covet? Remember that potential clients and referrals come to your web bio looking to see if you are a good fit. They are looking for evidence of recent, relevant experience. Even when you are not thinking about new business, or the next big client, people are coming to your web page to check you out! So take a look at your bio from the perspective of that next great client, and see how you can show them that you’re the one they are looking for.
Create Fresh Content
A great way to update your bio to appeal to a certain customer segment, is to write a new article to demonstrate your expertise in a specific area. Or even rewrite an article and make it specific to a specific industry segment. An attorney who has written several articles on a client’s interest will sets himself or herself apart from other equally capable attorneys.
Recycle and Re-purpose Old Content
Older articles that continue to draw people to the website are known as “evergreen content” — as they continue to score well on search engines and can account for a large share of your website visitors. Given that, it is important to examine your most popular articles and ask yourself if they are still relevant and still accurate?
Take a look at your website analytics to find out which articles are the most popular and start there. If people are reading these articles often, you should:
- Make sure they are accurate
- Edit them to make them more timely — using current examples to illustrate your points
- Edit to appeal to a certain customer segment
- Edit to use the customer’s language and decode legalese
- Link to other information related to the article (both on your website and off)
- Tell the prospective customer how you can help them
- Provide an invitation for the reader to contact you
- Republish the article with an “Updated as of” date.
It is likely that some of your most popular articles are now 10 years old. A potential client who was referred to you, might see that you haven’t published on a topic in quite a few years, and might move on to the next referred expert to find one who appears more current. So take a look at what you can do to better position yourself as the current expert that you know yourself to be!
