Posted by Sam Borrett, director of Legal Futures Associate Legmark
Borrett: Many elements affect your Google rankings
It’s tough at the top. And even tougher to get to the top – if we’re talking about Google rankings.
You can increase traffic to your website by investing in organic search engine optimisation (SEO), or by investing in building brand awareness, or by spending on Google Ads or social media (or a combination).
Businesses can often underestimate both the investment required in SEO and the potential returns it provides, and miss out on massive opportunities as a result, leaving the way clear for competitors to take advantage.
High ranking = High profitability
There are many elements affecting your Google rankings – some research has identified over 200 separate ranking factors – so to get to that coveted number one position in the search rankings can be highly complex.
However, the benefits are obvious. You could be paying £60 per click on Google Ads for the search term ‘personal injury claims’. With 3,600 searches every month and position one typically seeing over a 25% click through rate, ranking first in the search results could save you £54,000 per month in equivalent advertising spend.
That’s just one keyword search – consider how many searches one page could be ranking for and a single commercial landing page might be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds per month.
How do you create the right type of content to rank at the top of Google’s search results? Content is vital – but there are many other factors. Assuming you’re taking care of the other aspects of SEO and your site is performing well (have a look at our legal sector digital analysis for more insight), then you’ll want to know the best way to structure your content to optimise your chances of ranking.
One of the best ways to start is to review the top 10 results for the search term you’re looking at ranking for. Try and get a feel for what is consistent across these results that might indicate why Google is putting those pages in the top 10.
On your bike
With personal injury reforms set to hit the sector hard, some law firms are moving to cycle claims, which are exempt from the new regime.
We want to give you all an opportunity to rank for ‘cycle accident claims’, where we’ve already helped one law firm get to the top of Google for this search term.
This will give you an insight into how we go about crafting the copy you’ll need for your website. If you want a content template and page structure for a specific search term related to your business, then let us know.
Cycling has been a growing market over the last few years, particularly since the 2012 Olympics.
There are over 200 searches per month for ‘cycle accident claims’ but thousands of related searches. Claim value for cycle accidents tends to be higher on average than for car accidents due to the nature of the injuries sustained.
These were the top 10 organic results for cycle accident claims at the time of writing:
- https://www.irwinmitchell.com/personal/personal-injury-compensation/road-traffic-accident-compensation-claims/cycling-accident-claims
- https://www.bottonline.co.uk/road-traffic-accident-claims/guides/how-much-compensation-claim-for-bicycle-accident
- https://www.slatergordon.co.uk/personal-injury-claim/cycling-accident-claims/
- https://www.legalexpert.co.uk/how-to-claim/how-much-compensation-for-cycling-accident-claims/
- https://www.cycle-sos.co.uk/
- https://www.national-accident-helpline.co.uk/accident-claims/car-accident-claims/cycle-accident-claims.html
- https://www.cycleaccident.co.uk/about-us
- https://www.cycleaccident.co.uk/
- http://legal.wiggle.co.uk/
- https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/road-traffic-accidents/cycling-accident-claims/
No surprise two of the top three are Irwin Mitchell and Slater & Gordon, but working with our previous client Bott & Co they were able to rank second, demonstrating that it is possible to compete, and outrank, much bigger brands – and Bott & Co continues to enjoy the benefits.
You can also see where other pages in the top 10 have drawn on the style and format of the Bott page to also rank highly for this search term.
It’s important to make sure you have the right page title, H1 tags and have optimised the meta tags (this is more to help the click through rate on the search page).
Remember to keep the sentences short and simple and avoid legal jargon. You should also pay attention to what snippets are available for particular keyword searches and craft your copy accordingly. This is where the art of copywriting meets the science of SEO.
We’ve provided a content template document you can download to use alongside the more detailed information below on how you should structure the page and what content to include.
These are the industry secrets into how to create high-ranking web pages – and you’re able to access it for free here on Legal Futures. I’ve set it out at the bottom of this blog.
Conversion rate optimisation
Of course, it’s all well and good ranking at the top of Google and getting loads of traffic to your landing pages, but how much of that traffic is converting into enquiries?
Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is the other half of the story and usually requires ongoing adjustment to find the best performance of the page. This includes what calls to action are on the page and where they are placed and the persuasive nature of the copy.
We even increased conversion rates on a page just by swapping out a picture of a client’s staff member with a picture of that same person smiling!
To monitor your conversion rate, you need to have set up relevant goals in Google Analytics and regularly monitor the performance. Don’t change too many elements on a page at a time, otherwise you won’t know which factors caused changes in conversion rates.
The cycle path to success
So, if you’re a law firm that does personal injury claims, you may well be interested in creating your landing page based on our guide below and using the attached template to optimise your content.
For other firms, you can apply much of this logic against other landing pages on your site.
Commercial landing page structure
Introduction section – overview
This has to give some credibility and let cyclists know you’re the real deal with experts who understand about cycling.
Talk about the service, specialist advice, your key staff dealing with these cases, the years of experience, and mention previous successful claims.
It’s all about the cyclist, their needs and how you work on their behalf to get them the best possible outcome.
Section 2 – ‘No win, no fee’ guarantee and USPs
Explain ‘no win, no fee’ and how it protects the client from any risk. Talk about the aspects of your service that sets you apart from competitors – how much of the compensation they will receive, how quickly you can recover interim payments and make sure they aren’t out of pocket, etc.
You should cover whatever USPs or benefits you can offer to potential clients. These might include:
- A dedicated specialist cycle claims team;
- Cyclists in the firm who understand from a cyclist’s perspective;
- Track record and significant wins;
- Rehab options – speed of getting clients into rehab, or PTSD therapy, for example;
- Understanding of true bike value (which can exceed that of many cars on the road) and how you can make insurers appreciate the true costs involved; and
- How you’ll fight on their behalf against the insurers – highlight cases where you’ve settled much higher than the first insurer offer.
Section 3 – Answer the common questions
This will be questions like: What can I claim for? How much can I claim? How long will it take?
Explain all the different things that can be claimed for – general and special damages are important here. Loss of earnings, medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses etc, in addition to the actual injury compensation.
Set out the amounts of compensation as per the Judicial College guidelines – but base these on previous cases and as guidelines rather than copy and paste the guidelines word for word.
Make sure you also explain that actual compensation amounts can be much higher once special damages have been taken into account.
Personal injury clients almost always follow the ‘how much’ question with the ‘how long will it take’ question.
Provide an overview of typical time frames but emphasise the cases where you’ve been able to settle quickly – and make it clear where you can secure interim payments on more serious injuries to help your clients with bills and expenses.
Section 4 – Know your rights
This section can be used to detail the rights of an injured person in terms of when they can claim and how long they have to make a claim post-accident.
This is to pick up additional long-tail search terms, which are often inputted into Google as questions.
Provide some examples of situations where a cyclist could make a claim, such as collisions at junctions, potholes and road surfaces, car doors opening into their path, etc.
Section 5 – The claims process
This is an opportunity to make the unknown known in the mind of the potential client. You can explain in detail what the claims process is, from initial phone call through to settlement.
Explain the established protocols and processes you have to adhere to, the expectations on the client, what the third party might do, and how you would respond.
Provide reassurance that, throughout the whole claims process, you’re in control and working hard to make sure the client receives the best possible outcome.
Give information on the communications the client can expect and how they will be able to get updates on the progress of their claim.
Section 6 – Call to action
A final rallying call to get in touch, a free no-obligation consultation with a member of your specialist team, and that you are the best choice they can make.
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