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I have a client who is a lawyer that specializes in Criminal Defense and DUI, however, he does not show up well in Google. In researching the sites that rank better have much more content for those specialties than his site does and my thought it that he needs to add more quality content to rank better for those searches.

On his site he mentions his specialties, but also he has various personal things on his sites that reflect his interest. These are clearly separated from the business portion.

My questions are:

  1. should heseparate his personal information into a new domain?
  2. should he have a separate URL for each of his specialties?
  3. or would one URL work as long as everything is clearly separated?

I read once that for legal services to rank well you should make a separate site for each specialty and have that site focus solely on that service.

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I know attorneys and their websites. It is an under served market.

Making separate sites makes each site thinner and confuses things. No. I suggest revamping his site. Get rid of the personal stuff. Get professional. Get him to write long and short version articles- post the long version on his site, and the short version on sites such as Avvo. For attorneys, social media, not twitter or facebook, but participation in the legal sites where people research attorneys and read articles about what they are having problems with is paramount. Complete the profiles and so forth. Also focus on local search. Locale is extremely important for attorneys.

In fact, articles help people to feel better about the attorney and help with search. Empathy is key along with professionalism. Keep in mind that people read these articles to not only understand what is happening to them, but to also feel better about the situation. I have seen both attorney and medical articles that are excellent in that they are informative, factual, thorough, and perform well. The problem is... they scare the hell out of the reader. Do not do this. Give the good news and the possible avenues to take. Stay positive and the attorney will convert like crazy!

People find attorneys differently. Yes search is important. But the various find a lawyer sites are more effective. As well, when someone has a legal problem, they want a professional that knows the industry and the issues associated with the problem. If the attorney is a GP (general practitioner) then they must focus on core areas of business. Nothing loses trust more than a GP that says they do tax issues then to find out they only negotiate tax issues and does not know tax law very well at all. The primary focus of the site is not just to be found, but to be linked in (so to speak) to the attorney research sites, and build trust- serious trust. One factor is to create an online resume on his site. Make it foremost and thorough. Post all the accolades, degrees, certifications, and volunteer work.

Again, never put personal stuff on a professional website. This is especially true for attorneys! TRUST is and CONFIDENCE is what you need the site to convey.

Then worry about traditional SEO. Focus on local search. Fill out the profiles on the attorney sites and his site will perform much better.

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  • Thanks for the information. In thinking about this I agree more with @Zistoloen about the personal bit. The personal information on the site reflects who my client is and he has had clients of his say, I could see who I was hiring. In other word, it does convey trust and confidence.
    – L84
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 22:45
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    Perhaps you are right for some scenarios such as a GP. I am not sure how much personal stuff there should be for a corporate lawyer for example. But as far as personal stuff is concerned- too much is too much and you may never know when you crossed the line. That is why I mentioned volunteer work as part of the resume. Some personal info is fine, but this is my wife, my dog, my son, I make salsa on the weekends, I dress up like historic figures from the 17th century, and so forth is not helpful. (Just having fun here.) Limit the personal info. I have seen many attorneys go way too far quick.
    – closetnoc
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 23:15
  • I agree and this should probably be handled on a case by case basis. Thank You again.
    – L84
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 23:20
  • Anytime. It is odd, that I like attorneys and feel compelled to help them. It is also odd in how many resist going down the road to better clientele, more revenue, steady streams of customers and so on. I know of too many that are not busy, want to be, and still you cannot push them toward getting out there and getting noticed. The old ways die hard. Again, I know attorneys- lot's of them. I feel compelled to help them- I don't know why.
    – closetnoc
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 23:27
  • Well, I believe some of us have to help them. =>
    – L84
    Commented Jun 7, 2014 at 1:29
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Here're my thoughts:

  1. It depends. If his personal information can be related to his job (I mean it adds some good points to attract new clients), I would let this content on the site. If not, I would remove this content as soon as possible and eventually create a new domain for his personal information (if he wants).

  2. For all his specialties, I would all centralise in one website to let a visitor find them easily (especially if the domain name is something like firstname-lastname.com).

  3. See point 1. and 2.

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