Is your law firm in a small to medium-sized market and performing well online? Do you already have a large market share of the high-value target keywords in your city? Or, are you in a large market, but are struggling to gain traction with your rankings in search? Do you feel like your growth has stagnated, leaving you looking for ways to get it kick-started? The SEO team at EverConvert has found considerable success with a proven strategy that we call Areas We Serve (for this post, I will also use Service Areas interchangeably). In this article, we will look at the scenarios in which creating Service Area pages are needed and will provide you with some quick tips about how to do so.
What are Areas We Serve?
So, what are Areas We Serve exactly? Service Areas, to us, are a matter of expanding the reach of your firm, “casting a wider net”. To do so, we create practice area-specific content for not only the city you are actually in but also its surrounding towns, increasing the likelihood that our client will show up in search results for the terms they want to rank for. We have yet to meet a single attorney who is unwilling to take a case 30 minutes to an hour away, so why would we not try to rank for valuable terms in nearby cities? Below are a couple of examples of what this can look like in practice:
Law Office of Robert C. Shea P.C. – Brockton, MA
The Weinstein Firm – Atlanta, GA
As you can see, this can be anywhere from a half dozen cities to nearly 60, depending on a firm’s geographic location and budget. Not only is there a landing page for each city, but there is also practice area content, targeted at specific, high-value keywords.
When Do I Need Service Areas?
When determining whether or not to implement an Areas We Serve portion of a website, we generally group clients into 2 groups: Maxed Out Market or New Site with High Competition. While the strategy may be slightly different for the 2 groups, the general idea is the same. Let’s look at the two groups a little more in-depth:
Maxed Out Market
The clients that fall into the maxed out market group reveal two key things about EverConvert and the work we do for our clients. First, it means that we are doing our job well, and second, it means the firm wants to grow, with us. Maxed out markets normally occur in smaller cities, or in the suburbs of larger cities. Let’s use Charlotte, NC as an example. If you are based in Concord, NC, which is about 20 minutes outside of Charlotte, dominate the local market for the keywords you want to rank for, and have seen your growth stagnate, this is a prime example of a maxed-out market. For the firm to grow, they would either have to begin a.) taking cases in new areas of practice, or b.) take cases from areas outside of Concord. Generally, B is the preferred route as it allows the law firm to continue doing what made it successful in the first place.
To generate these cases from new areas, we would implement an Areas We Serve section on the website, creating content and SEO optimized pages for the highest value keywords for not only Charlotte, but also other surrounding towns like Kannapolis, Huntersville, Mooresville, Albemarle, and Harrisburg. Now, our client is much more likely to appear in search results for people searching from these towns or using the town in their search. Implementing this strategy regularly results in our clients expanding so much that they open a 2nd or 3rd office to support the new influx in cases.
High Competition
The second group has a different impetus for setting up Areas We Serve, but the end result is the same, to get our partners more cases! This strategy is usually implemented for clients in large metro areas, where the competition is extremely fierce, who are either building a new site or are leaving another marketing firm due to a lack of results. The goal here is to generate cases quickly, targeting less competitive markets in the surrounding area by creating content for all major areas of practice the firm works in.
We generally refer to this as the low-hanging fruit, and by creating SEO-optimized pages, we are able to begin harvesting this low-hanging fruit while we generate strength in the most competitive market. SEO, especially in major markets, is a long-term play, often requiring years of consistent work to overtake the current market leaders. But, we know your firm needs cases NOW, and by utilizing this strategy, our partners are able to bring in new clients via their website and continue to grow their firms.
But, Does it Work?
The answer, unequivocally, is yes. We have implemented this strategy successfully for both groups of clients, helping them generate a solid return on their investment with EverConvert and grow their business. And, while this article is about how service areas benefit law firms, this strategy is not specific to the legal industry and can be utilized for other service businesses across a wide range of verticals. Check out some examples of our Areas We Serve Pages here, here, and here!
Contact EverConvert Today For Help Expanding Your Firm’s Reach!
If your law firm’s growth has stagnated or is struggling to get off the ground in a competitive market, let the team at EverConvert get to work for you! We pride ourselves on the return on investment that we bring to our clients and are confident in our ability to do the same for you. Give us a call today at (864) 777-0899 to speak with one of our experienced account managers about all of the ways we can help your business grow, because:
