When you bring a new major partner into your law firm, you may need to rebrand it. The new name will reflect the partnership and the new talent added to the firm. However, it is important to discuss this decision with your digital marketing agency. It is important to have our support and apply several SEO tips for rebranding.
After all, you do not want to lose the page rank and the reputation your site has earned through hard work by changing its name. These are the most important actions to perform during the rebranding process to maintain SEO ranking.
Contact us today to start planning this important process with our digital marketing specialists!
1. Update Content
High-quality content helped your law firm website show up among the first Google search results. This content must be preserved – but adapted to reflect the new image and name of the firm.
Digital marketing specialists will carefully go through every page of your site and make sure that any reference to the old firm name is replaced with the new one.
Also, we will also update NAP data on the Google Business Services listing of your law firm.
2. Re-Create Internal Linking Structure
Many pages on your site contain links to other pages within your law firm’s website. This internal linking structure helps meet the EEAT Google criteria (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) for ranking your site higher in search results.
All these links will have to be updated to match the new URLs after the rebranding. This is very painstaking work, but our SEO experts will make sure that all these links will take readers to the correct web page.
3. Set Up 301 Redirects
A 301 redirect is necessary if you also change the domain name of your site. When you add a new partner to the name of the law firm, the domain name of the website has to change, as well. But how do you make sure that former clients will still find your site?
This is done through a process called the 301 redirect, which automatically forwards a user from the old URL to the new one. This process will also help transfer the SEO value of the old page to the new one.
4. Let Google Know of the Changes
In order to have your law firm website properly indexed by Google after the rebranding, one of the most important SEO tips for rebranding is resubmitting the XML sitemap to Google. Also, by using the Change Address Tool, the search engine will know that it has to reindex and recrawl your site.
This is extremely important because otherwise, you will see your ranking and organic traffic dropping until Google identifies the change.
5. Update Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool that allows you to monitor many critical metrics for SEO, such as:
- Details about the visitors to your site
- Organic traffic
- Keyword ranking
- The pages with the largest number of visitors.
Recently, Google has updated this platform to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Rebranding your site and implementing GA4 at the same time is a good idea, as it saves some work. However, you will have to use the same embed code as for the original law firm website.
6. Publish a Blog Post Notifying Users of the Change
Announcing the new firm and website name is not just one of the recommended SEO tips for rebranding. It can also have a legal value, as it is proof of ownership of the old domain name.
You do not want a competitor to seize it and profit from your hard-earned reputation, after all. There are also unscrupulous people who purchase unattended domain names and sell them to the rightful owners at ransom prices.
7. Request NAP Changes on Other Websites
Finally, you must not forget about all the business directories where your law firm is listed. You must contact all of them and let them know of the new name and website address.
Our Digital Marketing Specialists Will Assist You During Rebranding!
At EverConvert, we understand the value of your law firm brand. Rebranding is a sign of growth and success, but it may also have repercussions on the SEO ranking you have built so far.
With our assistance, the transition will be smooth and seamless. We will apply the best practices and most effective SEO tips for rebranding your law firm website. Contact us today to start planning this important process with our digital marketing specialists!
