Some aspects of life and business are "set it and forget it." You take care of a task once or every several years and don't need to worry about it again. Other aspects require more frequent thought and attention.
Although it may not be what you want to hear, your law firm's content falls into the latter category. You can't set your content and leave it. Not only can the content you post become outdated or irrelevant, but it also looks stale in the eyes of Google and other search engines. If you truly want to optimize your SEO and get the most benefit out of your web presence, you need to provide fresh, updated content regularly, which begins with a content audit.
What is a Content Audit?
A content audit is a method of assessing your website's current content to understand its strengths and weaknesses. You should perform a website content audit to determine how well the content is performing and to locate areas of potential improvement. In other words, what is working and what isn't on your law firm's website? Your goal is to leave or even improve what is working and replace what isn't working with something better.
Content audits should be performed at least once a year or more frequently if you practice in a highly competitive legal niche in your area. Your audit should include examining:
How much traffic a page receives
How much is organic traffic
How many high-quality backlinks each page incorporates
How many conversions each page receives
How many high-intent, potential revenue conversions each page gets
While page traffic will usually show how popular your content is with Google, conversions and revenue generated are prime indicators that it is resonating with potential clients and their problems which you can help them solve.
Helpful Content Audit Tools
Content audits can be cumbersome, so it's best to utilize some tools. The good news is that some are free.
At its most basic, your audit should involve a spreadsheet to track when each page was last updated. Having this information can help you know where to focus your audit—usually, the oldest content should be handled first.
Google Analytics is also free, which will show you metrics and pull various data for you. For example, it can track:
How users navigate your site
The channels that drive the most traffic
Show conversion rates
Show which pages rank well
If Google Analytics doesn't go deep enough, do enough for you, or give you the information you need, you might need to consider a paid content audit tool, such as:
SEMRush will run many different scans and checks to provide you with a sectioned to-do list for your content audit. It also explains why and how to fix your law firm's website. It can also send you detailed reports regularly. You'll pay between $120 and $450 per month, depending on the type of plan you need.
Ahrefs flags all possible SEO issues and will show you how to fix them. It checks for over 100 pre-defined SEO issues and will provide you with over 100 different data points on each page. Like SEMRush, you can also schedule automated checks. Its lowest plan starts at $99 per month.
While some law firms may not require such an investment, others will benefit greatly from it. It never hurts to look at what these tools can do for you above and beyond Google Analytics. The time savings and not manually analyzing certain data might be worth it for some.
Performing a content audit on your website may not be high on your to-do list, but it should be. However, your changes could significantly improve your SEO and client intake.
Meranda M. Vieyra is the owner of Denver Legal Marketing LLC. She is one of the most visible legal professionals in Colorado law with over 20 years of service in the Denver legal community. Her award-winning marketing firm has earned a strong reputation as the go-to for impactful, cost-effective legal marketing strategies. She has helped her clients secure coverage by well-known publications and has obtained local, national, and international awards on their behalf. Meranda enjoys working with solo practitioners and small law firms helping them attract recognition, promotion, and visibility to their practices. She also advises medium-sized and national law firms on business development and marketing strategy. Meranda is a lecturer and author on issues related to marketing including how lawyers can use LinkedIn effectively, how to develop a personal brand, and the promotion of legal services through community service. In 2018, she was honored to be named to the 40 Under 40 list by the Denver Business Journal and to be given the 10 Under 10 Award by the Metropolitan State University of Denver Alumni Association (top 10 alum of the decade). In 2019, Meranda was named in the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business by the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce and in the Top 100 young professionals in Colorado through the Gen XYZ Awards published by ColoradoBiz Magazine.
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