The SEO Opportunity Hiding in Plain “Site”

Most legal websites have some type of relevant content, whether it be legal articles, newsletters, or blogs. Any website that has a reasonable amount of good content (read: written for users, informative, and not copied from other websites) is off to a good start in terms of SEO. But many websites, even in competitive markets, are not using this content as well as they could. If you are looking for an easy fix to take your content to the next level, consider internal linking.

The Importance of Internal Linking

Internal linking, or the method of providing a link from one page on your website to another, is a powerful yet under-appreciated component of SEO. Any half-decent article can have numerous opportunities for internal links, but many people don’t think to add them. There are a few advantages to internal links that make them worthwhile for your website:

1. They keep the user on your website
2. They help users find relevant pages, including conversion pages
3. They can provide semantic signals for Google
4. They distribute page authority throughout your website
5. They can be used to indicate priority pages

The best part of internal linking is that your website likely has dozens of pages that are waiting to be improved with user-friendly linking. With this in mind, here are some easy guidelines for incorporating internal links into your content:

While writing content, consider how the pages on your website relate to each other.

Maybe you’re writing a blog about the statute of limitations for motor vehicle accident claims. This could easily link back to your main auto accident page, not to mention a host of other related topics, such as pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, insurance bad faith, or your FAQ. Keeping a holistic view of your website content like this is a good idea in general for keeping pages distinct and grouping topics effectively.

Already have content? Look for opportunities to provide curious users more information.

Perhaps you have already written a premises liability page and are looking to provide links to/from the page. It’s likely that the page mentions related topics that are discussed in your blog or related pages. Feel free to link out to the blogs where relevant. Perhaps you have a blog discussing the unique legal aspects of pool injuries. Or maybe you want to link to a case result discussing a huge settlement your firm secured for a family involving a drowning incident. The possibilities are only limited by the content on your website.

Use natural-language linking.

A critical aspect of internal linking is making sure that the links are user-friendly. As a result, links should not all carry the same keywords when going to the same page. If you have 50 in-content links going to your auto accident page, you could say everything from “car accidents” to “car wreck claims” to “auto accident attorney in Los Angeles.” The point is making the language for your link appear as natural possible for the people reading it – and not like something written by bots, for bots. Think of it this way: variety in anchor text means you get to give Google more hints about your intent for each page.

Don’t overdo it.

On the subject of user-friendliness, bear in mind that links, like all other forms of SEO, require a tempered approach. Some pages require more; some require less; but no page requires a link on every single word. It’s probably better to keep your pages closer to Wikipedia than to a news article that is 50% links. Remember how often you fell into the rabbit hole on Wikipedia without realizing it? That’s a testament to their effective internal linking and a good standard to follow.

Does the link make sense?

Finally, each internal link should make sense in the context of the page. Does your auto accident page mention vehicle-related deaths? This may be a great opportunity to link to the wrongful death page. This is not, however, a great place to link to your blog about an increase in deaths due to nursing home abuse. The user should have a reasonable expectation of what they will find when clicking the link – and so should Google! Remember, your goal is to provide a service. The better your service, the better your SEO.

With these fundamentals in mind, you are ready to renovate your website. Go and improve your content with healthy links – and if you are ever unsure about how to proceed, contact your friendly neighborhood SEO team at SLS Consulting, Inc. We have worked with numerous law firms to maximize their internal linking opportunities and grow their caseloads through organic marketing efforts. If you need assistance optimizing your websites content, reach out to our team by calling us at (323) 254-1510.