Having a law firm website rich in relevant content is key to the success of many law firms’ marketing strategy. The search engines reward websites that contain helpful information for those seeking it out on legal topics.
Many law firm websites look more like an online brochure. Instead of having a lot of content, the website might be pretty thin. Instead of providing information, many websites contain descriptions of the law firm and lawyers, with little information on the areas of law in which they practice.
Websites with scant information will have difficulty appearing on Google and other search engines. In contrast, websites with lots of content often appear high in the search engines. When a law firm website shows up high, that law firm usually has lots of new leads and businesses.
What Is Duplicate Content?
While having lots of information on a law firm website is essential, law firms can go awry when they have duplicate content. Duplicate content can take many shapes and forms.
Duplicate content can sometimes appear somewhat similar to another page on a website where the same keyword or keywords are repeated. Perhaps the content is pretty much the same, but slightly rewritten. When this occurs, the search engines can easily flag the content. Sometimes, the page can be pretty different, but it contains many exact keywords. The line is finer in these instances, but the content may still be marked as duplicate.
Take a personal injury law firm that may have many pages on its website about personal injury law. Or, take a criminal law firm that may have many pages on its website about criminal law. If the content looks too similar, and the phrases personal injury law or criminal law are repeated frequently, Google and other search engines might not like it because it is too similar.
When content is viewed as duplicate by Google and search engines, it can often suppress these pages. Thus, instead of showing up high in the search engine results on page one, the content can be kicked back several pages. When content is kicked back several pages, it may mean that those looking for this content might not find it. When content cannot be found online, law firms could lose business.
What Should Law Firms Do?
To avoid duplicate content penalties, law firms should ensure that their website content does not appear to be duplicate. One way to do this is to be careful with their language on their website.
Instead of having multiple pages on a website referencing personal injury law, it can be good to use different language. Instead, have pages that drill into specific areas of personal injury law, like car accidents, slip and falls, dog bites, medical malpractice, product liability, etc. It is often better to have pages on those specific topics without using the phrase personal injury law on these pages.
Likewise, instead of having multiple pages on a website referencing criminal law, it can be better to have specific pages on white collar crime, DWI, particular types of felonies and misdemeanors, etc. On these pages, avoiding the phrase criminal law is often wise.
By having pages that drill into specific areas of the law and not frequently using the exact keywords on these pages, law firms can often avoid penalties for having duplicate content. However, it can be a fine line and difficult. Law firms and their marketing companies must be careful about the language on a law firm website to ensure it is not similar to another page. Sometimes, a law firm may need to use a thesaurus to vary their website’s content.
If a page is not showing up high, a law firm may need to go through its website to alter the content to ensure that important pages are not viewed as duplicates of another page on their website. In many ways, amending the content can be an exhausting process, but it is crucial for law firms that want to show up high online.
