Getting to the top of Google’s search results is no simple task.

But, armed with these content marketing techniques you can dramatically increase the performance and rankings of your law firm’s service pages. 

Today, I’m going to discuss a framwork our team at Inbound Law Marketing developed called “Practice Area Power Pages”. 

Practice Area Power Pages expand on the dull law firm service page, creating an experience that causes your users to stop and engage.

Not to mention, Google absolutely loves these pages.

A Practice Area Power Page will: 

• Answer the question “what do I include on my practice area pages?”
• Dramatically increase your website’s rankings for your target keywords in Google
• Increase click-through-rates for your website multiple times over
• Demonstrate authority in your field, building credibility and trust with your audience
• Grow your business by generating more leads at a reduced cost

We go over how to build these pages and look at a few great examples for you to emulate:

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Let’s get started.

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1. Optimize one page per practice area

Don’t be tempted to cram multiple services together. Split them up into logical categories. It helps users find what they want, and it’s better for SEO.

Look how granular the Jurewitz Law Group (San Diego) is with its services:

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2. Ensure your page is well-designed, clutter-free and easy to read

This advice goes for all pages on your website – not just your practice area pages.

It’s a balance between providing enough information and designing pages to be easily readable. The Colorado Legal Group website gets this balance right:

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3. Use a combination of short paragraphs and bullet points

Again, the design and format of the copy of your practice area pages are important. Most of your readers will find short sentences, short paragraphs and bullet points more easily digestible than large blocks of text.

Take a look at how the New Mexico Legal Group provides information on assault and aggravated assault on its criminal law practice pages:

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4. Avoid the use of confusing jargon

Your practice area may be inherently complex. The skill is in simplifying it enough for your audience to understand (and relate their problems to) without dumbing it down too much.

Assume your reader knows very little about the subject and it’s your job to educate them.

Check out the plain, jargon-free language that Oykhman Criminal Defence (Calgary) use to explain what happens with an impaired driving charge:

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5. Use images and video wherever possible and appropriate

Video and images should be included across your website. Most people find it more engaging and appealing than text alone.

New Mexico Legal Group is a good example of a firm using video effectively to answer questions for their target audience; in this case, divorce pre-planning questions:

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6. Include considerable detail – but no fluff

Go into detail about the practice area. That’s the real ‘power’ in the page.

This one from Werner Salas answers questions about a specific niche: overtime pay law in Chicago. Yet it runs for over 2,000 words.

That’s four or five times more detailed than most practice area pages out there, which tend to be no more than 500 words long.

Importantly too, there’s absolutely no “fluff” or “padding” on this page. All the info is highly relevant:

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7. Answer the questions of your target audience

Keep your target audience uppermost in your mind. They want their key questions answered. They have a legal issue and they want to know more about it and what their options are.

Your whole page should be focused on this. Including an FAQ section at the end is a good strategy, like this page on impaired driving from the Oykhman Criminal Defence website:

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8. A headline and introduction above the ‘fold’

The ‘fold’ of a webpage is the point at which you need to scroll down. It gets its name from the fold of a newspaper.

Practice area power pages keep the headline and intro above the fold like this:

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9. A short, compelling introduction – the ‘hook’

People are usually on your page to find out about a legal matter, so there’s no need to go overboard with a ‘hook’. But you need to let them know that they’re in the right place to find the information they need.

This one is from the Jurewitz Law Group’s car accident (brain injury) practice area page:

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10. Anchored table of contents

If your page is long (and it should be), include a clickable table of contents to help readers navigate the information they need as quickly as possible.

A bit like we did at the top of this article – and like Trey Porter Law does on their DWI practice area page:

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11. Create sub-headers based on the info that is most important to potential customers

You already know that you need to make your pages easy to read and uncluttered.

As you build your page, break paragraphs up with sub-headers. That will make it more easily “digestible”. It will also help people find the information they need quickly.

Focus these sub-headers on the topics that are most important to potential customers – like Werman Salas do here:

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12. Include one or two main targeted keywords in headers and naturally throughout the text

Base your practice area pages around one or two specific keywords. Ideally, these should be ‘long tail’ keywords like “San Diego car accident lawyer”, which can be easier to target than “car accident lawyer” or “personal injury attorney”.

Include the keyword in your sub-headers and a few times naturally throughout the text – there’s no need to overdo it:

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13. Demonstrate that you understand the concerns of your target audience – and that you can help

Practice area power pages are perfect for going deep into the subject matter. This allows you to connect with your target audience on a deeper level too.

They want to feel that you understand their concerns and that you can help. You have the space and the know-how to do that.

Look at the type of language that the Jurewitz Law Group page uses here:

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14. Insert an optimized image in each section

You already know that images and video help to break up text and engage the reader.

Make sure that an optimized image is inserted into each section for this purpose – and for search engine optimization purposes too:

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EXTRA TIP: Include images at least 600 x 400 in size and optimize them. Avoid using smaller images as they are not as engaging.

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15. Incorporate internal links into the copy

Your practice area pages should ‘knit together’. Your website should feel cohesive.

Again, this is good for the user experience (as people can switch from page to page as they look for the relevant information) and good for SEO.

All the bullets on this part of the Werman Salas practice area page for overtime pay law are active internal links:

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16. Include relevant facts about the law applicable in your state/territory/city

People are there to be educated, to have their questions answered, to know where they stand.

So it’s important in practice area power pages to provide the relevant facts surrounding the legal issue:

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17. Include relevant tables or diagrams to present information in an easily digestible way

We’ve already mentioned the use of images and video to break up text and present information in an easy-to-read way.

Another great way of doing that is by using tables or diagrams, like this page on drug charges from the Trey Porter Law website:

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18. Link out to authority sites

As well as creating a cohesive website and a great user experience, you want to build an authoritative site that inspires trust and confidence in you as a firm.

With this in mind, back up your arguments with links to relevant authority sites. This includes government sites, educational institutions, and legal resources, as Trey Porter Law do here:

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19. Include a call to action high on the page as well as at the end of it

Practice area power pages by definition are lengthy. Don’t make people scroll all the way down to contact you or to take the next step.

Include a call to action high on the page and repeat it at the end – or make it visible all the way down the page, like Trey Porter Law and Jurewitz Law Group do on their practice pages:

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20. Include testimonials and/or case results

Visitors to your practice area pages will be interested to read reviews of how you’ve helped others in similar situations to theirs.

This will build trust and confidence in a way that’s impossible to do in your own words.

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21. Include a Frequently Asked Questions section

As previously mentioned, one of the simplest ways to answer the questions of your target audience is in the FAQ format. This can help you get really detailed.

Werman Salas includes 25 questions and answers at the end of their overtime pay law practice area page:

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What results can you expect from your pages?

Well, we started this article by saying you can generate ten times the traffic.

is that a justifiable claim?

Much of your success will come down to the quality of the digital marketing team you hire, but those pages we’ve examined above from the likes of Werman Salas and Jurewitz Law Group are commanding great rankings for their main target keywords.

This stuff works!

The Werman Salas page we dissected above ranks top of the organic search listings for “overtime pay lawyers Chicago”:

Oykhman Criminal Defence ranks in the #1 position in Google’s organic search result for “calgary impaired driving lawyers”.

Trey Porter’s website increased from the 50+ position to the #4 position in Google’s search results for “san antonio dwi defense” in less than 2 months.

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Get your practice area pages working overtime for you

Make your practice area pages extremely detailed, informative, engaging, easy-to-read, and focused on answering the questions of your target audience, and you’ll be well on the way to creating ‘power pages’.

The real beauty lies in the fact that so few law firms are creating them. It’s a huge opportunity for you to dramatically boost your website performance in terms of generating traffic and leads.

And now you have all the info you need to get started.

Need some help with your pages? Talk to us.