Lindsey Busfield is the Operations Manager for Optimize My Firm which provides specialized SEO services for personal injury law firms.

As one of the leading experts in the legal SEO field, Lindsey’s passion is promoting great personal injury lawyers in highly competitive markets. She is at the cutting edge of SEO strategy, obtaining astonishingly successful results for her personal injury law firm clients.

Additionally, she hosts the Personal Injury Marketing Minute podcast where she quickly covers the hot topics that all personal injury law firms need to know.

Lindsey has been working with law firms since 2015 and has a deep understanding of the nuances that successfully drive their marketing strategies. In her spare time, you can find her playing pickleball and exploring local farmers’ markets.

In a conversation with Anuj Kumar, Founder & Editor-in-Chief at Legal Desire, she talks about the importance of Legal Marketing and SEO for the law fraternity. Read the entire conversation below:

Brief about Optimize My Firm

Optimize My Firm helps reputable personal injury law firm acquire more clients by using cutting-edge SEO strategies. In order for clients to find a law firm on Google, they generally need to rank on the first page. Having been leaders in the legal SEO field for over a decade, Optimize My Firm has a deep understanding of what Google is looking for in a website. We stay on top of Google’s trends and develop SEO strategies that work for personal injury law firms. Our clients have seen dramatic improvements, not only in their overall website traffic but in the number of clients they acquire year after year. After all, that is what really matters.

What is SEO and how can it help lawyers get more clients?

After an accident, most injured persons will first turn to Google to learn about their options for legal and financial recourse. Usually, most people won’t look beyond the first two pages of Google’s search results. That is why it is so important for a personal injury law firm’s website to show up, ideally, on the first page of Google. Otherwise, they just won’t get found. That is where SEO comes into play. 

SEO is a combination of strategies that helps a law firm’s website to rank higher in the search results. Google wants to provide the best search results possible to people searching for answers. As such, there are certain factors they look at when deciding whose website gets on the first page. Some of the considerations include the content on a website, how reputable and user-friendly the site is, and how often it is updated. Optimize My Firm’s SEO strategies optimize the content and reputation of our clients’ websites so that they can rank highly.

Is SEO something that lawyers can do in-house?

SEO is a specialized marketing service. While there are marketing professionals who can leverage social media platforms, communications, and even build pretty websites, SEO is something that requires specialized knowledge. Running an effective SEO campaign generally takes at least one dedicated SEO expert. This is especially true in the legal industry. They not only need to have an understanding of the nuances of legal marketing and SEO best practices, but also have the time to generate a sufficient amount of optimized content and backlinks to make an impact. Can it be done in-house? Yes. But our clients find that it is generally more cost efficient and effective to hire Optimize My Firm. 

Does SEO work for everyone?

While SEO can work for anyone, it is not the right investment for everyone. There are two cases that come to mind where it wouldn’t be appropriate to heavily invest in SEO: very small towns when you are a big firm and very large cities when you are a small firm. 

If your law firm is in a town with 2,000 people and you don’t have much competition, it might not make sense to throw additional spending at SEO. This is especially true if you already dominate the market. So long as your website is up to date with good content, you might already rank on the first page of Google. 

The other exception is if you have a small firm with limited financial resources and you are in a highly competitive market. For SEO to be done right and have an impact, it requires a refined strategy, expertise, link acquisition and content development. That can come with a big price tag, especially in super saturated markets. Unless the personal injury law firm has a sizeable marketing budget, there are generally other ways to invest that will give a greater ROI. 

If you are doing SEO, do you still need to do other marketing?

Generally, yes. SEO should be one piece of your marketing portfolio. Marketing is all about making sure that potential clients find your firm before they find someone else’s. So, the more ways that you can capture their attention and win their trust, the better. There are some traditional digital marketing methods, like PPC advertising and social media, that have become a staple in legal marketing strategies. Other traditional methods include radio or tv ads, billboards, or bus signage. 

But some of the most effective marketing campaigns have come from participation in the local community. Whether the firm’s team participates in all of the local bike races, shows up for volunteering events, or offers guidance on news programs, getting involved in local communities is a form of marketing outreach that genuinely captures attention and trust.

How is SEO different in saturated markets v non-competitive markets?

In non-competitive markets, SEO strategy can be fairly straightforward. We create great content that is optimized for Google that genuinely helps people find answers. We also create backlink strategies to help improve the reputation and domain authority for the law firm’s website. If done right, that can be enough to rise to the top.

However, in more saturated markets with a higher level of competition fighting for the top spots, there is generally a lot more work involved. There are important pieces of information that Google looks for beyond the basic content on a website. These include meta descriptions, page titles, site speed, and other behind the scenes factors. When Google has 50 websites to choose from that all have optimized content, these factors can make all the difference between a website getting on the first page or the 5th. 

There are also some techniques that we use to boost site rankings that have little to do with the website itself. These involve using tools like Google My Business, Local Service Ads, and other Google offerings that can engage more prospective clients.

Does the company only work with Personal Injury firms?

While the strategies we develop would work well for most businesses, our expertise is in the legal industry. Everyone on our team has extensive knowledge and expertise in legal marketing. We understand the nuances, assets, limitations, and tactics required when crafting and implementing successful SEO for personal injury firms. That said, when we’re a good match, we do occasionally take on Workers’ Compensation, Criminal Defense and other types of law firms. 

What is a backlink acquisition strategy?

Google wants to make sure that the websites they are ranking highly are reputable. One of the ways they do that is by looking at the quantity and quality of backlinks that a website has. 

A backlink is when one website cites another website as a source of good information. For example, when an essay cites a book as a reference, the essay is saying that the book is a credible source. Similarly, when Website A cites Website B, the first is saying that Website B is a credible source. The more times that Website B is cited, the more credible they appear. 

However, Website B doesn’t want just any website citing them. Website B needs to be cited by websites that are relevant and trustworthy. This is where the acquisition strategy comes into play. We work to find opportunities for our clients’ websites to be cited by other reputable websites that have some thematic connection to the firms’ offerings.

Tell us about your Podcast?

I host a podcast called the Personal Injury Marketing Minute. In these short podcasts, we discuss actionable ways that personal injury law firms can optimize their operations. We generally have a guest who is an expert in their respective field to discuss ways in which personal injury law firms can get more clients. Topics include everything from legal marketing strategies, the latest fashion trends for lawyers, and products that lawyers can use to help optimize their operations. 

What is your Plan of Action when a new firm comes in?

When a new firm comes in, we generally have an onboarding session where we get to know their firm’s current operational strategy, goals for the future, and what sets them apart from other firms in their market. 

We also conduct a comprehensive assessment of their website to see what their current set up is and how the site is currently performing. A lot of times, websites have some good content already that needs to be optimized in order to rank. We continue to build upon what they have in place while developing a content strategy that will capture more visibility on Google. 

Finally, we assess other ways to help boost their visibility and attract more clients. Sometimes this looks like developing strategies to gather more reviews, setting up and managing Google My Business Accounts, and leveraging Local Service Ads opportunities. 

How important and effective is SEO today for generating leads for law practice?

Hugely important. If your firm isn’t doing it, someone else’s is. There are only so many legal cases, especially personal injury cases, in a given area. Especially if the market is saturated, there will be a lot of competition over these cases. 

The effectiveness, as with most marketing initiatives, depends on how actively invested you are in it. Each market is going to have different challenges and opportunities. If you work with an SEO agency that can evaluate the landscape and create an effective strategy, then you can expect to get more leads.  

What advice you will give to someone who is starting a Law firm? What should be there in the initial checklist?

Creating a marketing plan for a new law firm can be a challenge. You are going up against other law firms that already have long established websites, social media platforms, and reputations – not to mention the budgets that they are already equipped to invest. So, you have to be wise with how you spend your marketing dollars. 

Also, don’t neglect the marketing budget. While it might not be huge or robust, it is necessary. There are a lot of costs associated with starting a new firm, and it can be tempting to divert funds from marketing but that would be a mistake. If you want to grow your case load, clients need to know you exist. They won’t know you exist just by the sign on your door. You need to market. You don’t need to spend a huge amount – if you can, that is great – but a wisely invested effort is best. 

Even if you can just invest your time by getting involved in the community at events, your chamber of commerce, or through networking that would be better than not doing any marketing at all. 

If you do have some money to spend, use it wisely. Different investments will pay off on a different timeline. For example, a pay per click ad will usually have a faster conversion rate than a social media campaign. Some good starter investments include:

1. Building a website with lots of content and regularly updated blog
2. Creating a Google My Business page
3. Pay Per Click advertising (Google Ads)
4. Pay Per Call advertising (Google Local Service Ads)
5. Review Generation (once you have had a few happy clients)
6. Creating a LinkedIn or other professional social media page
7. Chamber of Commerce or other networking groups

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