How to Rank Your Website in a Niche Industry

Being an attorney or business person in a niche part of your field can make marketing more difficult. Making sure consumers find your law firm when you have very little data to analyze is difficult. Additionally, identifying competitors for your niche industry can present an additional challenge in your marketing efforts. Though, just because your practice area is niche does not mean you cannot generate online traffic. Continue reading to see the possible ways Array Digital’s dedicated SEO experts can start to help rank your law firm.

What Are Niche Keywords?

Keyword research is something you may hear quite a bit when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) and digital marketing in general. Keywords are the words people type into search engines to find services or products they need. Niche keywords are extremely specific keywords for a certain business, industry, or area of the law.

Finding valuable keywords can be more difficult if you work in an industry that does not witness the same level of search volume as personal injury or family law, for example. Search volume, or the number of searches conducted for a specific term per month, is critical to understand since it provides insight into how common it is for people to search for those particular terms. Niche keyword research enables us to better understand these figures, ultimately allowing us to select the best keywords to target.

However, for those outside the typical family law or personal injury law firm area, it’s harder to know which search terms people are actually using and which will offer the right combination of low competition and reliable traffic to your website.

Working with Array Digital can help you find some hidden gems. Our niche keyword research tools could help you stand out among the competition.

Why Do Niche Keywords Usually Have Lower Search Volume?

As you work to develop some keyword ideas for your business, you may wonder why niche keywords have such low search volume. Are there not as many people looking for these services?

Your list of keywords should include niche keywords. They have a lower volume of organic traffic because they are highly specific and target a smaller audience. That means there are fewer searchers looking for that very specific keyword. Yet, the good news is that this is a more targeted consumer – and they are more likely to reach your site and convert to a client.

As you work to define your target audience (the people who are most likely to become your clients or customers), you’ll want to zero in on these unique, specialized keywords because those that type them are more likely to reach your site and potentially take action to contact you if you meet their needs.

What Is an Example of a Niche Keyword?

Many factors play a role in determining which potential keywords you should use. Niche keywords provide a very specific, narrow focus, and often, the more specific they are, the better.

Some people may believe a term like “Manhattan car accident attorney” is a niche keyword, but that’s not the case. This is no doubt a service that may be something you offer, but there are caveats to using popular terms like these. While this keyword does fall under the personal injury umbrella, New York City is one of the most competitive SEO markets in the country. There is also plenty of competition for family law and criminal defense.

You may think that since so many people are searching for “Manhattan car accident attorney,” you should be using this keyword. Yet, doing so means you have to compete against so many other attorneys trying to do the same thing, as well as other websites. That means that the chances of ranking high on the search engine results page (SERP or SERPs) are going to be low. That could seem frustrating, but when you adapt your SEO strategy to a more niche market, SEO works in your favor.

An example of an effective niche keyword may be “U.S. Food and Drug Administration Rules and Regulations Attorney.” Now, if you offer this service to your clients, utilizing this as a target keyword is going to draw in a very specific person – someone that needs the services of this type of attorney. Often, those looking for that type of narrowed focus are ready to take action. They need help with the FDA and need a specialized attorney to get them there.

As you consider potential keywords, determine which words are very specific to your practice. It may take time to scour through information regarding search volume and related keywords, but the more specific you can be in these target keywords, the more results you’ll get in that area.

When you have a niche site or a website that offers very specific support for someone looking for these services, you’ll be able to show the searcher that you can help them through their problem. They perform a Google search with a concern. They see your listing on the SERP. That searcher visits your website, sees you’re the pro they need, and then decides to work with you by picking up the phone to call you. With good content marketing, you can see excellent results from this type of digital marketing strategy.

Consider Using Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are words or phrases that are more specific than others. While a typical target keyword is “Atlanta car accident attorney,” a long-tail keyword would be “does a car accident affect your credit score in Atlanta?” You would write your content to suffice this main question and provide supporting information. Even though long-tail keywords can have a very narrow focus, that’s a good thing.

Why Are Niche Keywords Beneficial to Your Business?

As you consider the right keywords to use, take a moment to consider search intent. Search intent is the reason people are typing that keyword into the search engines. It’s critical to know this.

For example, let’s say you provide workers’ compensation legal services. Many of your clients come from local companies where injuries occur. Instead of targeting “workers’ compensation attorneys in Seattle,” which is likely to have a high search volume, you may choose to target “workers’ compensation attorney for Amazon employees in Seattle” or a variation of this. You know, in this instance, that someone typing that into the search engines is likely an Amazon employee that suffered an injury and needs legal guidance.

Niche keywords have a very clear search intent. You can tell exactly what someone is looking for from them. That should bring very specific clients needing your type of service or advice about your area of practice to your website.

When you dig in and learn the keyword phrase people are using to find services like your own, you can structure your marketing campaigns around those search queries, often resulting in significantly improved, highly targeted visitors to your website. If you’re in a profitable niche, that’s even better.

It’s Easier to Rank for Them, Too

Often niche keywords are usually easier to rank for, especially if your site is newer and has not built any authority with Google yet. Because there are likely fewer competitors using that keyword due to the lower monthly search volume, that means you don’t have as many people going after the same specific customers you are.

As a new website, you may be using a wide range of tools to help you improve your rankings. You may be considering buying backlinks and trying to find how to best manipulate the algorithm to get to the top of the Google search results page. Yet, that process takes time. By starting with a very highly specialized focus like this, you’ll get in front of clients you want to work with and can serve quickly. Over time, you can build up your authority and begin writing other content that targets more competitive keywords.

While you may want to start doing SEO for your own site right away, it is crucial to stay away from sites that provide general keyword suggestions. These are websites that may appear if you search for “best keywords for lawyers.” These websites might say that a term is easy to rank for, but you may not realize it is not relevant to your firm. For example, you should not target “car accident lawyer near me” as a primary keyword because “near me” is based on the searcher’s IP address and not a consistent location. To get the best SEO performance possible, you should hire an agency to conduct custom keyword research for you and execute all the aspects of your SEO.

The Importance of Building Authority

As a small website, especially if you are just starting out, you may see the value in using niche keywords. Yet, that doesn’t mean you can stop there by just including a few words on your website. Rather, all attorneys in niche industries must still do the work to establish themselves as leaders.

Your website needs to work to build website authority, which Ahrefs define as the strength of a given domain. There’s quite a bit that goes into building your website’s authority, which ultimately determines where your website will sit in the SERPs. The higher your domain authority, the more visible your website will be on the SERP to people looking for the services you need.

Think about websites like Forbes and Apple. They have built so much authority with Google over the decades that new content on these websites almost immediately ranks at the top of the SERPs.

How can you build up your domain authority, then? Along with using target keywords as discussed, you’ll also need to focus on the following:

• Creating quality content for your website. Quality, not just quantity, matters.
• Get backlinks that point to your website from other websites with high domain authority.
• Generate content directed at your very specific audience – look into utilizing long-tail keywords.
• Consider the competition and what they’re doing better than you.
• Utilize tools like email marketing, social media, and newsletters to help you become a leader in that niche market.
• Provide value to people who are visiting your site, giving them free information and resources like tutorials or guides that showcase your expertise.

All this work (and other types) will help your website get recognition from Google. Ultimately, it is a combination of these factors that will play a role in where your website ranks and, as a result, how many people see your link and click on it.

Efficient Strategies to Find Good Keywords for Specific Topics

How do you find the right keywords to use? It’s not just about listing out your practice areas and hoping that’s going to be enough. Rather, you need to do some research to really understand the metrics behind what people are searching for and how well that relates to your website.

Array Digital has a comprehensive process to help with this. When you use our services, you’ll have no trouble learning where to focus your time.

Keyword Research Tools

To determine the best niche for you to focus on, we will use a wide range of keyword research tools. You may find some out there, such as Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, Moz, guides and videos from bloggers, and other SEO tools that offer a strict keyword focus. While there are some free tool options, our goal is to really dig deep to find the most accurate focus for you. That’s going to ensure a better ROI for any business.

We also do a competitor analysis. This allows us to reverse-engineer your competitors’ websites and find valuable keywords to bring in new clients to your firm. We gather as much information as possible, including from Google trends, to make clear improvements in your strategy.

You’ll find that this research is not just for SEO but can also help you with your pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. You’ll want to target the right seed keyword in your Google ads and other tools to help make every investment into your marketing work the best for your business.

Long-Tail Keywords

We use SEO tools to help identify opportunities for you that you might not realize existed. Keep in mind that it’s not about finding hundreds of random keywords or obscure terms. Rather we further the terms that are most important to your firm. Our research can help create a clear picture of which long-tail keywords to target.

Check Intent

We also will check the intent or the most likely reason people are using those keywords. There’s no benefit in using keywords that draw people to your website if you cannot meet their needs and they don’t stick around.

For example, let’s say you opened a firm called Nike Law Firm. While you might think using Nike in the name of your firm would garner plenty of traffic, people who search for that term are looking for apparel. Therefore, this keyword has the wrong intent and will not garner traffic to your business.

Keyword difficulty is a factor to consider in every campaign. You want to target keywords that have a low ranking difficulty if you are just starting out with SEO.

In a Niche Area of Law? Get Found Online and Grow Your Firm!

Allow the team at Array Digital to provide you with more insight into your keyword use. Fill out our contact form now or call 757-333-3021 to learn more about how we can help you.