By Joanne Tan
Sydney, November 2024
Appearing in the right Google searches introduces a law firm to clients. That potential to capture new business is a reason many law firms invest heavily in writing articles for their websites. However, most of those firms are overlooking an important metric, says one expert on law firm content marketing.
“There’s a simple number that indicates how well your firm is positioned to pick up new business from search engines,” says Steven Lewis, Director of Copywriting at Taleist Agency. “The problem is that you won't find that number in Google Analytics or another web analytics program. As a result, many people don’t even know the number exists.”
Branded vs non-branded searches
Google searches are divided into branded and non-branded searches. Branded searches include the name of the law firm. “Allen & Overy Sydney” is a branded search. “Litigation lawyer Melbourne” is a non-branded search.
“Non-branded searches have the greatest volume of opportunities to pick up new business,” says Lewis. “Those searches are made by people who are looking for information without a particular law firm in mind.”
Taleist recently published a free report on how web traffic to Australia’s top-tier and mid-tier law firms is divided between branded and non-branded searches.
“Anyone making a branded search already knows who you are, and it’s good to be known,” says Lewis. “However, there will always be a greater number of non-branded searches. And if your firm isn’t appearing in those non-branded searches, you’re leaving those searchers to be picked up by other firms.”
highest top-tier firm
highest mid-tier firm
Firms with high levels of branded search are missing out on potential clients who are searching Google
Source: Taleist Agency report on branded vs non-branded search among Australia's largest law firms
Crucial but hard-to-find guidance
Web analytics programs like Google Analytics say how much of your website traffic comes from search engines. They don’t tell you how those visits are split between branded and non-branded searches. That information is available only in specialist tools, which is a problem, says Lewis.
“Without knowing the split between branded and non-branded searches, it’s harder to know who’s coming to your website. Are they mostly people who already know you? Are you missing out on people who are searching for ‘ESG legal services’ or ‘commercial litigation lawyers’ without adding the name of your firm? If you’re a commercial litigation firm looking for more work, chances are you want to show up when someone types ‘commercial litigation lawyer’ into Google.”
The right balance of branded and non-branded searches
Among the top tier firms in Australia, branded search is as high as 73 per cent. Among mid-tier firms, branded search is as high as 86 per cent. That means as little as 14 per cent of their visitors are potential clients searching for an answer to a problem. That said, the right balance between branded and non-branded searches depends on a firm’s strategy.
“Maybe it doesn’t matter to a particular firm that it’s talking only to people who already know of the firm,” says Lewis. “That’s valid. But I’d always rather be one of the firms that’s getting more exposure to potential new clients. A lot of searches with your name in them represent work you’re already getting. It’s the non-branded searches that are most likely to represent potential new business.”
Growing the whole pie
Lewis points out that a law firm will always rank high in Google for a branded search.
“A law firm with a website, will rank number one if you search its name,” says Lewis. “That doesn’t take any SEO skill. It’s the most basic thing that Google does.”
Also, growing your firm’s share of non-branded searches will not reduce the number of branded searches, says Lewis. “When you get in front of more searchers, you’re growing the whole pie,” he says. “You still get all the searches by people who already know who you. But on top of that, you’re getting more new people with a problem you could advise them about.”
Wasted effort?
Lewis points to a firm in the Taleist branded search report with a frequently updated news section but only 13 per cent non-branded search. “That number suggests a low chance those articles are showing up in Google. That’s no problem if the firm is putting that effort in for existing clients only. But if at least part of their goal is to rank better in Google, that could probably be achieved with no extra effort. They just need to know what best practice is and to apply it consistently.”
If a firm writes articles to bring in visitors from Google, the firm’s split between branded and non-branded searches is a good indicator of performance.
“When you put out articles without shifting your percentage of non-branded searches, it’s an indication that your effort is being wasted,” says Lewis. “You’re not picking up new people. That’s usually because the articles aren’t being written to current SEO best practice. With an adjustment towards best practice, you can get much better results for the same amount of effort.”
Opportunities for firms of all sizes
Although larger firms with longer-established websites have an advantage in Google, the evidence suggests that smaller firms can claim a significant slice of non-branded search.
“We wrote an article for a seven-person law firm with a two-year-old website,” says Lewis. “The article is on lucrative area of law, so unsurprisingly, there’s plenty of content from bigger firms. But that content isn’t well-positioned from an SEO point of view. Today, our client ranks on the first page of Google for multiple non-branded keywords in a major practice area, despite being small, new and not in a capital city.”
Lewis encourages all law firms to adopt the percentage split between branded and non-branded traffic as a key metric. “It’s a fast way to get a sense of the firm’s performance in positioning itself to attract new business from Google,” says Lewis
Access your free copy of Taleist's free report into branded vs non-branded search in 28 of Australia's largest law firms.
