I've carelessly tossed around the word fodder to describe the content on many lawyer websites and blogs for years. I always thought of it as something expendable related to cannonballs. Shows what I know.
Content farming is certainly nothing new. And like other web marketing strategies designed to game search engines, it might work, at least for a little while.
But most of the time, it won't do much of anything. Except maybe tarnish your professional reputation a smidgen or get you into hot water with your state bar.
What you failed to consider is that the "stuff" in your posts and pages matters.
The words. The images. The video. The design. They all matter.
But you thought that if you filled search engines with enough "stuff" you could "catch" some people who entered some long-tail search query into Google and clicked-through to your page.
And again, maybe that worked a few times, at least for a little while.
But then it stopped working (or more likely never really worked at all). Maybe you got one of these or one of these. Now you're trying to figure out how to fix it.
But most of the time, there's nothing there worth salvaging. It's really time to start over. And by start over, I mean:
You might wonder:
But can't I save all the posts I've already published?
Don't bother.
But can't I use the same domain? After all, hasn't it built up authority and equity?
It has not.
But do I really need a new design? What's that got to do with anything?
Your design looks like someone's nephew's 5th grade web project. Well is it?
Let's cut through the, "if you write it, they will come stuff."
You're either not good at writing, or don't have the time to do it. Or maybe you're in the minority of lawyers who is an excellent writer and is willing to commit the time to writing. Good for you! But there's still a good chance no one will see your website or blog.
You see, writing for the web is different. It's not like writing a legal brief, a contract, an opening statement, a cross-examination or a treatise.
It has to motivate people online to take some kind action. If one of your goals is to attract attention from search, these actions must include:
If that's not happening, it's going to be very difficult to get a lot of people to find your posts and pages online.
The internet is big. Really big.
The only way that a lot of people are going to notice and find you is if other people spread the word.
Stop making cow food.
Here's a recent Google SERP for "๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ." Ads? โLSAs? โLocal Pack? โLinks? โ ๐ท AI Overview? โ 6 firms listed. Only one tiny ๐. Click the ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ button? ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐: Here's a more detailed look at some of these firms: THE PEARCE LAW FIRM, P.C.Edith Pearce, […]
On April 22, 2025, Google sent an email updating Local Services Ads Additional Terms for Providers: Subject: Action required: important updates to Local Service Ads Additional Terms Many people are arguing that lawyers cannot participate in Local Services Ads, as this would constitute a per se violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct related to […]
Conrad and I recently joined Zack at Lawyerist to record a conversation about AI and marketing. You might think that we spend the whole time on how lawyers can use AI to publish content. You'd be wrong. While AI can certainly support publishing, there are many more interesting ways to use it in legal marketing. […]
As more legal services consumers turn to ChatGPT for local law firm recommendations, a fascinating intersection between AI, search, and maps unfolds. While Google remains the undisputed leader in local business data, ChatGPT is increasingly becoming an entry point for searchers seeking legal representation. But hereโs the kicker: instead of keeping users within its ecosystem, […]
When law firms contact us, they usually want to talk: โข PPC Ads โข SEO Rankings โข Lead Generation Very few want to talk: โข Brand โข Trust & Recognition โข Emotional Connection Admittedly, much of this concerns that AttorneySync is known for lead generation across those common digital channels. But even when we start […]
According to an October 2024 study by SE Ranking: "The legal niche triggers the highest percentage of AIOs (77.67%). The average number of links matched between the AI Overview resources and the top 20 search results was 6.49 for legal topics. AI Overviews for legal topics most frequently link to NYCourts.gov (114 links), YouTube.com (48 […]
I'm grateful for my friend, Charley Mann of Law firm Alchemy. If you're a lawyer, subscribe to his Free Email List. In a recent email, Charley calls out bad guru advice on hiring: "Trying to execute a major SEO improvement? You need to find people who will help you, instead of trying to DIY it […]
If youโve spent any time on LinkedIn, youโve likely seen posts from law firm SEO experts showing off charts with an โup and to the rightโ trajectory. These screenshots, often pulled from tools like Semrush or Ahrefs, are meant to signal SEO success. And itโs not just the agencies celebratingโ๐น๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ […]
Meh, links! All things being equal, links still tend to move the dial more than any other factor in legal SERPs. Maybe links are having a diminishing impact internet-wide. But in my experience, quality links, especially relevant links (both topically and geographically), tend to improve law firm visibility in search more than most everything else. […]
