1. Page Titles
& Meta Descriptions
for Law Firms
How do I create effective, search engine-
friendly page and post titles and descriptions on
my law firm website and blog?
Gyi Tsakalakis
Law firm web strategy
AttorneySync
gt@attorneysync.com
(773) 328-2027
AttorneySync.com | info@attorneysync.com | (773) 828-8878
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2. Why Do Titles and Meta
Descriptions Matter?
• A factor in whether someone reads
what you write.
• A factor in whether someone
subscribes to what you publish.
• A factor in whether someone clicks
on your listing in a search result.
• A factor in whether someone might
call your firm.
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3. Titles & Meta Descriptions in
Search Results
Titles and meta descriptions make up a large part
of your visible listings in search results.
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4. How Search Engines Work
• ―Google's generation of page titles and descriptions (or "snippets") is
completely automated and takes into account both the content of a
page as well as references to it that appear on the web. The goal
of the snippet and title is to best represent and describe each result
and explain how it relates to the user's query.‖
• ―We use a number of different sources for this information,
including descriptive information in the title and meta tags for each
page. We may also use publicly available information—for instance,
anchor text or listings from the Open Directory Project
(DMOZ)—or create rich snippets based on markup on the page.‖
• ―While we can't manually change titles or snippets for individual sites,
we're always working to make them as relevant as possible. You can
help improve the quality of the title and snippet displayed for
your pages by following the general guidelines below.‖
– Google Webmaster Support
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5. Creating Descriptive
Page Titles
• Titles to every page and post of your law firm website and
blog should be uniquely specified in the <title> tag.
• Page titles should describe the content of the page.
What is the page specifically about? Avoid using vague or
unnecessarily long titles, which are likely to get cropped in
search results.
• Don’t stuff keywords into your titles. There’s no good
reason to repeat the same words or phrases over and over
in your titles.
• It’s best to have distinct, descriptive titles for each page on
your law firm website and blog. Titling every page on a
legal site ―Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers", for example,
makes it impossible for users to distinguish how one page
differs another. Your titles should precisely reflect the
actual content of the page.
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6. Creating Meta Descriptions
• Don’t forget a meta description for every page and post.
• Use different descriptions on different pages.
• Meta descriptions don’t have to be limited to sentences.
Including structured data about the page provides search
engines with a more rich understanding of your page content.
For example, legal news or blog postings should list the author,
date of publication, or byline information.
• Make sure your descriptions are very descriptive and
designed to attract clicks. Good descriptions are typically
displayed in search results, and can have a significant impact
on your site’s traffic from search.
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7. Good vs. Bad
Poor Titles / Better Titles /
Meta Descriptions Meta Descriptions
• Missing altogether. • Exists on every page.
• Same on each page. • Is unique on every
• Isn’t very descriptive. page.
• Stuffed With • Is very descriptive about
Keywords. the page’s content.
• Unnecessarily Long. • Clear and concise.
• Lacks Structured • Includes structured
Information. information.
• Doesn’t motivate • Motivates searchers to
clicks. click.
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8. On Which Would You Click?
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9. Write for Your Audience
• Who is your target audience online?
• What are they looking for online?
• Where are they looking for it?
• Why are they looking?
• How can you help them?
• Why should they ―click‖ your listing?
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10. Title Themes
• Answer a question.
• Share an experience.
• Tell a story.
• Demonstrate your knowledge.
• Solve a problem.
• Distinguish yourself from others.
• Provide your opinions.
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11. Description Themes
• Offer a service.
• Summarize the page content.
• Use calls to action.
• Include structured information like
author.
• Give something away for free.
• Consider your punctuation.
• Provide a teaser.
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12. Learn More
• More on internet marketing
specifically for law firms:
AttorneySync.com/blog/
• More on Google Guidelines:
https://support.google.com/webmast
ers/?hl=en
• More on search engine optimization
generally: Seomoz.org
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13. Thanks!
Thanks for viewing. Should you have
any feedback or questions, please
don’t hesitate to contact us:
AttorneySync
info@attorneysync.com
(773) 828 - 8878
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