Rankings don’t matter anymore.
::Gasp::
And organic search, once king, is becoming supplementary.
(And that’s ok!)
It was always inevitable, and why I never put all my eggs in the basket of becoming an “SEO Agency.”
I’ve always known how crucial it is for Legends Legal Marketing to stay on top of the changing landscape, ready to pivot, adapt, and try new things. We serve as the guide as well as the implementers or what needs to happen next to keep our clients on top.
And now, we find ourselves at another pivot point:
Optimizing for LLMs (Large Language Models) i.e. AI search.
More and more, search is being done via LLMs such as ChatGPT and Gemini.
And some lawyers are appearing in these results.
In fact, a lot of our clients are ALREADY appearing in these results even with our new initiatives just now rolling out.
That’s because the principles of good, strong, no corner-cutting work stand the test of time and change.
Here are a few of those core principles:
- Snippet and Summary-based content
Long form content is no longer king. It’s great for supplementation and expansion, but everything should be skimmable. Everything. LLMs love lists, FAQs, and plain language information.
- AI prefers content not written by AI
In the past couple of years, a lot of lawyers have cut corners by having ChatGPT draft their blogs and service pages. This AI copy is recognized by AI as AI copy and is deprioritized compared to copy written by actual humans.
- Trust is the Strategy
It’s not a keyword density game anymore. It’s about proving that you are trustworthy, authoritative, and clearly relevant. Say what you do, clearly – not in a cute way. And tell people why they should trust you. Trust-building has been at the core of our web development and legal marketing for over a decade, and it hasn’t failed yet. LLMs are smart, and they can discern generic bullshit from content showing that a service provider is legitimate.
- Build Authority
Again, something you should be doing anyway. Get client reviews and testimonials and display them on your website. Bonus points if they live on your GMB profile. Create Case Studies and show results of your best cases. Show off your awards and affiliations through the use of badges and visuals. (Yes, visuals are taken into account).
- General Website Health
This one isn’t so flashy and exciting and often gets overlooked, but your website needs to be in good health for LLMs to pick it up as viable.
That means: quick loading speed, mobile-first design, an SSL Certificate, ADA compliance, and about a hundred other little back end checks and balances that you should be doing every month or so.
There’s no more “set it and forget it,” someone should be actively managing your website on a monthly basis to ensure top health and performance.
For more musings on LLMs (along with some other fun nonsense), check out my recent podcast interview with Jared Correia on Legal Late Night: https://share.transistor.fm/s/