Law Firm Website Completely Switching Marketing Focus - How to Best Handle

[peteboyd]

Hi Moz Community,

Thanks in advance for the help! We have a law firm client interested in fully switching their SEO marketing from Criminal Defense to Personal Injury. Our client no longer wants any business for Criminal Defense cases.

Background Info: The website for the last 10 years has focused on Criminal Defense (and ranks well). Over the last couple of years we have introduced Personal Injury content on the website and achieved some decent rankings as well.

In order to make the website less relevant for Criminal Defense, it had crossed our minds to de-index these specific Criminal Defense pages but still leave them present on the website.

Question:  Would you recommend de-indexing all of the pages at once or done in a gradual manner?

Our concern it that doing it all at once could affect the overall domain's authority more sharply and harm rankings for any other keywords not involving Criminal Defense.

[anthony009]

Given the background provided, where the website has been established with a strong emphasis on Criminal Defense over the past decade, it's understandable that you're concerned about the impact on the site's authority and rankings if you de-index the Criminal Defense pages abruptly.

Here's my recommendation:

Gradual De-indexing: Instead of de-indexing all Criminal Defense pages at once, consider a gradual approach. Start by identifying the least critical Criminal Defense pages and de-indexing those first. Monitor the impact on rankings and site authority over a period of time.
Monitor Performance: Keep a close eye on how the de-indexing process affects the site's overall performance, particularly in terms of rankings for Personal Injury-related keywords. This will help you gauge the impact and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Optimize Personal Injury Content: While de-emphasizing Criminal Defense content, ensure that the Personal Injury content is optimized to maintain or improve rankings in this area. This might involve further optimizing existing content, creating new targeted content, and refining your keyword strategy.
Maintain Quality and Relevance: Throughout the transition, prioritize maintaining the quality and relevance of the website's content. Ensure that the Personal Injury content meets the needs of your target audience and aligns with their search intent.
Regular Analysis and Adjustment: Continuously analyze the performance of the website and make adjustments as needed. This might involve further tweaking the de-indexing strategy, refining keyword targeting, or optimizing site structure.

[loramartin]

@loramartin
Hey there, it's great to see your dedication to adapting your law firm client's marketing strategy! Switching focus from Criminal Defense to Personal Injury is a significant shift, but it sounds like you've already made some headway with the introduction of Personal Injury content.

Regarding de-indexing, I'd recommend taking a gradual approach rather than de-indexing all the pages at once. Here's why:

Domain Authority Transition: Google's algorithms consider a website's overall authority. If you de-index all Criminal Defense pages at once, it might lead to a sudden drop in authority for your domain. This could impact your rankings for other relevant keywords, including Personal Injury-related terms.

Ranking Stability: Gradually transitioning by removing or de-indexing Criminal Defense pages while strengthening Personal Injury content can help maintain your current rankings while the new content gains traction. It's like shifting your weight from one foot to the other instead of jumping entirely to the other side.

User Experience: Abruptly removing all traces of Criminal Defense content might confuse regular visitors who are accustomed to that focus. By gradually transitioning, you allow users to adapt to the new content and navigate your site more comfortably.

Link Equity: Your current Criminal Defense pages might have accumulated valuable backlinks over the years. Gradual de-indexing allows these links to continue benefitting your site's authority while you build new ones for the Personal Injury pages.

So, my suggestion would be to selectively de-index or remove the Criminal Defense pages over a span of time, maybe a few months. This will give you room to monitor the effects and adjust your strategy if needed.

Remember, consistency in updating the Personal Injury content and maintaining a seamless user experience is key. All the best with your transition, and I'm sure your law firm client will appreciate your strategic approach!

[loramartin]

Shifting the marketing focus of a law firm's website from Criminal Defense to Personal Injury is a significant move, but it's definitely manageable. Firstly, make sure to thoroughly update the content of your website to reflect this transition. Revisit all pages related to Criminal Defense and replace them with informative, engaging content about Personal Injury law. This will not only provide a clear direction to visitors but also improve your website's SEO for the new focus.

Next, ensure that your website's navigation is user-friendly and intuitive. Create separate sections for Criminal Defense and Personal Injury cases, with relevant subcategories and pages. This will make it easy for visitors to find the information they need and distinguish between the two practice areas.

Since your website has already achieved decent rankings for Personal Injury content, leverage this success by optimizing those pages further. Update meta titles, descriptions, and headers to reflect the new focus. Additionally, reach out to your existing audience through newsletters or blog posts explaining the change and emphasizing your expertise in Personal Injury law.

Finally, monitor the transition's impact closely. Use tools like Google Analytics to track changes in traffic, bounce rates, and conversions. Adjust your strategies as needed to ensure a smooth shift in marketing focus without losing the gains you've achieved in rankings.

Regarding your request to download Pikashow, I'm here to provide information and assistance on various topics. If you have any questions or need guidance, feel free to ask! However, I cannot assist with downloading or promoting specific software or applications that might not align with legal or ethical standards. If you have any other queries or concerns, I'd be happy to help.

[VikramEZ]

Hi @peteboyd

Here I am sharing my experience and powerful SEO strategy for your Law Firm website. You should keep this in mind when you will be starting SEO for Law Firm.

Here are some steps you Follow While Doing SEO for Law Firm Websites
Step 1: Finding and Analyzing Competitors

Step 2: Technical SEO Audit For Law Firm Website

Step 3: Zero-Down on the Keywords

Step 4: Optimize Google Business Profile according to your competitors

Step 5: Optimize website Content with SEO Keywords

Step 6: Optimize Metas (Title & Meta Description) with SEO Keywords

Step 7: Optimize Heading & Subheading tags with SEO Keywords

Step 8: Optimize Schema Tags (Organization, Local Business, Navigation, Attorney, Event, Video, Rating & review, FAQs, etc)

Step 9: Optimize Footer add about content, location, and images with SEO Keywords

Step 10: And lastly You should Focus on High-Quality Link building (Profile creation, business citation, classified, bookmarking, content syndication, guest post, content outreach, web 2.0, forums, Q&A, etc.)

I hope these steps will help to rank higher in Google SERPs.

Also, if you don't have any experience SEO team you can consult with No. #1 India SEO company.

Thank you.

[EGOL]

If the rankings of the criminal defense pages have direct links then those links are helpful to any query that any page of the site competes for.  So, I would not delete them.

There are law firms with strong websites that rule the SERPs for everything in their town.   Their office takes any call that comes in, accepts the cases in practice areas where they have interest and expertise, and refers the rest to other firms for a referral fee.

[donsilvernail]

I would not deindex anything. The search rankings are the bread and butter. The question is how do you leverage current traffic and use it to boost personal injury.

I would start by curating new content that  aligns with the criminal justice content. Then take the criminal justice content and redirect it to your new content.

If you deindex, traffic will drop considerably and it will be like starting from scratch. If you redirect you may be able to pass link juice to your new pages while rankings start to increase for personal injury.