SEO Tasks Every Law Firm Should Automate
Your law firm has more things to do on a daily basis than just your SEO practice. Sure, it's great for content marketing, but good SEO does not always beget excellent services. If you're working hard to convince potential clients to hire you as legal counsel via content marketing and SEO, you should also set aside some time to work on your legal practice.
SEO takes a lot of work—even more so when you're doing them manually. You might already have tools to help you analyze and adapt through a change of strategies, but if you can cut down on time you spend on some more laborious SEO tasks (without losing quality, of course), wouldn't that be nice? More time to work on your current cases is always nice, after all.
On that note, we're lucky that software has become so advanced that it could take some load off of your work. So SEO practices can be fully automated now, and it's good to know what they are and what they do. If you find a use for them, all the better.
What is SEO Task Automation?
SEO automation entails employing software to automate operations that would otherwise have to be completed manually, at least in part. You may save both time and money by using SEO automation solutions.
Smart SEO practitioners recognize that automating monotonous operations frees up time for them to conceive of new techniques and work on other projects that benefit their clients and their websites. Productivity is boosted by automation.
Depending on your technological knowledge, you can automate a variety of jobs. Using off-the-shelf software, you can automate tedious SEO chores. Granted, these tools do require some configuration, but they're simple to use and may save you a lot of time.
A lot of SEO software firms provide a toolkit that may assist you with a variety of activities and provide you with the data you need.
On the other hand, you can build scripts in languages like Python to help you automate processes that are more specific to your business or workflow.
However, for the most part, you can use SEO tasks that are automated, such as:
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Position tracking
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Crawls
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New backlinks
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Profile quality checks
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Reporting
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Examining log files
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Analysis of keyword intent
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Creating meta descriptions
Helping You Get One Step Ahead
Notice how most of these are also SEO essentials. You don’t always know when to check for spammy backlinks in case of a bad SEO attack. You don’t always stop to think about your log files or your meta descriptions. You don’t know if your site crawls are coming from a DDoS attack that aims to take your site down.
Not only is automation cutting you some precious time, it also makes sure you’re updated on things you otherwise might not notice. Imagine not having to manually input data for you to know there’s some suspicious traffic on your site—the sooner you know, the faster you fix it.
Quick Tip!
Though a lot of businesses and firms use social media networks for more interaction with potential clients, you can always use social media's reach for its primary advantage—exposure.
Some users tend to search on sites like Facebook and Twitter for lawyer referrals. They'll sometimes use filters to find law firm pages around their area, and if your basic info is already up, why not keep it moving?
An Example:
Say a user were to find your Facebook page, they'd love to look into your timeline for some information. If you have a stagnant timeline (perhaps your last post was from three years ago), they might think your firm's either defunct or unresponsive to inquiries. However, if you can automate a few posts—like links to main site content and landing pages—they'll be more willing to get redirected to your website.
The available user base for mainstream sites alone shouldn't be scoffed at, so it's best you take advantage of them. You can draw traffic from everywhere, so every little bit helps. Plus, a lot of these social media sites already allow automation—if not, there are a lot of free third-party software that can do scheduled posts, Tweets, and shares for you.
Suggested Tools for SEO Automation
You have two options for automating SEO tasks: software that will do everything for you, and you generate the commands by yourself.
Here are suggestions for each:
Software Suggestion: Little Warden
Little Warden claims to be able to "watch your customer and domain portfolio in order to avoid unwanted surprises."
It's all about being proactive and avoiding mistakes that might have disastrous consequences if not addressed, such as:
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Expiration of a domain name
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Expiration of SSL certificates
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Changes to the title and meta tags
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Changes to Robots.txt
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Others
DIY Suggestion: Python
Python is not a good choice for beginners who want to automate SEO duties.
Instead, it is a more advanced tool for individuals who are willing to put in the effort to learn a new programming language.
Those who are eager to embark on this adventure can utilize Python to automate a few tasks.
Simplify The SEO Process
Savvy SEO practitioners spend their time carefully on projects that require physical labor and drive organic development.
That implies automating jobs that don't require manual work and consume too much of your time.
Let's not forget: you're running a law firm, not an SEO company. SEO needs you to invest time into it, but it is not so inconvenient that busy legal professionals can't do it.
Automate what you can, and even if you do, make sure to check up on it regularly.