Every website listed on Google is held to a certain quality standard that will determine how they rank for particular search queries compared to other websites. However, not every website is held to the same quality standard, and your law firm website is no exception. Webpages which could affect the health, happiness, finances, or safety of a search user including law firm websites are categorized as Your Money Your Life (YMYL) sites on Google, and require a different quality criteria than other sites on the search engine.
Read on to learn more about Google’s search quality guidelines and how to improve the expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) of your website to achieve better visibility on Google for relevant and local searches.
What are the guidelines?
Google outlines the basics of what it expects from website owners (also known as webmasters) in their Google Webmaster Guidelines. Within these guidelines are the Search Quality Rating Guidelines that Google uses to detail what goes into a high-quality webpage. Trained search raters use these guidelines to determine the quality of webpages and whether a website is compliant or not.
The following are the main guidelines Google provides search raters when they are evaluating the quality of your law firm website:
Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T)
Google breaks down this quality guideline into three main elements: expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Expertise is defined broadly, but Google notes that formal expertise is important for YMYL websites such as law firm websites.
The authoritativeness and trustworthiness of your website is likely to be informed by the level of expertise you are bringing to your content creation. High-quality written content that is original, accurate, comprehensive, clearly communicated, and professionally presented will help you to represent your expertise to Google.
Your Money Your Life (YMYL)
Law firm websites are designated as Your Money Your Life (YMYL) pages on Google due to their potential effect on the happiness, health, or well-being of a search user. YMYL pages are held to a higher quality standard of E-A-T due to their ability to affect a web visitor’s well-being. This means a YMYL page will have to display a satisfactory level of authority and trust that is achieved through high-quality content.
Improve the E-A-T of your website and achieve a high standard of quality
High-quality website content is about meeting the searcher’s needs. Consider the intent of your website visitor, and the sequence of events that may have brought them there. How can you go above and beyond to meet their needs and establish yourself as a trusted and qualified resource?
The main intent of your web pages should be to educate potential clients who visit your site and inspire and encourage them to reach out to your firm. A successful and high-quality webpage is likely to:
- Achieve its purpose. The webpage is successful at educating potential clients about the question(s) they have regarding their case or matter. The page doesn’t solely act as a method of advertisement, but to provide valuable information as well.
- Sufficiently answer the potential client’s question. The webpage expands on an answer beyond one or two paragraphs and provides satisfactory detail and information. The web visitor feels as if they have learned everything they need to know about their question from the webpage.
- Offer a good user experience. The potential client feels that their needs have been fully met and the content was easy to read and understand. They will not need to conduct further research in order to take action.
Produce high-quality content fast with LawLytics
Google’s main objective is to return the highest quality search results for relevant search queries. For attorneys looking to drive more business to their firm using free search engine traffic, high-quality website content is the most important factor to consider. However, this can be extremely time-consuming or difficult to achieve on your own.
The LawLytics content generation tool is the quickest and easiest way to create high-quality practice area content for your law firm website. Choose from over 200 practice area topics, complete the customization prompts, and publish new, locally optimized pages directly to your website – never stare down a blank page again.
LawLytics provides you with the tools and support you need to establish expertise, authority, and trust with potential clients online. With our 60-day money back guarantee, there’s no risk to getting started with your new, high-performing website. View pricing and plans here or schedule an interactive demo with a product expert.
