Search engine optimization (SEO) is vital to the success of a law firm’s online marketing efforts, and lawyers videos can be a particularly effective SEO tool. Read on for a review of the basics of SEO, with an emphasis on lawyer videos.

Why SEO is important
In order to maximize the use of your carefully designed website–with all its modern bells and whistles—people need to be able to find it. That means making sure that you understand the basics of the algorithms used by Internet search engines for deciding which websites to display in what order. Armed with that knowledge, you can help shepherd your website up in the rankings, using various SEO tactics.

Off-page optimization
One particularly effective genre of tactics is called off-page optimization, which essentially means tactics that involve websites which do not belong to you. By getting other websites to link to your own, you rise in the rankings. The amount that you rise is determined by the popularity of the other websites, and by how related those websites are to your own. This is where lawyer videos come in.

Using lawyer videos for off-page optimization

Lawyer videos—particularly informational ones—appeal to a broad swath of legal websites, such as legal aid organizations, bar associations, legal marketing companies, and CLE providers, just to name a few. In sharing your videos with such websites, you’ll both be providing them with a quality video that helps grow their membership, and optimizing your search engine results. Here are a few ways you can use lawyer videos:

1. Use an attorney video directory. These directories  host lawyer videos from a variety of law firms, and are designed to assist people who are in need of legal help select attorneys. The directory will not only help your search engine rankings by linking to your website, but will also put you virtually in front of prospective clients.

2. Use YouTube. Yes, it’s best known for silly viral videos, but a number of attorneys are choosing to upload their videos to YouTube. Why? Because it’s an incredibly popular website—the third most popular on the Internet, in fact. In addition, once uploaded to YouTube, your lawyer videos will be a cinch for viewers to share, either by email, Twitter or through social networking websites. While your video will probably never go truly viral, the more it gets passed around, the more likely you are to turn up new clients—and the higher you’ll move up the search engine rankings.

3. Include your videos on your social networking profiles. Speaking of social networking, this is a good way to increase your online presence and give prospective clients in your networks another entry point to find out about your firm.

Off page SEO is all about convincing other websites to link to your website—and to share content from your website (appropriately sourced, of course). Quality informational lawyer videos are natural pieces of content to share, and ones that will help the websites using them, the prospective clients who see them, and your own firm.