If your firm has invested any efforts into search engine optimization (SEO), you’ll certainly know about Google algorithm updates. Google and other major search engines constantly modify their search algorithm to ensure that search results are as accurate and beneficial as possible. One of these updates was known as “RankBrain.”

What is RankBrain?

RankBrain is an artificial intelligence released back in 2015. RankBrain works to determine user intent more accurately than before. Senior-level staff at Google says that RankBrain is one of the three biggest factors that go into determining search results. RankBrain is also used to display results for queries that have never been searched before. But how does RankBrain actually affect the way consumers find your firm’s website?

Addressing User Intent

With RankBrain, it’s now more important to focus on user intent and not simply using the right keywords in your website’s content. For example, if you’re adding a blog post about how breast cancer qualifies for Social Security disability benefits, you can’t simply repeat the phrase “breast cancer Social Security” over and over. You’ll need to address the questions people will likely have when applying, which might include:

• How does breast cancer qualify for disability benefits?
• Can I receive Social Security for breast cancer?
• What can I do if I was denied benefits for breast cancer?

These are just a few examples of potential content that might perform better than keyword-based content with RankBrain. You can use Google Analytics to determine which pages seem to generate the most traffic and go from there.

Value is More Important Than Ever

RankBrain emphasizes having high-quality content, as do Google’s Panda and Penguin updates. If your content isn’t providing valuable information for your users, you may see a drop in traffic due to RankBrain (or many other algorithm updates).

How can you tell if your content is “valuable”? There’s no sure-fire way to know, but Google Analytics can give you some good insights. How long are consumers staying on your firm’s website? If someone is only on a page for 20 seconds, it’s likely he or she didn’t find useful legal information. The same can be said for people who immediately navigate away from your website without interacting at all. Exceptions are of course “contact us” pages or other shorter pieces of content where someone is looking for a quick answer.

Improving Your Marketing Strategy

RankBrain is just one of hundreds of Google updates that might affect your firm. In fact, Google says that it does 1-3 updates every single day. It can be challenging to get traffic to your site, especially with hundreds of competing law firms vying for the same traffic in your area.

Lead generation is a great way to supplement your current marketing efforts. eGen is a leader in the digital lead space. We currently offer Social Security disability, workers’ compensation, personal injury, and employment law leads. Give us a call at (617) 800-0089 to discuss our lead pricing and availability today.