The customer buying cycle for a law firm differs from other industries. Before a client chooses a lawyer to represent them, they must know about them, trust them, and be comfortable with the process. SEO can be a powerful tool for law firms as they move the inquiring customer to a converted client.
What Is Law Firm SEO and Why Is It Important?
Law firm SEO is a digital strategy that involves increasing a law firm’s rankings for more organic traffic and conversions. Unlike paid ads, SEO focuses on generating organic traffic. Law firms need SEO today to stand out from their competitors and be front and center when their ideal client requires their services.
Hiring a lawyer is largely an educational decision. Most people find information about a lawyer with a quick search. This search may be phrases like “Personal injury lawyer near me” or “Divorce attorney in [City] [State].” Your website needs to appear in these searches to reach these potential clients. SEO works through researching and selecting relevant keywords and optimizing on and off-page to ensure your website ranks for them.
Lawyers may also generate interest from future clients using SEO or link-worthy content. For example, sharing a blog post on social media that discusses things to do after a car accident can encourage followers to read “just in case.” If they eventually need this information, they’ll credit your law firm, and be more likely to choose your company.
What Services Does a Law Firm SEO Agency Complete?
The specific services that are a part of your law firm’s SEO campaign will vary depending on your goals, market, and current website. However, some of the services that may be a part of your strategy include:
On-Page Optimization
On-page SEO optimization includes any changes to your website’s content. This may include updating or optimizing content, creating new high-value content, reformatting your service and blog pages, and optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, and alt tags.
Specifically in the legal industry, this might include creating useful guides or FAQs that explain tricky legal topics to readers. High-quality website content can help position you as a leader in the legal industry, meaning your readers will be more likely to choose you when they need help with a legal matter. Regularly updated SEO-driven blogs can also satisfy on-page optimization.
Off-Page Optimization
Off-page SEO optimization refers to any changes to your website beyond on-page content. This may include technical SEO, including increasing page load speed, ensuring your website is mobile-friendly, and indexing your web pages.
Law firms can benefit from off-page techniques like generating reviews from past clients and optimizing a Google My Business profile. Because law firms typically serve a specific area, these local-based SEO techniques tend to work well.
Keyword Research
Keyword research ensures your SEO campaign is targeting the best keywords. You want to choose keywords that bring you qualified traffic. Some keywords, for example, may be related to your industry but don’t have sufficient search volume. Other keywords may have ample search volume but be highly competitive, requiring more work to rank for them.
Again, because the legal industry targets local traffic, combining legal search-intent keywords with specific locations you’re targeting can be valuable.
Link Building
Link building is another important part of SEO for law firms. Internal and external links are links within your own website that direct Google bots on where to go next. Backlinks are even more important for SEO efforts, as they help search engines view your website as trustworthy and valuable. Guest posts and niche edits are both great ways to acquire backlinks. However, to benefit from backlinks, it’s important to create a strategy that carefully chooses the best links and placement.
Law firms can generate backlinks from a variety of places, including social media, citation database listings, and PR releases. Giving an expert quote on a local publication or sponsoring a community event can get you backlinks that benefit your SEO efforts. Many law firms choose to outsource SEO and link building so they can focus on client duties.
An initial website audit is an excellent place to start. An audit provides you with areas of improvement and helps you better understand your competitors. Learning what your competitors are ranking for and how they’re ranking can help when creating your own SEO foundation.
SEO is a must for law firms who want to utilize a digital presence to their benefit. SEO techniques, like on and off-page optimization, technical updates, and link building, can help your law firm rank for relevant keywords. In turn, you’ll receive more qualified traffic to your website, helping your company succeed.