Law Firm SEO Strategies: A step-by-step Approach to Win More Clients

Are you an attorney seeking to attract new clients for your law firm? 

Potential clients are already searching online for your services, and implementing an effective SEO (search engine optimization) strategy for your law firm is the optimal way to capitalize on this.

The great news is that your law firm’s website can serve as an excellent platform to generate new leads as 74% of consumers who visit a law firm’s site take action, such as reaching out to the firm for consultation and more.

The following guide will provide you with a comprehensive plan to enhance your law firm’s website for SEO, helping you boost your search engine rankings and website traffic.

Let’s begin.

What is a Law Firm SEO?

SEO for lawyers refers to a marketing approach that law firms and attorneys utilize to increase their visibility on search engines and address queries about their services. Potential clients often use search engines like Google or Bing to educate themselves and find reputable lawyers nearby. For instance, someone might search for the phrase “property lawyer Seattle”.

Your goal is to optimize your site pages to rank for relevant keywords on search engine results pages (SERPs). Achieving higher rankings can lead to increased organic traffic, generate leads, and attract more clients.

Why Do Lawyers Need SEO?

SEO serves as the most crucial acquisition channel for lawyers. Google is typically the first destination for many prospective clients seeking to hire an attorney. 

Consider these statistics.

• 96% of individuals utilize a search engine for legal advice. 
• 38% of people turn to the internet to locate an attorney. 

If your law firm doesn’t appear in their searches, you’re overlooking:

High-intent traffic: Each month, countless people are searching for exactly what you offer on Google. Traditional advertising methods like billboards, radio spots, or social media cannot reach these individuals, but SEO can.

Quality leads: Not all incoming calls are the same. SEO helps you filter out unqualified inquiries and get more calls from clients interested in the types of cases you prefer to handle.

Scalable traffic: Unlike any other channel, SEO can grow exponentially because it builds upon itself over time. The SEO efforts you make today will yield benefits in the future at a fraction of the cost compared to running advertisements or pursuing other marketing strategies. 

There’s really no other source of traffic that grows quite like SEO does once you’ve successfully started it. Having said that, let’s explore the best SEO marketing plan for attorneys out there.

Law Firm SEO Plan That Delivers Results

SEO is a multifaceted approach that encompasses on-page SEO, technical SEO, local SEO, and off-page SEO, each with its own importance. When implementing SEO for lawyers, it is essential to consider all these perspectives.

Let’s explore them all to help you attract potential clients for your business.

Keyword Research and Competitor Analysis

Keyword research and competitor analysis are the cornerstone of every successful SEO strategy. Identifying the right keywords and keyword groups is mandatory, especially in the case of attorney SEO marketing. 

When developing your SEO approach, begin by investigating (and then focusing on) terms that pertain to your expertise, as well as your firm’s areas of specialization and locations. Consider the common legal inquiries that potential clients may enter when searching for legal services online.

Furthermore, to enhance the likelihood of ranking at the top of the search results pages and drawing in the appropriate clients, concentrate on long-tail keywords. These keywords are longer and more specific, typically having fewer monthly searches compared to more commonly searched terms. However, they tend to be less competitive, providing a greater opportunity for conversion.

While conducting keyword research, examine the highest-ranking pages and targeted keywords of your competitors. This allows you to gain insight into how they generate organic traffic and which keyword strategies are most effective for them. By incorporating some of their keywords into your content, you could potentially capture a portion of their traffic.

[Also read: Geo-Targeted Keywords & Content: Reaching the Right Audience in the Right Place] 

On-page SEO for Law Firms

To apply on-page SEO to your website, the initial step is to generate high-quality content that is valuable to your intended audience. The question is, what specific type of content should a law firm create? More crucially, how can you implement the most result-driven SEO practices into this content?  

Start by developing a content strategy. Outline pertinent topics and questions that reflect your legal practice’s vision, common questions from clients, and the findings from your keyword research. This approach will assist you in identifying and addressing what your audience is searching for.  

Now, it’s time to explore various content and on-page optimization techniques.  

Create and Optimize Blog and FAQ Pages 

One of the most essential and highly suggested content strategies for lawyers aiming to optimize their website is to maintain a blog and FAQ section. Within your website’s blog, you can categorize articles on various subjects. Law firms typically do this to focus on informational queries related to specific legal areas. This strategy also reinforces the professional expertise provided by the attorney firm.  

When compared to commercial traffic, which is usually gained through primary service pages, informational traffic drawn through blog and FAQ content is significantly easier to attract. For instance, you might write blog posts and FAQs addressing topics such as “What is Parental Alienation?”, “What is the Amount of Spousal Maintenance I Can Claim on Divorce?”, or “How to File a Personal Injury Claim?”.  

Practice Necessary On-page Tips

When optimizing your web pages ensure that your primary keyword appears in the title tag, meta description, URL, and H1 (the title or headline of the page) of each webpage. Additionally, include related words and phrases that are relevant to the keyword topic to thoroughly cover the subject.  

This practice enhances your content’s topical relevance and aids search engines in comprehending the nature of your pages, allowing them to rank appropriately for relevant queries in SERPs.

Consistently Publish Valuable Content

Given the competitiveness of the legal field, you will require high-quality web copy and blogs to distinguish yourself.  

Generic or vague content regarding industry-related topics can reduce user value on your site and may negatively affect your keyword rankings. Therefore, it is advisable to partner with a professional writer with legal expertise to create your content. Their familiarity with your practice area will help establish your law firm as an authority in the field. Additionally, this increases brand visibility and assists in converting first-time visitors into leads and clients. 

Technical SEO for Law Firms

Before discussing how lawyers can implement technical SEO strategies, let’s first define what technical SEO entails.

Technical SEO refers to the optimization of your website in a way that allows search engines like Google to easily discover, crawl, interpret, and index your pages. It encompasses all the necessary backend efforts that enhance your website’s visibility on search engines and improve its ranking on SERPs.

Nonetheless, when working on your site’s optimization, it’s essential to look beyond just rankings. Your primary focus should be on providing a positive user experience and ensuring high accessibility for all users.

Ensure Website Accessibility

Start by conducting accessibility audits, either by utilizing tools like Google Search Console and Screaming Frog or doing it manually. A manual website audit is extensive and resource-consuming.

You can start by evaluating the navigation and footer elements. Ensure that all components within these sections are fully accessible to every user. Furthermore, prioritize the use of meaningful links with straightforward anchor texts so users can easily understand the destination of their clicks.

While including legal information, verify its legibility on the webpage (steer clear of tiny fonts for copyright or legal details). Moreover, every form field, particularly the search box, should feature clear and descriptive labels. Finally, all images, including icons, must have precise and concise alternative text (alt text) descriptions.

Here are some of the most significant problems you may discover during a website audit (prioritize fixing these):

• Duplicate content issues: This occurs when at least two pages on the internet have identical or highly similar content. Common causes of this issue include creating closely related blog posts or other pages centered around the same keywords. Monitor your site for these problems and address them promptly to prevent confusion for search engines and potential damage to your website’s rankings.

• Core Web Vitals and page speed issues: These directly affect both user experience and rankings. Address them by undertaking optimization efforts, such as transitioning to a faster server, compressing images, enabling browser caching, and refining CSS and JavaScript files, among other strategies.

• Broken links, redirect problems, and server errors: These issues can significantly harm SEO and user experience. In fact, a 5xx response indicates that users and Google cannot access your site. Redirect problems can cause visitors to endlessly loop or land on incorrect pages. Additionally, broken links and images lead to a frustrating user experience, bewildering search engine crawlers and wasting valuable linking power that could otherwise enhance your website’s authority. Therefore, if you identify any of these issues during the website audit, resolve them as soon as possible.

[Also read: Dealing with Errors: 404s, 301 Redirects, and 302s – A Practical Guide for SMBs]

• Crawling and indexability issues: Review your website for these issues to guarantee your web pages can be indexed and shown in SERPs. Confirm that your URLs aren’t obstructed by robots.txt or noindex tags. Also, these URLs should have proper canonical tag settings. Lastly, ensure there are internal links directing to all pages.

Ensure Mobile-responsiveness

Always check mobile and desktop speed performance separately, as layouts and designs differ greatly between big and small screens. This also directly impacts load speed. The mobile connection can also vary across geo-locations. This means your website speed performance on desktop and mobile might show different results. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that Google takes a mobile-first indexing approach. In other words, Google prioritizes mobile versions of your pages for indexing and ranking. 

Since website speed is a confirmed ranking factor, you should include it in your SEO checklist. Test your website on different devices and screen sizes to ensure all content and elements, such as buttons and forms, are visible and clickable. Frustrated users who can’t click buttons or see content won’t stick around.

Ensure Fast-loading Pages

Recent data shows that the average web page load time is 2.5 seconds on desktop devices. If your website loads at least a few seconds longer, don’t expect users to stay and keep waiting. They have probably already moved on to other websites. 

To evaluate your website’s page speed, tools like PageSpeed Insights can help. It checks page loading speed for desktop and mobile versions. 

Continuously track your website health, especially after implementing changes based on website audit findings. 

Local SEO for Law Firms

After you’ve addressed the technical fundamentals, the next key element is local SEO. This aspect operates outside your website and pertains to the map display that appears when you search for any keyword accompanied by a location. It resembles this:

This local pack attracts potential clients more. In fact, 50% of the leads for various law firms originate from this feature alone.

To appear in this section, you need to establish a Google Business listing and have it approved by Google. For long-term and more precise results, it is preferred to create a distinct listing for every location where you operate or have a physical presence. This will help individuals in those areas locate your law firm more easily.

Here are a couple of local SEO practices for law agencies:

Complete Your Profile Thoroughly

When optimizing your Google Business listings, take the time to accurately complete all available fields. 

• All your products, services, and areas of practice 
• Business information and description 
• Images of your law office 
• Photos and videos featuring the team    
• Social media and website links  
• Links for booking meetings

Consider it akin to a social media profile or a digital business card. Optimize it well for all your services for the desired results.

Acquire Customer Reviews  

Customer reviews are one of the key factors for ranking and have a substantial impact on potential clients’ choices when choosing your law firm. When it comes to customer reviews on the GMB profile, it’s not solely about the total number of reviews; it also pertains to the:

• Timeliness: Recent reviews indicate that your business is actively serving and satisfying customers.
• Frequency: Consistent reviews show an ongoing pattern of positive experiences with your business.
• Relevance: Reviews that address specific services or offerings make them more useful and trustworthy to potential customers.

There are various methods to gather reviews.

Request your previous clients and character references — anyone you’ve engaged with professionally, like other attorneys or industry associates — to leave positive reviews on your GMB profile. This assists in enhancing your brand’s visibility for relevant keywords.

Local Press Releases and Citations

A local press release is a formal announcement shared with media outlets to promote newsworthy events, achievements, or updates about a business. 

In contrast, local citations or links refer to online mentions of a business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) on directories like Yelp or Google My Business. Platforms, like Find Law and Justia, are popular local citation sites for lawyers. Remember, any legal platform that appears in local search results is relevant. You should aim to have your business listed there with a link back to your site.

To discover which platforms are relevant to your legal practice, input your primary keyword into Google, scroll down, and examine what is ranking. Anything that is not another attorney’s website should be your target platform to create your profile.

Strive to display your business profile wherever possible, indicating your location so that Google can accurately identify your service areas. 

Off-page SEO for Law Firms

Off-page SEO for law firms pertains to a collection of actions taken outside your website to improve its search rankings. It focuses on enhancing a website’s credibility and significance. 

This is why it’s crucial to prioritize backlinks, which serve as a vital indicator of website authority.

Backlinks represent endorsements. When other websites link to yours, it signals to Google that your content is credible, valuable, and beneficial. If your site consistently garners backlinks from reputable domains and thus becomes more authoritative, it is more likely to achieve higher rankings. Receiving mentions and backlinks also enhances brand awareness and drives referral traffic.

[Also read: Local Link Building Strategies: Fueling Community Trust & Higher Rankings]

Here are some of the most effective and actionable methods for law firms to acquire backlinks:

Start Guest Blogging

Guest blogging involves publishing your articles on different websites. It’s a simple approach: compile a list of topics where you can share your expertise, identify targeted websites, reach out for collaboration, and provide them with ready-to-publish content. Within your writing, include an appropriate link to your site to establish yourself as an authority in the field.

But why should you consider guest blogging? It’s a marketing strategy that enables you to:

• Develop connections with other influencers in your field.
• Attract referral traffic.
• Generate more leads and customers. 
• Enhance your personal brand.  
• Gain relevant backlinks to your site.   
• Increase brand visibility. 

Launch an SMM Campaign

Active participation on social media platforms can be an effective method for positioning yourself or your business as an expert in your niche. It directs leads to your social media profiles or website while also indirectly contributing to SEO by boosting brand recognition and exposure.

Specifically, you can use platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, or X to share various law perspectives, analytical insights, or expert opinions. By consistently sharing valuable information, you are more likely to receive social shares. When your content is shared, it can create a ripple effect, allowing you to reach a broader audience. Other websites are then more inclined to link back to your content, enhancing your credibility further.

As you gain visibility, different law industry publications may approach you for your insights. Collaborate with them by writing guest posts, participating in interviews, and creating content that aligns with their audience’s interests. 

Utilize HARO Backlinks

To distinguish yourself as a knowledgeable lawyer with a significant professional background, provide your experience through expert quotes or commentary. These quotes can pertain to industry trends, legal changes, or current events.

Don’t hesitate to contact journalists, bloggers, and online publications who are looking for expert insights. You can also utilize HARO link-building platforms to boost your brand visibility and obtain valuable backlinks to your website.

Benefits of SEO for Lawyers

While various marketing channels have their advantages and disadvantages depending on the niche, SEO remains one of the most reliable methods for attracting potential clients in the legal sector.

Here’s an example to put this into perspective.

Social media advertising, an alternative channel, can generate leads but may not effectively target individuals actively searching for legal assistance. According to recent insights, running ads on platforms like Facebook or Instagram can cost thousands per month in ad spend, with no guarantee of immediate results. Moreover, once the campaigns stop, the visibility of your firm diminishes, leaving you reliant on continuous investment.

SEO, on the other hand, offers a more sustainable and budget-friendly strategy for growing your online presence. Here’s how it can benefit law firms:

Enhanced Local Visibility

For firms focused on serving specific regions, local SEO is a game-changer. Optimizing for localized search terms ensures your firm appears prominently in local search results, making it easier for nearby clients to discover and connect with you.

Qualified Traffic

By securing higher rankings for key legal terms and queries, law firms can enhance their visibility and attract prospective clients who are actively searching for the legal services they offer.

Improved Credibility and Authority

A strong online presence and top search rankings help establish your law firm as an industry leader. This is particularly significant in the legal profession, where clients prioritize experience, trustworthiness, and reputation when selecting a lawyer.

Attract Clients and Boost Your Law Firm’s Leads with SEO  

To achieve a competitive edge in the legal industry, prioritize all aspects of SEO. Focus on all the technical, local, and on-page SEO elements. Furthermore, incorporate effective link-building strategies in your SEO plan.  

By integrating these tactics, you can enhance your website’s ranking and drive more organic traffic from search engine results pages (SERPs).  

Your Next Move  

Whether you choose to handle SEO yourself or hire an agency, understanding the fundamentals of SEO can aid in attracting more leads to your law firm. Check out our Comprehensive SEO Checklist to make sure you’re addressing all the essentials — and beyond.