Top 10 SEO Tips For Law Firms, Lawyers & Attorneys

Maximizing the visibility of your law firm is the only way to increase your client base. Gone is that time when the popularity of the legal firm or its associated lawyers & attorneys increased by word of mouth. Now, you need to rule the search engines if you wish to make your presence known and leave an impact. Hands down reigning Google and social media platforms are the big wins. But the whole question is – “How to achieve these big wins”? The answer is obvious. Since these are digital platforms, you need to have a foolproof SEO or Search Engine Optimization strategy in place.

1. Begin With Local SEO – Going global is not the right approach for law firms, lawyers, and attorneys. It is mainly so because they may have the license to practice only in a particular state or country. In that case, why waste time, money & effort on people and places that you cannot cover. What you really need to do is try and rank for “near me” searches. Ranking your legal firm for searches in your local or nearby area will definitely generate more revenue towards your business. At the same time, it will also let you find more local clients that are relevant to your business.

2. A Quality Blog – Everybody blogs! What’s new in that? Sure everybody does blog, but not everybody has good and quality content on their website. As a law firm, your biggest asset is that you can speak about your legal business through blogs and how you are transforming lives. Believe it or not, but regular blogging is a proven way of attracting new leads and clients. Blogs not only help generate more traffic but also aid in establishing law firms, lawyers, and attorneys as experts & influencers in their field. Additionally, they assist in building brand reputation and create an opportunity to engage with a wider target audience.

3. Attention On Main Local SEO Ranking Aspects – Google’s algorithm to rank a website or a keyword uses numerous factors. Not all of these elements have an equal impact, but some are more important than others. A few high impact aspects include mobile compatibility, domain authority, page authority, volume and spread of keywords, quality backlinks, personalization features, reviews, social engagements, appearance on Google Maps, etc.  

4. Safeguarding From Google Penalties – Over the past few years, Google has made changes to its algorithms. These changes or upgrades are for the better. Now high-quality content comes to the limelight while websites with poor content are penalized. At the same time, websites using black hat techniques (keyword stuffing & hidden texts) are also punished. Avoid using these backhand measures to gain more backlinks. Finally, post content that adds value and is relevant to your legal business. Refrain from posting irrelevant content on your website because Google hates that.  

5. Local Reviews – Since your law firm business is local in nature, try to get local reviews on your website. You can do this in two ways. One, you can sign up and create an account on popular review sites like Yelp. Two, you can add a review page on your website and encourage your clients to leave a review for you or the service offered by your firm. People today rely heavily on local reviews before making any decision. With glowing reviews, you stand a better chance of attracting quality leads and clients. 

6. Submit Your website On Local Directories – Thanks to digitization, there are all kinds of directories online. Some pertain to local businesses, and others are industry-specific. You too need to submit your law firm’s website on directories pertaining to the legal business or those specific to your particular niche. These directories help in link building, advertising your content and services, grabbing the attention of others, looking for guest post options, etc.  

7. Target Keywords That Are Long Tail – The benefit of using long-tail keywords is that you can target more than one keywords at the same time. Google also likes them. A long-tail keyword primarily contains three or more keywords and is the very backbone of an effective SEO strategy. There are many online tools that can be used to research low competition and high profitability long-tail keywords likeSEMrush. Make use of them to choose the best keywords for your business.

8. Budget For SEO – While planning the year, you need to make provisions in your budget for SEO. A little investment in the right SEO strategies will go a long way in paving the ground for your law firm’s successful future. In the digital age and era, if you want to grow, you cannot hide from SEO.

9. A Good Website Design – Most of all invest in a professional website. Your website should have a flawless User Interface (UI) and deliver exceptionally on User Experience (UX). Its design should be aesthetically pleasing, and the links to landing pages should not be broken. Other than that it should prove all the necessary details about your office hours, office address, preferably a Google Map to show your location, etc. 

 10. Google Analytics – You have done everything in your power to please the search engines and social media sites, but you have no tool to measure the results. It’s like you have the destination in sight, but you are not aware which of the many roads you traveled through helped you reach their quicker. Or you don’t know which paths need more work to make it equally successful as others. To measure the results, you need access to a good analytical tool. Google Analytics should do this job beautifully for you.

The benefits of SEO apply equally to all businesses. Law firms, lawyers, and attorneys are no different. They too need to embrace digital strategies to attract more clients. The above illustrated top 10 SEO tips for law firms, lawyers & attorneys is just the starting point. It is by no means an exhaustive list. The tips just tell you where you should begin to see quick results. If you still feel that the internet is a confusing world, you can always hire an SEO expert to look after your SEO needs.