Search engine optimization (SEO) can be an extremely powerful marketing strategy for law firms. Its benefits include increasing leads from organic search, while it can be hard to grasp for those without web development experience.
Assuming you already know which keywords are relevant for your practice area and location, use a keyword research tool to help identify them.
Content marketing
Content marketing is one of the key tenets of attorney SEO, serving to position a firm as an authority within its industry and provide clients and prospective clients with all of the information they require for making decisions.
Content marketing for law firms demands a unique strategy. Attorneys need the appropriate resources and expertise to craft effective campaigns based on in-depth analyses of market, competitor and client needs.
Attorneys should pay particular attention to creating compelling meta titles and descriptions. Although these don’t directly impact rankings, they’re important for driving clicks and conversions – for instance this search result includes keywords for criminal defense lawyer services in Dubuque, Iowa with the black text serving as its meta description aimed at drawing clicks.
On-site optimization
Assuring that your law firm website ranks well in Google takes time. One way of getting results quickly is using keyword research tools and creating content that answers searcher inquiries – such as how to find a divorce attorney.” To see results quickly, create content that meets this intent using phrases such as: “how to find a divorce attorney.”
As well as optimizing the front-end components of your website, it’s also crucial that your off-site SEO remains optimized. This includes updating profiles such as Avvo, Justia and Super Lawyers with relevant details regarding your legal specialty and location of practice.
SEO for lawyers may be challenging, yet it can also be an invaluable way of increasing visibility and driving more inbound traffic to your site. Unfortunately, doing it on your own can be time consuming; many firms opt to hire an outside expert instead as this provides the fastest route towards optimized rankings without incurring as steep an learning curve as doing it themselves; this makes this an excellent solution for law firms with tight budgets.
Link building
Link building is one of the cornerstones of attorney SEO, as it drives organic traffic and improves search engine rankings. Not all backlinks are equal though – for optimal results it is best to secure links from credible sources that cover topics relevant to your firm’s services.
There are multiple avenues available to law firm websites for acquiring links, including local directories and social media. Furthermore, you can take advantage of HARO (Help a Reporter Out), which is a free service which notifies you via email of media opportunities that need your expertise for their stories.
Once you receive a high-quality backlink, its link equity can spread throughout your law firm website via internal linking. For instance, receiving one from an article discussing car accident law could boost the ranking of your NY car accident page as well as related pages on that topic.
Social media
Utilizing social media as part of your attorney SEO strategy can help expand the visibility and build trust with potential clients for your law firm. Furthermore, using these platforms as part of an attorney SEO plan allows for enhanced interaction with audiences as well as promotion of new content – but beware – not all are equal!
Search terms such as “criminal defense lawyer” or “car accident attorney” are highly competitive and difficult to rank for, making them harder than ever before to rank for. A more efficient strategy would be targeting long-tail keywords with specific client intent; these will attract people searching for specific services who may convert more readily into clients.
Optimization of website speed and performance is also vital, both to enhance the user experience and increase SEO rankings. Legal service schema markup can be especially beneficial to attorneys as it informs Google that pages contain legal content.