SEO For Lawyers: The Basics You Need to Know

Seo for lawyers - wp suites

As a law firm, your search engine ranking is critical. Many people discover their need for an attorney abruptly. They’re ready to start divorce proceedings, they want to start working on a will and realize that they don’t know how to get started, or they suffer serious injuries due to another party’s negligence and need to file a claim. They plan to do their research, but they have only a limited amount of time to commit to the task. If you appear at the top of the search results for your industry, you can attract attention, let potential clients know what you can offer, and convince them to choose your firm. Therefore, it’s important to understand SEO.

If you disappear into obscurity, on the other hand, you may have a lot more trouble bringing in the business you need. Try these steps to elevate your search ranking and improve your SEO.

1. Focus local.

Unless you have a nationwide law firm that handles cases from across the country, chances are, you only want to attract clients within a specific geographic area. You may focus on clients throughout your state, or you may want to narrow your clients down to those within a specific region or even city.

Focus on your local SEO efforts. You may want to:

  • Write about local events and news stories, including those that use local keywords
  • Use local keywords in your advertising
  • Claim your Google My Business account and set it up. Update it regularly to ensure that your information remains current and accurate.
  • Use location pages. You may need multiple location pages that help highlight the areas your firm covers.

2. Encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews.

An average 84% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as they trust personal reviews from friends and family members. Google prioritizes results that have them, too–which means that if you’re aiming to increase the search engine optimization for your law firm, you need to have those reviews. Encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews on your Google My Business account and your social media page. Check those reviews regularly and respond to them if needed.

Keep in mind that dissatisfied individuals can leave reviews, too: the other party in a divorce, for example, or a defendant in a personal injury claim who ended up having to pay out a large sum to your client based on your efforts. Respond to those reviews professionally and succinctly to keep potential clients informed about what you have to offer.

3. Optimize for mobile.

You never know when a potential client will choose to search for information about local law firms. A woman who has recently decided to leave her husband, for example, could start searching on her morning commute into work or while out for drinks with a couple of friends. An individual with grounds for a personal injury claim might start searching for attorneys from their hospital bed.

Mobile optimization helps you reach those clients. You may have only two to three seconds for your website to load before a potential client will click away to another website. Google’s algorithm also priorities websites that are optimized, which means that your law firm’s SEO may suffer if you fail to optimize for mobile–even if clients search from a desktop device.

Seo mobile optimization - wp suites

4. Produce content regularly.

One of the best things you can do for your law firm’s SEO is prioritizing content creation. New content offers several advantages that can help bump your search engine ranking and give clients a better look at your firm and what you have to offer.

Your content showcases your expertise. Blog posts, videos, and infographics all help show that you know what you’re talking about and that you’re committed to sharing that information. Interested clients can browse through that information to learn more about your firm, what you specialize in, and what you know–and many of them will make decisions based on that information.

Google prioritizes recently-created content. The longer your website sits, the more stale it grows–and Google notices. The longer you go without updating your content, the further your search ranking will fall.

Your content can help bring in searchers looking for different information. Through your content, you can focus on additional keywords or provide potential clients with more insight into your specific industry. A divorce lawyer, for example, could use those pages to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about divorce, while a personal injury lawyer might give clients a better idea of what the process looks like.

Your content helps provide value to your clients. You do not want your clients to have to call you with every question they have. A comprehensive content library can help answer many of their questions and provide them with the information they need even when you aren’t in the office. You can also provide valuable assistants to your clients through that content that can help them through those legal processes.

5. Focus on link building.

The links you use–and the links back to your page–can prove critical to your overall SEO success. When you use links on your page, make sure that you use relatively up-to-date, relevant, authoritative sites. The use of these resources will help build the search engine’s trust in your law firm.

You also want to generate links back to your page whenever possible. As a lawyer, that starts with creating high-quality content that people want to link back to. You may also choose to work with other local firms and organizations to generate links back to your website. Producing guest content for other websites can also help raise the authority of your own.

Building your search ranking is an ongoing, ever-changing process. With these tips, however, you can raise your law firm’s SEO and help get your firm noticed. Need more help boosting your search ranking? Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you stand out and raise your search ranking so clients can find you.

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