The Ultimate SEO Guide for Law Firms

With the law industry being one of the most competitive, setting yourself apart from the competition can be quite a challenge. Good thing search engine optimisation, or SEO, is there to give your marketing efforts a significant boost. This SEO guide for law firms will tell you the importance of making your site search engine-friendly and the strategies you should use to obtain excellent search rankings. 

SEO and Other Basic Terminologies You Must Know

With SEO being around for quite some time, you probably know a thing or two about this digital marketing strategy. But in case you don’t, SEO refers to actions and procedures designed to help you rank prominently on Google search result pages. SEO has two major types: on-site and off-site. 

On-site and off-site SEO

With on-site SEO, your main task is to improve your website’s various on-page elements, such as content, meta titles and descriptions, headers, and images, to make them more search engine-friendly. On the other hand, off-site SEO involves strengthening your site’s authority and credibility by asking relevant websites to link to yours. 

Local SEO

Local SEO refers to optimising your site for local search engines. This strategy is ideal for law firms seeking to attract prospects from a specific location rather than on a national level. 

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the process of adjusting various parts of your website, including URLs, loading speed, and mobile readiness, to improve its functionality and user-friendliness. 

Search ranking

You’ll probably hear this terminology mentioned a lot, so here’s a quick overview. As the name suggests, your search or SEO ranking refers to where your site appears on search engine results. For instance, if you have a no. 1 search ranking, it means your website is listed at the top of search results for the keyword you are targeting. 

Google penalty

A Google penalty (manual or automated) is what you’ll receive if the search giant deems that your site is in violation of its guidelines. When you receive a penalty, your web pages will either receive a lower search ranking or disappear from search results altogether. 

Why Optimise Your Site for Search Engines?

Many lawyers underestimate the marketing prowess of SEO. But did you know that it’s one of the most influential and effective law firm marketing strategies there is? Here’s why you should optimise your website for Google and other major search engines: 

• More leads – A 2019 Legal Trends report revealed that 20% of legal clients found lawyers to represent them by performing an online search. This means being visible online can help you attract prospects.
• Showcase your legal expertise – Publishing content online allows you to establish yourself as a law expert, which can help boost your reputation and credibility.
• Reduced marketing expenses – SEO is significantly more cost-effective than traditional forms of advertising, such as TV and radio ads, direct mail marketing, and listings on Yellow Pages. It is more effective and has better conversion rates, too.
• Better engagement with your audience – Through your content, you can better engage your audience, allowing you to build trust with them.
• Competitive advantage – SEO allows smaller law firms to compete with more prominent law offices and even gain the upper hand.

How to Make Your Website More SEO-Friendly

At last, we’ve come to the fun part of this SEO guide for law firms. In this section, we will discuss several strategies on how to make your site more search engine-friendly. 

1. Conduct keyword research

Keyword research is an integral part of the optimisation process. It helps you identify the search terms people are using to find legal services online. Keyword research can also come in handy if you want to learn more about your prospects. It can help you identify their online habits, demographics, the devices they’re using to find services similar to yours, and other valuable data. 

2. Run a blog

Because content marketing is a vital aspect of SEO, you should consider running a blog on your law firm’s website. Posting content on your blog keeps your website fresh and updated, and a site’s freshness is a key Google ranking factor. Also, studies have shown that websites with blogs receive 55% more traffic and 70% more leads than those without. 

3. Incorporate relevant keywords into your website

Whenever adding content on your site, ensure that it has relevant keywords. Keywords can help Google understand what your site is all about. Also, it helps ensure that your web pages will show up for relevant searches. 

4. Build backlinks

Encourage relevant websites to link to yours by producing unique and valuable content. You can also publish guest posts on prominent law websites and build citations by posting details about your law firm on reputable online business directories. 

5. Claim your Google My Business listing

Google My Business (GMB) is more than just a free listing directory. It allows your law firm to appear on Google Maps and helps you dominate local search results. Getting a five-star rating from Google can also give your business a boost since 72% of people trust positive Google reviews as much as they trust a friend’s recommendation. 

6. Track your results

Any reliable SEO guide for law firms will tell you that SEO is an ongoing process. Because Google routinely updates its search algorithms, your strategies require constant monitoring and adjustments to ensure that your site will remain competitive and search engine-friendly. 

Start Optimising Your Law Firm’s Website!

With a growing number of people using the internet to find legal services, optimising your law firm’s website can help improve your visibility online. The more web traffic you generate, the bigger your chances of finding leads or even new clients. Consider the pointers discussed in this guide to make your website SEO-friendly. 

At Kinetic Traffic, we are committed to helping law firms make the most of the opportunities Google and other major search engines can provide. Please contact us today, and our team will provide you with the expert SEO solutions you require.