SEO for Lawyers: The Complete Guide Laying All The Proven Facts
Rahul Vij
Updated: May 13
According to Ruler Analytics, organic search generates upto 66% of call conversion in the Legal sector. That is why plenty of legal firms invest their time and money in SEO. So let’s dig deeper to understand the concept of SEO for lawyers in detail.
As per IBISWorld, In 2020, online legal services in the United States have grown to around $9 billion. With the advancement of technology and the Internet, it has become highly important for every industry, including law, to have a strong online presence. Better visibility, especially on search engines like Google, will increase your business growth by 10x. SEO deserves all the attention that it is getting nowadays. It is a formula that is helping businesses to maintain their position in the market. We will learn about all the amazing SEO techniques in this blog. But first of all, let’s start with the real question and i.e.
What is SEO?
SEO is the process of increasing your business’s website position on SERPs like Google and Bing in order to drive maximum visitors to your website.
SEO for lawyers is nothing different. Let me explain it in a little more detail. When your law firm’s website appears on the first page of search results, you automatically attain more visitors and better visibility. When they click on your website and find the initial information useful, they are more inclined to seek out your services.
According to Clio’s Legal Trends Report 2019, around 57% of the clients did their own research while seeking law firm services, while 59 % asked for a referral.
The above data throws light on the fact that more consumers are turning to search engines like Google and Bing for help when looking for a legal expert. The real question is: how does SEO rank your law firm’s website on search engines. There are three major factors of SEO that help your law firm’s website make the right amount of noise in the market.
Content
According to eMarketer, 60% of marketers produce at least one piece of content per day. Content such as information, visuals, and images strongly impact your user’s experience. High-quality content that offers relevant legal insights to your audience improves your search engine ranking.
Backlinks
Backlinks increase your law firm website’s authority and credibility compared to others. External pages and domains that drive traffic to your website impact your website’s impression greatly.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO includes factors like website structure, page speed and title tags. In addition, it optimizes your website’s user interface, which will directly improve your ranking on search engines.
Why is SEO for lawyers important?
According to a JUSTIA report, more than 33% of clients go online to begin searching for a lawyer. Search engines have always been a primary source for people to look for businesses. According to another research, Google search, images, and maps account for almost 93% of all global traffic. Businesses find Google the best go-to resource to answer their search queries and portray their expertise.
According to research by Finance online, 70% of law firms get new cases through their website. More leads are converted into clients when a well-established website ranks high on search engines. It simply means that your website will provide you with better business deals and is designed to raise awareness and create trust in doing a specific action.
The primary goal of SEO for lawyers is to drive as much high-quality traffic to your website as possible. Swartzlaw.com, for example, saw a 5.07% boost in website traffic in February as a result of search engine optimization techniques.
According to a report by National Law Review, 96% of people looking for legal assistance utilize a search engine in their research, and 74% of customers visit a law firm’s website to take some action. Your prospective customers will use a search engine to hire any lawyer or law firm. Another crucial aspect of SEO services for lawyers is measuring your business’s ROI. It would help if you were ascertained that your marketing efforts are working accurately for your business to predict a better future.
What are the key components of SEO for lawyers?
According to a study conducted by the American Bar Association, 87% of legal firms have a website. This data demonstrates that law firm marketing is a highly competitive field. Therefore, to outrank your competition, you must grasp all the SEO-related elements outlined by Google’s algorithm.
The list goes like this,
Extensive Keyword Research
Keyword research creates a powerful base for curating high-quality content that will rank your website on top of search engines. There is no point of doing SEO without keyword research. Investing in this marketing strategy will offer you long-term benefits to increase your brand visibility and conversion rate.
Keywords are those phrases that your potential client uses to find information about any particular product or service they have been searching for. For example, in legal services, people usually search for phrases like “personal injury lawyer” or “car accident attorney.” Optimizing your website’s content using such high-volume keywords can automatically increase your ranking on search engines. The below picture gives you a basic idea about how ranking goes for law firm keywords.
You can use the following tools to identify the best keywords for your legal business.
- Google Trends
- Keyword Planner
- Google Analytics
- Answer the Public
- Uber Suggest
- SEMRush
- Ahrefs
High-Quality Content
After thorough research, it’s time for you to generate high-quality content for your law firm website using all the high-volume keywords accordingly. According to JUSTIA, 27% of legal firms have a blog, and 25% have retained a customer due to their blog. Therefore, it is considered a cost-effective way to drive a target audience to your website.
Consider the following steps while constructing your content strategy:
First, list 20 concerns that your prospective client might have when seeking your services. You can even discuss some points with your customers too.
- Add all those consumer concerns in your content in every practice area while offering a summary of your legal services.
- Try to incorporate keywords into all necessary sections, such as the title, headers, and meta description.
- Don’t forget to include a call-to-action button that directs customers to your booking page.
- Finally, publish each content on a different page of your legal website.
On-Page Optimization
According to a report by Smallbizgenius, 88% of the customers wouldn’t return to a website after having a bad user experience. Your website’s architecture has a major impact on your search engine ranking. Optimizing your web pages for search engines can be a pretty complex process. There are various factors that Google uses to understand your content better. It would help if you systematically optimized everything from title tags and page headings to meta descriptions. A report by Backlinko suggests that shorter URLs rank better than other URLs. Another study shows that multiple sub-directory structures are an effective way to use both high and low-volume keywords.
Link Building
According to a report by Hubspot, Google’s algorithm considers links as one of the most important criteria to rank a page. So, you see, link building is an integral part of your SEO strategy. Backlinks are one factor that Google uses to determine your content from a sea of law firm content. These referral links direct traffic from different websites to your website and helps you outshine your competitors in front of Google’s eyes.
Some of the best link building tools are given below:
- Guest posts
Guest posting is the process of publishing your law firm content on other reputable websites in order to create a link. It also involves collaborating with other attorneys and law firms for better opportunities.
- Legal directories
By listing your law firm website’s in legal directories with a high domain rating or domain authority. Also, make sure that your directories do not have any broken links or images.
Google My Business
As per a report by Oberlo(a dropshipping website), Google was the most viewed website last year. No doubt, it is the number one search engine, so your website’s listing on Google My Business is the only thing that can rank you when people seek a law firm nearby. By listing your address on this platform, people in close proximity can find you for their legal cases. It is an essential step for optimizing your website for local SEO, which we will discuss in the next point.
Local SEO for lawyers
According to another report by Hubspot, 46% of Google searches are looking for local information. Local searches are widely popular among legal services too. It mainly triggers local results like local maps. The keywords mainly used during local searches are “personal injury lawyer near me” and “accidental death lawyer Texas.” You need to make sure your law firm website is highly optimized for local searches using such keywords. Your website’s listing on Google My Business is the first step that one can take to improve their local ranking. When your website is relevant, close in proximity and prominent to the searches, it will automatically rank you on Google searches.
Final Verdict
SEO for lawyers will bring unbelievable business to your law firm slowly and gradually. Patiently and consistently use the above strategies for the best results. The step-by-step procedure that involves extensive keyword research and link building will increase your law firm’s visibility while increasing its ranking on search engines like Google.
With constant fierce competition online, SEO services for lawyers are the most effective way to outshine other similar websites and increase your ROI.
So buck up and take actionable steps for better business opportunities now!