The SEO Tips You Need To Boost Your Law Firm

The SEO Tips You Need To Boost Your Law Firm

The Most Effective SEO For Lawyers

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is of the best ways to increase the digital reach of your business.

Nowadays, consumers go to online reviews, judge websites for authority, and even unknowingly discriminate based on search rankings.

Curious? Here are some fun facts about search engine users, according to Search Engine Journal:

  • The top five search engine results get 75% of user clicks.
  • Two-thirds of users ignore the paid ads on the search engine results page (SERP), even though they usually are at the top of the results. Consumers tend to focus on the organic results, rather than companies who paid to rank.
  • A whopping 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search engine results. 

So, it's clear that you need to rank high on the searches of your potential customers in order to generate leads, and you need to do it organically. But how? 

The Top 10 Tips and Tricks: SEO For Lawyers

SEO factors are constantly evolving as technology advances, including the market shift to mobile over desktop.

However, there are several tried and true techniques that boost your rankings such as keyword fueled content, videos, backlinks, guest posting, and more.

When it comes to SEO for lawyers, all these same rules apply. Here's how you can use the most effective SEO techniques to boost your search engine rankings and your bottom line. Let's break it down.

Content, Content, Content

Google and other search engines are fueled by keyword searches.

For example, "divorce attorney" or "car accident lawyer." In the wave of technological advancements like Siri, Cortana, and Alexa, search engines are seeing an increase in fuller phrase searches, such as "I need a good lawyer."

In order to see a successful search engine ranking, you have to produce content that is filled with SEO for lawyers.

But how do you know which keywords and phrases to use?

It is imperative to research the keywords and phrases related to your business to see what people are searching. For example, is the word "attorney" or "lawyer" more often searched in relation to your specialties? 

Create content across your website with multiple mentions of these keywords and phrases. Keep in mind, Google and other search engines are smart though. They can analyze quality content vs. filler content. That's why it's best to create a blog to harness the power of keywords while providing quality, relevant information to your site visitors.

Get Google's Attention With Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are links pointing to to your website.

A web page with a lot of backlinks is a shining star in the eyes of Google. However, not all backlinks are created equal. How do you build your domain authority with backlinks?

Link building is a great way to increase the traffic to your website. A great backlink is one from an authority site, such as The New York Times or an industry specific site like The American Lawyer. If these authorities link to your site, it holds a lot more power than a site with 5 visitors a year. 

There are several ways you can generate backlinks. The easiest and perhaps most effective is to generate quality content. Make your content easy to share and repost. Be sure to promote your content on social media to increase visibility and garner even more shares.

You can also use a technique called guest posting to successfully generate backlinks. More on how to get good quality backlinks with Guest Posting below!

Let's Face It: Mobile is King

2016 marked the first year when mobile searches surpassed desktop searches, and that trend is likely to be permanent.

With the whole internet at our literal fingertips at all hours of the day and night, mobile search is dominating. The days of typing in an actual website address are dwindling, so branding is more important than ever. 

Make sure to optimize your website for mobile ease of use. If a web page is only desktop friendly, google notices and you will take a hit in your rankings. Create and maintain a mobile friendly user experience for the best SEO.

Don't Forget to Optimize for Local

Proximity is one of the biggest factors for local search results, especially when it comes to things like food or grooming. This applies for SEO for lawyers as well. 

It makes sense to the searcher that a great lawyer near them should rank higher than a great lawyer in Dubai. Search engines thrive off of giving helpful and accurate results relevant to the searcher. 

Use local keywords like the city and state in which your business operates. Also, supply and maintain accurate information about the location, hours, and contact information of your business both on your website and on directory sites like Google Business, Angie's List, and Yelp.

Show and Tell: Add Video Content

Adding videos to your site can increase your search rankings and expand your reach.

Google owns YouTube after all, so you know that videos with a good number of views will positively affect your rankings. Plus, attention spans are shortening, and many searchers want to see, not read.

Another great bonus of adding video content is that it humanizes your brand. If you can make a great video (or several) showcasing the history, values, and employees of your business, it makes the searcher better able to identify with you. Some other ideas for videos are client success stories or legal advice vlogs.

Sharing is Caring: The Value of Guest Posting

Guest posting is the act of blogging on another site than your own.

It's a mutually beneficial activity, because it creates content for the host site and backlinks for the blogger. Find sites that have a crossover in your target demographic or people interested in your legal specialties.

For example, if you specialize in entertainment law, find a few companies that cater to producers, actors, writers, etc. and suggest a guest post exchange!

Speaking of, you can host guest posts too! This is a great way to build organic content and create a beneficial partnership with other local businesses.

Eye Catching Headings

"Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Read All About It!" 

Headings and article titles matter. Factor keywords into your headings to help boost your SEO rankings. SEO for lawyers needs good headings as much as anyone. It's an opportunity to showcase your specialties and your brand. 

For example, a gluten-free baking company would be amiss if they skipped their specialties in their headings. That bride-to-be shopping for a "custom gluten free wedding cake" won't find the company unless they include the facts that they can customize a cake, bake gluten free, and make wedding cakes. 

Same goes for SEO for lawyers. Don't rely on searchers to play the guessing game. Create eye-catching headings featuring your specialties and do it over and over again with quality, original, and relevant content.

The Authority and Approachability Tightrope

It's a fine line to walk when you want to appear both authoritative and approachable.

In the case of SEO for lawyers, when we say authoritative, we really mean reliable. Clients in need of lawyers are looking for someone they can trust to handle the intricacies of the law that they don't understand and/or have time to deal with. 

Humanize your site to make it approachable with the use of free advice articles, videos, etc. 

Demonstrate your authority with valuable knowledge, keywords, quality backlinks, and a high ranking domain.

Never Skip Analytics

Neglecting to analyze the success and failures of your SEO efforts is like throwing money out the window. SEO for lawyers requires SEO strategy as much as any other website. 

Study your data feedback by tracking your rankings, click-throughs, views, backlinks, and more. Thankfully, there are great companies out there that can do this for you. They can even come up with a helpful strategy on how to take advantage of the areas of SEO for lawyers you may be missing, which efforts to ditch, and how to continually improve what's working well.

Seal the Deal With a Call to Action

A call to action is an opportunity to seal the deal. Getting customer leads to your website through excellent SEO for lawyers is only the first step. You have to turn those customer leads into actual customers.

Don't miss an opportunity to seal the deal. Provide a clear call to action such as a "contact us" button. Locate it in an easy to find spot, (or a few easy to find spots), on your website, such as the header.  

That's It!

SEO for lawyers requires a few unique strategies, but most SEO techniques work across the board. 

For the best results and rankings, hire an excellent SEO company like Link Now Media to help you dominate the search engine results pages. 

Want more? Check out our other great blog posts on the Link Now Media website. Some titles that may interest you specifically include "Our New Traffic Solutions Can Help You Beat the Competition" and "How to Market Your Not So Interesting Brand on Social Media."

Ray Keaton

Author: Ray Keaton

About Ray Keaton