If you want to get new clients for your law firm, you need a strong digital marketing strategy. But if you’re like most of our clients, you went to law school to learn how to be a lawyer, not to be an SEO specialist.
That’s why we’ve decided to put together a complete guide to SEO for law firms. This guide will give you everything you need to know—and everything that SEO companies don’t want to tell you!
In this article, you’ll learn:
- ⇢ Key features of an SEO optimized website
- ⇢ How to build a keyword strategy
- ⇢ How content will help improve your rank on Google
- ⇢ Tricks for finding local leads
- ⇢ Why social media is so important for law firms
SEO Optimized Websites for Law Firms
Let’s start with the basics: SEO, or search engine optimization, is a combination of strategies designed to bring in leads using only your online presence. Rather than an instantaneous lead generation tool like an advertisement, SEO is a long-term approach to marketing that builds up over time.
Every SEO strategy for lawyers begins with a website that’s specially designed for law firms. It needs to speak to your clients, create a sense of trust, and encourage them to call you.
And it needs to do all this in under 5 seconds!
What happens if it doesn’t? Your potential client will bounce back to Google and find another lawyer instead. Your best defence is to hire a web design company like LinkNow that specializes in SEO optimized websites.
Every good SEO website for law offices includes the following:
- ⇢ A clearly visible logo and business name
- ⇢ Captivating design and photos
- ⇢ Quickly accessible contact information
- ⇢ An easy-to-use navigation bar
- ⇢ Pages for each legal service you offer
- ⇢ A developed keyword-based content strategy
Combine these elements with a fast-loading, lightweight design and you’ll be off to a great start.
Lawyers Need Mobile-Friendly Websites Too
In a time when people use their smartphones more than their desktop computers, it’s imperative to have a website designed for mobile devices. In the SEO world, we call this a responsive website.
If you thought the 5-second rule was already hard to achieve, try the 2-second rule for mobile. On mobile, your website needs to communicate who you are, what you do, and how to contact you in under two seconds!
At LinkNow, our mobile-first websites are designed so that they will convert Internet browsers into leads and rank well on Google no matter where your potential clients are searching.
Make sure your web design company covers all these points, and you’ll start generating leads in no time!
What Are the Best Lawyer Keywords?
Your website serves as a kind of anchor for your digital marketing strategy. But it doesn’t do much good if no one can find it online. To do that, you need to develop a keyword strategy specific to your law firm.
There are three basic types of keywords:
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Transactional: used to find a service provider or product.
Informational: used to find general information about a topic.
Navigational: used to find a specific website that the user already knows.
The keyword strategy for your law firm should be primarily based around transactional keywords. Why? Well, the people you want to find your website, will be those trying to find a lawyer in their area who can help them. They might not know you exist yet, so navigational keywords won’t be much use. And there’s already so much legal information online that it’s hard to compete.
Transactional keywords lead to conversions because the searchers are using them to find a lawyer. To get started, think about the services you offer and how you would search for them in Google. Write those keywords down. Then test them out. Do the results pull up general information on Wikipedia? Or do they pull up law firms in your local area?
The best examples of lawyer keywords include things like:
- ⇢ Personal injury lawyer
- ⇢ Wrongful death lawyer
- ⇢ Car accident lawyer
- ⇢ Intellectual property law firm
- ⇢ Employment law firm
Use Keywords in Your Law Content to Rank on Google
Google’s goal is to give people search results that are relevant to them. By including transactional keywords, you tell Google that you’re providing a service because your content is relevant to users looking for that service.
Your keywords need to be chosen according to your ideal client. The same goes for your written content. Your clients are probably not lawyers, so be sure to leave out technical jargon that they may not understand.
Keep your content precise and easy to read. They should be able to quickly skim your site and conclude that you are a trustworthy and knowledgeable lawyer.
Sure, you’ll have to include some information and some legal terms to describe the service you’re offering, but keep it simple. Don’t overcomplicate it.
It’s all about quickly building trust. Then you’ll have no problem getting them on the phone, having them fill out a contact form, or booking an appointment. Use content to convert readers into leads and leads into clients.
Local SEO for Lawyers Made Easy
Okay, so your website is ranking well because you’re using the right keywords in your conversion-oriented content. That’s great! But what you want are local leads for your law firm. That’s where Google Maps comes in.
Remember how we said earlier that mobile websites are very important for SEO? One of the reasons for that is Google Maps, which, nowadays, is used not just for directions but for finding businesses.
First thing’s first: make a Google My Business (GMB) profile or claim an existing one for your business. It sounds obvious, but we can’t state this often enough: be sure that all your NAP (name, address, phone number) information is up to date. Not only will you confuse potential clients if your contact information is out of date, but Google does not trust law firms (and rightly so!) that advertise false information.
Local SEO services for lawyers, like the ones we offer at LinkNow, are designed to make you searchable on Google Maps. They don’t just ensure that your GMB profile is correct and regularly updated, but also everywhere else you appear online. This includes updating your NAP citations on sites like:
Remember that Google continuously scans all the information currently available online. To determine how relevant your law firm is to its users, it will cross-reference the information it has on GMB with every business directory available online. Especially high-authority citations like those listed above.
Use Social Media to Build Your Law Firm’s Brand
Social media offers businesses unprecedented access to their target audience. It creates interest and gives law firms the chance to create a buzz and a following.
Those followers might be more interested in your opinions about relevant legal topics or about the articles you post online than in hiring your legal services. But it establishes your reputation and gives your law firm a sense of authenticity, humanity, and reality. And when your followers, or others in their social network, need legal services, you’ll be the first law firm on their mind.
Use everything that social media has to offer to boost your connection with your audience, such as:
- ⇢ Posting pictures
- ⇢ Writing posts
- ⇢ Offering opinions
- ⇢ Posting articles
- ⇢ Displaying your community involvement
With time and patience—your following can produce leads for you on their own. Stay engaged and keep the buzz going!
Conclusion: Hire an SEO Company for Your Law Firm
Chances are if you’re reading this article, you need the help of a qualified SEO marketer. Whether that means hiring someone in-house or hiring an SEO agency like LinkNow Media, digital marketing is a full-time job. After all, websites, keywords, content, local search, and social media are really just the beginning.
At LinkNow, we use a results-driven approach to strategy building. Everything we do is researched, field-tested, and proven to generate leads for law firms. Our websites are sleek, modern, and professional. Our SEO works.
Join over 10,000 active clients who are already reaping the benefits of the best SEO services on the market today. And if you have any questions, leave us a comment below, we’ll be happy to answer them!