SEO For Lawyers

Search engine optimization is a complicated process that can be difficult for lawyers to understand. Luckily, Growth Lab specializes in working exclusively with law firms to increase your rank in Google’s search results. Let’s discuss the benefits of hiring a law firm marketing company that specializes in lawyer seo and what you should expect when working with us.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving your law firm’s website rankings in SERPs (search engine results pages) by increasing its relevance to keywords that potential clients are likely to use when searching for legal services.

SEO can include a broad range of tactics including on-page optimization, technical SEO, link building, and content writing. 

Why Do Attorneys Need to Invest Time or Money Into SEO?

As a lawyer, you know that your success depends on finding and connecting with the right clients.

With legal marketing costs constantly rising, it’s more important than ever to invest in organic SEO when choosing an SEO company for your law firm.

Growth Lab was founded to be first and foremost the most trusted law firm seo agency in the country. We understand how challenging it can be to adapt marketing strategies in this fast-paced digital world. That is why we relentlessly pursue innovation and a better way of doing SEO so you can focus on what matters most: solving problems and making money through high return-on-investment (ROI) client and case acquisition campaigns.

Our team offers comprehensive online legal marketing solutions designed specifically around small and medium size law firms like yours so you don’t have to stress about managing multiple vendors or getting bogged down with overwhelming data. We offer a personalized approach to every campaign so you get the best possible results for your investment.

Top-Performing Law Firm SEO Services Include:

• Keyword research and Strategy
• Content Creation
• Onsite SEO
• Technical SEO
• Offsite SEO
• Backlink Acquisition
• Local SEO
• Google Business Profile Management and Optimization
• Analytics and Reporting

Keyword Research and Strategy

We will help you determine the most profitable keywords and long-tail phrases that your potential clients are typing into the Google search box. Keyword research is a critically important first-step in creating an SEO campaign that targets the most relevant high-intent search phrases that will lead to a quality lead.

Content Creation

We work closely with our clients to create high-quality legal content that mirrors the tone of your firm and the expectations of your clients.

Law firm content can arguably be described as the single most-important variable that Google analyzes when deciding which law firm to rank at the top of search results. Content creations is no longer about posting new blogs and articles. It’s about quality, long-form (high word-count) copy that answers the pressing legal questions your clients face when needing to speak to a lawyer.

Our unique content-creation process involves:

1. Finding the right keywords you need to rank #1 for.
2. Looking at the top-ranking law firms in your city and benchmarking your new content to theirs in key categories such as: # of words, # of paragraphs, headers, keyword frequency, FAQs, and images.
3. We then write a piece of content that beats your competitor’s scores in all categories to give your firm the best chance at ranking in a top position.

Onsite Law Firm SEO

Once the content is created it’s our job to implement it according to best practices. We are constantly staying up-to-date on Google’s latest algorithm updates in order to make sure your law firm’s website stays relevant and ranks well consistently over time.

We focus on a few components for the home page and practice area pages. These SEO services include:

• On-Page Optimization
• Site Architecture & Internal Linking Structure
• Image Optimization (ALT Tags)
• Schema markup
• Google Core Web Vitals improvements
• Mobile optimization
• User experience

In order to ensure your site ranks well, it is necessary to make sure you have a solid foundation of SEO services in place.

This includes page titles, meta descriptions, headings and internal linking. These are all important factors in determining your site’s ranking on Google search results pages (SERPs). They also help with user experience by helping users determine if they would like to read further or click through to that particular webpage.

Google has shifted towards a more user experience focused algorithm. This means that the onsite SEO elements are just as important for ranking well, or perhaps even more so than off-site factors such as links from other sites to your own.

This is where we come in and help you stay up-to-date with new Google updates while also helping you implement a site architecture plan that is geared towards building a strong foundation to rank in search.

Technical SEO

What is Technical Law Firm SEO?

The technical side of SEO is by far an often overlooked portion by most firms. Many law firms focus all their efforts on the content they create, but neglect to optimize their site for search engine rankings in any way other than writing great copy. Technical SEO uses a combination of code, on-page optimization and off-site factors to get your firm found more often by a greater number of people.

The technical side of law firm SEO services are what search engines use to find, crawl and index your website pages in its system. It’s important for both attorney websites as well as their client sites because it helps search engines know which pages are relevant to particular keywords, thus making them more likely to be the first result in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).

Technical search engine optimization is an advanced method of law firm SEO that requires a significant amount of expertise and coding knowledge. Although it is extremely helpful for increasing your rankings on Google, technical law firm SEO can be challenging due to the lack of information available.

3 Technical Law Firm SEO Steps That Can Increase Website Traffic

• Optimize your site structure through HTML code, URL modifications and redirects and avoid things like session IDs in links to increase ranking signals.
• Use keywords effectively with page titles, headings (H tags), meta descriptions, alt text and in the copy itself.
• Ensure that your site has a mobile-friendly design so it can be properly displayed on all devices when accessed through Google. This will increase ranking signals to Google for users who are accessing sites via their phones or tablets.

Benefits of Technical SEO

• Improved rankings in Google, which will drive more website visitors. Your improved ranking signals can also increase your organic search traffic by up to 30% over time.
• Technical SEO helps ensure that you show up for local searches on Google Maps and the Local Pack. This is essential for any law firm that wishes to increase their client base by appearing for terms like “attorney near me.”
• Improved site responsiveness, which will make your website work more efficiently on all devices.  Google now penalizes websites that are not mobile-responsive; this means you need Technical SEO if you want to rank higher in the SERPs.

Offsite SEO for Lawyers

Offsite SEO is a process of working with other websites and directories to get your website higher in search engine rankings. Off-page factors usually include more traditional forms of marketing like advertising, guest posts, networking and link building activities. This can be compared to on-page law firm SEO which includes the work you do directly on your website.

Why does off-page SEO matter?

Off-page factors are a very important part of all marketing strategies online and they usually account for around 70%  of the results you will see in search engines like Google, Bing or Yahoo!. This is why it’s so important to make sure your business has as much exposure as possible on the web.

How does offsite SEO for Law Firms work?

It is crucial to understand that your website will not rank highly on Google’s first page without offsite SEO. If you want to be successful online, it is vital to invest in top-notch offsite SEO services. Below we will share a few of the ways an internet marketing company can help your law firm achieve higher Google rankings.

Offsite SEO works by building links to a website that will drive more organic traffic back to the initial site.

When a website has more backlinks, Google increases your firm’s trust and authority scores.

Backlink Acquisition

What are backlinks and why you need to acquire them?

Backlinks are incoming links from other websites that link back to your legal website. These allow you to increase the number of visitors and potential clients who can find you online by means of search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo etc…

Backlinks give a boost in credibility to your website because it is proof that people trust the content on your site enough to link to it from their own web pages. This is also a sign that the content on your site has been well-received by viewers and clients will find you through these sites because they trust them as a source of information for your market niche.

How can a law firm SEO company help with backlinks?

SEO companies manage different strategies high quality link building that are both effective and ethical, which is why it’s important to find a law firm SEO agency that has experience with backlinks. You don’t want to suffer negative consequences if you aren’t working with the right digital marketing agency who knows how to avoid penalties for bad links or tactics such as link farms, link networks, purchasing links etc… Link building is an ongoing process and one that should be managed correctly so as not to have a negative effect on your web presence.

Link Acquisition Strategies

Digital marketing companies use many different strategies including content creation, press releases, blogging for outreach etc… Each company has their own voice or style of writing which they will employ when creating content in order to attract links to your website. This is an example of how the content writing services provided by SEO companies can be beneficial for law firms because it will attract quality links from sites that have a good reputation and authority in their industry which makes them more likely to help you rank higher on Google and improve your overall web presence online.

Local SEO Services

Local SEO for legal professionals includes services such as Google Business Profile listing optimization, reputation management and review solicitation, and locally-focused blogging & article writing on your legal website. These are the basics that set up your website to be found by your target audience when they conduct a Google search locally in their area. It also allows your firm to increase the chances you rank in the Google Map Pack – a very lucrative source for new potential leads. It can lift your entire online presence.

Local SEO marketing services requires a focused approach because you don’t want someone from California going on about how great an attorney you have been if all your clients come from Texas. The Internet has forever changed the world we live in today; it allows us access to information no matter where we live across town or around the world – but how do people find what they need online? That’s exactly why you need to have a good SEO strategy in place.

Google Business Profile Optimization and Management for Lawyers

What is a Google Business Profile?

Google Business Profiles are a free service offered by Google to manage your business information on Google Maps. Your profile also displays in local search results which can lead to more traffic and potential clients for your law firm.

The benefits of claiming your listing are:

• Control over your online reputation (reviews).
• Ability to edit the information listed about you within the dashboard.
• Gather important metrics including when people view or click on what’s displayed about you online.
• Show up higher in search on both desktop and mobile devices

How to Optimize Your Google Business Profile Listing

Claiming a listing for your law firm is step 1 and allows you access to edit the information listed, add photos or videos, and get insights into how people are finding and interacting with your law firm on Google Maps.

List Your Practice Areas: The more detailed you can be when it comes to providing details about the legal practice areas offered by your law firm will help potential clients find you within search results. This should include not only major categories such as personal injury, family law, or criminal defense attorney but also specific types of cases covered under each category so users have an idea of whether they’ll fit their needs if they need a lawyer who specializes in defamation law or a DUI attorney.

List Your Office Locations: Make sure to list all office locations and hours in order for local users to find you quickly when they’re searching online. You can also add links from your website if applicable so potential clients have an easy way of getting directions from their location, which will increase the likelihood that they’ll get in touch with you after viewing your Google My Business listing about your law firm.

Add Photos & Videos: In addition to uploading photos representing each practice area, it’s helpful to include videos of attorneys discussing why someone should hire them for specific cases as well as testimonials from former clients that detail how pleased they were with the services offered by a particular lawyer at this firm.

Data has shown law firms with 50+ pictures on their Google Business Profile have significantly higher exposure in search than their counterparts with less images.

Optimizing Keywords On Your Listing: It will help potential clients discover your law firm online.

Keywords are phrases that people use to search for products, services, or information about a specific topic on the web. For example, if you’re an Austin, TX DUI attorney and somebody needs legal representation in court after being charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), they might Google “dui lawyer near me” which means their intent is to find someone who practices criminal defense locally so it’s best to be found among local listings when users conduct this type of search.

Get More Reviews on your Google Business Profile:

There are many reasons why it is important for your law firm to have more reviews on Google my Business. The first reason is that having more reviews can help boost your website’s rankings with the search engines. Highly-reviewed law firms have an increased chance to show up on Google’s Local Map Pack results.

Another reason reviews are critical to increase search rank is because the keywords used in the review itself are indexed by Google.

For example, let’s say you get a client review which says says: “This Austin Personal Injury law firm is one of the best!”

The keywords Austin, Personal Injury, Law Firm, and Best are all indexed from the review and may show up the next time an injured person searches “Best Personal Injury Lawyer in Austin, TX.”

Lastly, reviews simply help convert potential new clients and cases (both from online marketing and referrals) into actual leads. If your reputation online is poor, you are likely losing clients to competitors who have higher ratings than you on Google.

Analytics & Reporting SEO Results

Since legal SEO is such an essential part of effective online marketing for law firms, it’s important to understand the different growth metrics and how to use them. Knowing which measurements are most valuable will help simplify the process so that you don’t have to spend too much time or money on extraneous analytics tools or reports. Let’s look at some key metrics in more detail: 

Citations & Inbound Links

One of the most important metrics for legal seo is citation flow. Citation flow shows you how many times your firm’s name has been linked to from other web pages, which helps search engines determine how high your website should rank in online searches related to clients or legal services that you provide. You can check both total and unique citations using a tool like Moz’s Open Site Explorer. Law firms should also track incoming links — these are referral sources coming into your site from outside websites (like personal injury attorney sites) that want to link back to yours as well as external blogs where they might be mentioned or quoted. The idea here is not only do those types of incoming links influence rankings but it demonstrates that others value your firm and its content online.

Legal SEO wouldn’t be effective without knowing which keywords matter most because they’re likely driving new visitors into your site each month looking for legal advice related to their specific needs. You should know which keywords are driving the most traffic, how many new visitors they’re bringing in each month and what percentage of organic search visits convert into actual leads or sales. 

Understanding these metrics will help you see where your firm is succeeding with SEO efforts so that you know exactly what to do next for continued improvement.

Why Growth Lab?

If you’re a lawyer ready to implement a proven attorney SEO marketing strategy to gain a competitive advantage over your local rivals in order to generate more clients and cases online, we’d love to chat.

Our team of Law Firm SEO experts will work together with you and your partners to ensure maximum success by using a holistic approach focused on Google optimization as well as local search engine optimization to help you dominate your local market in internet visibility and client acquisition.

For more information about how we can implement a successful SEO campaign for your law firm, click “Get A Price” or contact us today.