So you want to improve your law firm website hits. You might think your website is thoughtfully designed (and we're not saying it isn't), but it just doesn't seem to pull in as much traffic as you'd like. That means there's room for improvement. In today's world of AI and new-age marketing techniques like TikTok ads, you need to employ SEO services for lawyers to stay relevant in searches. Law firm SEO services are crucial to attracting new customers and keeping your firm at the top of clients' minds. But how do you maximize your site's SEO, and what is it anyway?
What is SEO?
SEO is an acronym for search engine optimization. Essentially, the goal of SEO is to provide search engines with a clear understanding of your site's content and offered services. This is so they can provide users with sites that closely match what they're looking for. SEO is what gathers the search results for users to scroll through and decide whether or not to click on a link. That's why designing a site that's user-friendly, easy to navigate, and even easier to find is so important.
If your law firm's site is poorly designed, it will put off potential customers. You'll need to ensure that the core aspects are in good shape for your site to appear high on the search results list - also called the SERPs or search engine results page. Generally, the core aspects include technical requirements, spam policies, and key best practices.
The Core of SEO
Technical Requirements
What needs to be on a page for it to show in the SERPs. There are three technical requirements that you need to check off:
Googlebot isn't blocked. This essentially means that the page can't be private (use the URL inspection tool to ensure robots.txt isn't blocked).
Google receives an HTTP 200 success status code (in other words, the page is successfully up and running).
The page has indexable content (content is supported by Google Search and doesn't violate spam policies).
Spam Policies
What leads to lower rankings or being omitted from the SERPs. Spam policies refer to aspects that may be flagged such as hacked content, malware, and more. There are 16 characteristics that may cause your site to be flagged in a Google search. Review them to be safe.
Key Best Practices
Top ways to improve how your site appears in the SERPs. The best thing you can do is hire a law firm SEO expert. They'll be able to provide you with many ways to improve your site's SEO that will significantly impact your content's ranking and appearance in searches.
SEO Services for Law Firms
A recent study performed by HubSpot revealed that 50% of legal firms prioritize SEO as a top marketing investment and for good reason. As of February 2024, there are a total of 331.1 million Internet users in the United States, with more than 70% of the population having social media, according to another study published by DataReportal.
With numbers like these, your law firm can't afford to miss out on having a strong online presence. A lawyer SEO company's industry knowledge is crucial to boosting your site's ranking, traffic, and SERP visibility. Through a partnership with an experienced digital marketing company, you can implement stellar SEO tactics that bring in more results than ever before, not just now but long-term.
SEO for Law at a Glance
Any digital marketing firm for lawyers worth a dime will be able to provide you with many strategies and solutions to sustain new clientele regularly. A lawyer SEO agency will advise you on the best ways to ensure long-term success through your site. This may include:
Keyword research and strategies
Link building
Content writing
On-page SEO
Landing page conversion
Technical SEO
Web design and development
Social media management
Keyword research and strategies
Knowing your audience is critical to knowing what the content on your site should look like. Keyword research allows law firms to target what prospective clients may be looking up to find legal services like yours. Keywords are the #1 way to ensure you get in front of good client matches.
Link building
Link building is a method of using other reputable websites to link to your own so that search engines consider it an authoritative, trustworthy site. This plays a large part in search engine rankings, making it a vital part of an SEO company for law firms.
Content writing
None of the other strategies we've discussed matter if your content isn't well written. A digital marketing campaign needs engaging copy that's been optimized to ensure relevancy. This includes content for your website, socials, and emails.
On-page SEO
Your web site needs to be optimized to pull a relevant rank for customers to find your page. An SEO expert will closely monitor your webpage to keep your content running at its peak capabilities for maximum visibility.
Landing page conversion
How do you get people actually to do something once they've clicked on your link? An SEO agent will focus on landing page conversions to guarantee action from website visitors through pay-per-click campaigns or organically.
Technical SEO
We expect results within mere seconds nowadays. That's just the way of the world. Your SEO company for attorneys will provide you with fast, responsive websites that also aid in the mission of increasing conversion rates.
Website design and development
As we already said, having a well-designed website is crucial to a successful online presence. A good site gives your firm a certain air of credibility even if potential clients haven't clicked on anything yet. Building a perfect site with the help of a skilled web designer will do wonders for conversions.
Social media management
For those aged 18 to 44, social media has become the preferred discovery method. What does that mean? Social media management for law firms is more relevant than ever before. Your firm needs an expert who's adept at managing and optimizing content to reach the right audience and make conversions.
Types of Law Firm SEO Services
SEO services provide your firm with a fully comprehensive plan of action that's sure to improve your standing. By using multiple tactics at once, your site will steadily improve in the SERPs, increasing your income with it. These tactics may include on-page/off-page services, local SEO, technical SEO services, and content marketing.
On-Page and Off-Page SEO Services
On-page SEO is all about optimizing content and structure on your web page. You can improve content by using relevant keywords, optimizing titles and descriptions, and making it mobile-friendly. Off-SEO focuses on improving your site's reputation and authority outside its domain. This includes adding backlinks to other sites, social media promotions, and increasing brand awareness. Essentially, you're trying to influence content through outreach efforts. The biggest difference between on-page services and off-page services is that the former gives you full control.
Local SEO
Besides focusing on your site's wider reach, law firm SEO services will create a plan for local SEO. Local SEO refers to location-based searches and can be improved by optimizing your listing in Google My Business to generate leads that will then turn into clients. Local SEO typically includes:
NAP (name, address, and phone number) consistency. Ensures consistency across all online platforms and directories.
Local citation building. Lists the firm on relevant local directories, citation sources, and data aggregators to increase visibility.
Online reviews management. Encourages and manages online reviews via platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook to build credibility and trust.
Local content creation. Creates localized content like blog posts, landing pages, and guides tailored to local audiences' interests and needs.
Location-specific keyword optimization. Optimizes site content, meta tags, and headings with location-specific keywords for the business's target area.
Geotagging and schema markup. Adds location metadata and schema markups to site elements to provide search engines with location-specific information.
Local link building. Secures backlinks from authoritative local websites, businesses, and organizations to boost local search visibility.
Mobile optimization. Ensures the site is optimized and mobile device usage friendly for local searches.
Social media engagement. Engages the local community on social platforms by sharing local events, promotions, and user-generated content for enhanced brand visibility.
Technical SEO Services
Technical SEO services improve the ability of search engines to navigate your website and accurately display it in search results. This type of service may include:
Website crawlability and indexability analysis
XML sitemap creation and submission
Robots.txt optimization
Website architecture analysis and optimization
Canonicalization and URL parameter handling
Mobile responsiveness and mobile-first indexing optimization
Page speed optimization
Fixing duplicate content issues and thin content
SSL certificate installation and HTTPS migration
Monitoring and resolving crawl errors and broken links
Implementing proper redirects
Analyzing and optimizing site performance in SERPs
Content Marketing
Content marketing works in tandem with SEO to drive organic traffic to your site. It includes publishing optimized new content, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, and articles, using relevant keywords that make your material more discoverable in search results. Without new content, search engines aren't able to index your site's relevancy, making it virtually invisible. Content marketing prevents that from happening, allowing clients to find your service.
Recap: What Can SEO Do for You?
Working with a law firm SEO expert has countless benefits. Besides using tools that will catapult your firm to the front of the SERPs, search engine optimization can save you time and resources, as you won't be devoting your valuable attention to managing the site yourself. Instead, you'll have a dedicated team of experts to handle keyword research, competitor analysis, and on-page optimization for you.
On a similar note, an SEO company for attorneys already has the required software and tools to provide you with a solid SEO strategy that would otherwise cost your firm a significant amount if paying for it on your own. Working with an established agency means that you can save resources for something else.
SEO agencies provide your firm with expert knowledge and best practices to improve your visibility and search engine rankings in a way you may not have thought possible. Law firm SEO experts use targeted, well-thought-out strategies to increase your SERP ranking. Your team will test various strategies to find out what method works best for your potential clients to find you online; this may look like an optimized call-to-action button (ex., contact us today for a free consultation) or landing page to increase lead generation.
Tips for Trying SEO Services
Create helpful, targeted content.
Use high-ranking keywords that people would use to find your content in prominent and descriptive locations on your site (title, main heading, alt text, and link text).
Make crawlable links/ backlinks so Google can find other pages on your site.
Be active in communities where you can share the services mentioned on your site.
Follow best practices for all content (images, videos, structured data, and JavaScript).
Enhance your site's appearance via features that make sense for your site.
If you have content that shouldn't be found in search results, use the appropriate method to control how your content appears.
It's an Open and Shut Case. Choose CMG for Legal SEO.
While you may be able to survive on your own among competitors in the ocean of law firms, working with a lawyer SEO agency is the most assured way to stick out. Only a digital marketing team specializing in legal services can provide you with the answers you're looking for to improve your SEO. We believe that the team most capable is CMG.
CMG Local Solutions is the finest SEO company for law firms, having been in business for nearly 100 years. As one of the largest digital marketing companies in the U.S., with operations in over 20 markets and a weekly reach of 52 million people, our resources are unmatched by the competition. By using SEO tactics, modern data and analytics, trackable key performance indicators (KPIs), and more, we'll build a powerful marketing plan that's unique to your law firm.
Contact CMG Local Solutions to build your law firm's online presence today.
