Why is SEO important? 

In short, SEO is any tactic or strategy that helps you get website traffic through search engines, excluding paid ads. SEO helps your firm get found on Google when someone searches for law-related answers on the web. While any search engine can help clients find you, most people use Google. In fact, data suggests that more than 91% of people used Google to find what they need online in 2023. 

SEO takes time, but the right SEO strategy can lead to higher rankings in search results, more website traffic, and client leads. This guide will explore core optimization concepts, like content creation, backlinks, and your Google listing, to help your firm grow. 

Understanding Google’s Search Result Page

Google’s search engine results page (SERP) includes many features and types of results. Some of the most important ones include: 

• Paid Ads
• Google Maps (Google Business Profiles) 
• “Traditional” Results (Organic Results) 
• Image Results 
• Rich Results (Featured Snippets, People Also Ask Questions, etc.) 

In short, the SERP is made up of multiple parts and you can either earn, or buy, placement in them. For the sake of this guide, we’ll be focusing on the parts of the SERP that require businesses to earn their placements.

How Google Works 

Google takes four steps to serve the results you see after conducting a search. 

• Discover – Google first needs to find out what web pages exist. It does this by crawling pages it already knows about, following links to new pages, and sitemap submissions from website owners. 
• Crawl – Once it finds a new page, Google downloads the page content using an automated program called Googlebot. 
• Index – Google processes page content to understand what the page is about, including analyzing text, titles, images, videos, etc. This is when the page becomes eligible to rank in search results. 
• Rank – When people search, Google’s algorithm matches indexed pages to the search query and attempts to rank the most relevant, helpful pages at the top.

An important part of SEO is making it easy for Google to discover, crawl, and index your content, because a page can’t rank if Google doesn’t know it exists.

How to Optimize Your Business for Google Search

First and foremost, you can’t pay to rank higher in organic search results. That’s what paid ads are for. SEO is earned, and Google’s goal is to make sure the most relevant websites rank. 

Here are a few core takeaways from Google’s SEO starter guide: 

• Make it easy for Google to find your content 
• Make it easy for Google (and humans) to understand your content 
• Have a clear, organized website structure 
• Optimize your content by making it trustworth, interesting, and helpful

In other words, SEO isn’t about finding loopholes in the algorithm to rank; it’s about giving your potential customers what they need. Optimizing your website for people is the best way to rank. 

Keyword Research

In order to make your website helpful to potential clients, you need to understand what they’re searching for. Keyword research involves understanding the specific words and phrases that your target audience uses to find businesses like yours on Google. 

For law firms, keywords (also called “search queries”) fall into two general categories:

• High-intent keywords 
• Long-tail keywords 

High-Intent Keywords 

High-intent refers to the likelihood that someone searching for that query needs (and intends) to find legal services. 

Examples include keywords like these: 

• San Louis Obisbo personal injury attorney 
• Law firm near me
• Los angeles bus accident attorney 
• Divorce lawyer 

At a glance, it’s clear that most people searching these terms are actively looking to hire a lawyer. This demonstrates high intent. Identifying and targeting these types of keywords ensures your firm shows up at the right time, when potential clients need your services.

It’s also important to note that, the more people search for a given query, the more potential it has to bring traffic to your website. That said, high-volume searches also tend to be more competitive. 

Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are more specific phrases that users search when they have a focused legal question or issue to resolve. In some cases, these searchers may not know they need an attorney just yet, and are trying to find a way to solve a problem on their own.

Examples include: 

• What should I do after a car accident that wasn’t my fault? 
• How to represent myself in family court 
• What to do after getting arrested for a DUI 

Optimizing for long-tail questions shows searchers that your firm can answer their specific queries. Plus, these keywords often are sometimes less competitive than the high-intent ones. 

As a general rule of thumb for law firms, high-intent keywords like the ones mentioned above are best targeted on website practice area pages; long-tail keywords best targeted through longform content such as your blog. 

Keyword Research Tools 

Keyword research tools help identify terms and phrases that potential clients commonly search for online. These tools vary in usability, cost, and focus. Some tools excel at pinpointing high-intent keywords, while others are better at uncovering long-tail keywords. 

Here’s a quick breakdown of notable tools: 

• Semrush & Ahrefs: Ideal for both high-intent and long-tail keywords, but especially effective for high-intent terms. (Free trials and Paid options for both)
• Moz Keyword Explorer: Comprehensive insights into SEO metrics, link analysis, domain authority scores, and keyword research. Particularly valuable for understanding the competitive landscape and uncovering high-quality keywords. (Free 30-day trial)
• Answer the Public: Specializes in long-tail keywords, pulling from Google autocomplete to provide specific and relevant search terms. (Free and paid options)
• People Also Ask (PAA): A unique SERP feature, displaying common questions related to a given search. Enter a search into Google and scroll down to see the PAA related searches. Particularly valuable for identifying long-tail keywords. (Free)
• AI (like ChatGPT): Useful for both types of keywords, with a focus on long-tail variations. Uses advanced language models to generate unique and contextually relevant long-tail keywords. (Free and paid options)

Don’t expect a single tool to cover every keyword. Use keyword research tools to complement and reinforce your research, after you’ve identified core topics that your target clients care about.

Content Optimization

Once you know what your customers are searching for, you’ll need to create content to help them. Content is an integral part of SEO for lawyers, and comes in many shapes and forms. We’ll break down a few of the most important ones here. 

Best Practices & Content Optimization Basics 

Crafting high-quality content that answers user intent, integrating relevant keywords seamlessly, and prioritizing optimal user experience are fundamental SEO practices. 

SEO’s twin engines are credibility and visibility. Both goals support each other in a mutually reinforcing cycle. Credibility and visibility come from organizing helpful information logically.

• Be Helpful: Provide genuine and valuable information to your audience.
• Be Thorough: Answer the user intent as comprehensively as you can.
• Skimmable Sections: Break up content into sections with clear headers. 
• Clear Structure: Every page should have an obvious structure to help orient the user.
• Title Tags & Meta Descriptions: These should be concise with relevant keywords.
• Relevant Links: Include internal and external links to relevant, high-authority pages. 

Remember—SEO best practices serve the needs of human readers as well as search engines. However, you should never, ever do something for a search engine at the cost of human usability and user experience.

Practice Area Pages

A strong practice area page can have a major impact on your visibility and conversion. This is especially true if you’re a firm in a saturated market where you’re competing within a specific niche. 

These pages should be tailored to specific legal services and target specific search terms. You can use subpages for multiple related practice areas, like below.

Examples include:

• Personal Injury
• Criminal Defense
• Estate Planning > Wills and Trusts
• Family Law > Child Custody

Practice area pages are distinct from blogs. Whereas blog posts answer informational queries, practice area pages are for people with high-intent searches who are actively looking for legal expertise in a specific practice area.

On this page, address the transactional and information needs of someone seeking specialized assistance in this area: Anticipate FAQs, highlight your case experience in this area, and lay out next steps such as action guides or consultation.

Blogging 

Blogs are a direct conduit to your target audience. A well-crafted blog post can significantly impact your SEO by driving organic traffic to your site, building trust with readers, and positioning you as an authority with the search engines. 

Each blog post should offer readable, thorough answers to a reader’s query. 

Blogging tips for lawyers:

• Answer common questions your clients ask
• Stick to what you know best (your practice area, not trends)
• Be helpful: Provide value and avoid marketing-heavy language
• Post consistently: Set a realistic schedule and stick to it
• Update regularly: Accuracy builds trust with readers and search engines

Your blog is the perfect place to target long-tail keywords. Try a pillar/cluster model to design a blogging strategy around a given informational search intent, with core comprehensive articles and related cluster articles.

Earning traffic from qualified leads within your service area is great—but even irrelevant traffic from non-local readers can positively impact your SEO.

The value of a blog post goes far beyond the publish date. It can compound over time and become a lasting asset, as the post accumulates organic traffic, backlinks, and social shares.

Blogging can also help establish your firm’s authority in your practice area, which can in turn boost your visibility in the SERP. For instance, if you publish a lot of blogs answering common family law questions, you may increase your relevance for high-intent family law queries as well.

Location Pages 

Include a location page for each location where you want your firm to rank:

• Any location where you already have an established office
• Any location where you lack a physical presence but wish to attract clients

Multi-location firms: Location pages offer a localized approach, providing tailored information about each office’s services and team. Include concrete information like:

• Hours
• Address
• Team 
• Services
• Unique offerings or features of each location (parking, language spoken, accessibility)

Aspirational reach: Location pages should focus on relevant keywords and establishing authority to attract clients in your target location. Emphasize your expertise and willingness to serve clients in these target locations. Be clear that your firm’s physical office is located elsewhere and explain options for how to book a virtual consultation and what to expect from the process.

Note that it is harder to rank for locations where you don’t have an office. Without a local address, you’re at a disadvantage in local searches, where Google prioritizes firms with local addresses and highlights three in the Map Pack. 

Special Content Considerations for Lawyers 

Law firms are part of a category that Google calls YMYL, “Your Money, Your Life”. YMYL pages discuss topics that can affect a person’s financial and overall well being, so Google holds their content to a higher standard than many other sites.

Law firms are YMYL sites, so accurate and authoritative content matters more for your site than for non-YMYL sites. 

YMYL sites can use E-E-A-T to guide content creation. These are official concepts published by Google as E-A-T in 2014 and updated to E-E-A-T in 2022:

• E: Experience
• E: Expertise
• A: Authoritativeness
• T: Trustworthiness

Try these content tips to effectively showcase your authority and build trust:

• List a qualified author (with photo and bio) whenever possible
• Reference your awards and credentials
• Highlight your own unique expertise
• Cite sources with up-to-date information

Please check your local bar association for additional guidelines regarding legal marketing in your area. You may be subject to rules about using testimonials, solicitation, and fee disclosure.

Link Building for Law Firms

Link building involves getting other reputable websites to link back to your site. These are called “Backlinks” (opposed to “internal links,” which are when pages on your own website link to each other.) Links from other websites are a signal to Google that your website is trustworthy, which can help your business rank in search results, as well as drive traffic to your site from the linking website. 

In short, there are three basic ways your website can get more links: 

• Links you can build yourself (Online Directories)
• Links you can ask other people to add for you (Outreach) 
• Links your website accrues naturally 

Directory Listings 

These are online lists of related businesses that help individuals and businesses find trusted professional support. When a lawyer strategically adds their website to reputable directories, it signals credibility to potential clients (and credibility that may help improve visibility in search engines).

You can submit to legal-specific directories (Justia, Avvo) as well as industry-agnostic directories (Yellow Pages, Chamber of Commerce). 

How to get your law firm listed in a directory:

• Identify authoritative directories relevant to your practice
• Optimize your listing details 
• Check for accuracy and consistency 

Of all link-building options, directories are not the most valuable but a worthwhile endeavor. In short, they’re helpful because you can add listings yourself and you know they are placed where your audience is located.

Maintenance involves regular updates for accuracy and adhering to the directory’s guidelines. 

Submitting is straightforward, but the stakes are high: a well-curated directory presence can support your bid for online credibility while bolstering your other link-building tactics.  

Link Outreach & Earned Media

Earned links are highly valuable because they signify recognition from authoritative sources in the real world. Search engines tend to deem these links more valuable.

To get these links, you must proactively pitch relevant topics to journalists and reputable publications. You’re not assured placement or a back link.

Tips to improve your link outreach and get earned media:

• Relevance: Choose current news issues on which your expertise allows you to offer informed comments.
• Relationships: Build a network that includes journalists, and don’t overlook the local news outlets.
• Offer value: Help people with real tips and don’t self-promote.
• Be available: Make sure people know you’re available for sharing legal expertise, and respond promptly to inquiries.
• Prepare: Practice your pitching and storytelling skills. 

You can also list yourself on HARO (Help A Reporter Out) or similar services to find more earned media opportunities for your law firm. 

Links that Happen Naturally 

Often, firms get links from large media outlets simply because they deserved them—not because they asked for them. Successful firms create link-worthy content, either by writing something valuable or by doing something interesting.

To get links effortlessly, be irresistibly linkable. 

Here’s how you can be the natural choice for a link: 

• Craft exceptionally valuable and comprehensive content that other people want to reference.
• Do newsworthy things so journalists talk about you.

SEO is a competition—but there are many ways to win. You are competing alongside many other firms to deliver the most value and earn the link. But you might be able to earn a link for one topic that another firm wouldn’t due to your unique expertise and your content offerings.

So, research your competitors to ensure your content is offering more value. Do more notable things that highlight your specific skills and carve out a niche in this area. Build relationships with journalists so they can spotlight you. 

The best link-building strategy is to be naturally linkable.

Local SEO

We’ve covered how to rank in the “ten blue links” aka the top 10 organic spots on the SERP. Now, let’s dive deeper into local SEO where the intention is to attract nearby searchers.

Local searchers can be a gold mine for your firm:

• 46.5% of people search Google when deciding which law firm to hire.
• 42% of local searches involve clicks on the Map Pack.
• 88% of potential customers will check reviews before choosing a business.
• 78% of local searches result in a purchase within the next 24 hours.

You’ll need different tactics to succeed with local SEO because Google uses a different algorithm to rank businesses in Maps. General SEO tactics still apply—a good website can help you rank for local searches in Google Maps. 

The big goal of local SEO is to communicate relevance and proximity to people looking locally for a lawyer. Local SEO can include earning backlinks from local sources, creating location-specific content on your website, and most importantly, optimizing your Google Business Profile. 

Google Business Profile 

The GBP is your public-facing profile on Google, and it’s a highly effective tool for positioning your firm in front of local searchers.

On your profile are details like your firm’s opening hours, address, contact information, photos, and reviews. This information is auto-filled by Google, but claiming and actively managing your GBP improves its effectiveness for SEO purposes. Make sure your NAP (name, address, phone) is consistent across all your online profiles. 

Your Google Business Profile appears prominently in the SERP whenever someone searches for your firm’s name. But the real impact is its visibility on Google Maps whenever someone performs a generic local search for a lawyer in your area. Only the three most relevant businesses will appear in Google’s Map Pack. To earn a coveted spot, optimize your firm’s profile for local searches to drive valuable local traffic to your site firm.

Local SEO Ranking Factors

To rank well in local searches, your Google Business Profile must be recent, relevant, and trustworthy. 

You can control some of your local ranking factors by actively managing your GBP.

Fill out your profile as completely as you can. Categorize yourself correctly. Respond to questions and reviews on your listing. Post relevant updates regularly. These actions can positively impact your visibility and conversions in local searches.

Here are the key ranking factors for local SEO and tried-and-true tactics for each. 

Reviews

Reviews are visible on your GBP, and they play a pivotal role in Google’s assessment of your firm’s expertise and authority (EEAT). 

Feedback from clients is valuable, real-world credibility. Reviews can also help you rank for specific keywords, if a client mentions specific services or practice areas.

Earning reviews can be a challenge. To get more positive reviews, prioritize client satisfaction and actively encourage clients to share their honest experiences by writing reviews.

Categories

Categories are a very important ranking factor for Google when determining relevance in local searches. There are more than 20 types of attorneys in the GBP’s list of categories. 

Be specific when selecting the primary category for your area of legal expertise. For instance, “employment attorney” is much more helpful than “law firm” for someone seeking that specific service. Precision helps improve Google’s certainty when matching a query with firms, leading to increased visibility and more leads.

Hours

As of December 2023, experts noticed that a business’s hours of availability can impact its visibility on Maps. 

In other words, Google is more likely to serve a local business in Maps if it is currently open—so try to offer 24-hour availability, if possible.

A 24-hour answering service is a great solution for a firm that does not physically keep an office open 24/7. This allows you to expand your hours of availability and improve your local SEO with zero impact on your core team.

Business Name

You may rank better if your business name includes keywords like “law firm” or a phrase related to your practice area (like Miller Family Lawyers of Englewood).

Do you already have keywords in your business name? Great, it’s a nice perk. If not, do not change your GBP business name to something it’s not just to chase rankings. 

You may wish to consider a more optimized DBA if you’re in a very competitive market or you want a more assertive local SEO strategy.

Local SEO Best Practices 

To rank well in local searches, you need more than direct ranking factors. A strong business profile on Google and good on-site SEO will support your local SEO visibility.

1) Fill out your Google Business Profile Completely

If you do not have a listing yet, create one. If you haven’t claimed your profile yet, go to business.google.com and click on Add My Business. 

Enter the firm’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) and then proceed to Verify. Most listings will require a video verification, although some will still verify via a postcard PIN. 

Once you have a profile, fill it out as completely as possible. Even if Google isn’t using everything on your listing to rank it, the content can help convert readers to clients. Aim for accuracy, readability, and helpfulness for potential clients.

2) Maintain Ongoing Activity On Your Profile:

Here’s how to show Google and your audience that you are an active business:

• Get reviews regularly by sending satisfied clients a link
• Respond to positive and negative reviews (if allowed by your state bar association)  
• Publish news updates, events, and photos
• Update your office hours and other information if it changes
• Stay up to date with holiday closures, etc. 

3) Maintain Good On-Site SEO: 

A solid website backs up your listing optimization and activity. In fact, a good website can actually help your listing rank better, even though the Maps algorithm is technically separate from more traditional organic results. 

A few things that contribute to a high-quality website: 

• Mobile-friendly and responsive design
• Crawlability using structure and navigation
• Security with HTTPS
• Accessibility for disabled users, under the WCAG guidelines
• Site speed and performance 
• Relevance and helpfulness to your customers

How to Measure SEO Success (Analytics)

Measuring is key to accomplishing your SEO goals. While SEO takes time, track these metrics as you grow to understand whether your SEO is headed in the right direction.

Impressions

An impression is each time your site appears in Google search. Use Google Search Console to view a sampling of your impressions data and corresponding specific search queries.

Impressions do not indicate actual traffic to your site. However, they can give you insight into how Google perceives your site and what specific searches Google thinks your site is relevant for. 

Impressions can highlight your visibility for terms that you aren’t actively tracking elsewhere, like in a rank-tracking software, which can guide your future SEO tactics as you understand audience interest.

Rankings

You want to track your ranking because ranking higher means more visibility, which can lead to more clicks and more calls. However, be aware that a higher rank doesn’t always mean your site will get more traffic. 

Track your ranking with third-party software like Semrush or Ahrefs. Your agency probably also has a dashboard to track rankings, too. Remember to track your mobile ranking separately.

Clicks

Clicks can mean traffic—but they also help you discover your clients’ areas of interest. 

In Google Search Console, you can view clicks sorted by query, page, country, device, and more. It’s important to study the specific search queries that are leading actual visitors to click on your site as well as your click-through rate (CTR).

Analyze this data to identify trends, measure the impact of optimizations, and adapt your SEO strategy. 

Traffic

Use Google Analytics to track how many people visit your site. This data includes multiple sources, like organic traffic, paid ads, direct, referral sources, and more. 

Analyzing traffic from a diversity of sources can help you understand audience behavior, identify the most effective channels, and update your optimization strategies. 

Calls

You can track the number of calls, source of calls, duration of calls, and call outcomes. Try a software like CallRail.

How it works: A person clicks on the phone number displayed on your Google Business Profile. When they place a call, the tracking software recognizes the specific source and records it along with the caller’s phone number, call duration, and call outcome. 

For instance, a personal injury firm may find that a client called after finding their Google Business Profile rather than visiting their website. 

Call tracking provides attributions that help you eliminate missed opportunities, improve conversion and acquisition rates, and optimize your marketing spend to maximize your ROI. 

Conversions

You can track two types of conversions in your legal marketing efforts.

Type 1: A conversion can be a potential client or lead who gets converted into an actual client. This can be an overall conversion rate based on the total number of impressions. 

Type 2: This conversion represents a lead that took a desired action in response to a specific SEO campaign. It indicates higher user intent. For example, you could track how many calls (conversions) result from your GBP. Use UTM parameters, custom landing pages, and other tracking codes to monitor these conversions.

Note that a click on an organic page on the SERP is not typically considered a conversion. Instead, it’s a person’s behavior on your site after that initial click that you should track as a conversion.

Ready to Level Up Your SEO?

Doing SEO right takes work, but it pays off. If getting more cases through your website seems tricky or you’re not sure where to start, chat with the team here at Omnizant. We’re a team of passionate legal marketers focused on helping ambitious, growth-minded firms get more visibility through online marketing efforts, including SEO. We’ll take care of the heavy lifting from content to directory management so you can focus on doing what you love most: helping your clients when they need it the most.