According to the latest data from Clio, more than 1/3 of potential customers begin their lawyer search on the web. And most frequently, their starting point is search engines. This statistic indicates the enormous importance of SEO for lawyers in today’s world.

Now, attorneys need to build an extensive online presence, attract prospects with valuable content, and pop up at the top of organic search results. That’s the way to grow your client base and thrive in a competitive environment. And we are here to tell you how to do this right!

In this article, we are going to guide you through the basic principles of traditional search engine optimization and local SEO for lawyers, make keyword research understandable and simple, and share other SEO strategies and tricks that will help you dominate the competitive market.

Understanding The Benefits of SEO For Lawyers

Another piece of statistics provided by Clio reveals that 65% of law firms invest the largest share of their marketing budget into online presence and advertisement. It’s not surprising, given the growing reliance on the Internet that people demonstrate these days.

Needless to say, search engines are what dominate the online landscape. Optimizing for search engines can help your business:

• Drive lots of organic traffic and, thus, lots of prospects;
• Boost credibility in the eyes of your potential customers;
• Improve your digital marketing ROI;
• Create brand recognition;
• Remain competitive in the long run.

All these benefits are real and they become especially important in such competitive niches as the legal industry.

So, if you want to grow your business and stay ahead of the competition, you must develop a solid SEO strategy ASAP. Luckily, it’s easy now with advanced SEO software available out there.

To find the right tools for your optimization efforts, go to Top10 and check out the best SEO software reviews. On this platform, you can find all types of SEO tools, including keyword research solutions, audit tools, and all-in-one search engine optimization platforms. And detailed SEO software reviews will help you pick the right solutions that will help you achieve greater outcomes!

Now, let’s get to the best SEO strategy tips that will help you start benefiting from search engine optimization.

Optimizing Your Website For Legal SEO

To identify your rankings in search results, Google (as well as any other search engine) leverages a long list of indicators and signals. Yet, the top 5 ranking factors are:

• Meaning;
• Relevance;
• Quality;
• Usability;

Let’s begin with site usability.

Google’s algorithms reward sites that deliver exceptional user experience with high positions in SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). The website’s usability and user experience consist of a variety of factors. Namely, to assess the usability of your site, Google recommends asking the following questions:

• Do your pages correspond to the Core Web Vitals?
• Is your site secure?
• How well do your pages perform on mobile devices?
• Is your content free of excessive ads?
• And so on.

Despite a large number of factors, optimizing your site for optimal SEO performance isn’t that hard. With the help of the right SEO tools, you can audit your site’s performance, detect areas for improvement, and gradually enhance your usability stage by stage.

In our guide, we are going to focus on the most prominent aspects of site optimization:

1. Site organization — Optimize the structure and organization of your website to make navigation logical and seamless. Create clear menus and navigation categories. Also, group topically similar pages and use descriptive URLs for the best user experience.
2. Core Web Vitals — This set of on-site ranking requirements introduced by Google consists of three primary quality indicators — interactivity, visual stability, and loading speed. Assess your website based on these factors and improve all three of them to rank higher. Most importantly, optimize the speed of your pages; it should be only 2.5 seconds or less.
3. Title tags and meta descriptions optimization — Meta titles and descriptions are bits of information that users see in search results. These elements can either make them click on your site or skip it. To improve your SEO game, you need to optimize titles and descriptions with the right keywords and make them as catchy as possible.
4. Mobile SEO for lawyers — According to a study by iLawyerMarketing, 23% of prospects use mobile devices, and 24% use desktop or laptop computers when researching law firms to hire. 53% use both types of devices. The numbers suggest that you must optimize your site for mobile users and make sure that it looks great on all screens if you want to capture as many prospects as possible.

Boosting Visibility With Local SEO For Lawyers

Another crucial part of SEO for lawyers is local optimization. In a nutshell, it’s a type of search engine optimization aimed at making you rank high in local search. This lawyer SEO strategy has multiple benefits, including:

• Improved online visibility in your geographic area;
• Enhanced control of your reputation;
• More qualified traffic for your site, etc.

Most importantly, local SEO for lawyers can help prospects discover your physical location. As a result, it can help you welcome more clients right to your doorstep.

Here are the steps you need to take to benefit from this tactic:

1. Create a Google Business Profile for your company. Fill it in with as much information about your firm as possible, and make sure that the information is fresh and valid. Then, optimize your profile with relevant local keywords, for example, “best law firms in [city]”.
2. Make listings in popular data aggregators to extend your outreach and build trust. Start with the biggest platforms like Yelp, Apple Maps, Facebook, and Yellow Pages. Then, make listings in your niche-specific directories, such as FindLaw, Avvo, Justia, Super Lawyers, etc. Once again, ensure that the data on your site, Google Business profile, and other directories is uniform and up-to-date. And don’t forget to leverage your target keywords where possible.
3. Encourage your existing clients to leave positive reviews about your work to increase trust and use testimonials as a part of your marketing tactic. Also, start managing your online reputation by regularly tracking customer reviews and responding to them promptly (even to the negative ones).

Researching Keywords And Optimizing Your Content

Lastly, if you want to have the best SEO for lawyers, there is no way you can do it without keyword research and thoughtful content optimization. Keywords are the queries that your target audience uses to find the information and services you provide. Hence, using them correctly is absolutely vital for your SEO strategy.

Additionally, ensuring content translation for your key pages can significantly enhance your website’s visibility and accessibility to international clients, broadening your reach and potential client base .

To find relevant legal keywords to target, leverage SEO software like Google Keyword Planner. Insert words and phrases related to your business in the tool and start looking for relevant search queries. In the results, analyze keywords by competition and search volume. Select words and phrases that you think your audience uses most frequently and integrate them into your strategy.

To detect the most winning keywords, consider also running an in-depth competitive analysis. Use specialized tools to see what search queries your competitors use and leverage them for your success as well.

Finally, when you have a list of target keywords, insert them into your existing content for greater visibility. Also, start crafting compelling, clear, and informative new content that will resonate with your audience. The more value your content provides and the better optimized it is, the more traffic you can drive.

Pro tip: When generating content, consider using its different types. Blog posts, long-form articles, podcasts, infographics, and other content types can be incredibly beneficial for your rankings. Besides, diversified and valuable content can help you gain quality backlinks, which also affect your rankings.

Conclusion

In the competitive legal niche, standing out from the crowd is the key to growth and revenue. And in a digital world like ours, the best way to set yourself aside is to create a solid online presence and bring your site to the top of search results.

As you know from this guide, every winning lawyer SEO strategy consists of the following steps:

• Website optimization;
• Local optimization;
• Keyword research and content creation.

With this step-by-step instruction, you are well-equipped to get started with search engine optimization. Start using the advice from our guide to get on the right track and receive the most benefits of SEO for lawyers!