Local Search Engine Optimization [SEO] for law firms is the goal of making efforts to make your website rank high in local search results. For entities that define a specific geographical area, local SEO will help in increasing brand awareness in the area first and later on, generating more legal leads.
Law is a competitive industry, especially when it comes to search engine optimization. However, if your only focus is on the broad keywords to get more traffic, you could waste lots of effort. Most legal queries or services are location-based searches. You want to appear in the most relevant results, aiming at the local SEO.
Therefore, to rank higher in Google and other top-ranking search engines, you will need to pay mere attention to local SEO.
What is Local SEO for lawyers?
Local SEO is a specialized area of search engine optimization that targets searches made by users who are looking for something within a certain geographical area. Queries refer to what one would usually search on search engines such as Google to get answers to their question. These are the searches that local people do to find certain goods, services, and information within the area.
For example, if you are looking for a lawyer and you live in New York, your search will be ‘lawyer in New York.”
Local maps and other specific local results can also be triggered by local searches. All these can be crucial for attorneys and legal practices that serve a particular geographical area. To this effect, local SEO for lawyers can be understood by such searches as personal injury lawyer near me and family law lawyer near me.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Improving Your Law Firm’s Local SEO
In the section below, we have explained the primary elements of local SEO for law firms and how to implement them so you can start attracting more local clients.
Optimize Your Website
The first component of local SEO for law firms is website optimization, as it needs to be a fast, functional, and SEO-friendly website for search engine optimization to achieve organic traffic. If you already have a website make sure to optimize technical search engine aspects.
This may involve ensuring that all links are functioning, improving the speed at which the website loads, making use of primary and secondary keywords in page titles and the general content of the website, as well as designing a network of the site that is easy and friendly to the users.
But if you are creating a new website, make sure that the person who is going to design your website is well-versed in SEO and able to create search engines and user-friendly sites. The quicker the load speed of your website, the easier it is to use, and the better its chances of being crawled by search engine bots, the higher the chances of your business appearing in the local SERPs.
Create content on Local topics
The content of your site informs the audience about the services offered, how they can benefit from them, and provides details on how to reach out. It also serves the purpose of drawing in organic visitors when localized keywords are integrated with the titles, meta descriptions, and body text of the website pages.
If you are doing keyword research for a law firm’s content strategy, make sure to use keyword research tools such as Semrush, Google Search Console, or Soovle.
For instance, a London-based law practice could consider publishing blogs concerning the topics “Recent Changes to Divorce Laws in the UK or Personal Injury Claims in London. Besides, more emphasis should be given to establishing local business listings such as Google My Business and others. Law firms can improve their local search visibility through their optimized listing of the law firm with accurate information and good ratings.
Google My Business Profile
Google business profile, also known as GMB, is the main tool for local businesses and law firms, including in providing Google with information about themselves and being a part of Google Maps and Google Search. A GMB listing is essentially a business page bearing name, address, and phone number so that people google up local lawyers and, in turn, can get particulars.
For attorneys aiming to improve their website’s ranking in local search, it’s worth noting that Google will utilize the information contained in your Google My Business (GMB) Profile listing for Google Maps and local packs, in addition to local results for relevant search queries.
Google posits that to improve your local rank within the area, you should be relevant, prominent, and closest to the searcher. Although there isn’t much that could be done about a person’s distance in this circumstance—someone who just typed opened Google to find a lawyer—it is, however, possible to influence relevance and prominence.
Get Review
The advantage of positive feedback from clients can work wonders to increase your law firm’s authority, enhancing the reputation, appreciation, and ranking of your law firm within cyberspace. If potential clients are looking for an attorney and see that your firm has the most positive reviews, they will likely avail of the services offered rather than seek the competitors. Such reviews can also be requested from clients for posting on Google Business Profile and other similar directory listings.
A comprehensive list of excellent feedback can help in single-handedly marketing a law firm as well as letting Google know that the firm is highly credible. Concerning reviews and ORM, a more efficient approach includes keeping track of online reviews and providing feedback where necessary as soon as possible. Having online reviews is important to consumers and thus determines if they will pick your business or not.
Link Building
Link building is the last step to doing local SEO for law firms, which means getting other sites to link back to your website. This is important because a backlink from another site serves as a vote by that site on the quality and trustworthiness of the law firm in question. Therefore, seeking out a variety of quality backlinks can help in local rankings. The key here is to attract links from reputable, industry-related sites. One way to achieve this is to list a business in directories.
By creating valuable content, including articles, blogs, and relevant materials, we can help law firms earn organic backlinks from other sites. Moreover, contributing to guest posting reputable legal blogs and websites can help establish authority as well as generate backlinks. The consistent execution of these measures, combined with an emphasis on networking with other relevant practitioners, results in very positive changes to online visibility and the client base for law firms.
Conclusion
Law firms should adopt local SEO tactics because it helps a great deal in attracting more local clientele and cementing one’s position as a bona fide legal practitioner. The search engine ranking of a law firm is greatly enhanced by ensuring that Google My Business is updated, quality local content is generated, and the local community is actively involved.
