Since 93% of all online searches begin with a search engine, it is crucial to improve your law firm’s position in the search page results. Using law firm SEO is one of the best ways to achieve higher ranking in the search results. This results in more traffic, which leads to more clients. Exploring and employing law firm SEO in strategic ways can also give your company a critical advantage over the competition.

What is SEO? A Quick Refresher 

SEO is a common digital marketing buzzword, but what is it exactly, and why is it important? Search engine optimization, or SEO, works like a map that helps potential clients find your website and the automated search engine bots categorize what you offer on your site. The purpose of law firm SEO is for your company to be found on the first page of search engine results pages (SERPs) and as high on the page as possible. Law firm SEO can shine a spotlight on your law firm, even if it sits in a sea of competition. 

Why Law Firm SEO Matters 

SEO is important because it:

• Boosts your website in the SERPs, where 96% of people start looking for an attorney.
• Establishes EAT (expertise, authority and trustworthiness) in the eyes of Google and prospective clients. 
• Gives your law firm an edge over your competitors.
• Helps build your brand.
• Spotlights your law firm to local consumers.
• Maximizes your organic search rankings, which are results achieved without the use of paid ads.

How Your Law Firm Can Improve its SEO

Your law firm may have an excellent team and quality services, but modern law firms need to stand out in the digital landscape. In order to surpass your competitors, you want to rank higher in search results. Law firm SEO may be the missing piece to your marketing plan that will boost you past other firms. Here are some ways to start using SEO to grow your law firm’s business. 

Create Relevant and Useful Content

The material, or content, you create for your website or blog is an important part of your SEO strategy. Relevant, informative content attracts potential clients who are searching for answers to their legal questions and concerns. This same quality content tells the search engine bots that you have valuable information on your website. The more time visitors spend on your website, the more significant your site appears to the search bots. Ideally, your website and blog will be user-friendly and helpful to your human visitors while simultaneously containing key elements that thrill the search bots. Articles, blog posts, videos, images, tutorials, and social media content all make both people and bots happy, so consider the following content marketing tips: 

• Publish content that is easy to read with lots of white space.
• Include relevant images, video clips, and infographics.
• Add metadata that gives you additional “free” SEO boosts.
• Use relevant keywords where it sounds natural, never stuffed.
• Optimize SEO by using keywords and phrases, but do not overuse them as it can degrade the quality of your site. 
• Focus on using one or two keywords or phrases on each page of content. 
• Keep content fresh, valuable and shareable. 
• Add evergreen (i.e. long-term, long-lasting) content that requires less updating. 

Utilize On-Page SEO

On-Page SEO refers to additional items that are within your control, such as the HTML components. Although they are small and may seem relatively hidden at times, the following elements can be rich sources of SEO power:

• Title Tags. Each page’s title tag tells the search engines what is contained on the page, and a title tag should be 70 characters or fewer.
• Meta Description. This tells both your website visitors and the search engines more about what the page contains, in a slightly longer phrase than the title tag.
• Sub-headings such as H1, H2 and H3 make your content easier to read and can improve your SEO efforts.
• Internal Links. These link your content to other material on your site, which creates a helpful web for search bots to trace.
• ALT tags and image names. When you use images on your blog or website, you can include a phrase or keyword in the appropriate box. This helps search engines identify and index your images. If you tag the photo of your legal team as “Denver law firm” it may boost your website up in the rankings when individuals are searching for a law firm in Denver.

Take Advantage of Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to the strategies you use online in places other than your website, such as social media and review sites. Although you have less control over off-page SEO, it is still important to your marketing plan because it affects your search engine rankings. Off-page SEO includes strategies such as:

• Gaining likes and follows on social media
• Obtaining backlinks from other sites
• Building brand awareness
• Exploring local SEO through Google My Business
• Participating in forums, podcasts, guest blogging, and the like
• Earning 5-star reviews

Improve Your Website

Search engines favor websites that are mobile-friendly and quick-loading. If your website is not both, your rankings will suffer. Websites that contain broken links or that have stale and outdated content get low marks from Google (low EAT scores). If you have not updated your website in months or years, it may be time to consider a website content audit, a process that takes inventory of your content, fixes broken links, and revises your website to ensure a stellar first impression to prospective clients. 

Track Metrics

After you spend time improving your SEO, you should track important metrics to determine if your efforts are paying off. You can track your metrics through Google Analytics, and find out specifically where you need to make changes. Important metrics to track include:

• Traffic Types (where your visitors are coming from)
• Lead Types (how your visitors are contacting you)
• Traffic Quality (measuring the time people spend on your website)
• Bounce Rate (how long individuals stay on your website before leaving)
• Keyword Conversion Rates (discovering how various keywords are performing)
• Popular Pages (which pages are most viewed and appear most valuable to your visitors)

Conclusion 

SEO is a hot marketing term for good reason. Using SEO strategies can give your business an organic boost in the SERPs and cause your law firm to stand above your competition. Individuals start looking online first when they are searching for an attorney, so it is crucial that your law firm stands out and gets noticed. Once you build your SEO strategy, you can create content that maximizes your use of on- and off-page strategies. Building links, watching metrics, and keeping a user-friendly, updated website can make SEO an effective part of your law firm’s marketing plan. 

Annette Choti graduated from law school 20 years ago, and is now the CEO & Owner of Law Quill, a legal digital marketing agency focused on small and solo law firms. Law Quill is the only legal digital marketing agency that provides unique, SEO-optimized content, pre-packaged content, and courses for lawyers to learn SEO themselves through Law Quill Academy. Annette used to do theatre and professional comedy, which is not so different from the legal field if we are all being honest. Annette can be found on LinkedIn or at annette@lawquill.com.