Search engine optimization (SEO) is an integral part of any firm’s marketing strategy. SEO for law firms is not an exception. Our specialists at Develux are sure that it is a much more sustainable way to attract more customers than paid search advertising. They have a point as the statistics don’t lie: according to BrightEdge Research, 53% of site traffic comes from organic search and only 15% from paid one. Even though these figures are averages for different industries, the tendency is quite clear.
SEO has much more advantages in comparison with paid search:
- Less expensive and more cost-effective in the long run;
- Requires less maintenance;
- Generates high-quality traffic;
- Generates a higher return of investments;
- Improves site usability;
- Promotes brand credibility and awareness.
How do law firms benefit from SEO? Well, in many ways. But the main one is that effective SEO can help the web page rank higher on search engine results pages (SERP). The key to success is the optimization of online content in accordance with search engine algorithms. They calculate the relevance and quality of the corporate web page and rank it. The higher the position in SERP, the more traffic is generated. These positions are not paid for and are much more likely to get more clicks due to their visibility in such search lists of engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and many smaller ones.
The main goal of SEO for law firms is to provide the engine users with the most relevant online experience and do it fast. But unfortunately, busy lawyers usually lack time and necessary knowledge for this task, even though they know that an efficient marketing strategy can be beneficial for their firms. Appearing on the first page of any search engine after a user’s specific request can easily increase web page visits and provide more contacts with potential customers. This, in its turn, leads to more interactions with them and more business opportunities for a law firm. All this makes the content optimization process very important.
Content Publishing for a Law Firm
SEO for attorneys who need to produce high-value content on their websites is becoming really important because of several reasons:
- The success of digital marketing depends on it as Google ranks web pages on the basis of visitor behavior and their digital journey. The more interactions and clicks on the pages they make, the higher the content is ranked and the higher the probability to find it in the top lists.
- A blog with useful information is one of the best SEO for law firms that helps to build the trust of readers. When visitors read about some situations they may find themselves in the future, the credibility of the law firm skyrockets.
- The importance of lawyer SEO for content and keyword optimization plays the main role in describing what the page is about and what information it contains to search engines.
Legal SEO and How It Works
Legal SEO can be based on different tactics, and “white hat SEO” is one of them. It refers to a marketing strategy that complies with the terms and conditions of the search engines. In general, white hat SEO refers to any approach that both improves rankings on a SERP and doesn’t violate the engine’s terms of service. White hat examples include offering high-quality content, fast website loading speed, use of meta tags rich in keywords, easy navigation, and mobile-friendliness.
“How long should SEO for law firms be implemented until the first results are seen?” is one of the most popular questions when a new SEO campaign is about to start. Unfortunately, there is no universal answer as the amount of effort put into a promotion strategy differs every time. Assessment of the current situation, adoption of the budget, determination of the goals are time-consuming tasks. They alone can take several months, and it is only the preparation stage. Once this work is done, it still may take a while for the law firm to see the first results. But organic search results are worth spending time on as their effectiveness is truly incredible.
Online Visibility & Brand Awareness
Appearing in top positions in SERPs, being visible online and recognizable have become some of the best indicators of marketing success. There are many guides on the Internet on how to boost SEO for a law firm since SEO gives the opportunity to shine online.
Here are some effective tips that will help lawyer SEO specialists improve the visibility of the website, build strong brand awareness, and get more clients thanks to such promotion:
- Start with an SEO audit and study the technical performance of the website. Our techical SEO specialists would help you with this.
- Draw a sitemap to make sure that all the web pages are indexed by major search engines.
- Make the website mobile-friendly.
- Use target geographic location as a keyword to make local search requests more effective.
- Mind the content. It should be high-quality, appealing, and engaging. And don’t forget about a catchy title tag.
- Use relevant images as they play a crucial role in increasing online visibility.
- Remember to share content on different channels and interact with the readers and viewers to build trustworthy relations with the target audience.
- Leave comments on websites related to law.
Backlinks and Off-Page Optimization
Backlinks (also known as external links) are links directing a user from one website to a particular page on another one. Such links are an important part of SEO for law firms because they can be considered by major search engines as “votes” for a specific web page. This leads to higher organic search rankings. Each backlink is an indicator saying “Hey, have a look! Here is credible, valuable, and useful content”. Even though there is a great number of changes introduced in search algorithms on a regular basis, backlinks have been a key ranking signal for a long time.
Unfortunately, not all backlinks are equally efficient. If a law firm wants to rank higher in SERPs, it should focus on high-quality backlinks. They come from trusted sources, include target keywords (like “local SEO for law firms” or “technical SEO consultants for law company”), and are topically related to law.
Off-page optimization for law firms includes all the measures that are taken outside the website and directed towards the improvement of its position in SERPs. Focus on citations as a part of an off-page SEO strategy can help in achieving this goal. Such a citation is a mere mentioning of a firm’s name, address, and phone number information (NAP) on some other website.
Law firms, having citations on sites like Avvo, Yelp, and social networks, are likely to be more visible on Google maps and get additional traffic thanks to local SEO services. Google algorithm scans the web for NAP mentions of a particular firm, compares it with data from other sources, and then ranks its position in local search results accordingly. If the information is clean and consistent, the search engine has no problems with determining it as “right”. As a result, the law firm’s rank will be higher.
User Experience Improving and Health of a Website
User experience is a modern marketing trend that cannot be ignored. It must be included in every SEO for law firms strategy in order to make the question “Should you optimize for lawyer or attorney SEO or not?” irrelevant. The technical health of a website is one of the factors determining a pleasant user experience and our technical SEO experts can help with this. According to Google, the speed of page load from 1 to 3 seconds increases the probability of bounce to 32%. If time is increased up to 10 seconds, the bounce rate becomes 123% at once. Selection of a good hosting platform, compression of all images, and installation of a caching plugin can solve most of the problems with loading speed. Other indicators, such as first contentful paint, optimal URL structure, well-written title and meta descriptions, should be also be prioritized as they are also important for ranking. You can read more about it on our blog.
Online Reviews and Local SEO for a Law Firm
Optimizing local SEO services for law firms requires much effort. But effective campaign increases website visibility and makes sure that potential customers in a particular area can find the necessary firm on the web. It also helps the firm to show up in the map services from Google, Apple, and all the others. Location landing pages on the website are necessary to target a real location through informing search engines about available law services in that location.
Reviews are one more important factor that relates to local search. Many platforms like Google, Citysearch, and others give clients an opportunity to share their experience with a law firm. It is a kind of modern “word-of-mouth” advertising playing an important role in the ranking process.
SEO for Better Converting
The answer to the question “why are law firm SEO services important?” is that they can be used to boost conversion rates. The ultimate goal of any business is to make a potential client go through all stages of a purchase funnel and become a real one. Many SEO consultants for lawyers are sure that optimization of call-to-action (CTA) algorithms is one of the most effective strategies to achieve it. CTAs are necessary to convince people to take the next step. In case they are looking for an attorney or a lawyer, it may be an “ask for a call” or write an e-mail for a consultation.
CTAs should be found on every page of a website to generate a conversion. They may be different, but still, there are some common patterns to make them more effective:
- Beginning a CTA with a verb (like visit, discover, download, etc.) may be a good idea as it is the synonym of action.
- Instilling urgency calls visitors to act immediately and don’t postpone decision-making as they may not return.
- Using a bright color and big banners for CTA to attract attention is also important.
Any conversion begins with the first action, and effective CTA is the key.
