By Colette Nichol, SEO & Story Strategist
As a law firm, what can you do with SEO to get more relevant traffic?
SEO for law firms isn't that different than SEO for any other premium service provider. Your law firm likely has an area of law that's your specialty. Those cases are the firm's bread and butter. That's where you start. In this post I'll cover local SEO tips for lawyers and law firms. This is just a starting point. However, you'll get a good sense of what needs to be done if you give this post a quick read.
Start with Keyword Research for Your Law Firm
When people are searching for a solution to their problem they use a few different key search methods:
1 - NICHE SERVICE PROVIDER + LOCATION
2 - FIRST PERSON + LOCATION
3 - PROBLEM I'M FACING + LOCATION
4 - QUESTIONS ABOUT PROBLEM I'M FACING
Let's break each one down with an example, so you can see how this would apply to your legal practice.
For our example, let's look at personal injury lawsuits.
Let's say your avatar is somebody who has just been in a car accident. The other driver was clearly at fault. Maybe they ran a red light because they were texting and driving. Now your potential client has a severe neck injury and months of recovery ahead. It could take them two years to fully recover. They're wondering if they have a case, and they're ready to speak to an expert.
This potential client lives in Rockleigh, New Jersey, and they'd like to find a good lawyer in their area.
That said, Rockleigh only has about 75 households, so they aren't looking for someone in their town. They'd be willing to work with any great personal injury attorney in New Jersey. And they want someone who has had success with car accident law suits in the past.
Here's how this person might try and find a lawyer online. These are the words that they'd use. And yes, these are all real search terms.
NICHE SERVICE PROVIDER + LOCATION
personal injury lawyer new jersey
best personal injury lawyer new jersey
best personal injury lawyer near me
personal injury lawyer for car accidents new jersey
car accident attorney new jersey
accident lawyer new jersey
car accident lawyers new jersey
auto accident lawyer new jersey
NICHE SERVICE PROVIDER with NO LOCATION
personal injury car accident lawyer
lawyer for personal injury car accident
personal injury lawyer for car accident
car accident neck injury attorney
FIRST PERSON + LOCATION
In this example, this way of searching will be a less common. Most people thinking of suing will know what the service provider they're looking for is called. But here's an example that does come up:
i need a lawyer for a car accident
i need an accident lawyer
PROBLEM I'M FACING ( + LOCATION)
This isn't something that would likely come up for someone who just got into a car accident. An example that would come up for other lawyers is "moving from Canada to the US" or "being sued for malpractice in the US." But for a personal injury situation, this common way of searching isn't relevant.
QUESTIONS ABOUT PROBLEM I'M FACING
when do i contact a personal injury lawyer afer car accident?
when do you need to get a personal injury lawyer for a car accident
should i get a personal injury lawyer after car accident
But what do you do with these keywords?
So now that you know how people search for your services, what do you do with these keywords.
First you see what kinds of pages are ranking on Google for these searches.
In many cases, it won't just be websites that rank; it will be Google Business Profiles.
Then you identify, based on competitor research, the most important website service pages and blog posts that you need to create.
You identify the main keywords that should be on all of the pages.
And you create the pages.
At the same time, you identify which services need to be added to your Google Business Profile and which areas of Google Business Profile Optimization you're lacking.
Now that you have a plan, you execute it.
Where do I put the keywords on my pages?
There are six main spots that you need to put your most important keyword for each page that you create on your website and for every blog post.
H1 Title - This is the name of the page or post.
Site Title - This is the name you tell Google for your page or post. It's not necessarily visible on the page itself.
URL - This is what comes after domain. Example: www.yourwebsite.com/keyword-phrase-goes-here. Ideally, you don't have a date inside the URL.
Metadescription - This is the description of the website page or post.
H2 Title - This is the secondary headers within your page or post. Put the keyword in the first or second H2 title.
First paragraph - Put the keyword in the first sentence or paragraph of the website page or post.
Alt tag - This is a tag that is connect to images on your page. It can help to put your keyword in at least one image alt tag.
These are the basics of how to optimize a page for search.
But before I let you go, here are a couple of tips for you to ensure you get found online by clients who desperately need your services.
Local SEO Tips for Lawyers and Law Firms
Create a service page for each category of case that your firm takes.
One page can rank for hundreds of keywords, so try not to create duplicate pages.
Support your services pages with blog posts that answer common questions or cover topics your clients often get confused about.
When it comes to supporting blog posts, it can be helpful to speak about local laws because that will help you get local traffic.
Make sure that you optimize your Google Business Profile. This matters a lot for local businesses who want local clients.
If you want national clients, then you'll need to go after bigger umbrella topics. This is more competitive, but if you have a strong brand, it's absolutely doable.
Is that it?
No. There's a lot more to creating an effective SEO strategy than I can cover in a short blog post. You also need to have well structured content and an overall website strategy that makes sense and converts.
But depending on your practice and where you're located, you could be sitting on a very large SEO goldmine. So if you're one of the leading law firms in your area or a small growing firm, learning more about SEO is worth it.
Want to learn more about how SEO can help your business grow?
Schedule a 15-minute zoom call with an SEO expert.