Today we’re going to discuss how you can create geo-specific pages to help your law firm’s local SEO. Now, what is a geo-specific page? When we take over any SEO campaign, one of our first objectives is to get our clients to show up in the maps section, which is prime real estate. It’s right below the paid search ads. However, that is based on proximity.
Google is often going to rank businesses in that section that are in somewhat close proximity to where the search is being conducted. If you are 25 to 30 miles away from where that search is, especially in a high population density area, it may be difficult for you to show up in a map section for that search. So our secondary objective is to identify those areas that our client wants to rank for and then we determine where they’re showing up. In many cases, it makes sense to create those geo-specific pages to help their local SEO.
For example, we work with a social security disability lawyer there in the Chicago suburbs. One of the areas that we’re focusing on getting him rankings in is Palos Heights. His office is in Lisle, which is about 25 miles away from Palos Heights. At this point, it would be really difficult for his firm to rank on the maps 25 miles away. So what we’ll do is create a geo-specific page, specific to Palos Heights. That way, when you search ‘Social Security Disability Lawyer in Palos Heights’, you’re going to see him right there, showing up in the organic section. Now you’ll notice this page is specifically written for that area for social security disability, we have the content, and we have a map from the search location to their office. This helps his rankings a lot, and we do this for many other cities as well. This is what a geo-specific page is.
If you’re going to do this for your law firm, there are a couple of things that you need to do. First and foremost, conduct keyword research. Use keyword research tools such as Ahrefs, or SEMrush to determine the most relevant and frequently searched keywords you want to target for each of your geo pages.
One thing we have discussed in prior videos is if you don’t do your keyword research, you might find yourself ranking for keywords that don’t drive relevant traffic, which is not going to be productive. Therefore you want to understand what areas are competitive and what areas are getting the most traffic so that when you do rank, it drives relevant traffic to your website.
The second tip that we have when you’re creating these geo pages is to make sure to write informative original content. All of your content needs to be written uniquely for the end user, the potential client, looking to hire an attorney such as yourself. You should not spam your landing page with keywords. Keyword stuffing may have worked in the early stages of SEO 10 years ago, but it’s a data tactic that could actually hurt you in the long run.
So don’t just stuff ‘social security disability attorney, Palos Heights’ 50 times on the page and expect to get rankings for it. We still see firms and agencies alike use this strategy when it really could be doing damage. Also, embed a map from the location of the geo page, to your firm’s physical location so that searchers can see exactly how to get there. Feel free to have manual directions as well as landmarks, neighborhoods, and so on to add value to the end user. If you’re adding value to the end user, ultimately, Google is going to take notice and you should see better rankings at the top of the search page.
On that same note within the content, in addition to the map, use landmarks and location-specific information. Each page should have uniquely informative content, as we talked about, but it also should include relevant information about that location or to that city. This could include testimonials or case studies from clients in that town, information about local news and regulations, or specific landmarks in that town.
So here’s an example. A firm that is in Montgomery County, Maryland, about 15 miles away from Bethesda. We cite different landmarks within Bethesda. These are signals that are being sent to search engines such as Google and again will increase the likelihood you rank in that area.
The fourth tip we have is to optimize your URL. Keep the URL as concise as possible. Include the legal service or keyword that you’re striving to rank for, include the location you’re trying to rank for, and do not overload with too many keywords in that URL extension if they’re not already in the root domain. What that means is, in this particular case, this is the root domain, this is the extension, we want to rank for Naperville divorce lawyers, which is a city outside of where they are located. After we optimize the content, this is a way to help optimize that property with the proper optimized URLs.
The fifth tip is fairly obvious as well. Make sure to optimize the page titles and meta descriptions. As with the URL, make sure that your descriptions include the location and the keyword you’re targeting. This is going to help search engines understand the relevance of that page and increase the chances of appearing in a relevant search as well. For example, Belvedere Personal Injury Lawyer. This is a city outside of their home city. We have the keyword in the title tag and the meta description as well.
The sixth tip we have is to build links. Once you’ve properly built out the page with great content, a map, internal linking, title metadata, and so on, start building links back to that page. Links from other local businesses and organizations can help improve local SEO. Look for opportunities to partner with other businesses in your area by sponsoring local events and charities. You can also reach out to local news sites or bloggers to request a link back to your website. These are some simple things you can do when building out your local SEO pages. As a result, you will show up at the top of the search rankings.
Forward Lawyer Marketing performs law firm SEO and marketing for firms of all sizes across the United States. Whether you need a site update, need geo pages like we covered here, or need a brand new website, we can help!
It doesn’t matter if your law firm focuses on criminal defense, personal injury, bankruptcy, divorce, family law, real estate, or any other area of practice — whether you are a single lawyer or represent a multi-location firm — you can benefit from our results-driven SEO services for lawyers.
To learn more about how we can help you grow your legal practice and retain more clients, contact Forward Lawyer Marketing today at (888) 590-9687 for a free SEO analysis.
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