If you run a law firm in the 2020s, you need an excellent legal website to advertise your services. But, having an attractive and intuitive website is only the beginning. Your legal website must also be SEO-optimized to drive qualified traffic. According to a 2019 Legal Trends Report, at least 17% of legal consumers search online for an attorney. With proper local SEO, your law firm website will appear higher in the local rankings, so you can get more leads and grow your business.
Learn more below about why local SEO is critical to your law firm marketing efforts and how to perform local SEO. If you want to learn more about how local SEO can help your business, the experts at Forward Lawyer Marketing can assist you. Our marketing experts can also help with content writing, social media, and PPC for lawyers.
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Local SEO for lawyers is a digital marketing method that improves your site content so it ranks higher in search engine results for local legal searches. With local SEO, your website can reach a wider audience in your community, obtain more leads and clients, and increase your presence in the local market.
Local SEO involves on-page and off-page optimization, offering unique legal content, using important legal keywords, and obtaining high-quality links and citations from other websites. The local SEO process takes time, effort, and technical knowledge, but it can hugely benefit your marketing success when done correctly.
Local SEO for lawyers is not a ‘one-and-done’ type of activity. Local SEO is a constant, daily process that requires you or your marketing company to regularly monitor, update, and improve your website and content. Some of the steps to take that will improve your local SEO for lawyers are;
A critical part of your local SEO for lawyers process should be using your Google Business Profile page. GBP is a free Google tool that allows companies to manage their Internet presence in Google Search and Google Maps. Your Google Business Profile is equivalent to being in the local business directory for a law firm. You want your local SEO to be just right to ensure your law firm can be found in the Google Local Pack and Google Maps. Some ways to ensure that your GBP listing is optimized are:
Local citations are also crucial for maximizing the benefits of your GBP page. Citations mention your law firm online, especially on review websites and local directories. Examples include Yellow Pages and Yelp. Legal-specific directories include Super Lawyers, Avvo, and Legal Match.
Ensure your law firm’s name, address, and phone number are identical in every directory. If there are discrepancies, Google could be confused, which can lower your ranking.
You or your marketing company should use BrightLocal or Moz to manage and track your firm’s citations to ensure they are consistent and accurate.
If your law firm focuses on personal injury, you may think that ‘personal injury attorney’ is a good keyword. But for local searches in your city, ‘personal injury attorney in City Name’ will have a higher conversion rate. After all, you are looking for legal leads in the city you serve, not in a location far from you. Also, ensure that your local SEO-focused keywords are in your site content, title tags, and meta descriptions.
Your website blog should focus on localized content that matters to your local audience. You could write about local legal topics of interest or local regulations that impact people in the community. Also, consider creating landing pages for specific communities or neighborhoods in your city.
Link building locally is a critical strategy for local SEO. The goal is to boost your legal site’s authority with relevant backlinks in your community. For a law firm, getting authoritative local links can improve your local SEO and organic Google results. The links inform Google about your law firm’s involvement and credibility in the area you serve. Some tips and insights for local links are:
In a world of online searches, online testimonials and reviews have a tremendous influence over which sites consumers visit. Credibility and trustworthiness are critical for a law firm; positive legal reviews are potent endorsements of your services. Some ways you can solicit reviews for your law firm are:
There is a synergy between local search and mobile devices that you are wise to take advantage of. Smartphones are used constantly today for local searches, including law firms. The Internet world is moving towards mobile phone users, especially with local searches. It is a huge, missed opportunity if your law firm does not focus on mobile optimization. Some ways to improve your law firm’s mobile search results are:
Content is always the king of local SEO for lawyers. Excellent, local-themed legal content can be a fantastic tool to connect with people in your city who need an attorney. As you assemble your local content strategy, here are some insights and recommendations:
Your content strategy for local SEO should focus on developing relationships with people in your community. When you show that you care about the community and have valuable legal knowledge, people may turn to you when they need legal assistance.
Local SEO is an outstanding way to enhance your law firm’s online presence and garner more qualified legal prospects in your community. Following the best local SEO practices mentioned above will optimize your website to stand out from other attorneys.
If you want more leads for your law firm but lack the time to do your own marketing, let the law firm marketing experts at Forward Lawyer Marketing handle your local SEO and other advertising needs. Call us today at (888) 590-5989 for a complimentary marketing consultation.
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