How your law firm can win in SEO

Like many practices, your law firm is jostling for position - to rank higher in organic search. But so are your competitors.  

Your goals are simple: To add more clients to your portfolio by driving targeted traffic to your website.  

Although social media and direct mail could help in achieving your goals, you need to be focussing on getting on page 1 of Google, and outranking your competitors.  

How can you achieve this?  This article will explore some tips that will help improve your practice's chances of building your client portfolio. 

Local SEO for lawyers and solicitor practices 

Local Search Engine Optimisation focuses on local search results driven by search queries. It's geared to improving your practice's visibility in local map listings that surface when people are looking for legal services in your area.   

Acquiring Map Packs in Google is vital to improving your visibility. So the first thing you need to do is to register your practice with Google My Business, otherwise you won't be listed.   

Be sure to provide as much information as possible, as this is a ranking factor.  The more info, the more authority your practice has, the higher you rank. Add the following details: 

• Company name

• Business description

• Address

• Contact number

• Web address 

• Photos and videos (as many as you can)

• Customer reviews / star ratings

• Office opening hours

• Verify all locations if you have more than one 

With all this information Google can now show your practice in the map results or the 'near me' results. You'll have a greater chance of being clicked, especially if your practice is displayed in the top 3 results. 

Now that you have your Map Pack in place you should use the local directories to amplify your practice’s online presence.  When Google decides on which legal practice to show, it relies on NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number).   

Google compares your Map Pack and NAP in the local directories to verify that your legal practice is reputable and authoritative, and will rank your law firm accordingly, preferably at the top of the page. 

 Below are some popular local directories you should consider (if you haven’t done so already): 

• Justice Directory

• Chambers and Partners

• The Legal 500 

There are also other local directories out there too. Although they’re not specialised in law practices, they are nonetheless effective resources:  

• FreeIndex

• Thomson Local

• Scoot

• Yelp 

• Yell  

Create compelling content 

Your local SEO activities will surely get your practice noticed by search engines. However, the importance of content mustn’t be overlooked. You must also be creating compelling and engaging content for your audience that will rank in organic search.  

Identify the keywords you want to rank for, like ‘divorce lawyers’ for instance, and create content on that topic ensuring you include your desired keywords.  

Look at your competitors’ content. What are they writing about? If it’s an area in the legal sector you cover, then write a better piece using relevant keywords. 

Keeping track of your SEO efforts 

There are a lot of online tools that can help your legal practice’s SEO efforts.  Tools like Semrush, Siteimprove, Google Search Console and Moz can help with you with:  

• Keyword research 

• Backlinks 

• Competitor research 

• Position tracking 

• Link building 

• And more.   

Working with Codehouse 

When it comes to driving digital strategy and SEO, our experts can help. We've worked with multinational law firms like DLA Piper and have several in our roster.  We've also delivered award winning websites to many customers across a variety of industries. 

If you want to find out how our team of experts can help with your law firm's SEO, get in touch.