Nowadays, having a website for your law firm is no longer enough if you want to reach new prospects. Most people use search engines to seek legal advice, so building a strong online presence and becoming a real competitor in your area is paramount. SEO is a powerful tool to increase a company's online visibility, generate quality leads, and attract relevant clients, regardless of your sector. However, search engine optimization is complex, especially for those lacking sector knowledge.
This comprehensive article will take you through the basics of using SEO as a tool to reach more clients and share effective strategies law firms can use to covet their top position in Google's search results.
What does SEO provide for law firms?
The law companies that use SEO can optimize and promote their websites to rank higher on the first page of search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. If they employ the right strategies, they can stand out from their competitors because it improves their visibility in front of the audiences.
When someone looks for legal advice in their area using search engines, the website pops at the top of suggestions. However, it's important to note that SEO for lawyers is time-consuming, and hiring a specialized marketing specialist to handle promotional campaigns is recommended.
Why should law firms invest in SEO?
People seeking legal advice no longer flip through the Yellow Pages. They have access to the Internet and conduct online searches when they need information about something. Surveys show that 96% of those who want to work with a lawyer start their search online. Google is the favorite search engine among people as it provides the most relevant results, so it's recommended that law firms focus their SEO campaigns on meeting Google's requirements. There are 8.5 billion searches daily, so by far, Google is the most popular search engine. It dominates the search engine market with a 91.9% market share.
The average Internet user doesn't go past the first page of search results when seeking a particular service. Therefore, if a company's website isn't on Page 1 of search results, chances are it loses potential clients.
SEO ranking factors that impact a website's ranking
Because Google is the most used search engine, let's have a look at the factors it checks when establishing a website's ranking. Its algorithm relies on several signals, but we'll split them into four categories to make them easier to understand. At the end of the day, you run a law firm and don't have extensive knowledge about online marketing, so this guide should meet your needs.
Backlinks
Google has relied on links to establish a page's rank for a long time. It all started with the PageRank algorithm that tracked how many clickable links send to a particular website page. The search engine would count each link as a vote of confidence from other online resources for the reliability and usefulness of the content on the website.
However, as the algorithm went through multiple upgrades, it figured out that not all links are equal, and only websites with quality backlinks should end up on the first page of results. Therefore, a law firm should try to get backlinks from pages related to the legal sector to give your website a higher weight.
Content relevance
Google has always paid attention to what Internet users want when they type a specific keyword or phrase into the search bar. Over the years, it tried to figure out the meaning of each query to provide the searchers with the most helpful and relevant suggestions. Law firms need to identify the top-ranking content for their target keyword to understand their prospects' search intent.
Google also finds page content extremely important, and it reviews aspects like header tags, title tags, and other HTML elements to establish a website's ranking.
It's crucial for law firms to upload relevant content on their website that matches the prospects' requirements and provides them with essential information.
User experience
After looking for backlinks and content, Google expands its review to evaluating the kind of experience an Internet user has when accessing a website. User experience is a cumulus of factors like mobile friendliness and page speed. People nowadays don't wait more than a couple of seconds for a page to upload, so if the law firm fails to provide them with access to a website that opens immediately, they'll abort the journey and turn to a competitor. Additionally, people prefer to use their mobile devices to search for information due to their increased accessibility.
Local ranking
Law firms usually want to reach local customers, so they need to take advantage of local ranking so that Google shows them in organic searches. When someone in their area is searching for legal advice, they want to hire a local lawyer, so Google must suggest their website. The first step to rank in local searches is for the law firm to fill out a Google Business Profile and provide accurate information about the company. Once the address is added to the Google Business Profile, the firm will show up on Maps.
Is it difficult to implement SEO for lawyers?
Collaborating with an SEO specialist is recommended to implement a strategy that matches your law firm's needs. An SEO agency will evaluate your website and help you improve your online presence.
Website design and technical SEO are also essential because they create the first impression in front of a website visitor. The website is the foundation to get in touch with prospects, so it's worth focusing your attention on updating it according to SEO factors.
SEO is the ideal marketing tool for companies that want to establish a long-term reputation. However, it's crucial to note that it takes time because you must wait to build your online reputation.
Hopefully, the above guide will provide the necessary information to understand how SEO can help you and what steps you must follow to gain increased online visibility.
This article was written in cooperation with Omnizant, LLC