SERVICES

Search Engine Optimization for Lawyers

Make Your Law Firm Brand Visible in Search Results

Potential clients are now seeking legal services mostly online. In order to stay competitive, attorneys must build a solid, reliable presence where prospective clients are seeking. Learn why search engine optimization is necessary for the success and growth of your law firm.

As more and more law firms adopt an online presence, the way attorneys market themselves online must also change. Simply having a website is not enough to ensure you gain leads and cases through online channels.

Suppose you offer car accident litigation services. If potential clients search online for “car accident lawyers near me,” will they be able to find your website in the search results? Does your firm show up near the top of the search results? Lower down? Not at all?

 In a nutshell, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consists of the best practices your firm should take to ensure that your website is visible and searchable online. Many attorneys don’t have a firm grasp on SEO principles, nor the time to devote to optimizing their websites. This is where the services of a dedicated SEO marketing agency come in.

At Obu Interactive, our aim is to connect those with legal needs with the lawyers who are best able to help them. And that can’t happen if you can’t be found online. Contact us at (800) 619-5944 to set up a no-cost consultation where we can discuss an SEO strategy for your website.

Our custom SEO campaigns have helped lawyers increase their online visibility for over a decade. Read on to learn more about SEO for lawyers.

What Is SEO for Lawyers?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of optimizing a brand’s online content to improve its ranking on search result listing. For lawyers and law firms, this means that when someone searches your practice area online, your brand would appear at the top or higher up in search results.

SEO for lawyers can be divided into several components: On-Page SEO, Off-Page SEO, Technical SEO, and Content Optimization.

  • On-page SEO focuses on the content living on your website, which you create and manage
  • Off-page SEO includes best practices for managing your brand online away from the website
  • Technical SEO refers to the “back-end” matters happening with your website
  • Content Optimization focuses on optimizing the content itself

See the chart below to see what’s involved in each category:

Elements of a Complete SEO Strategy

On-Page SEO

Keyword
optimization
Meta descriptions
User experience
Internal links
Conversion points

Off-Page SEO

Local SEO
Testimonials
Reviews
Brand Mentions
Social Media tie-ins

Technical SEO

Site & URL structure
Technical error fixes
Site loading speed
Mobile-first optimization

Content Optimization

High-quality content
Word count
Titles and headers
Custom Images

Leveraging all of these categories sends strong signals to Google that you are:

  1. Following best practices
  2. Keeping the user’s search intent in mind
  3. Complying with online rules and regulations

These signals then indicate to Google that your page should appear higher up in the search results. Not following best practices could result in lower rankings or even Google “penalizing” certain pages and requiring changes for the page.

If you feel that your online presence is lagging in any of these important areas of SEO, contact Obu Interactive at (800) 619-5944. We can run an audit to review how your website is performing, diagnose what you need to improve, and implement a custom strategy for your law firm.

Top 5 Benefits of SEO for Law Firms

A properly executed SEO campaign can yield long-term results that are beneficial to law firms in measurable ways. The top 5 benefits of SEO for lawyers are:

  1. Get found in search results: Landing the top spot in search results places your law firm brand in a highly visible, coveted position online.
  2. Increased monthly traffic: With your law firm ranking higher up in search results, more readers will visit your website and learn more about your services.
  3. Drive more leads and conversions: As your monthly traffic increases, you now have more opportunities to convert leads who will call your firm and sign up as clients.
  4. Establish thought leadership and credibility: As Google shows your content to viewers more frequently, online viewers will remember your law firm as an authority in the field. This is even more true if Google selects your content as a Featured Snippet in search results.
  5. Online longevity: Your website will continue to gain favorable viewership as the search traffic volume compiles and gains momentum over time.

For most lawyers, at the end of the day, it’s about connecting with people who need legal services that only you can fulfill. However, people will never hear about your law firm or scout your website if it can’t be found online as a person searches for legal services. Securing a higher position in search results is the best way to connect with online searchers.

How do you measure SEO success?

For the most part, SEO success is measured by carefully tracking and analyzing data compiled through Google Analytics, SEMrush, and other specialized tools.

Most attorneys do not have access to these tools or know how to use them. Moreover, most lawyers don’t have the time to devote to tracking. This is all the more reason to contact a legal marketing agency with experience and expertise in measuring SEO improvements.

Why Is SEO Important for Lawyers?

So, do lawyers need SEO? The answer to this is a resounding “Yes!” Sound SEO practices are being adopted across the board by all businesses and professions; a solid SEO strategy is essential, especially for lawyers and law firms. Here’s why:

Long-Term Leads

SEO is one of the best forms of lead generation for law firms; SEO can be considered the “bread and butter” of generating leads. It’s what will ensure a steady stream of visitors to your website from month to month. While paid ad campaigns can provide highly targeted leads quickly, SEO ensures returns on investment in the long run.

Competition

The legal industry is highly competitive. More and more law firms are adopting SEO as standard practice for their websites. If you don’t follow suit, you’ll get left behind by the others. Leads that would be captured through your marketing funnel might then go to other law firms.

Everyone Is Online Now

Even as recently as five years ago, people were still using the phone book and calling bus stop ads to speak to lawyers. However, after the pandemic, with everyone working remotely, most consumers now search for services almost exclusively through their phones and laptops. Now, the legal industry must adapt similarly and meet consumers where they’re at — online.

The Alternatives Are Dire

  • What happens without SEO? Without proper SEO practices in place:
  • Your organic traffic will rapidly decrease
  • Search engines may stop ranking your website altogether
  • Your website may develop technical issues like broken links
  • You’ll miss out on organic leads
  • You’ll be several steps behind the competition
At Obu Interactive, we sometimes encounter law firm websites that are plagued with technical errors and poor performance. In almost every instance, this is the result of a lack of an SEO plan for the website.


Ethical Considerations

Lastly, many SEO best practices also involve ethical considerations, such as ensuring your site is accessible for the sight impaired, and that proper disclaimers are placed where needed.

Lawyers have a duty to represent their clients zealously and to the fullest of their ability, and to uphold the professionalism of the legal field. Proper SEO is one way to check off several of these requirements while at the same time securing positive returns on investments with your marketing budget.
Thus, SEO is not only important for lawyers, it’s become part of the baseline of best practices for maintaining digital content online. It can be complex and time-intensive, so it’s most efficient to work with a marketing agency that focuses specifically on such services.

How Much Does SEO Cost?

Every website is different, and each law firm has different goals, so it’s not truly possible to present a generic figure that fits every case. The starting point for most SEO programs is an audit or “website scrub” to determine which issues need immediate attention. Get in touch with us at (800) 619-5944 to discuss which SEO services you need.

Contact a Legal Marketing Agency for Help With Your SEO Needs

SEO is an ongoing matter that needs a formal strategy, and in the end will net positive returns for your law firm. The benefits of implementing solid SEO practices far outweigh the costs of not doing so.

There are several aspects of SEO that only a digital marketing agency can properly handle. SEO matters are best managed by those with the experience and credentials for doing so. At Obu Interactive, our team has extensive success in formulating, executing, and managing successful SEO projects.
Contact us today at (800) 619-5944 to set up a consultation where we can review your law firm’s SEO and marketing needs. We can craft a custom SEO strategy that can bring your firm the lasting results you’re looking for.

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