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Law Firm SEO – The Ultimate Guide to Search Engine Optimization for Lawyers

Lawyer SEO for Your Business

You have a website, marketing tactics, and client recommendations, but, 93% of users begin their online experience through search engines. When you are trying to reach prospective clients, SEO marketing is the way to go.

What is attorney seo marketing?

SEO (search engine optimization) involves strategically incorporating relevant keywords into your website content to communicate your webpage’s intent to the search engine. In turn, the search engine will display your webpage to users searching for that information. When you use keywords relevant to your business, you will have a better chance of reaching the top of the search engine results page (SERP) and benefitting from greater visibility— granting your practice access to a wider client base. SEO, however, is much more than just using keywords.

SEO involves your site’s structure and architecture, link profile, and the content itself. Keywords are relevant since they speak to your clients’ needs, but website navigation is also important so search engines and your users can access and benefit from the information you put out on the web.

How can a law firm seo expert help my law firm?                  

Google reports over 2 trillion searches each year as of 2016. Higher ranking websites have more visibility and are more frequently visited by potential clients. An effective law firm SEO strategy can get you more business by giving possible consumers more access.  

thYnking has experienced professionals who can:

  • Target law-related keywords that your clients are using.
  • Raise your rank on the SERP; this will help you get more clicks to your site.
  • Boost your outreach on social media channels – reaching more potential clients.
  • Increase your audience by creating engaging, informative content on your site.

What ROI Should I Expect from SEO?

ROI, or Return on Investment, is a measure that divides the net profit by the net worth. When calculating your ROI, have a realistic goal for your business’ profit. A few general guidelines that you can expect across the board in terms of your ROI are:

  •  an improved site health, site structure, and site functionality.
  • a more interactive user experience, making your site attractive to your potential clients.
  • an improved presence on social media channels.
  • increased traffic to your site.
  • improved ranking on the search engine results page.

How long does an SEO for lawyers campaign take?

While there’s no definitive answer, as every business is different, there are a few key factors to look at:

  1.  Length of time your website has been up and running
  2. Condition of your website
  3. If SEO was already in place
  4. Amount of content on your website

Local or international law firm marketing services

Appeal to your local client base by including geo-targeted locales into your content, being sure to integrate geo-modifiers, so that your message reaches the right viewers in your city, county or locale of interest.

Local SEO speaks directly to the clients in your geographical area with targeted key phrases such as “family attorney near me,” or “divorce lawyer San Antonio.”

National SEO marketing is a broader, more broad-scale technique using phrases that are relevant to your field of work. For example, “medical malpractice,” “personal injury cases” are phrases that point out a specific common occurrence on a national or global stage. Likely, most attorneys are going to be running local SEO campaigns, even over a broad region.

Lawyer Advertising Ethics

Your advertising campaign should promote your law firm by maximizing visibility and converting potential clients to loyal consumers. A respectable marketing strategy will entreat targeted viewers rather than spam them. Some states provide specific statutes protecting the privacy of the public, regardless, there are social and business considerations.        

Advertisements should not be offensive, deceitful, or misleading. Disingenuous activity can earn your law firm a bad reputation and turn away future business as well as face legal implications. Unfortunately, even with regulations in place, there are always lines that are blurred. Attorneys also must be aware that certain SEO marketing agencies won’t have a devoted understanding of the Bar’s rules for lawyer advertising online which could ultimately cause a headache at best, and the revocation of your license at the very worst. 


Unethical Attorney Advertising

Lawyers, as respected professionals, are held to higher standards in reference to advertising. An attorney office’s reputation can be sullied if they do not implement the required disclaimers or refrain from the use of prohibited language. With respect to the bar laws your your state, lawyers should generally:

  1.  Never publish misleading information
  2. Never identify as an expert without being certified and approved by your state’s bar
  3. Never guarantee outcomes      

Best Seo Companies for Law Firms

Choose an SEO company that is ethically aligned with your firm. Certain agencies will provide black hat SEO services, where likely, lawyers will not want to utilize these practices in their marketing strategies!

 

White Hat SEO Practices Black Hat SEO Practices
  • Quality Content
  • Semantic Mark-up
  • Keyword Research and Effective Keyword Use
  • Quality Inbound Links
  • Specific Title tags and meta-descriptions
  • Unrelated Keywords
  • Keyword Stacking and Keyword Stuffing
  • Tiny Text, Hidden Text, and Hidden Links
  • Cloaking
  • Doorway Pages or Gateway Pages
  • Bait-and-Switch or Page Swapping
  • Duplicate Content or Mirror Site
  • Spam Blogs or Splogs

 

Bar Marketing Rules

Due to black-hat techniques the law has structured SEO regulations for attorneys as to how lawyers can market themselves. Each governing state has individualized principles related to special marketing strategies. Your specific state guidelines may restrict you from certain practices so be sure to refer to your bar for details.      

Lawyer Internet Marketing Analysis

Measure your law website’s results to benchmark the performance indicators for set targets. KPI’s helps determine the quality of your SEO strategy. Key performance indicators analyze a website’s navigational structure and your link profile which impacts your rankings on search engines.

Detailed Analysis of Law Website Structure    

An easily navigated website will keep your users engaged and improve SEO. thYnking will analyze:

  1. Dead ends or 404 errors on your site – this can cause visitors to leave since they can find the information they need.
  2. How well your pages are organized – having a strong website structure makes it easier for search engines to crawl your site.
  3. Internal links – these will interconnect different pages on your site, making it easier for visitors to find what they need quicker.
  4. Breakdown of your site – visitors should be able to clearly and concisely find what they need by breaking up content into categories.

Detailed Analysis of Law Website Link Profile On-site SEO for Law firm ( using Google Chrome)  
This analysis takes an in-depth look at the quality, quantity, and performance of your backlinks. Broken links will lose the interest of your visitors. We analyze link profiles to better optimize anchor text with relevant keywords, incorporate internal links so search engines and users can easily find your pages, and link to high-authority so relevant sites which will build site trust.


Lawyer reviews of our SEO services


“thYnking is the first SEO company that I have encountered that actually does what they say. They promised first page Google rankings, and unlike most SEO companies — they delivered. The cost was also very reasonable and the customer service was excellent. I would recommend thYnking for your internet marketing needs.” –Thomas W., Criminal Attorney


“thYnking has been the best investment for our law firm. Before we were using Adwords through Google. This would cost our firm upwards of $500 a month! With thYnking we were given a flat rate fee for organic listings and a website and our business has taken off! Not only does their product work but their staff is friendly and helpful and know how to address your business advertisement needs. I highly recommend thYnking for any company that wants to increase business within weeks!” Christopher C., Immigration Lawyer


“I’ve been with thYnking for a few months, and I am already getting clients calling me from my Google local listing. thYnking is my ‘go to’ source and I’m going to use them for other online marketing services. My web marketing efforts with them have already paid off. In fact, they’ve paid for themselves, and a little bit more! Their services have proven to be a great ROI, and over time, I’m sure that return will multiply as my investment level stretches out over time.” Jason K., Criminal Defense Lawyer

 

On-site SEO for Law Firms        

Optimize the elements on your website to ensure that high-ranking, relevant traffic gravitates to your website through this detailed strategy. On-site SEO is an easy way for users and search engines to find your page useful and worth ranking. It includes creating custom content, selecting the right keywords and incorporating them naturally into your web pages, and making your site easy to navigate. On-site SEO focuses on:

  • Keyword Selection – a list of relevant keywords based on what people have already searched for on search engines and what your competitors are already using
  • Website Structure Optimization – optimizing your source will ensure you are providing relevant information for your visitors based on each page.
  • Heading  ( H1 ) – Used by Google for general organizational purposes  
  • Title Tag – Explains the content on the webpage
  • Meta- Description- describes website/page on Google search results page (SERP)
  • Custom Content –  Custom content should offer something to your audience whether it is an answer to a question or a solution to a problem they are having. It should be easy to read, filled with engaging visuals, and long form.
  • Google AnalyticsGoogle Analytics tracks different aspects of your site including traffic, click-through rates, keyword rankings, and more.
  • Google Search Console and Sitemap – adding your sitemap to the Google Search Console tells Google about your site’s content. It is important that you submit your sitemap to different search engines so that they can find pages on your site faster and they can rank them accordingly.
  • Security on Site – website security prevents attacks, compromised information, and viruses from wreaking havoc on your computer and on your visitors when they inquire about your law services.
  • Load Speed on Site –  How fast your website loads also affects your search engine ranking as well. The longer your page takes to load, the lower you will rank on sites

Keyword research for your Law Firm website (Using Google’s Keyword Planner)

Without the proper use of keywords your website will be lost in the cyberverse. For your relief Google has provided Keyword Planner. This effective tool maximizes marketing attempts by suggesting relevant keywords and testing which have the highest search volume. Not only is the program free, but it saves money that can we wasted on poor keywords.     

Importance of Great Content

An innovative design will not save your website from bad content, just as fine china will not improve food quality. Websites are visited for the content provided on them. If the information displayed is incorrect, uninteresting, or without purpose your clients will quickly move to your competitor’s webpage.      

Off-site SEO for Attorneys

Improve your rankings through trustworthy, reliable, and relevant factors within the search engine. When other reputable sites link to your site (people share, link to your website, etc), it affects the reputation of your website, also referred to as domain authority.


Off-site SEO consists of many factors such as building trust by linking to relevant, high-authority sites and having a substantial amount of links, including internal links that are anchored with targeted keywords. You also need to make your law firm site relatable to your geographical area so that it is easier for potential clients to find you and share your content.

Relevant Link Building for Your Lawyer Websites

Links within your profile need to be relevant to your law business to attract appropriate viewers. The quality of your links need to be relevant to your law business and come from authoritative sources. Using internal links from different pages on your site is another way to build your link profile and bring traffic to long forgotten posts on your site.


Directory Listings Specific to your Law Business

Visitors look for a professional in their area and don’t want to keep shopping for information, so your directory listing will them the opportunity to contact you immediately.

There are many directory sites that you can list under, however, a couple high-authoritative and trustworthy sites will take you a long way.

Google My Business profile

Google is dedicated to helping you help them. Google My Business is an organizational tool that strengthens the relationship between the Google, the client, and your website. It is a simple way to update your directory information from you smartphone or tablet. This convenience allows for the editing of addresses, phone numbers, and holiday hours with a few simple clicks.                                                                                                                                      

Cleaning Website Link Profile

A healthy link profile is an important step in off-site SEO and comes with many benefits:

  • Letting search engines know you are a trust-worthy site.
  • Allow you to rank higher on search engines.
  • Give you more authority in the SERP compared to other law firm sites.
  • Help you target those vital keywords with anchor text.
  • Let your audience know you are a trust-worthy site.

Social Media Integration for Law

Social media is everything these days, especially when you want to reach your audience. There are many benefits to amping up your social media presence especially when it corresponds with your business.

    1. It is another opportunity for converting your audience into customers.
    2. You gain access to new, former, and current customers.
    3. You build a close relationship with your audience – building trust and improving brand loyalty. 

SEO Management of Major Social Media

Managing your social media is extremely important to your law business. You want to reach your visitors on every note that they’re looking for. So in order to keep your readers engaged and active on your site, constantly update your social media pages.

Create click-worthy content and include visual media as well as videos and images. Invite your audience to engage and interact with your posts as well as others through comments and social shares. This will expand your following and get your business known.

Youtube Management and Optimization implementing                    

Youtube is an incredible source for making videos and tutorials for your viewers to get an inside look at your business. Youtube gets around 30 million plays per day and is a largely untapped source of traffic.

There are many ways to improve your Youtube SEO including:

  • making videos that your potential clients will watch
  • creating videos that are 5 minutes or longer
  • incorporating keywords into your video files, titles, and descriptions
  • use UX metrics like keeping track of comments, subscriptions, shares, rates, and views

Facebook

Facebook reigns in as the most popular search engine of all time. 62% of Facebook’s 1.23 billion active users log into facebook daily. With billions of potential clients gathered in one area, you can not miss the opportunity to share your business’s ideas.   

Active Blog

An active blog is a vital pillar in your website’s structure as it improves your SEO. By adding fresh and original content, your one-time visitors will have a reason to return. Blogs strengthen consumer relationships by creating a space for comments and the building blocks of a conversation.     

Bar Regulations Governing Lawyers’ Advertising on Social Media

Lawyers are held to a higher standard than the normal person when it comes to posting on social media. Different rules are in place which govern exactly what an attorney can post on social media. Find details pertaining to the regulations in each state.

Tracking your Law Company’s Growth

Successful law firms track constantly measure their company’s growth throughout the year. When analyzing your growth, some questions to consider follow:

  1. Is your profitability increasing?
  2. Do you have a steady client base?
  3. Are you constantly reconfiguring your company’s outline to establish successful growth?


There are a number of tools to track your website’s growth available. Popular and effective SEO tools include Google Analytics, and Google Webmaster tools. They are useful in:

Phone Tracking – Call tracking is a useful tool to figure out what campaigns or keywords prompted visitors to call you. It is important that you remain consistent regarding your NAP (name address and phone number).
Form Tracking – When a lead fills out a form, you can get notified right away and track where that form is being sent from.
Traffic Reports – These reports track keywords that are trending and where traffic is coming from and what kind.
Ranking Reports – These can help you manage which keywords that you use on your site and which ones rank the highest or the lowest.

FAQs

Do I need a .law or .lawyer domain?

In terms of SEO, it doesn’t matter whether your firm is a .com, .law, or any other Top Level Domain or TLD.

If my site is already ranking well, why do I need to continue with SEO?

Yes. Unfortunately, SEO is not a one time deal. The market is constantly changing with the expansion of new businesses and marketing trends. To keep any one business from an SEO monopoly Google constantly modifies its ranking algorithms and calculations.   

Who should write my online content?

Content should be relevant and factual. The author of your online scripture should be well versed in the topic as well as the english language.

How often should I post in my blog?

Bloggers should post as often as possible without over flooding the site with useless information. Never force content onto your site because the viewer will not force themselves to read it.  

Should I disapprove of any back links?

Backlinks are the highly desired currency of the internet, however, too much of a good thing can have negative effects. Spamy or irrelevant backlinks will actually have the opposite effect. The golden rule is: Websites of a cyber-feather improve SEO together.

Law Business SEO: A Proven Digital Advertising Solution

These proven SEO techniques will steer you in the right direction for a steady stream of traffic and better knowledge of your clients’ needs. The goal is to build your search engine ranking to generate more traffic, more leads, and gain more business.

 

SEO is not something that happens overnight – rather, it is a long-term process that requires patience, time, and hard work to achieve results. thYnking is a team of skilled marketing monsters who will get your website set up for long term success.

 

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