Why Law Firm SEO is Essential for Lawyers

Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for growth and success, regardless of the type of business you run. But for law firms in particular, SEO can play a critical role in determining whether or not you are seen as competent, credible, and trustworthy. It can also exponentially increase visibility, offering the opportunity to reach larger target audiences and grow your practice.

For those who may be unsure of exactly what SEO is, it's a method of boosting your website's search engine result rankings across all major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. It is the same strategy used by large corporations who want to sync with the algorithms employed by these search engine platforms. The better you are at strategizing with SEO, the higher your law firm and website will rank in searches.

While many lawyers continue to use traditional marketing methods, such as television, radio, or newspaper ads, their effectiveness has been overshadowed by the far superior results delivered by digital marketing through SEO optimization. When your law firm's website does not show on the first page of search results, there is a significantly reduced chance of people finding you.

People today are used to accessing the information they want or need quickly, so clicking to page two or three after performing an initial search has become increasingly rare. Your law firm will benefit immensely and rapidly increase exposure by effectively using targeted keywords to manage your SEO.

What About Social Media Ads?

You might be thinking that social media ads are the best option for bringing in new clients. In fact, many legal marketing traditionalists have found the transition from things like newspaper and tv ads to digital ads reasonably easy. But paid social media ads require that people click on an ad to get the information they want or need, and many are skeptical and reluctant to do so. And, with each click made, your law firm is charged.

While paid social media ads may sometimes provide increased interest in your firm's website, it is usually quite temporary. On the other hand, SEO is much more cost-effective and has a much more significant, long-term impact on turning mildly curious visitors into clients. The return on investment is better because pages with well-strategized SEO end up at the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) and will stay at the top for longer.

How Do Law Firms Get The Most Benefit From SEO?

While SEO strategies will help your law firm's success, they are best paired with other approaches to optimize their performance. A recent study by ilawyermarketing.com titled “How Consumers Choose Lawyers Online In 2020/2021” revealed that 84 percent of people seeking legal services say they will research at least three law firms online before deciding on which one to hire. This confirms the idea that online SEO marketing is more important than ever, and that strategies that compliment SEO can help give an edge to one law firm over another.

The most successful firms will compliment SEO with at least some of the following methods:

Publish Superior Legal Content

The ability to create relevant legal information, which helps your law firm become easily discoverable within search results, is arguably the most crucial benefit of SEO for attorneys. Individuals and search engines alike will be informed that your website provides essential information related to what they are looking for.

Potential clients are more inclined to click on law firms that appear towards the top of search engine results pages; by optimizing your content, search engines will be more likely to display your page near the top. Furthermore, posting recent case studies to your website might boost the likelihood that people will trust your company.

Implement Strategies To Convert Leads Into Clients

There is little doubt that effectively using SEO on your firm's website will generate potential leads. However, the goal is to turn those leads into paying clients, so simply providing them with information is insufficient to turn them into customers. Well-thought-out calls to action (CTAs) on your site, such as "Get A Free Consultation," can entice visitors to take the next step and visit with you or one of your attorneys. Similarly, including CTA paragraphs at the end of your articles or case studies can allow readers to request a free consultation.

Your website serves as a portal for transforming those in need of legal help into valuable clients. As a result, your website's content and design must offer actionable items that visitors can click on to take the next step in obtaining your legal services. To that end, the simple strategy of placing a phone number and a clickable button in the top right corner of your firm's website gives visitors to your site a convenient way of contacting your firm with questions.

Gain Credibility Through Online Reviews

Online reviews are crucial for your law firm's website's SEO. Google and many other search engines have built-in review systems that allow prior clients to provide feedback about your practice. This is important for your law firm since it shows potential clients that others trust your legal services and would suggest the firm to others.

Even unfavorable reviews answered quickly by you or someone representing your law firm will demonstrate that you provide excellent legal services and are concerned about your clients' thoughts and concerns. You can also highlight featured testimonials from former clients to help new visitors learn more about your practice.

Increase Online Visibility And Brand Awareness

Because SEO is a long-term process, you may wonder how you might boost the visibility of your content immediately after it is released, without spending additional money on search engine ads. When you share your material on social media, it gets a boost in traffic right away, while SEO works to improve its rankings in the SERPs. Individuals can also share your legal content with family and friends who may require your legal assistance.

Promoting your material across multiple social media platforms can help to raise brand awareness among those who would not have known about your practice otherwise. Furthermore, by publishing connections to other websites from your firm's website, you are producing a 'backlink' to your site, which directly impacts SEO.

Improve The Functionality And Design Of Your Law Firm's Website

People are quick to judge when they are searching for a law firm to represent them. You already know that your website serves as the first impression to people who have never heard of you before. The look and feel of your law firm's website can influence whether or not a potential client chooses to trust your brand and ultimately choose you over your competition. A well-designed, easy-to-navigate website can help with both SEO and user experience.

If your website cannot provide quick access to the information your potential client is looking for, you can easily miss an opportunity to sell yourself. Difficult-to-navigate menus and long load times are often a problem and will cause lower rankings in SERPs. In some cases, those issues will temporarily eliminate your website from their search entirely.

Recent studies have determined that the vast majority of people searching for legal services online will do so from their computer and mobile device in equal proportion. You can help yourself immensely by optimizing your website for both mobile and desktop users. If your site is not user-friendly to both, you are seriously compromising your ability to connect with potential clients and preventing them finding the information they need to feel confident enough to hire you.

Today, the most successful law firms understand that the overwhelming majority of people searching for legal help online never click beyond the first page of their search results. If your law firm isn’t appearing near the top of their search results, your SEO strategy is either nonexistent or at best, lacking proper methods and supporting strategies. To gain clients and grow their business, it is essential that law firms educate themselves and engage in an SEO plan of action.