Legal Marketing, SEO, SEO Tips

SEO for Lawyers: Strategies to Outrank your Competition

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become essential for law firms looking to attract new clients in today’s digital landscape. This comprehensive guide explores effective lawyer SEO strategies, their importance, and practical implementation steps to help your law firm rank higher in search results and stand out from competitors. Whether you’re handling SEO yourself or considering professional help, these insights will strengthen your online presence and client acquisition efforts.

Like other professions, lawyers use SEO to attract clients to their law firm’s website. Search engine optimization for lawyers involves the strategies and tactics that rank the firm’s website at the top of Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines. This article will discuss everything related to SEO for attorneys, lawyer marketing, specific lawyer marketing strategies, that will ensure you and your law firm are ranked first when searched.

Lawyer Marketing

In school, lawyers are taught how to successfully win a case and the nitty-gritty surrounding the judicial system. However, they are not briefed on the business side of running a law firm. To be noticed, every lawyer needs to form a “marketing toolkit” that helps to grow the practice. Next, let’s discuss all the tools that should be in your lawyer marketing toolkit in order to excel at lawyer SEO.

The Impact of SEO on Law Firm Growth

Recent studies highlight the critical importance of SEO for attorneys:
– 96% of people seeking legal advice conduct online searches first (National Law Review)
– Only 2-3% of users visit the second page of Google search results
– The first organic ranking position is up to 35 times more likely to get clicks than the 10th position
– Half of all users choose one of the first three organic search results
– The average Google search takes less than 60 seconds, making top rankings crucial for visibility

Law Firm Branding

Lawyer SEO is important. But lawyer SEO is inefficient without building a solid brand around you and your law firm. You identify yourself and your services under a law firm, and this is what populates when searched. Ask yourself what your law firm’s brand is. What kind of brand experience do you want your clients to have? Which values do they hold you accountable to? What quality of service do you bring? All of these points should be answered when someone searches your name and clicks the link to access your website. First impressions matter. Potential clients want to have a positive experience when they interact with your site, and not be confused about these values and what specific law services you offer. 

Client Personas

As a lawyer who is growing a brand, you will need to know who exactly you’re marketing to. Their values should align with what is shown on your website, and keeping your audience as the primary concern will dictate the rest of your marketing efforts. There should be several personas for your law practice, which comprise the “ideal client.” These include your potential client’s demographics, background, motivations and pain points. 

Marketing Funnel

Successful lawyer SEO, and lawyer marketing in general, has a marketing funnel. Simply put, a marketing funnel describes your customer’s journey with you. This includes the initial stages, when someone learns about your law firm all the way to hiring you as their attorney. A marketing funnel includes the following steps:

  • Awareness: Your potential client realizes their problem and researches how to understand their problem better. (This is the discovery portion.)
  • Consideration: The client starts to define the problem and can now research how to solve the problem. (This is the “oh crap, how do I fix the problem.”)
  • Decision: The client realizes the magnitude of their problem and further search for attorneys to help them fix it. (This is when your name could pop up at the top of Google with effective lawyer SEO.)

Your marketing funnel is dependent on your audience and their many personas.lawyer SEO

Law Firm Website

Your firm’s website is the initial impression your audience equates with you. You want your site to be fast, user-friendly and secure. Direct people where you want them to go on your site. Navigation should be seamless. If people have a difficult time finding what services you offer or how they can contact you, your website needs a serious reconfiguration. 

Competitors

Successful lawyer SEO and marketing also includes researching your competitors. To beat your firm’s competitors, you should craft an actionable and relevant CTA, implement all ad extensions and highlight what makes you better than the others.

Conducting an Effective Competitor Analysis

Understanding what your competitors are doing online provides valuable insights for your own SEO strategy:
1. Identify Your True Online Competitors
   – These may differ from your traditional local competitors
   – Look for firms ranking for your target keywords
   – Analyze both local and larger regional competitors
2. Analyze Their Content Strategy
   – What practice areas do they emphasize?
   – How frequently do they publish content?
   – What types of content perform best for them?
   – What keywords are they targeting?
3. Evaluate Their Backlink Profile
   – Where are they getting their authoritative links from?
   – Which content attracts the most links?
   – What guest posting or publication opportunities have they leveraged?
4. Review Their Technical SEO
   – Site structure and navigation
   – Page load speed
   – Mobile responsiveness
   – Schema markup implementation
5. Examine Their Social and Review Presence
   – Which platforms do they engage with most?
   – How do they respond to reviews?
   – What type of social content generates engagement?
Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to gather competitive intelligence, then identify gaps and opportunities where your firm can differentiate itself and gain an advantage.

Local SEO Strategy for Law Firms

For most law practices, local clients represent the bulk of business. Implementing a strong local SEO strategy involves:
Google Business Profile Optimization
   – Claim and verify your listing
   – Complete all information fields, including practice areas
   – Add high-quality photos of your office and team
   – Regularly post updates about your practice
   – Respond to all reviews promptly and professionally
Local Citation Building
   – Ensure consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information across all platforms
   – List your firm in legal directories (Avvo, FindLaw, Justia, etc.)
   – Get listed in local business directories and Chamber of Commerce websites
   – Create location-specific pages for each office location
Local Link Building
   – Partner with local businesses and organizations for cross-promotion
   – Sponsor local events and ensure they link to your website
   – Contribute to local news outlets as a legal expert
   – Join and participate in local business associations
Local Content Creation
   – Write about local legal issues and regulations
   – Create neighborhood-specific content relevant to your practice areas
   – Publish success stories from local clients (with permission)
   – Address local court procedures and timelines

Geofencing Marketing

People aren’t going to travel further than they need to. So, lawyer SEO uses geofencing marketing to send relevant messages to potential clients who enter a certain geographic area. This digital and hyper-local marketing strategy allows your audience to see your firm’s promotions and other targeted ads that can help bring more business into your door.

Call-Only Ads

Call-only ads are the favorite child of Google ads for lawyers. Calls are valuable because they allow clients to skip over the extra step of filling out a form. Chances are that when potential clients hit the landing page – (lead capture page that pushes your audience to perform an action, such as filling out the form) – they will drop off. law firm seo

Lawyer Marketing Strategy

A lawyer marketing strategy is another facet of lawyer SEO, and of which serves as the plan for their practice getting noticed. The strategy is the thought-out roadmap to get your name and your firm’s name noticed and at the top of all search engines. These ten steps serve as the backbone for your marketing strategy to get your SEO where you want it to be.

Choose a specific type of law

It’s important to set yourself apart by choosing one type of law to focus on. The client loses some trust in you as a professional if you spread yourself too thin and aren’t a master in one area. For marketing purposes, it’s best to be known for one specific area of law.

Choose a specific niche

Okay, so you’ve made it past the first strategic step. Now, take it a step further. Further differentiate yourself by choosing a niche within your branch of law. For example, if you are a criminal lawyer, focus on specific types of crimes.

Build a list of clients and people who refer the clients

Some lawyers may go through an entire list of clients and referrers right off the bat. However, chances are slim that all of these people need services immediately and simultaneously. Don’t waste your time and go on a massive contacting spree. Build a list instead, which will, in most cases, lead to a larger and healthier business list over time.

Create a helpful website

As mentioned before, your potential clients want a positive user experience, and this is only achieved through an exceptional user interface. Clearly state your specialty and niche on the front page. Clearly list your services. Lay out other resources that may help them. Don’t make it too complicated for the user. 

Give away free resources in your community

After laying out your website to the best of your ability, go, yet again, one step further. Connect with people and businesses in your community and give away your services for free. People will be able to see how your firm is run as you span your connection net wider. In the future, you may want to add more employees at your firm, if you gain traction. After networking, you can further this venture on LinkedIn.lawyer marketing strategy

Offer a helping hand at local businesses

Help other businesses in your area to build more connections, but more importantly, stand for a cause that your clients can get behind. They see your values and put more trust in you ethically, which is pretty important considering you are a lawyer.

Build a social media presence

Use your client and referral lists to socially connect with people on the various social media platforms. 

Allow others to share your content 

After building your social media presence, make your contact also shareable via social, so your website and content can be accessed by others. You are busy doing your job. Leverage the power of social, so others can share the content for you to bring in more clients.

Start small with advertising

Advertising is a quick way to build traffic. But it is also costly and can negatively impact your firm if it is not strategically placed and targeted towards your audience. Start with a small advertising budget first to see if, and how, it brings in more clients. Choose a very targeted platform, such as Facebook, which has the largest number of users out of all the social media platforms. SEO Design Chicago provides legal advertising services.

Focus on customer service

This point is probably obvious, but you need to make sure your clients are satisfied. When your clients have a positive experience, they tell others about you and your firm. During your first consultation, tell them what they should expect and live up to your word.

Implementing a Content Calendar for Consistent SEO Results

Consistency is key to SEO success. Develop a content calendar that includes:
Regular Blog Posts
   – Answer frequently asked legal questions
   – Discuss recent changes in laws relevant to your practice
   – Share case studies and success stories
   – Provide updates on local legal news
Content Types to Include
   – Written blog posts (800-1500 words)
   – Video content explaining complex legal concepts
   – Infographics summarizing legal processes
   – Downloadable guides and resources
   – Client testimonials and reviews
Posting Schedule
   – Aim for 2-4 new pieces of content monthly
   – Schedule content around seasonal legal needs
   – Plan content for major legal changes and updates
   – Ensure regular website updates for search engine crawlers
Content Distribution
   – Share new content across all social media platforms
   – Include content in email newsletters
   – Repurpose content for different formats and platforms
   – Update and refresh older content regularly

Law Firm SEO

Like lawyer SEO, law firm SEO maximizes your law firm’s visibility online. The following points outline how law firms can effectively use SEO to gain traction.

The Importance of E-A-T for Legal SEO

Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines emphasize E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), especially for websites in “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) categories like legal advice. As a law firm, demonstrating strong E-A-T is crucial:
Expertise
   – Clearly display attorney credentials, education, and specializations
   – Show bar admissions and professional associations
   – Highlight specialized certifications and continuing education
   – Attribute all legal content to specific attorneys with credentials
Authoritativeness
   – Obtain links from respected legal sources and publications
   – Secure features in legal directories and industry associations
   – Publish in respected legal journals and news sites
   – Showcase speaking engagements and teaching positions
Trustworthiness
   – Display clear contact information on all pages
   – Maintain transparent privacy policies and terms of service
   – Prominently feature authentic client testimonials and case results
   – Secure your website with HTTPS and display trust badges
   – Respond professionally to all reviews, including negative ones
For law firms, E-A-T isn’t just an SEO factor—it’s directly aligned with how potential clients evaluate your credibility before making contact.

Keyword research

Keyword research involves your firm using professional tools to unveil how people are searching for legal services you provide. The most robust keyword research tools are not free, but many, if not all, offer a free trial for your firm to try out and determine whether to continue with or terminate.

Effective Keyword Research for Law Firms

When conducting keyword research, focus on:
– Primary practice area keywords (e.g., “personal injury lawyer Chicago”)
– Long-tail variations that capture specific client questions (e.g., “how much compensation for car accident in Chicago”)
– Local-specific terms that target your geographic practice area
– Keywords with reasonable search volume and competition levels
Free tools like Google Keyword Planner can help you start, while premium tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz provide more comprehensive data. Prioritize keywords based on:
1. Search volume: How many people search for this term monthly
2. Competition level: How difficult it is to rank for this term
3. Relevance: How closely it matches your services and client needs
4. Intent: Whether it indicates someone ready to hire a lawyer

Site structure

Like SEO for lawyers, SEO for law firms is enhanced when the website is easy to navigate and architecturally sound. You want potential clients to find your services as quickly as possible, so place that selection at the far left in the navigation bar. It is better SEO for a lawyer and law firm when the services are first in the navigation bar rather than the link to access the “About Us” page.

Page speed

Page speed also contributes to SEO rankings. Websites that deliver a slow experience will be relegated compared to ones that load within a second or two.

Mobile Optimization Matters

With over 60% of searches now conducted on mobile devices, mobile optimization is no longer optional for law firms. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in its rankings through mobile-first indexing. Ensure your law firm’s website:
– Uses responsive design that adapts to all screen sizes
– Features easily tappable navigation elements (minimum 44×44 pixels)
– Has readable text without requiring zooming
– Loads quickly on mobile networks (aim for under 3 seconds)
– Passes Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test
– Avoids intrusive pop-ups that obstruct content
Mobile optimization directly impacts both your search rankings and potential clients’ experience, as many will research legal services while on the go.

Voice Search Optimization

As voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant become increasingly common, optimizing for voice search presents a growing opportunity for law firms. Voice searches typically:
– Use natural language patterns and questions
– Are longer than text searches (typically 7+ words)
– Often include local intent (“near me” searches)
– Focus on specific questions rather than keywords
To optimize for voice search:
– Create FAQ pages that answer common legal questions in conversational language
– Structure content to address the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions
– Include your complete NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information on all pages
– Optimize for local searches with specific neighborhood and landmark mentions
– Use schema markup to help search engines understand your content

Measuring Your Law Firm’s SEO Success

Implementing SEO strategies without measuring their effectiveness leads to wasted resources. Track these key metrics to evaluate your SEO performance:
Ranking Improvements
   – Monitor positions for target keywords
   – Track visibility in local pack results
   – Measure changes in ranking after content updates
Traffic Metrics
   – Overall organic traffic growth
   – Traffic from specific geographic areas
   – Traffic to key practice area pages
   – Mobile vs. desktop traffic ratios
Engagement Metrics
   – Average time on page
   – Bounce rate improvements
   – Pages per session
   – Heat map analysis of user behavior
Conversion Metrics
   – Contact form submissions
   – Live chat interactions
   – Free consultation requests
ROI Calculations
   – Cost per lead from SEO
   – Cost per new client acquisition
   – Lifetime value of clients from organic search
   – Comparison with other marketing channel costs
Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console as baseline tools, supplemented with specialized legal marketing analytics platforms for deeper insights into your firm’s digital performance.

lawyer marketing

Do You Need Help with Lawyer SEO?

SEO Design Chicago is a professional marketing company that not only helps lawyers improve their SEO, but we also tailor our advertising strategy to each lawyer’s individual needs. For example, we helped improve the online presence of one Chicago lawyer. SEO Design Chicago helped improve their organic search results by 408%! 

Nick Antonopoulos

Nick Antonopoulos is the Chief Marketing officer of SEO Design Chicago. Nick has over a decade of experience in Content Creation, SEO and Digital Marketing working with small businesses all the way up to Enterprise level clients.

Contact Us today!

Call Now