A purpose-designed SEO strategy built around your legal offering can allow you to reach the customers you want. We offer clients award winning legal SEO, with our in-house specialists targetting the audience you desire, in full accordance with advertising ethics and regulations.

If you are considering implementing SEO, or using an SEO agency, here are some key elements of legal SEO you will need to consider.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the bedrock of effective Law Firm SEO. Understanding the nuances of how people search online is key. People search for legal services in many ways, often using different phrases for the same service.

For example, someone searching for “personal injury lawyer”, “car accident lawyer”, “what to do after a car accident”, or “best injury legal services” may all be searching for the same thing. Understanding this breadth of search phrases allows legal firms to capture a wider audience base effectively.

For law firms operating locally, understanding local search phrases is also important. These phrases can be used by potential clients seeking legal services near them, making them essential components of a robust SEO strategy.

When selecting keywords, it's essential to choose phrases that accurately reflect the services offered and align with user intent. They should also have a reasonable chance of being ranked for. This will form a keyword map that will drive your SEO strategy.

Content Creation and Optimisation

A building block of effective Law Firm SEO lies in the creation of high-quality, relevant content. Based on your keyword map, crafting content that addresses user needs is essential. By anticipating and fulfilling the informational needs of potential clients, you will begin to receive the lion's share of traffic whilst building trust with your audience.

From comprehensive practice area pages to engaging blogs and informative guides, content helps you connect with potential clients and demonstrate your expertise and authority.

Developing content hubs or topic clusters is an advanced tactic that can improve a website’s topical authority. By organising related content around central themes or practice areas, law firms can streamline navigation and enhance user experience, as well as impact their search engine visibility.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is another area to focus on. On-page elements are things that you may not be able to spot on a web page, but they play an important role in communicating the relevance and context of web pages to search engines like Google. Elements such as meta tags, header tags, and structured data guide search engine algorithms in understanding and ranking website content effectively.

Meta tags, such as title tags and meta descriptions, provide concise summaries of webpage content. Optimising meta tags with relevant lawyer SEO keywords and compelling descriptions not only improves click-through rates but can also help improve search engine visibility and user engagement.

Header tags (represented as H1, H2, H3, etc) structure webpage content hierarchically, highlighting key sections and helping readability. Incorporating relevant keywords within header tags also signals to search engines the thematic relevance of webpage content.

Structured data markup, implemented using schema.org vocabulary, enables search engines to understand and interpret webpage content more effectively. By providing additional context about elements like business hours, reviews, and contact information, structured data enhances search engine visibility and enables rich snippets in search results.

Local SEO

Local law SEO helps optimise a law firm's online visibility for location-based searches, ensuring prominence in local search results and Google Maps listings.

Maintaining an updated and optimised Google Business Profile is paramount for law firms seeking local visibility. This helps improve visibility in Google Maps and local search results, providing valuable information to potential clients, including business hours, contact details, and reviews.

Consistent and accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) information across online directories, citations, and website pages is also essential for local SEO success. Inaccuracies or inconsistencies in NAP data can undermine trust and diminish search engine visibility.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO covers a wide range of optimisations aimed at enhancing website functionality, and improving user experiences. Addressing elements such as website speed, crawlability, mobile responsiveness, and security ensures your website is performing optimally, helping visibility in search engine results.

With mobile devices dominating internet usage, ensuring mobile responsiveness of your site is essential. Using a responsive design offers an optimal user experience across devices, influencing search engine rankings and improving the usability of your site.

There are also advanced lawyer SEO tactics such as implementing structured data, developing hreflang tags for multi-region sites, and addressing duplicate content through canonical tags. Depending on your site, they may all be relevant to improving your technical SEO.

Off page SEO

With Law Firm SEO, there is also a lot happening outside of your website that can boost your online presence. Off-page SEO strategies can help you get noticed and build credibility in the eyes of the search engines.

Backlinks are like digital votes of confidence. When other websites link back to yours, it tells search engines that your site is trustworthy and relevant. However not every link is built equal - it’s about going for topically relevant and related domains that will pass on valuable equity.

Links can be built using a variety of techniques. You could contribute guest posts to reputable sites, attend industry events, or collaborate with respected websites. Or use more advanced techniques such as Digital PR, which involves reaching out to journalists and bloggers to get your newsworthy story featured in online publications.

Law Firm SEO comes with its unique set of challenges and considerations. As an experienced agency with many clients in this area, we are comfortable working within the regulatory environment. 

We understand that law firms are subject to stringent regulations governing advertising and solicitation practices. Adherence to legal advertising guidelines is essential to avoid potential ethical violations and maintain professional integrity.

We also ensure that all of our SEO practices are ethical. We follow entirely “white-hat” methods and avoid any misleading or deceptive tactics in website content.

The field of SEO is constantly evolving, with search engine algorithms and best practices evolving rapidly. Staying updated with SEO trends, algorithm changes, and industry developments is essential for maintaining competitive advantage. This is another benefit of working with an experienced agency.

Our law firm SEO experience will create a proven strategy to get your website to stand out where it counts within the legal sector. Here are some clients we have helped:

The legal sector in the UK is growing at a healthy rate, with the Law society recent statistics showing that the Law sector saw around an 8% rise over the last year.  With competition for clients within the legal sector increasing, it’s more important than ever to stand out to your prospective clients.

And the search starts online: recent research revealed that 70% of people said they would start by looking online if they had a legal question. This is why digital marketing for law firms is essential for a continued flow of new clients.

Content marketing, search engine optimisation and social media are three of the top five most effective digital channels or disciplines for legal firms (source: Econsultancy). These three tactics, combined together, can effectively create a powerful law firm SEO strategy.

Image Source: Econsultancy

A visible online presence is a must in order to present your law firm’s services amongst a competitive market. SEO for lawyers is becoming the principal dimension in a marketing strategy for successful legal practices.

Contact us today to see how your Law firm can grow its online potential.

Do I Really Need SEO for Lawyers?

Search engine optimisation is a critical component of your law firm digital marketing strategy. Generally, around 50-75% of your website visitors will initially discover your firm through search engines. It’s vital to establish a strong online presence in the search engine result pages. Effective SEO law firm practices ensure that your website consistently ranks high on search engine results pages when people search for services related to what your firm offers.

Do I Have to Hire Someone to Handle SEO for Me?

While you can undertake SEO on your own, it’s important to understand that it involves a significant learning curve and substantial effort. If you’re a novice, be prepared for a lengthy learning journey to master SEO for lawyers. SEO is an ever-changing field with constant search engine updates, requiring continuous investment in staying current.

If you have other time-consuming commitments, it will be challenging to achieve SEO results on your own. Digital marketing for lawyers covers a wide range of skills and marketing channels, and SEO is just one of them. This is why people turn to specialist agencies such as ourselves. We will not only save you time and the learning curve, but also ensure that your campaign is aligned with search engine guidelines. This will give you the best chance of getting strong results.

Can you provide examples of successful Law Firm SEO campaigns you’ve managed in the past?

We have successfully managed SEO law firms campaigns, resulting in increased organic traffic and improved search engine rankings. While client confidentiality prevents us from disclosing specific details, we can provide case studies and testimonials upon request to demonstrate the effectiveness of our strategies.

How do you assess our current website’s SEO performance and identify areas for improvement?

Our assessment of your website’s SEO performance begins with a free site audit that evaluates many factors including keyword rankings, on-page optimisation, backlink profile, website structure, and user experience. If you decide to work with us, through detailed analysis and benchmarking against industry standards, we will identify areas for improvement and develop a tailored strategy to optimise your website’s SEO performance.

How do you stay updated with the latest trends and changes in search engine algorithms that could affect our SEO strategy?

We keep on top of the latest trends and changes in search engine algorithms through continuous monitoring of industry publications, attending SEO conferences and webinars, and maintaining active memberships. We’ve developed a world-class internal training programme to ensure our team engages in ongoing training and is well-equipped to adapt with algorithm updates.

How Long Will It Take to See Results from SEO Services?

SEO for lawyers needs to be considered as a medium to long term project. Typically, it takes a few months, often around three to six, before websites start to see ranking movements. Efforts in SEO compound over time – the longer you practice it, the more authority you will build. Once your site starts to gain traction the results become lasting, driving ongoing qualified traffic to your site.

What level of communication and collaboration can we expect throughout our campaign with you?

Throughout your campaign, you can expect open and transparent communication from our team. The best projects work when there is engagement from both sides. We’ll find out how often you prefer communication and which channels you prefer. We provide regular progress updates, monthly performance reports, and strategic recommendations to keep you informed and involved in the decision-making process. We always welcome feedback and ideas to ensure alignment with your broader business objectives.