Why Your Law Firm Should Develop an SEO Strategy

The Modern Law Firm series delves into how AI can streamline your law firm — whether it’s by saving you time and money, eliminating mistakes and redundancies or making your workflow more efficient. 

If you have ever used a search engine to find a new business, then you understand the power of search engine optimization. A solid SEO strategy can help get your business in front of more eyes. 

What Is SEO?

SEO is a digital marketing strategy that you can employ to rank organically on search engines like Google. The goal is to create compelling and authoritative content that winds up on search engine results pages (SERP).

There are several factors that can help you rank. For example, targeting the right keywords, site speed and backlinks. However, Google doesn’t give a full breakdown of what its algorithms take into consideration when ranking websites, but there are plenty of theories online that can help shape your strategy. 

Why SEO Is Important to Law Firms

SEO is important to any business that wants to attract visitors organically. Law firms can benefit from SEO because:

It’s Cost-effective

While it’s wise to hire or work with skilled professionals, it can still be more cost-effective than running ads. You can even tap some of your lawyers to write articles to help populate your blog. 

It Shows You Are an Authority

Landing on the first page of Google results can show potential clients that you are trustworthy and an expert in your field. 

It Can Lead to New Clients

Landing on Google can mean more clients learn about your website and the services you offer. This can potentially result in people reaching out for help. 

SEO and Timing

SEO is not an overnight solution. It can take time — anywhere from a few months to years — to gain traction. And while it’s not immediate, it is less fleeting than other strategies. For example, once you stop running PPC ads, you won’t get more traffic from that source. With SEO, you might not update as constantly but could still attract new visitors to your website. 

Tips For Building an Effective SEO Strategy for Your Law Firm

If you’re hoping to start crafting your SEO strategy, here are a few things to keep in mind: 

Use Long-tail Keywords

Short-tail keywords are usually shorter and have more competition. Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, are less competitive, which can give you a better chance at ranking high on search engines. 

Remove Jargon 

Lawyers use jargon in their everyday work life, but it’s important to remove (or at the very least, define) these words. Typically clients will not have the same background and may not understand jargon-filled text. More accessible language can get them to stay on your page for longer. 

Turn to Tools

The best SEO strategies use tools that draw from data. Whether you’re looking at a platform that helps you find the right keywords or one that shows you what your competitors are doing well, there are plenty of tools that can help you build a strong SEO plan. 

Noodle, for example, provides SEO help with titles to help your website rank well on search engines. 

Target Locally 

Because law differs from state to state (though immigration and bankruptcy law are federal), you’ll likely be representing clients in your city, surrounding cities or even state. Therefore, when you implement an SEO strategy, it’s important to be as narrow as possible so you can attract the right clients. This might mean writing a post that delves into state funding that a client can take advantage of when working on their case. 

Update 

While you don’t need to update every week or even every month, you do want to check your website every once in a while to ensure you’re still ranking on search engines. Doing this at least quarterly can help you remain in a good place. It’s also an opportunity to see how your competitors are doing and what you can do to 

Don't Forget Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the behind-the-scenes functionalities that can affect your ranking. For example, how long it takes for a page to load on your website can determine where you place on a search results page. Aim for fast load times.