The term search engine optimization (SEO) has been around for a while, especially in the marketing world. Businesses in every industry hoping to advertise their products and services incorporate some SEO strategies to ensure that their marketing efforts reach potential customers. For example, creating and maintaining an active website for your business is one way to remain visible to search engine algorithms like Google. When someone searches for products or services, the algorithm strives to present results that are the closest match to the searcher’s query. As a small- to mid-sized law firm, your website should contain common search terms and keywords (i.e., personal injury lawyer, criminal defense, estate planning law firm, etc.) so that the search engine algorithm will display your website when a user searches for these terms.
While creating a user-friendly, informative website for your law practice is a good starting point for your digital marketing strategy, there are several steps you can take to maximize its performance and effectiveness. Incorporating local SEO into your larger content marketing for law firms strategy is a great way to reach more potential clients in your community and drive more localized traffic to your website. Let’s take a closer look at how local SEO differs from organic SEO and how incorporating specific, targeted SEO strategies can help your law firm engage with more potential clients and connect with the people and businesses you are hoping to serve.
The Difference Between Organic SEO and Local SEO for Lawyers
First, it’s helpful to understand what SEO really means. Essentially, organic SEO refers to the ways in which your business (in this case, your law practice) improves your ranking position on unpaid search engine results pages. For instance, incorporating relevant keywords into your web content, link-building within your website, and improving your page loading speed are all effective ways to boost your rankings among the search results pages. Local SEO falls under the broader umbrella of organic SEO, but it can be seen as a niche SEO strategy that focuses on customers in a specific geographic location. For example, when someone in Houston wants to talk to a personal injury lawyer, they may begin this process by entering “personal injury lawyer near me” into the search bar. The algorithm will then use proximity and location as primary factors to determine the relevance of each result. Law firms located in the Houston area will feature prominently, as the algorithm knows the user will not be interested in law firms that are far away. In summary, local SEO for lawyers is a valuable aspect of the overall SEO and content marketing strategy, as this approach targets potential clients in your immediate vicinity and increases your firm’s visibility.
Strategies for Integrating Local SEO for Attorneys
Like many small businesses, your law practice relies heavily on making people aware of your services—building brand awareness, in a sense. One way to start making your law practice more visible is to implement some local SEO best practices into your current law firm content marketing strategy. Ultimately, your goal is to signal to search engines that you are a trusted, verified business in your area looking to serve clients in your community. Here are a few tactics you can use to build your local SEO strategy and engage with more potential clients.
Claim Your Google Business Profile (GBP) For Your Location
Since the vast majority of internet searches happen on Google, it’s essential to set up a Google Business Profile (GBP) as soon as possible. You can optimize your GBP by including pictures, location information, and relevant links to build authority and trustworthiness. This signals to Google that you are a legitimate business worth directing searchers to your website.
Make Sure Your Website is Mobile-Friendly
Google favors websites that are optimized for mobile devices, as the latest data indicates that over 60 percent of website traffic comes from mobile devices. If the website does not display correctly on mobile devices or takes too long to load, this will negatively impact your search rankings.
Harness the Power of Local Keywords
In addition to incorporating legal terms that potential clients may enter into the search bar, it’s important to weave in keywords related to your location. Include mentions of your city, county, or even the neighborhood or a nearby landmark to reinforce your office’s location. Searchers entering terms like “personal injury lawyer in St. Paul” will be more likely to come across your law firm near the top of the search results pages if your website mentions the city.
How Client Reviews and Local SEO Impact Search Rankings
As you focus on incorporating local SEO strategies into your overall marketing strategy, you should also recognize how crucial client reviews are in determining your search ranking position. While Google favors businesses that have optimized GBPs, engaging content full of organic and local search keywords, and user-friendly websites, these elements will only take your website so far. Google wants to be confident that the results it provides to searchers are legitimate, verified, and valued by consumers. Generally speaking, a law firm with a fully optimized website and no client reviews will not rank as highly as a law firm with similarly optimized online content and honest client reviews. Even a less-than-perfect review signals to Google that your law firm is worth directing web traffic your way, especially if you use the somewhat negative review as an opportunity to respond with care, professionalism, and respect. When you respond thoughtfully to client reviews, you are showing potential clients that your law practice is genuinely concerned with client satisfaction.
Level Up Your Digital Marketing Strategy Today
Managing and improving your law firm’s content marketing strategy is not something you have to take on by yourself. In fact, enlisting the guidance and support of a trusted marketing strategist is the best way to ensure that your approach delivers your targets and goals.
If your law firm is looking for ways to become more visible to potential clients in your community, it’s time to explore the power of local SEO. Call LegalRev today at (800) 893-2590 to discuss your options for implementing a results-driven, goal-oriented digital marketing strategy.
