Law Firm SEO Success Factors

The SEO Process used by BANG! can be broken down into two areas...

#1 - On-Page SEO which involves tasks performed on the website itself to influence search engines ranking your site higher. These tasks might include...

Site Architecture - Ensuring that the site's navigation is relatively flat and that it doesn't take more than 2 clicks to get to any piece of content. That there is a clear path to navigate for the best possible user experience of a potential client's is a positive one. Specific information should be easy to find especially CTA's (Calls To Action) such as phone numbers and contact forms. After all, the objective of a great law firm web design is to gain client's. Ease of use of your website is necessary to convert clients out of prospects.

Technical Details / Technical SEO looks at the behind the scenes HTML code that a web page is comprised of. Things like...
 

• Title tags are still an important factor in how a page ranks
   
• Recommended length of a meta description tag should meet Google's guidelines
   
• Headlines should use proper H1, H2, etc. markup to make it clear what is important on the page. The higher Google's confidence is on your content the higher you'll rank.
   
• Speed optimization and obtaining great scores on Google's Core Vitals testing

Content - Quality content is still a very important factor in Law Firm SEO Marketing. Bottom line, Google wants to send people to the "Best Answer" to an users search query. Content needs to be of high quality, unique, and an argument can be made for a high word count on a page. In our experience, longer content tends to outrank shorter, less thorough discussions of a topic. Simply put, expert content drives SEO results, can gain media attention from prestigious publications, and provides natural backlinks which are discussed below.

One area to really spend some time at is strengthening your content around your practice areas. After all, that's likely what a potential client is going to search for.

"Freshness" - There is some debate in the SEO industry about whether or not regularly updating your website affects a law firm's website rankings. John Mueller, Google's SEO spokesperson even has said No to the question "Does Google favor "fresh" content? However... I've yet to do a website redesign project without getting a significant boost in rankings. Consequently we try to refresh a site regularly and provide a steady stream of quality content releases, generally through case studies and blog posts. As long as that is working, we'll keep doing it regardless of whether or not Google says it's a ranking factor. Ongoing optimization services should certainly be part of any SEO marketing for law firms.

Clear Calls to Action - Your legal marketing needs to be for a reader that may be in deep trouble, they may be in need of a bankruptcy attorney or a criminal defense attorney and have a real problem to solve. Make it incredibly easy for them to get in touch with you. Tell them "Click here to contact us" or "Call us at 602-427-5626". Don't leave the next steps ambiguous, tell them what to do and for goodness sakes, link your telephone number on your mobile responsive website so they can click to call. 

Not Doing Stupid Stuff - In the 90's tactics like white text on a white background with keywords repeated 100 times on the page actually worked. Keyword stuffing is what it's called. This SEO tactic hasn't worked in decades. Years ago Google actually looked at the meta keywords tag... that hasn't happened since 2009. Reputable agencies don't use any black hat tricks and gimmicks that go against Google’s guidelines as there is no long-term potential SEO benefit in doing so. Best case scenario, cheating at SEO simply doesn't work, worst case scenario Google see's your trickery and penalizes your site.


#2 - Off-page SEO, commonly called link building or backlinks, is what the rest of the internet has to say about your site. Do other high authority websites in the Phoenix legal community link to yours? The number of high quality links to your law firm's website the more likely Google will reward you with top of the page rankings and are one of the essentials of successful law firm SEO.

Link building for law firms requires obtaining links from sites relevant to the legal world. The focus of many SEO salespeople is "we'll add links to your site from everywhere". Sure, that looks good on their link building reporting, but will those links be relevant, and geographically synced to your law firm. If they aren't, they probably aren't going to do you any good. As an example at one time, press releases were one way to get a bunch of links quickly. Today that technique doesn't work so well. Buying links on Fiverr is another tactic that isn't likely to work for you in the highly competitive world of SEO for Law Firm Websites. It sure saves a lot of energy and there are significant time savings for SEO people, but if it's easy, it's not going to work.

Another tactic that was over done and is largely ignored by Google now is sponsoring scholarships at law schools. While originally it worked very well, Google caught on and lumped it in with the "buying links" practice and it suddenly stopped generating results.

Link building is probably the toughest part of Law Firm Search Engine Optimization, and should get a significant part of your SEO budget on a monthly SEO campaign.


With a proven track record of putting Law Firms at the top of the SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages), BANG! is the Best Law Firm SEO Services Provider will grow your practice.
 
   
 

Frequently Asked Questions About Law Firm SEO Services

Do Lawyers Need SEO?

If they are actively looking for new cases, SEO is a great way to generate business.


Does SEO Still Work? 

Absolutely, since many people searching are conditioned to ignore ads, a law firm showing up in the organic search results or local Google map pack is very effective.


Is SEO a dying industry?

SEO is not dead by any means. Those rumors are probably spread by companies hiring a law firm SEO expert ;-)


Is SEO better than Google ads?

If you focus on content development, and regularly publish information that your client's are looking for, SEO, we feel, is a more cost effective solution to get more clients. Ads only work as long as you pay, and the price per click is extremely expensive. Those same dollars invested in a long term campaign with a law firm SEO company will deliver a greater number of site visitors at a lower cost.


How do lawyers find clients?

As an SEO agency for lawyers, we prefer to flip this thinking and ask how do client's choose a lawyer? Our answer is by making the law firm highly visible in Google's search results so client's find the lawyer instead. Beats chasing ambulances doesn't?


How a lawyer can get more clients?

Being visible in search engine results for multiple keyword phrases that your client's are searching for, and then having a website page that is user-friendly and makes it easy to contact the attorney.


How can I check my website SEO status?

BANG! provides a free SEO audit tool. Give it a try and then reach out to discuss your results.


How does SEO help law firms?

In a word, visibility. When someone needs a lawyer and starts searching at Google, Bing! or other search engines, a successful law firm is going to be visible in those search results. If you aren't found, you won't get the client. It's really that simple.


How much is SEO per month?

An SEO agency for lawyers will have ongoing monthly campaign prices of anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 or more depending on the amount of SEO work they are doing. At BANG! our local SEO for Law Firms starts at $1,000 per month.


How much does SEO typically cost for a small law firm?

You'll want to invest at least $1,000 per month, and a budget of two to three times that will produce results faster.


Is SEO worth the money?

SEO done by a law firm SEO expert is. We've successfully moved client's from "not found" to highly visible and at the top of the search results. It takes time and a healthy budget but we are happy to share case studies of how we've helped other firms succeed.


Why is SEO expensive?

Because it takes lots of an SEO expert's time. As an attorney, I know you understand the concept of billable hours. It's the same for an SEO company. It takes lots of time to optimize a website and build legal back links. Time translates into lots of dollars. But stop for a minute and ask yourself, "What would one great case I got because of SEO produce in revenue?" Generally it doesn't take too many cases to provide a positive return on investment for a monthly SEO campaign.


Should a law firm invest in both organic SEO and local SEO or just local SEO?

It depends on the practice. If you are only looking for local client's, by all means concentrate on local SEO. If however you are looking to pick up cases all across Arizona, and not just Phoenix. You might want to invest in organic SEO as well.


What are some good SEO and marketing practices for a law firm?

Hire a reputable SEO company for attorneys. Provide them a reasonable budget to work with every month and give them at least 6 months to produce results. If you've hired the right firm, you'll see tangible results in your search rankings and you'll be more visible in Google searches. If on the other hand, you need results right now, we can invest in Google Ads, but that's not our preferred method for delivering results to law firms.


What is the best way to get new clients for a law firm?

Let the client's find you by being visible where everyone searches for anything... Google.


Is there any SEO company in the US specifically working for law firms?

Yes, and congratulations. You've just found an SEO company in Phoenix that specializes in search engine marketing for lawyers. Contact Us today for more information about our Phoenix SEO services or use the button below to schedule a free consult.