Nearly 50% of all online searches are local. If you’re a lawyer, deciding to improve your SEO is a great first step to getting more clients.
While lawyers who work to improve their SEO strategy get a lot of things right, however, they make a lot of mistakes as well. There’s a right and a wrong way to do SEO, so be sure you know the difference between the two.
Fortunately, we’re here to help. Here are the top dos and don’ts of local SEO for lawyers.
What You Should Do
So what are the signs that you’re doing local SEO right as a lawyer? Here’s what you should be doing.
Do Add Keywords to Your Site
When improving local SEO as a lawyer, you need to pay attention to the keywords you use. Thorough keyword research is key to gaining traction with your blog content and service pages.
Do keyword research to get competitive data on any keywords you’re considering. Make sure that you’re using keywords that your potential clients are looking for online. Also, use keywords that are relevant to your local area and include your city name or region in them.
Do Claim Your Google My Business Page
As a local lawyer, be sure to create a Google My Business (GMB) profile. Using this free tool will allow you to manage your presence on Google and will make it more likely that your site will appear in search results and on Google Maps.
Be sure to claim this profile. Then, add all the relevant information about your firm, including location, contact information, and working hours. This will help improve your visibility online.
Do Post High-Quality Content
Using content marketing can be a great way to improve your website’s SEO as a lawyer. Be sure that you have a blog and that you’re adding content to it that’s relevant to your target audience.
Use your blog to educate and inform your prospective clients and attract them to your site. A blog can help you position yourself as an expert in your practice areas. At the same time, it will help your site generate more traffic from search engine results.
Do Create a Great Website
Make sure that you build an amazing website that does a great job of telling people what you’re all about. Your website should be attractive to the eye and should list your services, your qualifications, and your background. You should also clarify how someone can get in touch with you.
Also, make sure that your website performs well. It should be responsive and work well on mobile devices. It should also be fast and easy to navigate.
Do Consider Hiring a Professional
There’s a lot to know about SEO if you want to improve online rankings. It can also be time-consuming to work on SEO. Consider hiring an SEO specialist if you feel like you’re running out of time in the day.
An SEO expert can help boost your site in search engines and can help take a weight off of your shoulders. However, be sure that you find out about the reputation of any SEO expert that you’re thinking about hiring. Ensure that they’re doing SEO in the right way before you let them work on your site.
What You Should Avoid
Now that you know what to do for local SEO, what should you avoid? Here are a few mistakes that you’ll want to steer clear of.
Don’t Ignore Online Reviews
Aside from claiming your Google My Business profile, also focus on getting more reviews on it. Don’t underestimate the power of getting online reviews for your law firm. Online reviews on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other websites can do a lot of good in helping you gain SEO traction online.
On top of this, reviews give you social proof. Anyone who sees positive online reviews will be more likely to give you a call. Encourage happy clients to review your business online if you want to reap the benefits.
Don’t Ignore Technical SEO
Be sure that you don’t ignore the technical side of your site. Pay attention to vital things such as title tags, metadata, and other technical SEO aspects. You should be sure to create a sitemap for your website and submit it to Google.
You may also want to use local business schema markup and structured data tools. Using these will make it more likely that your site will appear in a featured snippet on the first page of Google.
Don’t Ignore Social Media
Although your main focus should be on your website, don’t ignore social media. Social media marketing is important for generating interest in your law firm online. You can use social media to lead potential clients to your website and to link back to the blog content that you post.
Using social media consistently may also influence your rankings in search engines, so don’t ignore it. Create profiles on at least several social media platforms and then be sure to update them regularly.
Don’t Overstuff Keywords
Although you should be wisely researching local keywords and using them on your website, there can be too much of a good thing. Avoid over-stuffing your content with keywords and making it seem unnatural.
Always write for your audience first and foremost and only place keywords where they naturally fit into the text. Overstuffing keywords can cause Google to ignore your content or penalize your site, so avoid this and take a more moderate approach instead.
Boosting Local SEO for Lawyers
If you’re performing local SEO for lawyers, be sure to know what you should and shouldn’t do. Claiming your Google My Business page, using local keywords, and posting blog content can all be a great help.
On the other hand, remember the importance of online reviews and don’t ignore the technical side of your website. Also, be sure to avoid overstuffing keywords.
There’s a lot to learn about SEO and website optimization as a lawyer. Be sure to read through our blog now to find more helpful tips, tricks, and insights.
