An attorney SEO company would use a number of techniques to help improve your search rankings and generate a steady stream of clients for your law firm. Some of these are beyond the scope of the average person, but there are many others that you or your law office staff can implement in-house.
The Case for Local Search
With few exceptions, most law firms serve primarily their local area, region or state. Even more importantly for SEO, 7 out of 10 people looking to hire an attorney want a local one.
That’s good news because it’s easier to rank online for local search. That doesn’t mean you won’t face stiff competition, though. Here are a few attorney SEO tips to help you get to the top of Google for your local area.
- Use local keywords. For instance, “Baton Rouge defense attorney” or “divorce lawyers Chattanooga”. Weave them into your web copy, blog posts and any off-site material you publish. Don’t forget to include them in your title tags, too. Keyword selection is a complex science and requires extensive research for best results. Consider hiring an attorney SEO firm to help you determine which keywords will deliver the highest ROI for your legal practice.
- Set up a Google My Business account. Be sure to use accurate information and fully populate your profile.
- Create listings on local directories and relevant national directories. Often, listings on sites such as Avvo and Yelp show up high in local organic search results. Be sure to use the exact same name, phone number and address format wherever your company appears online.
- Ask for links from local sites. These might include your chamber of commerce, nonprofits you sponsor, or other local businesses.
- Submit meaningful press releases to local media. Often, they will link to your site if they publish your news.
- Ask for reviews. 88 percent of people trust online reviews just as much as they do word of mouth. Therefore, one of the most powerful things you can do to improve your local search results is to ask satisfied clients to leave online reviews on Google, Avvo, Yelp and other review sites.