Ranking as one of the top lawyers in local search results will often net you the highest return on investment of any marketing you do.
In this article, we will detail how important local SEO for lawyers is. You will understand everything you need to optimize your website and business for local SEO.
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How Does Google Rank Top Lawyers in Local Search?
Google measures authority in local searches by proximity, relevance, and authority. Google has to find a consistent way to rank one lawyer website over another, after all.
These critical factors mean the following for local SEO:
- Relevance – is the content on your lawyer’s website relevant to the person doing the search?
- Proximity – is the business in the city that the person is looking for?
- Authority – is the overall site quality high, as measured by its site speed, content, and backlinks?
Google uses many ranking factors to determine which sites rank higher than others. You will rise in the rankings with relevant content, well-written content, and site speed, but backlinks are also important if you want to rank for critical personal injury keywords.
When other sites link back to your law firm website, it’s a vote of confidence in the eyes of the major search engines, including Google. If a healthcare facility or major news organization links to your legal website, that can put you higher in the search rankings over other lawyers.
If you set your site up the right way and are an authoritative voice in your market, you’ll rank for critical legal keywords.
The larger the geography, the tougher it can be to rank.
That’s one of the reasons SEO for large mass tort or personal injury lawyer cases are more competitive and much more expensive.
How To Improve Your Local Search SEO
To get as much as possible out of local SEO for your law firm, you should focus on your Google My Business listing first. Google My Business or GMB is the most important tool where local companies can provide information about their goods and services so they are included in local Google maps and searches.
A proper GMB listing should have your name, address, and phone number so the search engine can give them to people looking for a lawyer.
Google utilizes the information in the Google My Business listing for the local pack and Google Maps.
As noted above, relevance, prominence and distance are key factors in how you rank in local search. There isn’t a lot you can change about how close your office is to the searcher. But you can do something about prominence and relevance.
How To Become More Relevant In Google My Business
A major part of local SEO for attorneys is you must provide content that is as relevant as possible to what the person is looking for.
If you focus on car accident cases, you should make sure the GMB listing title has something about ‘car accident lawyer.’ Also, you should have information about reviews and your website.
The listing also should have your phone number, address, and detailed descriptions of your services.
Keep in mind that what others say about your legal services on Google Reviews can affect relevance when someone searches for an attorney. Good reviews will give you better search results for local SEO.
How To Become More Prominent In Google My Business
Make sure you have as many positive legal reviews as possible. Also, make sure the Google Reviews are relevant for your articles and directories. Leveraging Google Reviews as much as possible will push you to the top of Google’s local lawyer results.
Get More Google Reviews
Having a lot of good reviews is a major factor in whether people will find your legal site or not. When you have more Google Reviews, you will be more prominent and have a higher ranking.
Google Reviews have even more importance – after all, they are one of the critical things that searchers look for. When you see 50 people giving an attorney four or five-star reviews, that can be a huge reason they call you over someone else.
But what should you do to get more reviews? There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to that question. Generally, you and your team must focus on providing the best possible legal service in your city.
After you successfully conclude a case, have the client give you a positive review. Most people who win a car accident lawsuit or sizable settlement will be happy to help you. If you regularly see clients in your office, give them small cards that request Google Reviews.
Of course, you could get a negative review from time to time; you can’t please everyone. If you focus on providing great legal services and communication, you won’t have this problem often.
Any time you receive a Google Review – good or bad – respond to it within one business day or sooner. Having an occasional negative review is ok, but how you respond will determine if the review will damage your ranking.
How To Increase Engagement With Social Media
Social media will not boost your search rankings alone. But having a regular presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and others will boost awareness and support better local SEO for lawyers.
When more people know about your law firm on social media, you can enhance your prominence in your local Google rankings.
Many lawyers don’t know you can add legal blog posts to your Google My Business listing, too, so your local area stays engaged with you. If you share posts, this also will help your law firm show in more searches.
Remember To Improve Your Website
The content of your legal website also is critical to your local SEO results.
A website with a lot of timely and accurate information about legal issues and specific pages with local content will improve your local ranking.
It’s also important to optimize your legal website to ensure the site is easy to navigate, loads quickly, and shows properly on mobile devices.
Also, add a lot of local content in your blog. For example, if your law firm handles brain injury cases, you should have articles on the site that discuss major brain injury issues. But your blog should have those posts tailored to local communities.
Say your law firm is based in Cleveland, Ohio. When you post on your blog, make mention of Cleveland suburbs, such as Olmstead Falls, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, and Mayfield Heights.
Anywhere you want to rank in local searches, you should mention those communities on your blog and GMB listing.
Remember the tips here about local SEO for lawyers, and after a few months, you should notice a rise in your local Google rank.
If you liked this article, you will be interested in our post outlining the top SEO companies for lawyers.
We’re experts in law firm SEO. Contact us today!
Tim holds expertise in building and scaling sales operations, helping companies increase revenue efficiency and drive growth from websites and sales teams.
When he's not working, Tim enjoys playing a few rounds of disc golf, running, and spending time with his wife and family on the beach...preferably in Hawaii.
Over the years he's written for publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Marketing Land, Search Engine Journal, ReadWrite and other highly respected online publications. Connect with Tim on Linkedin & Twitter.
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