Local SEO Strategies for Law Firms That You Can Implement Right Now

Yesterday I received a call from an attorney who had one burning concern:

How can my law firm rank higher on Google than my competitors?

This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked that question, and it won’t be the last time. Local SEO is a way to make your law firm easy to find for potential local customers and to use local SEO strategies to target potential clients who live in the area your law firm provides services.

Increasing your local SEO and local online visibility is important for law firms because most people are looking for legal services in a specific location - specifically, Near Me. When your website very clearly tells search engines and people that you provide the exact service they need in the exact location they need assistance, you can rank higher than your competitor who offers the same service but didn’t add important local SEO signals to show search engines - Google - where they are located.

The good news is you can start right now to improve your local SEO and increase your online visibility. Many local SEO techniques are content-driven - which means you can easily update content on your website, social media and other online platforms to improve your local SEO. Here are five local SEO tips for law firms that you can implement right now.

5 Local SEO Tips for Law Firms

1. Add Your Location To Your Website Headlines
Adding your local keyword to your service page's H1 or other header tags clearly tell visitors and search engines where your law firm is located - and boosts your law firm's rank against competitors when users are searching for a lawyer in a specific location or 'near me.'

For example, instead of Divorce Lawyer as your service page’s headline, add your location:

Chicago Divorce Lawyer

2. Claim and Update Your Google My Business Account
GMB (Google My Business) is the most critical tool to get your law firm's website found by local clients IF you use it correctly - and it’s free!. The 1st step is to claim and update your account. The 2nd step is to continually add new and relevant information to your GMB account such as your services, blog posts, firm news, legal updates and FAQs.

3. Use GEOtags on Your Website and Social Media Images to Get Found On Google Maps
When you add geotags (also called a GPS coordinate) to your law firm's website images and your Google My Business images before you upload them, it will help your firm get found on Google Maps, boost your local SEO and give you an edge over your competitors who aren't using this SEO strategy.

4. Invite Client Reviews and Testimonials - And Share Them!
A 5-star review is an important client testimonial - and it’s an important local SEO signal for Google! In addition to acting as social proof for visitors to your website or social media, client reviews boost your rank on search engines, Facebook and on review platforms such as Yelp.

5. Create A Profile On Search Engines and Online Directories
Google is important, but it’s not the only search engine. Create a profile for your law firm on Bing, Yelp, Nextdoor, in local business directories and in online legal directories such as Avva or FindLaw.

There are many more ways to improve your law firm’s local SEO and increase your online visibility. These five local SEO tips are easy to implement by you or someone on your team, and can get big results quickly!

Law Firm Content and Online Visibility Audit

What’s the point of having a website if no one can find it - or if it doesn’t convert?

• Do your website and social media increase your law firm’s brand identity, online visibility, rank and overall effectiveness?

• Does your content drive the right traffic to your website?

• Does your content include strategic keywords and local optimization?

SEO My Law Firm’s Content and Online Visibility Audit can find out your visitor’s UX (user experience), identify your missed opportunities - and see what your competitors are doing that you’re not! Contact us SEO My Law Firm provides SEO, content writing, marketing services and other content solutions for law firms. Contact Us Today!