Local SEO for Lawyers: How to Optimize Your Website for Local Customers
Whatever areas of law you practice, it cannot be denied that SEO significantly impacts client acquisition. Clients aren’t using yellow pages compared to 96% of people using the internet when looking for a lawyer.
Potential clients rely on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing to choose a law firm or lawyer, and 72% of them will only contact one lawyer.
When people are looking for a law firm, they are typically searching for someone around the area. Showing up in local search results is an integral part of your online marketing strategy.
As a trusted local law firm, here are straightforward ways you can maximize Local SEO for Lawyers strategies to promote your service, attract new clients, and build credibility.
Claim local citations
A local citation is defined as any online mention of your business name, address, and phone number that can occur on local business directories, websites and apps, and social platforms.
Local citations guide online users to discover local businesses.
Appearing on local directories increases your chance of being seen by your target customers. You need to gain more exposure and obtain backlinks from these local citation websites.
Accurate setting up your contact information helps you rank on Google Maps. You can start claiming your profiles on business citation pages that include:
· Social Profiles
· Legal Directories
· Local directories, such as Google My Business.
· Reviews and endorsements on other websites, and
Google My Business Page
Setting up a Google My Business profile allows you to appear in Google Maps and Local Pack Listings.
The Local Pack Listings is the highly visible map and the business names list that show right on top of the page.
This listing is the first thing that any Google user will see after their queries.
An optimized Google My Business gives your users an overview of your contact information. It allows your regular customers to leave a review.
Google My Business is the way to go if you wish to be found by your local customers. Make sure to verify, update, and update your contact information on Google My Business.
When optimizing your Google My Business, consider the following:
- Use the long description of your law firm, your area of practice, and types of services. Integrate highly relevant keywords.
- Upload relevant photo
- Make sure to categorize your law practice correctly
- Don’t forget to include a local phone number and complete address that is the same format found on your website for consistency
- Insert a link to your website
- Update your contact information regularly.
Use Local Keywords in Your Website
You would want your website to appear when your local customers look for a law firm within the area. The best way to do that is to optimize your lawyer's website with local keywords.
Integrate local keywords to each website page to ensure Google knows your law firm is for a local business.
You can start including local keywords in your metadata, meta tags, images, and your blogs. Include local keywords all over your website to signal Google what your website is all about.
Optimize your website for mobile users
There is a difference between a mobile-friendly website and a mobile-optimized website. Mobile-friendly websites display websites accurately on smaller screens but not always on touchscreen devices.
These websites also feature text-based phone numbers or email addresses that prompt calls or emails through mobile devices. Meanwhile, a mobile-optimized adjusts itself for different mobile devices.
It makes navigation easier since it reformats content and optimizes images based on its screen size.
Optimizing your website on mobile devices provides a better user experience. Your potential customers can read your content and navigate your website with ease, thereby increasing user engagement.
A mobile-optimized website also improves site speed, keeping your visitors longer on your website.
A mobile-optimized website is also a great way to boost your website rankings, especially now that Google follows mobile-first indexing best practices.
Mobile-first indexing means that Google prioritizes the mobile version of your website content for indexing and ranking.
It used to be that Google indexes the desktop version of a website when evaluating the page relevance of a user’s query.
Build links from credible sources
Backlinks are the backbone of SEO. It is vital to boost your rankings. Building links also help build your credibility, authority, and impression of your services and law firm.
Link building is the process of obtaining incoming links to your website from other local websites.
The website that you should link to should have consistent citations and relevant keywords to your website. It is also ideal to link to websites with high Domain Authority to boost your rankings.
There are plenty of ways you can build credible backlinks. You can write a blog, publish it on your local news outlet, reach out for sponsorship in exchange for links or listing, or publish a Press Release.
Generate Review from your customers
Reviews are a powerful tool to influence your potential customers. Online reviews generate 6.47% increased local searches. Customers read online reviews before reaching out to a company.
Local consumers trust reviews so much that 91% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 believe in online reviews and trust them as much as personal recommendations.
Generating reviews boosts your search engine rankings and provides a trustworthy advertisement. Encourage your customers to leave a review on your website.
Make sure your website is ready for reviews before asking from your clients. You can also request reviews on a business card, invoice, or email.
Keep a list of your happy and satisfied clients and personalize your emails when reaching out to them. These customers will be a great ambassador for your law firm.
Optimizing your website for local searches is a powerful marketing strategy for your law firm. However, it can be a time-consuming activity.
You can offload the local SEO tasks from your hands by hiring the expert help of an SEO company.
A professional SEO company can help generate clients, boost website ranking, build your reputation, and fortify trust among your clients.