If you want your law firm to rank higher in Google and attract inbound leads, this guide has you covered. We break down the exact SEO strategy your law firm can use to rank first in Google.
If you’re not showing up when they’re searching, you’re missing out on:
High-intent traffic: Every month, thousands of people are looking for exactly what you do on Google. You can’t reach these people through traditional media like billboards, radio ads, or social media, but you can with SEO.
Closeable leads: Not every phone call you receive is the same. SEO can help you weed out the tire kickers and get more phone calls from clients about the kind of cases you want to work on.
Traffic that scales: SEO grows exponentially, unlike any other channel, because it compounds over time. SEO activities you do today will continue to reap rewards in the future and for only a fraction of what it costs you to run ads or do other marketing.
There’s really no other traffic source that grows quite like SEO does once you’ve got the ball rolling with it.
But perhaps best of all, it can be completely hands off for business owners like yourself if you partner with a results-driven agency.
SEO challenges for lawyers
The fact is, you’ve probably already heard about SEO; maybe you’ve even given it a go in the past. If you struggled to make it work for you, here are some potential reasons.
Law firm SEO is very competitive: There’s limited real estate available on search engines, and many firms are competing aggressively for it. Without a proper strategy, it’s also harder to outrank big firms for your main money-making keywords.
SEO is resource-heavy: It requires many skills and resources to get going. Even if you have an internal marketer, you’ll still need help from outside sources, like contractors, to handle repetitive tasks or an agency to help with strategic direction.
Most agencies are flat-out bad: Most SEO agencies don’t deliver results. There’s no school that sets a standard for SEO services; everyone just learns it on the internet. What separates the good from the bad agencies is hands-on experience. Frankly, only a few have enough of it.
Outdated plan of attack: SEO has changed a great deal in the last decade. Unfortunately, the processes of many SEO agencies and freelancers have not been updated to reflect what’s working right now.
If you’ve faced any of these challenges or you’re worried your SEO agency might be operating using an outdated plan of attack, I’ve got you covered.
Google has changed, your law firm’s SEO strategy needs to as well
Let’s start by looking at what’s going on in Google right now when people look for legal services or advice.
They might search for something like “Miami DUI attorney,” and this is what they’ll see:
Local service ads: These are click-to-call. People searching on mobile can click the ad and call the firms showing up here directly from Google.
Pay-per-click ads: When people click on these, they go to the law firm’s website. These ads have been around for a long time and look similar to unpaid search results.
Local map pack: The map listing shows up on local searches and features businesses close to the searcher. These are unpaid listings that earn our clients around 50% of leads from Google.
Regular organic results: Underneath all that, we now get the regular SEO results. These are also unpaid and what traditional SEO focuses on.
Ten years ago, the results looked very different. It made sense to focus on regular organic listings for SEO, and a lot of traditional SEO processes emerged.
The focus was to rank high because this is what the results looked like without scrolling:
SEO agencies that don’t optimize for how search results look today are stuck using outdated processes that won’t grow your law firm, no matter how much you invest.
The new law firm SEO model that delivers the best results
If you’ve got the budget for it, a blended approach that covers both the paid ads and unpaid listings will get you the most leads from Google. This is the approach we use for most of our law firm clients with great success.
But, if you’ve got a new or smaller firm without the budget for paid ads, here’s what you can do to make the most of Google’s unpaid real estate.
We call these the four pillars of SEO, and they’re the exact internal processes our team uses to deliver results.
1. Technical SEO (foundational elements)
The first pillar is foundational. It covers the technical aspects of your website and ensures its technical health is up to scratch.
If you’ve heard about things like page speed, navigation, or site structure, this pillar is about them.
The good news is that for a law firm, you won’t need to worry about most technical aspects after you set them up initially. Spend time upfront to get things right so that later on, you can focus your resources on the things that will deliver more direct results.
Law firm website setup and architecture
How your website is structured is a critical part of being able to rank in Google. With a well-optimized site architecture, Google will be able to find relevant content more easily and then show it for the right keywords.
Start planning your site structure by thinking about what content your website already has and what it needs.
Make sure you include:
Your homepage with clear messaging on who you’re targeting and what your brand is about.
An about page showcasing the people behind the brand.
A separate page for each attorney in your firm sharing their accolades, expertise, and cases won.
Dedicated pages for each practice area you serve.
Landing pages for each sub-area or sub-service you offer within each practice area.
Location landing pages for each area you have offices in.
A results and testimonials page showcasing your Google reviews, Avvo, and other social proof.
A resource hub with articles answering common questions.
Contact page with your phone number and address details.
Credibility building
You want to show Google that your law firm has in-house experts, even if it’s just you working there. This is an important element, so don’t skip it.
Ideally, you should create a separate page for each person in your firm and showcase their expertise, the cases they’ve won, their qualifications, and anything else that can position them as experts.
You should also create a page for your results where you can share your firm’s:
Most of your SEO results will come from your practice area pages if you set them up correctly.
Make sure you have a separate page for each practice area and the types of services within it. For example, if you’re an accident attorney, you’ll want to have pages for things like:
Car accidents
Work accidents
Truck accidents
And so on
If you can solve cases for more than one area of law, like personal injury and criminal law, or immigration and criminal law, it’s ideal to pick one.
There are a few reasons we suggest this:
Law is a very competitive field that can cost a lot in marketing resources if you’re not careful.
It’s difficult for Google to see new or small firms as authorities in more than one area of law.
Splitting your resources before your website becomes authoritative leads to mediocre results.
Doubling down on one area generates significantly faster results, and your budget will go further.
Specializing in one area allows you to target opportunities big firms won’t bother with.
Ultimately, it’s your call what areas you want to cover in your practice. We share this advice with our clients based on what we’ve seen work from a marketing standpoint.
Once you become an authority in one area, you can branch out into others and compete more aggressively.
Resource pages and articles
You’ll also need to publish long-form content that is different from your practice area pages.
Instead of selling the service directly, these articles will help answer people’s questions and guide them through deciding whether they need an attorney for their case.
These articles will often target lower competition keywords and help you build awareness of your brand very early in people’s journey toward choosing an attorney to work with. Stay tuned for the third pillar on content, which covers this in more detail.
Optimizing your law firm website’s URLs
Think of URLs like the address for each page on your website. Typically, your home page URL will look like:
https://yoursite.com/
Anything that comes after the forward slash is a new folder in the backend of your website. For example:
For an optimal URL structure for SEO, you’ll need to create a folder for each main practice area, with sub-areas underneath them. You’ll also need to do the same with locations.
Here’s a simple way to visualize this:
This type of setup allows Google to easily crawl your website. You don’t want to add too many more pages deeper than this because then it can get hard for search engines and users to find them.
You’ll also want to make sure you:
Keep your URLs as short as possible
Include keywords in them
Focus them on the topic you want to rank for
Adding law firm office locations to URLs
If you operate in multiple cities, it may be tempting to create a location page for every city and every service you offer, like:
Miami DUI attorney
Fort Lauderdale DUI attorney
Boca DUI attorney
Unless you have offices in each of these, I recommend you don’t do this.
Creating too many pages like this is a spam tactic that Google looks out for, and you can get penalized for it. Google knows businesses often create location landing pages with the intent of ranking even if they’re not based in that area.
Instead, only create these pages in areas where you have an on-the-ground presence. Make the location the first folder in the URL followed by your main practice areas, like:
yoursite.com/manhattan/accident-lawyer
yoursite.com/manhattan/slip-and-fall-lawyer
yoursite.com/manhattan/work-injury-lawyer
It’s crucial you get this part right. It’s the core aspect of your website’s function because it really helps you increase your visibility when people are searching in your area.
We have a guide on setting up your site structure as a local business. It’s the training we provide to agency owners that you can also follow yourself.
Otherwise, you can use this guide to assess how knowledgeable the agency you’re working with may be and whether they’ve set up your website according to best practices.
Website speed and performance
The last foundational element is your website’s speed and performance. We do this for all of our clients since it’s more technical, and you’ll likely need a developer for it.
You can also outsource it easily on Upwork or similar platforms. Either way, don’t cut corners here.
You need to make sure your website loads quickly, or you could be losing hot leads by the minute.
For example, say you’re a car accident attorney. If there’s a highway accident during peak hour, the people looking for an attorney are most likely on the side of the road with poor cell reception and very little patience.
Even if you rank well, if your website isn’t loading on their mobile device in that situation, they’re not going to wait around until it does. They’ll call one of your competitors instead.
Once you’ve sorted the technical fundamentals, the next pillar is local SEO. This one happens off your website and relates to the maps pack you see when you look for any keyword that contains a location. It looks like this:
This listing gets quite a lot of attention from searchers. In fact, about 50% of the leads we get for our clients come from this feature alone.
To show up here, you must set up a Google Business listing and have it verified by Google. It will look like this when you search for your brand name:
I recommend setting up a separate listing for each location where you have offices or an on-the-ground presence. It will allow people in these areas to find your firm more easily.
Set up each profile to completion
To create your free Google Business listings, follow the prompts on this page. It’s a very straightforward process. Take the time to fill out everything you can properly. Add:
All your products, services, and practice areas
Photos of the outside of the building
Photos and videos of the team
Business details and description
Call booking links
Social and website links
Think of it like a social media profile or an online business card.
But treat it like you would a website. Optimize it for all your services. Add your call booking links and links to your social profiles. Don’t cut any corners.
The next thing will be to get reviews.
Getting reviews
Reviews are not only one of the most important ranking factors, but they’re also one of the most important decision factors when it comes to people choosing which law firm to work with.
It’s not just about the total number of reviews, although that’s very important; it’s also about the:
Recency
Velocity
Relevancy
There are several ways to get reviews. What we’ve found to get the best results is calling people. Sending out automated text messages is not enough.
So, let’s talk about when to do that.
After you reach some sort of milestone: like when the case is won or closed.
When the client feels positive about working with you: leverage the positivity and ask for a review.
Character reviews and references: reach out to anyone you’ve interacted with professionally like, other attorneys, past clients, or industry partners.
Make it a habit to reach out to a few people each week. Every review that trickles in counts.
When you reach out, it’s great to ask that they mention your practice area in their review. This helps your brand become more visible for the right keywords.
For example, instead of “Ryan was a great attorney,” a more relevant review might be “Ryan is a great DUI attorney” or “Ryan is one of the best DUI attorneys in Miami.” The more keywords included in your reviews, the more relevant they are to the keywords people search, and they’ll also be more impactful.
If you ever see someone ranking higher with fewer reviews, it’s most likely because they have more relevant reviews:
Google also highlights keywords mentioned in the reviews to show relevancy to searchers, like how it has bolded the sentence containing “best DUI attorney in South Florida” below:
Local links and citations are mentions of your brand that earn links back to your website.
Anytime you’re featured in a local news article, and they link to your site, that’s a localized press mention, for example. You can get featured on local sites for:
Any legal platform that ranks for local queries counts. You want to get your business featured there with a link back to your website.
To find which platforms are relevant for your area of law, search your main keyword on Google, scroll down, and see what’s ranking. Anything that isn’t another attorney’s website, you’ve got to have a profile there.
You can also supplement these with citations on general sites like Facebook, Yelp, BBB, and other platforms that feature all types of businesses. Aim to showcase your business profile anywhere you can also mention your location so Google can pinpoint your exact areas of service.
Repeat this for every office you have that also has a Google Business listing.
3. Content development for law firms
The next pillar is content development. Let’s start by looking at the intent funnel, as this impacts what kind of content you’ll need to create.
Here, you’re looking at a traditional marketing funnel layered with content for search marketing specifically. There are three core stages:
Awareness: Top-of-funnel content that is furthest from a sale and indicates someone is early in their journey toward hiring an attorney.
Discovery: Mid-funnel content that helps move prospects closer toward a buying decision while increasing their awareness of your brand.
Action: Bottom-of-funnel content is for people ready to choose an attorney to work with for a specific case.
We flip this model upside down.
Bottom-funnel content
We always start with bottom-funnel or action-based keywords. These are keywords like:
Personal injury attorney near me
Hire a personal injury attorney
Anything that has a high intent for people looking to hire an attorney now. These types of keywords will be targeted on your practice area pages and location pages. Generally, it can take a couple of months to build out these kinds of pages.
You should finish these before you start working on any kind of blog content as they’re going to have the highest conversion potential.
I should mention that we also use paid ads to support these pages so we can improve the speed of results since these keywords are by far the most competitive.
Mid-funnel content
The kind of keywords you’ll target here are like:
What to do after a car accident
DUI blood alcohol level in Florida
These keywords are the ones that people tend to search for immediately before they’re ready to hire. They’re the kind of queries that help people answer the question of whether they need an attorney or not. Or whether they have enough evidence to make a claim.
Even if they’re not searching for your service directly, they’re putting themselves in the market.
The goal of this type of website is not to make a sale. It’s to make your brand known to someone very likely to decide to work with an attorney soon. You want to answer all their questions so you’re front of mind when they are ready to pick up the phone and book an initial consultation.
Top-funnel content
This content should be done last. Video is a great format to add in addition to blog posts for highly informational searches that build your overall authority and traffic.
This type of content is the furthest from a sale and targets very high-level queries like:
Statute of limitations on a car accident
XX product recall
The main goal of this type of content is to build awareness. It will be a long time before people searching at this level are ready to hire an attorney.
Finding keywords
As an agency, we have built a keyword database for law firms. We’ve been working with attorneys for the past 10 years, and when we start a new campaign, we already know exactly what keywords we want to target and have content templates ready to go.
If you’re doing this on your own, you’ll need to start with keyword research to understand what people are searching for.
There are many SEO tools on the market you can use to do this, such as Ahrefs, Semrush, and many free keyword research tools. You just type in a keyword, and they will give you a list of other similar things people search for, like:
With this list, you can start building a keyword map based on everything people are searching for.
Video and social media content
These don’t impact SEO per se; however, I’m a big fan of maximizing the effort spent on an activity. If you’re investing effort in content development for your website, you might as well distribute that into other channels to maximize exposure.
You can turn your blog post ideas into 5-minute videos and upload them to YouTube, the second-largest search engine.
You can then take clips of those and post them as reels or short-form videos on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or any other platform you’re advertising on.
Economics of content development
Content costs money. It’s not cheap and is one of the areas of SEO that has a direct impact on results if you don’t invest in it.
Most lawyers who haven’t done much SEO typically need to create at least 5–10 pages monthly to catch up. On average, a piece of content can cost upwards of $300 each.
Overall, based on the gap analysis we’ve done with law firms in the past, you’ll probably need about 100 pieces of content until you’re competing at the top of the market. So, if you’re paying an agency retainer and aren’t sure where the money is going, it’s likely that a big chunk goes to content development alone.
If you’re doing SEO yourself, publish new content consistently to close this gap asap.
4. Link acquisition for law firms
The final pillar is link acquisition. It is SEO’s PR equivalent and is often called link building. Think of each link to your website like a vote in a popularity contest.
Most law firms don’t have nearly enough links to compete.
We’re talking about most firms needing roughly 10–15 links each month over a 6 to 9-month period to catch up. Content and links are the most time and resource-intensive elements of SEO, but they are also the elements that deliver the best results.
Here’s how we earn links for our clients.
PR links
Not all links are created equal. The best kinds of links to earn for your site are press mentions. However, most PR companies focus on getting brand exposure or a mention, which often doesn’t include a link back to your website.
For SEO, links are crucial because they’re how Google understands the web.
If you’re working with a PR company, educate them on the value of links so they can earn them for you alongside their regular efforts.
While these are the holy grail of links, we’ve found easier and more consistent results with outreach.
Outreach-based link building
We have a database of over 5,000 law-related websites we’ve worked with over the past 10 years. We know exactly what pitch to send them to feature our clients.
The factors we focus on when reaching out to these sites for our clients are:
Relevancy: Focusing on websites about the law, ideally in your practice areas.
Authority: The more respected a website or publication is, the more authority it has.
To find relevant and authoritative sites, we start by prospecting. We use SEO tools that scrape the internet and have a database of websites. From there, we filter out sites that don’t meet our criteria for relevancy or authority.
Anything left is part of the prospecting list we use to outreach.
Our outreach manager is constantly sending out pitches to these websites.
Hey, my name is Ryan from Webris Agency. We’d love to get a client featured on your website. Do you have any opportunities to do so?
We have over 20 different pitches we’ll send. We’ve refined these over years of outreach and learning what these websites prefer. For example, we may submit:
Content as a guest post
Expert quotes
Sponsored posts on their websites
There’s a hard cost associated with link building no matter how you look at it. A lot of the time, these websites will ask for payment. Even if you do all the outreach yourself, you’ll still need to invest some cash in it.
Bonus: Tracking and reporting
A lot of agencies either don’t offer reports, or they do a poor job of it. So, in terms of what you should be tracking, whether you’re doing SEO on your own or working with an agency:
Keyword rankings
Search traffic from Google
Leads, conversion, form submissions, and live chats
Work reports for content, links, and tasks completed
These are the main things to look at to make sure the campaign is moving in the right direction.
How search engines can deliver even more law firm leads
SEO is a formidable channel for lawyers.
If someone searches for something like “personal injury lawyer”, they’re generally ready to invest in a service like yours imminently. However, SEO is not the only way you can generate leads and phone calls from Google.
At Webris, we blend our SEO services with paid ads and have found this gives our clients even more visibility and leads from Google. We call this the blended search model.
If you’re interested in working with an agency that can make the whole process hands-off while also fast-tracking the return on your investment, let’s chat.
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