Gaining attention to your law firm online is especially important if you want to attract new clients. When it comes to law firm advertising, one of the most effective ways to attract new clients is through the use of search engine optimization. Online search allows law firms to gain visibility by local individuals who may not have heard of the practice or driven by the physical location. And yes even some of the law firms we found on our Best Legal Directories we found using Google searches, so trust us when we say it works.
There are a number of ways to improve search engine rankings online, such as through blogging, link building, sitemaps, and keyword consistency. But for law firms, they also will benefit from the power of local search if they offer their services in person. In this article, we will review the power of local search for law firms, and why including your practice in online legal directories will help improve your local search rankings.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is a search engine strategy that works to improve search engine rankings for local search results on engines such as Google. Businesses such as law firms that have physical locations and offer in person services to clients can benefit from local search as it improves online brand visibility within a particular area.
How can I improve local SEO?
There are a number of ways to improve local SEO for your law firm. When people search online for local businesses, more contact details are always better. Inclusion of the following contact information on your website will improve your local search results:
- Company name
- Physical location/locations
- Phone number
- Contact email address
Some other ways to improve local SEO include:
- Listing your practice on Google Maps
- Adding location-based content to your website
- Adding location pages to your website
- Having your firm featured on external websites (such as through press releases, social media platforms, or awards websites)
- Including your practice in legal directories
Why is it important for law firms to appear on Google Maps?
- Google Maps helps improve brand visibility
- Google Maps directs relevant individuals to your business based on their location
- Google Maps helps people locate your business
- Google Maps helps new visitors easily find your website
- Google Maps allows people to quickly contact your business through inclusion of your phone number in the search results
- Google Maps includes images of your business to improve credibility and brand recognition through inclusion of ratings and reviews
- Google Maps is a great way to help provoke discovery of your brand
- Google Maps is viewed by the public as an up to date source for business information
How to get your law firm on Google Maps
To get started with Google Maps, simply create a Google My Business Account and add in your law firm locations and contact details.
Factors that contribute to better local search rankings:
- Relevance to the keyword search team used by the visitor (this is why it is important to have good business descriptions)
- Distance of the visitor to the business (closest locations are often listed first)
- Business credibility (How well known is the business? Does their local listing include a high number of positive reviews)
- Citations (external mentions of your practice on other websites)
Best legal directories explained
Legal directories are a great way to improve the citations component of a local listing and improve online visibility. To strengthen your local SEO, you will want to have your legal practice included in credible directories.
Legal directories include firm rosters and individual attorney listings. A directory is a searchable database that usually allows visitors to filter results by practice area, location, and other specialities. The directories serve as external resources for anyone looking for legal services within a particular area.
Since legal directories include links to external websites, having your firm featured on these is a great way to improve your local search rankings.
Below is a list of some of the best legal directories you will want to feature your practice in to improve your local search results.
