Did you know that 77 percent of people looking for lawyers start their search online? That means your law firm’s online presence is more important than ever.
You must focus and put effort into search engine optimization (SEO) to stand out.
This article discusses why SEO is important for family lawyers and provides five SEO strategies to increase your website’s organic traffic.
Why SEO Is Important for Lawyers
SEO involves optimizing your website and web pages to make them rank higher on the search engine result pages (SERPs).
A successful SEO strategy incorporates several elements, like keywords and links, which we’ll discuss below.
But first, why is SEO important for family lawyers?
Where you rank on the SERPs directly impacts how many people visit your website. For example, if your site is listed fourth on the first page of Google’s results, people are more likely to click through to your site than if you were on the fourth page of the SERPs.
Generally, a page that ranks first for a specific search query (the term someone types into the search bar on Google) will likely also rank for many other related keywords. It will enjoy a higher click-through rate (CTR) than a firm ranking 10th.
The law industry is competitive, especially for family lawyers. If you want to get the attention of potential clients before they engage with your competitors, you need to focus on your website’s SEO.
Traditional advertising is also becoming less effective. Yes, you can take out an ad on the radio or even a paid ad on Google, but most users skip over them. Most seek out organic search results instead.
5 SEO Strategies for Family Lawyers
Let’s discuss some SEO strategies you can implement to get more organic website traffic.
1. Keyword optimization
Keyword optimization forms the foundation of any SEO strategy. Before you can get started, you must understand which terms or phrases your clients use to search for family law services.
For example, they might type in “divorce attorney,” “family law specialist,” or “[City] child custody lawyer.”
There are helpful tools like Semrush or Google’s Keyword Planner that can assist you with identifying relevant keywords.
Next, you need to incorporate your target keywords into your website content. It might be tempting to stuff all the keywords into one paragraph. However, the key to optimizing keywords is to use them as naturally as possible.
You can include keywords in:
- Blog posts
- Website copy
- Service area pages
2. Local SEO
If you’re looking for a natural approach to family lawyer marketing on Google, you want to focus on local SEO.
Most family law firms only practice in one (or a handful) of locations. So, if you want to attract clients, you need to optimize your website for local searches.
Potential clients looking for your services might search for “family lawyer near me” or “family lawyer [State].”
Here’s how you can optimize your local SEO:
- Set up your Google Business Profile. This way, you’ll appear on Google and Google Maps for local searches. Make sure to include your law firm’s name, address, contact details, website URL, and opening hours. You also want to encourage existing clients to leave (positive) reviews on your profile.
- Incorporate local keywords into your website content, like the name of the town/city and state where your practice is based.
- List your firm in local directories, like Avvo or the local Bar Association’s website.
3. Foster quality backlinks
Backlinks are links originating from other websites that direct traffic to yours.
Google and other search engines consider them a stamp of trust and authority, especially if these backlinks come from authoritative sites. If Google thinks your website is trustworthy, you may rank higher on the SERPs.
Here are some ways you can get quality backlinks for your family law firm website:
- Guest posts: Reach out to high authority websites and offer to write guest posts on family law for them. Include a link back to your website in the blog content.
- Partnerships: Partner with local organizations related to your industry. They can include parenting support groups or domestic violence shelters. Offer to create content for them within your niche that will provide legal advice to their clients. Remember to incorporate backlinks into the content.
- News websites: You can reach out to local journalists and provide commentary on family law issues. They will likely add a link to your website in the published article.
4. Establish trust with good content
You can never go wrong with up-to-date, valuable content when it comes to SEO. By providing your clients with the answers they seek and solid legal advice, you’ll be seen as a trustworthy source of information – by your audience and search engines.
Post regular blogs with quality content and maintain an FAQ page to answer common legal questions.
It’s also a win-win if you provide downloadable resources, like checklists or ebooks on family law topics.
5. Optimize meta tags
If you’ve ever searched for a term on Google, you will have seen meta tags in the SERPs. These are snippets of text that tell users what your content is about.
Although search engines don’t rely solely on meta titles and descriptions to rank web pages, optimized tags may encourage users to click on your website.
- Meta titles: Include the keyword for each web page and your law firm’s name, and limit it to 50 to 60 characters.
- Meta descriptions: Write a short, compelling description for the web page, include a variation of the keyword, and limit it to 155 characters.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating SEO strategies is crucial if you want new clients to find your family law firm’s website. The legal industry is highly competitive, and if there’s more than one family lawyer in your practice area, you’ll want to stand out.
By implementing the SEO elements above, your website will start to climb the SERP rankings, increasing how many clicks you get and potentially expanding your client list.