Local SEO for Lawyers: A Complete Guide

How SEO for Lawyers is Different from Normal SEO

The first major difference between traditional SEO and ranking as a law firm is that your focus should be mostly on how you appear in local results. While other industries can aim at national rankings, your clients want a lawyer in their city.

All search engines and AIs select the content they show via a set of criteria that we call EEAT. That stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Getting to the top of the rankings requires a site to score well in all of these categories. Amongst legal sites, the competition is fierce, and the bar is set very high.

With an industry as important as law, it’s not unreasonable to expect search engines like Google to set a high bar when it comes to deciding which firms get shown to their users. Generic content simply will not work.

Expertise, Experience & Trustworthiness

The first major difference is in who should write the content. While most industries can simply employ a copywriter who will know all the tips and tricks that are needed to rank your blogs and landing pages, this won’t work for lawyers. Authors should be real, qualified lawyers, and this should be made clear on the site via:

• Author Names- include your qualifications
• Bios- a short but detailed rundown of your legal experience
• Bar memberships
• Any other relevant qualifications, certifications, and areas of expertise

Having these verifiable facts clearly stated establishes that the author is an expert in their subject, lending weight to their words in the eyes of the search engines and AI bots.

The transparency of having a clear, expert author also feeds your content’s trustworthiness score, alongside presenting accurate, properly referenced information. While this is important for any website, it’s especially vital for lawyers and others who deal with what AI and search engines call Your Money/Your Life areas. Law would fit neatly into both categories, after all.

Authoritiveness

As well as being reassured that the author knows what they’re talking about, search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing all want to be sure that the content is backed up by facts. They determine this via scoring your site for authority.

There are a few factors they consider, including how well-written your content is, but the primary factor is how other sites link to yours (and how you link to others).

You have control over your outgoing links. These should be scattered throughout your content and back up your points. Link to the national bar association, courts, and online case references wherever possible. Choose your anchor text (the highlighted copy that contains your links) carefully for maximum impact.

Incoming links, or backlinks, as they’re known, should ideally be from trusted sources and relevant, high-authority domains.

Which Backlinks Work Best for Lawyers?

Backlinks are links to your website that come from other domains. These allow your content to borrow some of the authority of the host site. For improving your SEO results as a lawyer, there are certain backlinks that will have a much bigger impact than others.

As Google and the other major search engines place stricter requirements on legal firms, building links with reputable sites is even more important than it is in traditional SEO. The greatest results come from relevant legal sources such as:

• National Bar Associations
• Legal Directories
• News Sites
• Legal Associations

The quality of these links matters far more than the quantity, though more is generally better so long as the quality doesn’t drop.

Reach out to these groups and offer to write content for them on your particular area of law. If your firm is mentioned in local news, offer quotes and provide them with your URLs. These will help you rank in both traditional and local results pages, lending you authority.

Ensuring that your firm is listed in local legal directories, on the national bar association’s site, and in various other relevant directories is also vital. These listings should contain links to your homepage.

As this is still local SEO, building links with sites from the local community is also important. Ensure that these are respected, high-authority domains, as search engines place more emphasis on this for legal companies. Local news sites, charities, and directories will all be useful places to approach for potential backlinks.

Backlinks for AI Results

With generative AI and AI summaries becoming a larger part of how people find companies and content, how you deploy backlinks has to evolve slightly.

Rather than focusing on the number of links pointing to your website, the focus should now be on quality. That means having your content hosted on high-authority, relevant websites, enhancing your topical authority. Local legal associations, news sites, and respected legal journals are all good sources of useful backlinks that will tempt AI to include you in their answers. This was always important for legal firms, but now it’s even more so.

The semantic links between the content containing the link and your site are another major factor. If you’re writing a guest blog about traffic law, a link to your own content (either a blog or landing page) on the subject is more useful than one that leads to your homepage. This contextual link helps the AI agents trust that your site is a good link to offer.

How to Choose Keywords for Your Legal Practice Website

Keywords are how search engines work out what content a searcher is really looking for. These are the words they enter into their search bars, and targeting them is how we see results. They’re vital for any SEO strategy, be that traditional, local, or appearing in AI results.

These fundamental building blocks of SEO strategy are every bit as important for legal firms as they are for everyone else, so choosing which to target should be a primary concern. There’s a lot to consider when choosing keywords for your content, but here are some general rules:

Consider Search Volume and Competition

Every keyword that you identify should be carefully considered to weigh up how many searches are done for it vs how many competitors are targeting it. Various tools out there will do this for you. The general rule is that you want high-volume, low-competition, but there is some nuance to consider.

If a particularly high-volume keyword will be hard to rank for, it might be worth targeting one that is searched for less but also has lower competition. Around 68% of traffic goes to the top 3 results, and the first position gets 78% more than the second, so this may actually bring in more contacts.

For example, “defence lawyer” is a high-competition, high-volume search phrase. It might be better to try to rank for “criminal legal advice” or another term that signals the same search intent.

Avoid Hyperbole

Certain claims will likely be restricted, and using them will incur penalties for how you appear in SERPs. Don’t target keywords like “best lawyer in Chicago”- these will hurt your credibility in the eyes of the search engines. Stick to verifiable terms.

Confidentiality Must Be Respected

While it might be tempting to name-drop high-profile clients and cases, this will not earn you better rankings and may land you in trouble with local regulators. Client confidentiality is a fundamental element of the legal profession, and risking that will rightly incur serious penalties on your SEO results. If your content can’t be trusted, you simply will not rank.

Target Locally and Name Your Services

Your clients are not simply searching for “lawyers”. They’re searching for “real estate lawyers in my town” or “dispute resolution lawyers in my state”. It’s important to target both the services you offer and your location when picking your target keywords.

Use Longtail Keywords

Longtail keywords are conversational, naturally used language. These might include partial matches, which are useful for traditional search, voice, and AI results, or represent the full search term. These might be something like “if you’re appealing a traffic ticket in Atlanta…” which contains both your service and location.

Don’t Target Everything on Every Page

Each page of your site should only aim to target a couple of well-chosen keywords. Mapping your keywords to the content means that your ranking will be better, avoiding penalties for appearing spammy, and the traffic it attracts will be more relevant.

Your page covering family law should not also focus on criminal defence or estate agency.

Include Semantic and Related Keywords

Search engines like Google group keywords into broader categories of semantically linked terms- we call these LSI keywords, though LSA may actually be a more accurate term. These play a couple of roles in SEO, though not how you may think:

• Naturalistic writing helps search engines understand the topic and scope of your content, making its search results more relevant to its users by putting it in context.
• Searchers may not use the keywords you thought of, so related terms may capture traffic that you might otherwise miss.
• AI chatbots like ChatGPT make heavy use of semantic keywords to understand conversational queries and provide reasonable answers.

Examples of semantically related keywords might include things like “separation” and “divorce” or “criminal defence” and “public defender”. There are many synonyms for “lawyer” in common usage, so mixing them through your writing in a natural way will help.

Understand Search Intent

There are many reasons that people might turn to a search engine and want to find a lawyer. Some may be looking to hire you, others might be simply looking to understand legal principles. Your keywords and content should reflect these different intents.

For example, someone searching for “legal counsel near me” is probably looking to hire a lawyer in the near future- if not immediately. Ideally, you want them to find your landing pages, so longtail keywords like “professional legal advice for the Queens community” would best relate to this intent. Keywords here should focus largely on your services and location.

On the other hand, someone who searches for “how do zoning permits work” is more likely to be simply seeking general information on the subject. This traffic should be directed towards a blog explaining the topic in some detail and encouraging them to reach out. Here, keywords should be related to the topic of the blog.

Choosing Keywords for AI Search and Recommendations

AI treats keywords slightly differently from traditional search, and a good modern SEO strategy should take this into account. While all the rules above still generally apply, there are a few things that we need to consider on top.

First, there are two ways AI could mention your law firm.

The first is a mention- this means that they recommend your site directly, say if they were asked, “who is a good lawyer to deal with zoning problems near me?”

The second is a citation. This means that the AI bot is using your content to produce a more detailed response. This is mostly down to how well you meet that particular bot’s EEAT policies, though conversational keywords that are linked to the query (not necessarily directly matching it) still play an important role.

AI focuses on semantic links and conversational queries. That means we have to focus more on answering questions directly through longtail keywords rather than choosing particular keywords and stuffing them in. The exact wording matters less than the semantic link between the query and the content.

A user might ask their chosen AI something along the lines of “How do I protect my money from my soon-to-be ex?”. To target this search, keywords could include “asset protection during divorce” or “minimizing the cost of your divorce”. These are professional words that match the intent behind the search, and AI should be able to make the semantic link and cite your content.

How to Write Content for Legal Landing Pages and Blogs

Writing content for legal websites, whether that’s a detailed blog exploring a subject or a landing page aiming for pure conversions, takes even more thought than content for other types of sites.

Just like other sites, your content needs to answer questions the reader might have directly (particularly important for AI results), build trust, and encourage them to reach out and make contact with you.

Where it really differs is in the mental state of your readers. People searching for legal topics are likely to be stressed, confused, and searching urgently. This means that your content has to be both educational and emotionally sensitive. You want to project a calming confidence without overselling.

Writing for AI

Writing for AI is very similar to writing for humans. You need to pay less attention to matching the wording in the query and more to actually answering their question. Target things like “how to,” “why,” “where,” and “what,” and provide a natural answer. Your tone should be conversational and natural, while remaining professional.

Headings can be phrased as a descriptive question that aims to match the meaning of the reader’s query with the body forming the answer. Concentrate on a direct, simple answer in the first few lines and then expand as you move down the body. For example, you might have a section covering employment law with headings like “What are my rights around unfair dismissal?” or “Are you being discriminated against at work?”.

Structure also plays a large role in how easy it is for AI to parse your content. Make use of things like:

• Use the “inverted pyramid” technique- answer first with expanding details below.
• Bullet points - if a topic can be phrased simply, make it simple.
• Tables - this is the easiest way to display comparisons and data.
• Clear, descriptive headings - let AI and your readers know what the next topic is.

Your on-page EEAT is also even more important when thinking about writing for AI. Ensure that your authors are real, qualified lawyers, citations are impeccable, and original data is used when possible.

As the landscape around your content changes, go back and update it. This means adding new case references, including new judgments and laws as they happen. AI places a strong emphasis on offering the most up-to-date answers.

Landing Page Vs Blog

Landing pages should be concise and directly encourage people to make contact. Lay out the circumstances you can help with, key statistics, and other pertinent information like awards you’ve earned. These are “salesy” pieces, targeting people looking to hire a lawyer in the near future.

Blogs, on the other hand, allow you to explore a topic in more depth. Focus on educating your audience, really digging into the subject. These allow you to demonstrate your expertise to your potential customers, the search engines, and the AI bots. Break topics up into manageable chunks and, if you’re using any jargon, make sure that it’s clearly explained for laymen.

For both, ensure that any links are to high-quality, high-authority sites for the best SEO effect.

Updates and News

Updates and news about your practice, changes in the law, and other relevant topics are a fantastic source of content. While exploratory blogs and service landing pages should form the backbone of your SEO strategy, these shorter, more regular updates provide a chance to produce content more often. You only offer so many services, and legal blogs take time and consideration when writing, after all.

These updates can also serve to soften and humanize your online persona. Your clients will often be in a heightened emotional state, and a reassuring, human but professional voice may be just what they’re looking for.

Technical Considerations

There are a few back-end elements to think about when trying to get the most SEO bang from your content. The three main things to think about are implementing Schema Markups and your meta-titles and descriptions.

Schema Markup is a simple code that allows search engines and AI bots to make sense of your content more easily. There is a specific category for legal pages called LegalService that allows you to add details about your practice. It’s also worth including the more general LocalBusiness markup information, too. Include things like your opening hours, services, key staff members or partners, and their areas of expertise.

Your meta-title and description form the basis of how you appear in search results. The title will be displayed as a clickable link on the search results page, while the description will form the basis (often alongside the content of the page) of the text under it. Both of these should aim to describe exactly what the reader will find, should they follow the link.

Choosing Your Anchors

Anchors are the highlighted text that denote a hyperlink in your content. Which words you highlight matters for both AI and traditional search. There are various types you should include in your text, the most relevant being:

• Exact matches- these match a search term exactly. These should be kept to a minimum as too many may incur penalties for over-optimization.
• Partial matches- these include the search term, but also include more context. For example, if someone searches for “intellectual property lawyers”, this could be contained in the anchor “Intellectual property law is our specialization.”
• LSI- LSI stands for Latent Semantic Indexing. This means that the exact keyword isn’t used, but a semantically related term is. For example, this might be “attorney” rather than “lawyer” or vice versa. These place your link in context and are very important for AI results.
• Naked URLs- these are best used for referencing. A legal blog might have a list of naked links as footnotes, much like an academic essay.
• Branded- these are, as the name suggests, a link attached to your brand name. They’re best used in cases like “Brandon Mayers, from ABClaw” on guest posts.

AIs take much less notice of your anchor text exactly matching a search query and place more emphasis on meaning and the surrounding context of both the anchor and the link’s content. It’s better to focus on choosing descriptive, natural and contextual links between your content and your reference here.

Ideally, you want to have a diverse profile of different types of anchors as search engines may penalize you for overusing exact matches, despite them occasionally being the best option.

Specifics of Local SEO for Lawyers

Local SEO targets maps and “Near me” searches. These tend to be urgent, motivated searches that are looking to make contact either immediately or in the very near future. Ranking well in these results leads directly to conversions, with businesses in the local Map Pack (the top 3 map results) getting 93% more contacts than those in positions 4-10.

Local SEO also plays an outsized role in which businesses AI chatbots recommend in their conversations.

Targeting these local results means paying particular attention to:

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Google Business Profile

The first step towards dealing with your local SEO is to claim and verify your Google Business Profile (GBP). These digital calling cards are the single biggest factor in determining your local search position.

Once claimed, you need to optimize your profile:

• Use your precise business name, avoiding the temptation of keyword stuffing.
• Ensure contact details, names, and other information (NAP- name, address, phone) are consistent across your site, GBP, and any directories you’re listed in.
• Include your services and areas of legal practice.
• Specify your service areas, including city, neighbourhood, and surrounding areas.
• Enable messaging and contact settings- you want to make it easy to get in touch.
• Include team photos, images of your offices, and other relevant, professional pictures.
• Work on your business description, including keywords and their semantic links, but be wary of appearing “spammy”.

Dealing With Reviews

Once your GBP is set up, it allows your clients to leave reviews, rating and describing your services. It’s worth reaching out to them to encourage them to do this. Don’t be afraid to ask them to mention specific services that you offered them, as these reviews are taken into account when determining rankings for certain keywords.

As reviews are left, make sure that you’re responding to each one. Be courteous and professional, even when dealing with negative ratings, as potential clients really do read these. In fact, 96% of customers use them when making a decision. Active GBPs tend to rank higher than those who do not respond.

AI and your potential clients will place a lot of significance on your reviews, so don’t forget to mention it to your happy clients.

Listing on Local Directories

Listing on local directories not only provides a backlink, but it also highlights and reinforces your location to the search engines. These citations provide proof that your business works in the area that your website claims, reinforcing your place in the community to search engines and AI alike.

Consistency Across Platforms

Local search prioritizes businesses with consistent names, contact details, and addresses that match those listed on their GBP. We refer to this as NAP, which stands for Name, Address, Phone.

Make sure that these are consistent everywhere they are listed- your website, GBP, and any local or national directories- to avoid confusing search engines and AI bots or any potential customers who find you via a directory.

Embed Google Maps on Your Site

What could create a better link between your site and Google Maps than literally having it embedded on your page?

Having a map with a pin marking your legal offices embedded on your Contact Page sends a strong signal to Google that verifies your location, increases trustworthiness, and boosts your local search position significantly. It also helps your clients find you in the real world.

Optimize for Mobile

With around 76% of “near me” mobile searches happening on mobile devices, it’s worth optimizing your site to offer these users the best possible experience. When you consider that an even larger proportion of “lawyer near me” searches are urgent, say the searcher has been arrested or has just had an argument that has ended their marriage, getting this traffic is vital to success.

Websites optimized for mobile search have simple navigation menus, short paragraphs in their content, and load quickly, without too many images to slow things down.

This extends to the nature of your content, too. With around 46% of customers using voice search, targeting longtail, conversational keywords is more important than ever. Consider how your clients might phrase things when talking to an AI assistant when crafting your blogs and landing pages.

Localize Your Blogs and Landing Pages

Localizing your content, unsurprisingly, will boost your local search results. Aim to answer questions that clients might have about local laws, mentioning your location. Not only will this signal to the search engines and AI that you are a local lawyer, but it’s also a good way to demonstrate expertise to Google and your clients alike.

You should mention your city, neighborhood, and other relevant geographical information naturally throughout your copy. Remember to follow our advice above and avoid keyword stuffing: copy must always read naturally to avoid penalties.

What SEO Struggles Do Legal Websites Have?

Regardless of industry, SEO is a marathon rather than a sprint. Results may take anywhere between 3 and 9 months to really start to show. For legal firms, with even higher bars set by the search engines and AI companies and competition between firms, it might be towards the higher end of that scale.

For newer firms, or those that have changed their domain recently, this can be even more of a struggle. Older, more established sites will generally have higher authority, thanks to having more backlinks and reputation. It takes time to build up these signals and see your firm start to rank more consistently.

That being said, in the long term, SEO provides one of the best value ways of getting your business in front of motivated, intentional customers. Appearing at the top of the SERPs means that your business is the first that they see when they’re urgently searching for advice or representation.

The key to overcoming these problems is consistency. SEO is an ongoing process, and you should be continuously refining your digital marketing efforts, covering as many bases as possible to see the best results.

Conclusion: Why Focus on Local SEO for Lawyers

Getting to the top of local and traditional search results or getting your firm recommended by AI will have a huge effect on how many clients get in touch. While results will take time and consistent effort, especially in the legal field, the results speak for themselves.

Many of your potential clients will be stressed, confused, and in a heightened emotional state, so being the first result that they see in their moment of crisis, offering a friendly, local service puts you in a good position.

For those with less urgent queries, providing them with detailed, expertly crafted answers builds trust and means you’re the ones that they turn to when they need a local lawyer.