Local SEO for law firms FAQs
What are the benefits of local SEO for law firms?
There are so many benefits of local SEO for lawyers, so although it might seem less important than national SEO, or less important to firms targeting clients on a national scale, you couldn’t be more wrong!
Some of the benefits of a local SEO strategy include:
- More traffic to your website, leading to more enquiries
- More Google reviews help to build trust and credibility for your firm
- Local keywords targeting clients you might not otherwise reach
- Better navigation and user experience of your website because content has been optimised
- Appearing higher than your competitors for search terms
Why should I choose Conscious for my local SEO services for lawyers?
We only work with law firms, which means we know which sections of your local SEO are most important for driving enquiries and we know how to correctly optimise your Google Business Profiles to drive the most traffic to your website. Our team work with over 300 law firms to help them become more successful online and have helped law firms of all sizes of to increase the number of enquiries they are getting to their website. Our legal SEO experts stay up to date with all changes and updates to the local SEO landscape and prioritise getting clients’ websites updated. Have a look at the successes we have seen for our local SEO law firm clients.
What is NAP in local SEO for law firms?
NAP stands for name, address, and phone number, and you want to ensure all of these are included and up to date in your listings on third-party websites. If you have more than one office, create a separate Google Business Profile (GBP) for each of the locations.
What is Google’s Local Search Pack?
When a potential client searches for something like “family law solicitors Bristol”, more localised results will show up in the search engine results pages (SERPs), thanks to search engines like Google focusing on local SEO to help clients find and recommend law firms online. What usually appears is a map and three local listings relevant to the search intent of the user, known as Google's Local Search Pack. This feature is crucial for improving visibility on search engines for local legal queries. You want to ensure you are optimising your Google Business Profile (GBP) to ensure your firm appears above its competitors in these local search results and the local search pack. This includes things like adding relevant pictures to your account – your office, team, and event stalls, as well as getting Google reviews and adding your contact details and opening times.
Do I need to be worried about my law firm’s Google reviews for local SEO?
Google reviews are not only great for local SEO for law firms, but they also help your law firm to build trust, credibility and reliability. Social proof helps your law firm to be seen as a better choice over competitors, so it is important for your firm to be asking for and responding to Google Reviews. Read our guide to Google Reviews for best practices.
What are the important ranking factors for local SEO for lawyers?
Firstly, service pages and content silos (hyper-localised service pages) can be important for your local SEO rankings. That’s because although your website might state you have offices in London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Bristol, without writing content that is localised to these areas, your content might be missed by Google. At Conscious, we ensure that the service pages of your website are well-optimised, and when needed, we also create hyper-localised versions of pages to give you an edge over your competitors. This will help your firm to rank better in the localised search engine results.
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) presence is also essential for showing up in localised searches. Google will identify things like distance to the searcher, relevance to the search intent, and the prominence of your firm. This includes things like having reviews and a robust external linking profile. Without optimising these factors, unless you have a very high domain rating, you likely won’t appear as the first few firms on the map pack.
Finally, your NAP name, address, and phone number must be consistent everywhere they appear on the internet, so we recommend not using call tracking numbers (like Ruler Analytics) here.
How can I verify my Google Business Profile (GBP) or Bing Places account?
Take a look at our step-by-step guide to identify how to verify your local business profiles. Both Bing and Google are always adding new features and updates, so it’s important to regularly take a look at how your profiles are performing. Not all features are essential for law firms, though; take a look at Google’s profile strength score from 2023 to see what we mean.
Where should I start with local SEO for solicitors?
As with anything, we would suggest a local SEO audit is the first place to start so you can identify what your law firm already has, the current strength of your profile and what needs to be optimised. Once you have completed this, ensuring your Google Business Profile is optimised would be a good next step. This involves adding photos of your firm, responding to any reviews you might have as well as checking that all your details are up to date. Keyword research here will also be very important and beneficial.
Is website content still important for local SEO for lawyers?
Yes, sometimes your clients will search for the answer to a question, not necessarily needing the answer from a local firm. So, it’s important to ensure you are optimising your content for local searches as well as questions your potential clients might be asking. At Conscious, if you decide on a full SEO for solicitors’ strategy, we will work on your national and local SEO to ensure your law firm’s content ranks for as many search terms as possible that your clients might be searching for.
Do law firms need local SEO?
Local SEO works to build up your presence in the local area, but it’s not only suitable for those firms looking for a local reach. Optimising your Google Business Profile (GBP) means that when existing clients are searching for your firm, they can find your contact details easily. In addition, Google Reviews is important for building trust and credibility with all clients, not just clients based in your local area. Although local SEO for law firms helps to generate new leads from the local area, it isn’t the only leads it helps to drive so whether you are looking for local or national clients, local SEO for law firms should be on your to-do list.
How can I get more Google Reviews for my law firm?
Google Reviews are important for your law firm, but it can sometimes feel like a time-consuming job trying to gain them. Our top tip for getting Google Reviews for your law firm would be to have a process for asking for them in place. This could be mid-way through the case or once the case has been completed. We’d also recommend asking for reviews directly, so any negative feedback a client might have can be passed on to a person directly, rather than a review just being left online – after all, you can’t delete a review on Google just because you don’t like it!
Does social media improve my law firm’s local SEO rankings?
No, social media isn’t a ranking factor for search engine results pages (SERPs). However, videos on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram have been shown to appear in the SERPs from time to time. By having a strong presence on social media and optimising your social media captions to include keywords, you could increase the chances of your firm’s content showing up on the results pages, but it won’t directly affect the rankings of your website or Google Business Profile (GBP).
