Local SEO for Law Firms

What is local SEO for law firms?

Local SEO is the name for the range of activities designed to ensure your firm appears prominently in search engines when someone searches for your services in a specific location.  

Local SEO primarily focuses on your Google Business Profile listing however, it also encompasses pages on your site which are optimised for local search terms. For example, having pages for satellite towns or particular suburbs you wish to target in order to rank in these locations.  

Local SEO differs from ‘core’ Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in several ways. SEO aims to rank your website in the main organic results pages in Search Engines for certain keywords, however, this can generate leads from outside your local area.  

By contrast, the aim of local SEO is to use your Google Business Profile and location-specific pages to bring in ready-to-instruct leads in your area.  

A comprehensive local SEO strategy integrates various elements—from website content and technical improvements to local listings and reputation management—to build a robust local presence.  

This allows Google to deliver results based on proximity and relevance whenever people carry out a search with a location modifier or navigational intent. 

Indeed, Google now even suggests “near me” as a suffix to many searches. When typing something into Google search, we are now frequently prompted to add ‘near me’ to our search term, or an actual location, for example:

Why is local SEO important?

The data supports incorporating local SEO into your marketing strategy: 

Today, 46% of searches have ‘local intent’ according to Search Engine Roundtable, a leading industry publication. This means almost half of people are searching for goods, services or locations near them. 

In addition, the majority of these local searches are from mobile device – more than 60% according to leading software tool BrightLocal. 

A significant proportion of these are also navigational in intent – i.e. the user is looking for directions to a particular location. According to Google, 76% of users who perform a local search end up visiting the location that day. 

These statistics tell us that mobile devices have shaped how people search for and purchase services. As Law firms, we can now use that to our advantage by optimising our online presence for these terms these searches to attract more clients.  

Putting your firm on the map

The overarching aim of Local SEO is to establish your firm in the local results that appear next to the map in Google Searches:

As you can see, there is even scope to advertise in this section with the “Sponsored” link. 

What does this mean for law firms? 

In short, it represents a significant opportunity to get head of your competition. Many firms still fail to grasp this opportunity and, in doing so, allow competitor firms to dominate the online space.   

Your Google Business Profile can be a powerful source of calls and enquiries. According to Google, more than 60% of smartphone users now contact businesses directly from Google search pages using the “click to call” button on the Google Business profile.  

Having a complete, up-to-date and optimised Google Business Profile is one of the cheapest and most effective way to generate additional leads for your firm.  

Your Google Business Profile showcases your reviews, highlights your expertise, lets client find you and provides prominent ‘calls to action’ to allow clients to contact you.

How to optimise your law firm’s Google Business Profile 

Whenever someone performs an online search, Google will try to return the most relevant results from its index.  

To do so, it utilises several ‘ranking factors’ to determine relevance and quality. Local SEO uses a different and unique set of ‘ranking factors’ to other forms of SEO to provide these results. 

These factors include: 

• The web user’s physical location 

• The keywords used in the Google Business Profile 

• The presence and rating of online reviews 

• The amount of citations for that business in local directories which include accurate NAP (name, address and phone number) 

• The number of users who previously visited that location 

• Social Media shares 

Most of these can be optimised for, to some extent although some may take longer than others.  

The key steps are as follows: 

Conduct Keyword Research

The foundation of any SEO strategy, including local SEO, is robust keyword research. Begin by identifying practice and location-specific keywords which potential clients are likely to use when searching for legal services.

Then, incorporate geographical modifiers to these terms – “probate lawyer Leeds” or “divorce solicitor Birmingham” for example.  

This research can be carried out using a number of advanced keyword research tools, such including Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Moz. These will provide insights into search volume, competition levels, and user intent. 

On-Page Optimisation

Once the keyword research is complete, these need to be implemented into the website. Each page on the website should be refined to align clearly with the desired practice-area and location-based keywords.  

Ensuring that these keywords feature in the Header Tags (H1, H2, H3) will help search engines understand the content of your site and rank it appropriately. 

Add location to your site’s “meta data”

When you are on a web page, you will see a little snippet of info in the browser tab. This is called “meta data” – this tells Google what the page is about.  

Optimising these tags are vital for SEO generally, but local SEO in particular. A typical structure is “[Practice Area] Lawyer [Location] | [Firm name]”  

Add Schema Markup to your site

Just as metadata is an important signal to Google, so is Schema Markup. This is code that gives Google vital information about your firm. This includes locations, contact info, your practice areas, information about your solicitors, reviews and so on. 

Optimising your firm’s Google Business Profile

Your firm’s “Google Business Profile” is the cornerstone of your local SEO efforts.  

Having an accurate and up-to-date profile is the first step. Ensure you have the correct address, opening hours, services, links to your site, contact details and so on to provide relevant information to users and search engines alike. 

According to Google, customers are 2.7x more likely to think your business is reputable if you have a complete Google Business Profile, and 70% more likely to visit your site. 

Adding products & services as well as publishing updates to your profile will keep it fresh and relevant in Google’s eyes.  

Google Reviews & Online Reputation

Reviews are a vital part of your Google My Business Strategy. Reviews are the most powerful trust signal, with as many as 80% of clients reading these before instructing you. Every review gives new clients vital information about your firm, your services and your USP. 

Having in place a systematic process for the collection of these reviews is a vital step -begin by soliciting feedback from every client upon completion of their matter and asking them to provide reviews on platforms such as Google, TrustPilot and ReviewSolicitors 

Local Directory Submission

Local citations are the cornerstone of local SEO. These are listings of your firm on third party websites and directories such as Yell, LocalPages and ThomsonLocal. 

Just like backlinks with traditional SEO, local citations act as trust signals for Google. There are tools that automate this (it can be a laborious process) or an agency like Kee Digital Media can assist. 

Having up-to-date and fully fleshed out profiles on the Law Society website can also help. Once built, keeping these up to date and connected to your website will ensure your firm ranks prominently in local searches.

Use Local keywords in your SEO

It’s not only your Google Business Profile pages that need local optimisation – your site does too. Rather than optimising just for your service, add in locations too. People will also add the city/locality as well as “near me” in searches which means these need added too. 

It can be tempting to keep your website’s internal pages ‘clean’ and reduce the amount of text in headers, but having locations in your page title and throughout the text can help rank in local searches.   

For example, you may wish to change your header from “Family Law” to “Family Lawyers Liverpool” as this indicates to search engines what your primary keyword is, as well as where you are based.   

Localise your content

In short, this means personalising your content to your jurisdiction and location. If you work in a particular local court often, mention it. If you do a lot of conveyancing in particular areas, mention this area in your content. Not only does this help win trust with potential clients, it adds depth to your content, helping you comply with Google’s EEAT (experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness) guidelines.  

Leverage Social Media

A significant part of winning business online is trust. Winning your clients trust as quickly as possible on you website can be the difference between being instructed and being overlooked entirely.  

Having populated social media accounts which showcase your firm’s specialism, as well as showcasing your personality and culture will help local clients identify with you, and help you win their trust. 

Many web users now use social media to communicate with businesses in real time, and this provides an opportunity to engage with clients and win trust. Ensuring your inboxes are monitored and communications promptly responded to will help you win more business.  

and you should be no different. Facebook, Instagram and, if you can manage it, TikTok are vital channels to reach different demographics. 

Take it offline

One of the most important elements of local SEO is an offline presence – local advertising, participating in local charity events and working with local interest groups can boost your offline profile – and greatly assist your online business generation. 

Ranking prominently for “[practice area] near me” will generate new enquiries and revenue. This then has a self-fulfilling additional impact to your firm’s brand recognition. 

There are a number of tools which can track local rankings. Two of the most prominent are LocalFalcon and SEMRush. 

These tools provide a grid overlay of your location, showing approximate rankings in each area: 

Local Rankings can fluctuate according to a number of factors including opening times, but they provide a barometer of how your local SEO is performing. 

Google also provides their own reporting within Google Business Profile under the “performance” tab which will show you how many times the profile has been viewed, how many people have called you from there, and how many people have asked for directions to your office directly from your profile. 

At Kee Digital Media we have a team of Local SEO specialists who can help your firm turn your website and online presence into a profitable source of enquiries. To find out how we can help you, schedule a call with a digital strategy expert. 

If you’d like to generate more business locally, we can help. Book a free strategy call with a Kee Digital Media local marketing expert today.