Attorney SEO Optimization: 12 Things Your Website Needs in 2021

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About 68% of all online experiences begin with a search engine like Google. When a prospective client starts searching for a law firm, your firm should appear. However, there’s a chance your competitors are outranking you on relevant search pages.

With search engine optimization (SEO), you can boost your ranking and reach more customers. Brand awareness and recognition will rise.

Meanwhile, you’ll have an easier time establishing your credibility online. Attorney SEO can even help you boost website traffic, leads, and consultation appointments.

Not sure where to start? Here are 12 things your website needs for strong SEO. With SEO for attorney websites, you can set your practice up for success.

Get started with these law firm SEO tips today.

1. Core Web Vitals

Google is constantly making updates to its search engine algorithm. If you’re not up-to-date with these changes, your SEO ranking could drop. 

One of Google’s recent updates is its Core Web Vitals. Google uses its Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor. They’re metrics used to determine the user experience on your website.

If people aren’t having a positive user experience, they’ll leave without clicking around. Your clickthrough rate and dwell times will drop. Meanwhile, your bounce rate will start to rise. 

A high bounce rate can hurt your attorney SEO. You’ll struggle to appear in front of potential clients as a result.

Instead, update your website with Google’s Core Web Vitals in mind. For example, you can:

  • Optimize images
  • Use better web hosting
  • Preload any custom web fonts
  • Create fixed dimensions for images
  • Enable browser caching
  • Use a content delivery network
  • Minify Javascript and CSS codes
  • Reduce the number of iframes and embedded content
  • Split up long Javascript tasks
  • Delete unnecessary Javascript files and codes
  • Use page caching
  • Compress and minify Javascript files
  • Eliminate unnecessary third-party scripts (plugins and themes)

You can learn more about Google’s Core Web Vitals to fix poor user experiences on your website here.

2. Faster Load Times

Consumers can get frustrated if your web pages take too long to load. In fact, they could leave, causing a higher bounce rate. Meanwhile, you’ll lose a chance to convert that visitor into a lead or client.

Instead, speed up your page load times.

First, run your website through Google’s PageSpeed Insights. This tool can determine what’s causing your pages to lag.

Then, update the desktop and mobile versions of your site to load faster. 

3. Mobile Optimization

People who have a negative experience with the mobile version of your site are 62% less likely to make a future purchase. Meanwhile, a one-second delay loading mobile pages can hurt conversions by up to 20%.

Google uses mobile-first indexing to determine page rankings. If your website isn’t mobile-optimized, your competitors are likely ranking ahead of you. You can run your website through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to double-check.

Update your site for mobile optimization right away to improve your attorney website SEO rankings. 

4. Better UX

Remember, a positive user experience (UX) can encourage people to remain on your pages longer. You can improve the UX on your website by:

  • Using shorter sentences and paragraphs
  • Organizing your navigation
  • Optimizing your forms
  • Organizing content under headings and subheadings
  • Maintaining brand consistency

Consider working with an experienced web design and development agency to update your website for better UX. Improving your site can encourage people to explore and click around. Your attorney SEO rankings could rise as a result.

5. EAT

If you’re looking into SEO services for attorneys, consider finding a company that can write your content. When creating your website content, make sure to establish EAT.

EAT stands for expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Demonstrating EAT can help you establish your credibility in the industry. You can position yourself as a thought leader and draw more people to your law firm website.

You can establish EAT by:

  • Adding reviews and social proof to your website
  • Establishing your personal brand
  • Backing up any claims you make with research and statistics
  • Adding author bios to blog posts
  • Demonstrating your experience and expertise
  • Working with industry influencers

Using SEO services for attorneys to build your credibility can help you draw more traffic and generate more leads. 

6. Search Intent

Before hiring attorney SEO services, make sure the agency you work with understands search intent. Google’s machine learning allows it to better understand what consumers are looking for during a search. If your content isn’t appealing to the user’s search intent, your ranking could drop.

Instead, take the time to research your target audience and their search habits. Then, determine if their query is navigational, informational, and transactional.

Understanding the user’s search intent will help you better appeal to their needs and interests. They’ll click on your website from Google’s search engines. As you generate more traffic, your ranking will continue to rise. 

Then, you can position yourself in front of more clients and draw fresh leads.

7. Long-Form, Quality Content

It’s not enough to understand the consumer’s search intent, though. If you want to improve your attorney SEO strategy, consider the content you’re creating. Focus on quality over quantity.

Google looks for blog content that’s helpful and informative.

When writing blog content, make sure to remove fluff. Instead, offer helpful, actionable advice.

Your readers will continue coming back for more. Meanwhile, you can establish your credibility, which can help you build brand trust. You might have an easier time drawing in leads as a result. 

8. Quality Backlinks

About 99% of the websites ranking in the top results of Google have at least one external link. External links send readers to other websites. When developing your link-building strategy, it’s important to consider three different links:

  • Internal links
  • External links
  • Backlinks

Internal links are links that send readers to other pages on your website. Adding internal links to your posts can encourage readers to explore your content. Your clickthrough rate and dwell times will rise, too.

Remember, a higher clickthrough rate and dwell time can boost your SEO for attorney websites.

Backlinks are essential to successful attorney SEO. Backlinks are links on other websites that send readers to your content. When generating backlinks,  it’s important to focus on sites that have a high domain authority (DA).

Google will recognize you’re generating backlinks from quality websites and decide to boost your DA, too. Your search engine ranking could rise as a result.

The first result on a Google search page has 3.8 times more backlinks on average than the websites below it.

There are a few different ways you can generate high-quality backlinks.

First, make an effort to improve your content. If your content is informative and high-quality, people will want to link to your posts.

Try guest blogging more often, too. You can write content for someone else’s website. Then, link those readers to your website within the post.

Make sure to generate a diverse mix of different backlinks.

For example, you should also update your listings on any relevant online listings. Consumers can find your website from these listings, then learn more about your law firm. You can generate more referral traffic, which can boost your SEO ranking.

Don’t forget to update your Google My Business listing, too. Your Google My Business listing is an important component of your local SEO strategy.

If you’re struggling to generate links, consider attorney SEO services. An experienced SEO agency can help you get started. 

9. On-Page Optimization

In order to improve your attorney SEO, you’ll need to consider your on-page optimization. 

On-page SEO will help you rank for specific keywords. Have a target keyword in mind for each post. Then, include your target keyword in the blog post’s:

  • URL
  • Page title
  • An H1
  • Meta description
  • Image alt text
  • Image file name
  • Opening and closing paragraphs
  • Body text

It’s important to avoid keyword stuffing, which could lead Google to penalize and backlist your site. Instead, use secondary keywords and synonyms.

Consider your technical SEO, too. For example, you should make sure you don’t have any crawl errors. Otherwise, Google will struggle to view your content.

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. Look for and fix any broken links, too.

Make sure to secure your site with an SSL certificate as well. You should see “HTTPS” in front of your domain name. 

10. Navigation

Remember, you’ll want to make sure it’s easy for people to explore your content. Your clickthrough rate and dwell times can improve, boosting your ranking.

Update your navigation to make sure your site is easy to explore. Consider adding a navigation menu to the footer, too. 

11. Calls to Action

You can also boost your clickthrough rate by adding a call to action to your blog posts. Encourage readers to take a specific action. For example, you can encourage them to contact you for a consultation appointment.

12. Schema

Schema makes it easier for Google to understand your content. It can also help your content appear for featured snippets. Featured snippets appear at the top of search pages.

You could appear in front of more clients as a result. 

Successful Attorney SEO: 12 Website Factors to Consider for Optimization

Don’t miss the chance to boost your attorney SEO ranking. Instead, keep these 12 tips for improving your attorney website SEO in mind. With these tips, you can reach more clients and start booking more consultation appointments. 

You don’t have to develop your SEO strategy alone. We’re here to help.

Contact us today for attorney SEO services you can count on.

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