When it comes to your online presence, you may not give it much thought beyond having a website. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of compensation in the legal field, and if you aren’t taking steps to stand out from your competition, your legal services may be lost in all the “noise.”
While it can be frustrating to realize your website isn’t ranking as well in search results as you hoped, there are solutions to this issue. One is to focus on local SEO (search engine optimization).
What Is Local SEO?
Put simply; local SEO is when you (or your marketing team) focus on improving the search engine ranking and visibility in the local search results. This includes the Local Pack and Google’s Map Pack.
While you may not realize it, local search is an important part of any successful SEO strategy. That’s because it’s designed to target people in your city, region, or local area. This is especially important for law firms.
Chances are you already use some organic SEO tactics. After all, this is how you improve your site’s ranking in organic searches. Your organic results do impact your Local Pack rankings, which means local and organic SEO are connected. Even though this is the case, it doesn’t make them the same thing.
Local SEO for Law Firms
Local SEO means you focus on optimizing your site for local search results. Doing this will improve where you appear in Google’s Map Pack and Local Pack and help you rank higher and appear more often when someone searches for the services you offer. When done properly, your law firm will show up more often when a relevant query is made.
The mission of Google is to provide searchers with the best information possible for their questions. This has been made clear by an increased focus on searcher intent. If Google’s algorithms detect that a person’s intent is local (they want something nearby), the Map Pack results will be shown along with organic results for other services or firms nearby.
Google is also good at figuring out when a searcher has an immediate local need. As a result, they can also cater their results to these searches. They understand that ensuring the best information is presented in local search results will pay off and provide searchers with what they are looking for.
When it comes to organic SEO, providing a great user experience is a must; however, Google has also provided guidelines for local SEO best practices. When you follow these guidelines, you can maximize your site’s visibility in the Map Pack and ensure your listing isn’t suspended.
Understanding the Importance of Local SEO for Your Law Firm’s Website
If you want to understand the importance of local search, it’s a good idea to get to know some of the statistics about it:
- Approximately 99% of consumers use search engines to find information about local businesses each year.
- Approximately 78% of consumers use search engines to find out more about local businesses once per week.
- Approximately 21% of consumers use search engines to find information about local businesses each day.
It’s clear you need to assume that people nearby are using local search tactics to find the information they need. This includes local law firms. Focusing on local SEO tactics will help you show up for the queries when they are relevant to your legal services. The more your site appears in these searches, the better chance you have of being seen by a potential client.
Also, for law firms and attorneys, Google displays a “call” button right in the local search results when someone uses a mobile phone. This is especially important if you work in an area of law where someone will want to set up a consultation as quickly as possible. If done properly, you can optimize your website for local search and ensure your law firm is in front of people when they need an attorney.
Contact Our Legal Marketing Team for Help and Information
Local optimization for your law firm’s website can be confusing. Because of this, you may need help achieving the desired results. We will look at your existing strategy and take steps to implement local SEO tactics to help ensure your site starts appearing in local search results.
Just like any other type of SEO, results won’t be seen overnight. However, we will work diligently to ensure you get the local results you want and need for your website. With our help, you can feel confident local clients will start finding your law firm through search.
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