How to Write Great Law Firm SEO: The Ultimate Guide
This guide teaches you step-by-step how to write great legal blogs and practice area pages to drive website traffic, establish you as an authority in your field, and convert readers to clients.
1) Choosing a topic and title for law firm SEO
Choosing the topic is the first step and arguably the most important. Be specific when defining the topic. The purpose is to show clients that you can solve their particular issues. The more of an expert you are on their specific problem, the more likely they will hire you.
Choosing the Topic
For practice area pages, the topic will typically be the practice area plus your location. For example, ‘’San Diego Trademark Lawyer,’’ ‘’Encinitas Car Accident Attorney,’’ or ‘’Immigration Lawyer in Chula Vista.’’
For blogs, there are two ways to choose topics: 1) choosing a topic by keyword or 2) choosing a topic by idea. The important thing is that you write about what your potential clients are searching for. The best way to do that is to write about topics that address a specific pain point for your clients.
Choose topics about the types of cases that you want more of. Some good ideas for blog topics include your clients’ most common questions, common pitfalls within your practice area and how to avoid them, changes to rules and regulations within your practice area, and topics trending in your practice area and location.
Choosing the Title
Once you’ve identified the topic, choose the title by thinking of a few keywords people are likely to search for, then type them into Google. Google will auto-fill the keywords with long-tail key phrases. These auto-fills are the most popular searches on the topic. As such, the auto-fills are a great source for keywords and key phrases to use in your title.
Location
Using your location in the title of your blog post is a good idea. It helps Google define the purpose of your webpage and connect you to the audience you are trying to reach. You want to optimize for search results within your geographic area. For example, use a title like ‘’Electric Scooter Laws in San Diego’’ rather than simply ‘’Electric Scooter Laws.’’
2) Choosing keywords and headings for law firm SEO
Choosing appropriate keywords and headings is critical for Google rankings. We recommend first identifying the keywords and headings and then using them as a frame to build the article around. It’s easier to rank for long-tail keywords (3-5 words) than for simple ones.
As such, we recommend using long-tail keywords in highly competitive markets. We also strongly recommend using location-based keywords. For example, if you use ”San Diego Business Formations Lawyer,” you will rank higher than if you used “business lawyer.”
How to Choose Keywords
Choose the keywords that people are most likely to Google when looking for your content. Their search terms are your keywords. Google Keyword Planner is an excellent, free resource for identifying keywords. Ubersuggest (free) and Semrush (paid) are other keyword analysis tools.
How to Choose Headings
Headings are important for Google search results as they help Google determine the intent and purpose of your article. Use keywords and location in your headings, but only when it makes logical sense. Don’t try to stuff keywords into your article where they don’t belong. It will not help.
We suggest Googling every heading and subheading and checking the auto-fills for ideas about which words to use.
It’s good to phrase headings as questions, as people often enter search terms in the form of questions.
Formatting
Your headings should always be properly formatted (H1, H2, H3). Proper formatting is very important for Google rankings. Use headings often – one heading for every paragraph or two (or maybe three if the paragraphs are small). Using lots of headings makes the article easily readable and scannable, which means it will have a lower bounce rate.
Keyword Density
Your keyword density should be 1-3% (1-3 words out of 100). So, for a 1,000-word article with a five-word keyphrase, you would use the keyphrase six times. Using the key phrase too few or too many times will cause the article to rank lower.
Use Alternate Keywords and Key Phrases
If your keyword density is too high, try using synonyms or alternate key phrases, as these do not count towards your keyword density. Using closely related keywords in your writing is a good idea because you also want to rank high for these phrases. You can measure your article’s keyword density using a WordPress plugin like Rank Math.
Avoid Keyword Stuffing
Resist the urge to cram as many keywords as possible into your article. Google penalizes for ‘’keyword stuffing’’ or overuse of keywords. Your content must have the right keyword density to rank as high as possible on Google.
3) Internal and external links for law firm SEO
Every law firm web page you publish should have at least one internal and one external link. Building an extensive network of internal and external links on your website improves Google rankings and search results.
Internal Links
Internal links are links to other articles on your website, such as your blogs and practice area pages. Use as many internal links as possible. Be familiar with the material in your blogs and practice area pages, and link to them whenever you can.
Include detailed information about your related practice areas in your blogs and provide links to those pages. For example, if you are an estate planning lawyer writing about a wills and trusts issue that also raises business law issues, discuss the business law issues in detail and provide links to your business law practice pages.
External Links
External links go to any website other than yours. External links to authoritative sites establish credibility and build trust with Google. Thus, external links to trusted sites are good for SEO. Provide links to relevant statutes and legal authorities in your articles. However, link only to high-quality, trusted sites (such as .gov and .edu websites).
Make sure that your external links open in a new tab. If external links open in the same tab, Google will count it as though the reader left your website – this is bad for SEO. Have your internal links open in the same tab and your external links open in a new tab.
Link Text
Use concise link text. Keep link text to four words or less and use the minimum necessary words. Long link text causes confusion and functionality issues.
However, make the links as descriptive as possible and provide as much context as possible. Google assigns value to context because it helps Google understand the purpose of the link and the article. Thus, providing context in your link text helps rankings.
Be concise, but be as descriptive as possible.
Link Stuffing
Every link should be on topic and add something to the article. Don’t ”link stuff” or cram as many links into the article as possible, thinking it will boost SEO. It won’t. Search engines penalize for link stuffing. Use links often, but only when it makes logical sense.
4) Readability and style for law firm SEO
Your legal blogs should be detailed and legally accurate, but must also be easy to read. Write your blogs at an 8th-grade reading level. That means someone with an 8th-grade reading level could easily read and understand your blog.
Lawyers often fail at this because when they write about the law, they write like they are writing for judges or lawyers. Their work reads like a law review article, which the average reader cannot understand. Thus, their articles rank low on Google, and nobody sees them.
Remember, your audience is potential clients, not lawyers or judges. Translating complex legal concepts into plain English can be challenging, so we recommend the following tips for legal blog style and readability.
Use short words
Use the simplest and most direct words possible. Use as few syllables as possible, and avoid using words with four syllables or more. Avoid using legal jargon. Explain things clearly, concisely, and in plain language.
‘’Don’t use a dollar word when a 10-cent word will do.’’
Use short sentences
Sentence length greatly impacts readability. 75% of your sentences should be 20 words or less. Break longer sentences down into shorter ones. The shorter the words and sentences, the more readable the article. All your legal blogs should be as reader-friendly as possible.
Use short paragraphs
Each paragraph should be 3-5 sentences (6-7 max) and 150 words or less. Each paragraph should be about a single topic. Divide longer paragraphs into two shorter ones, or use subheadings to break the paragraph down even further. Readers and search engines like short paragraphs because they are easier to read and scan, leading to a lower bounce rate.
Avoid lists and bullets
Use bullets minimally. Instead of using bullet points, make each bullet a subheading and write a short paragraph about it – this will improve the article’s readability and search results.
Also, avoid long lists separated by commas. Instead, use the same technique of making each item a subheading and writing a short paragraph about it. Doing so will make the article easier to read and process.
Avoid passive voice
Always use active voice in your blogs. Passive voice is harder for the reader to understand. Less than 10% of your sentences should be in passive voice. Grammar tools like Grammarly can be useful for identifying and eliminating passive voice from your writing. To change the passive voice to active, change the verb and switch the actor and receiver. For example, change “Bob was hit by Bill” (passive) to “Bill hit Bob” (active).
Use Transition Words
Transition words link thoughts together and make the article flow. They show the relationship between words, sentences, and paragraphs. Common transition words include ‘’and, but, so, because, thus, therefore, as such’’ and many more. Use transition words to improve readability and make your article flow better.
Without transition words, your article may sound disjointed or choppy. Grammar tools like Grammarly can be useful for determining where to add transition words to improve the article’s flow.
Use Readability Scores
You can check your article’s readability score for free using Microsoft Word. Your article should be readable by an 8th-grade student. If your readability scores are low, you can improve them by 1) using shorter words, sentences, and paragraphs, 2) eliminating legal jargon, 3) changing passive voice to active voice, and 4) using more transition words.
5) Article length for law firm SEO
Every article you write should establish you as the authority on the subject matter in your location. Thus, every article should be long enough to establish you as the leading expert on the topic. The appropriate length of the article depends on the number of words necessary to establish you as the top expert on the subject.
Write every article as tightly as possible, with no fluff. Every word, sentence, and paragraph should be as clear and concise as possible. Every word in the article should be completely necessary.
Length of Practice Area Pages
Your practice area pages should be at least 2,500 to 5,000 words. However, articles of up to 10,000 words may be necessary to dominate local search results depending on the keyword and location.
To determine how long your practice area pages should be, run a Google search and identify the article ranking #1 for your practice area in your location (i.e. ‘’San Diego Car Accident Lawyer’’). Use a word counter to determine the length of the article. Then, write an article that is longer and more comprehensive than the article ranking #1.
Length of Legal Blogs
Every legal blog you write should establish you as an expert on the topic you are writing. Thus, your blogs should typically be 2,000 words or more to dominate search results. For narrow topics, 1,000-1,500 words may be okay, but longer articles are typically better for search results.
To determine how long an article must be to dominate search results, use the same technique described above: search for the #1 article on the subject, see how long it is, and write something longer and more comprehensive.
Granular issues may require fewer words, but focusing on long-form content that can dominate local search results is generally a better strategy.
Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity when it comes to SEO. Your writing should always be tight. It is better to have 1,500 tightly written words than 2,000 rambling words where the important information gets lost.
Length of Other Web Pages
There are no hard, fast rules for how long your Home Page, About Us Page, and FAQ Pages should be. However, here are some optimal ranges that you can use as general guidelines: Home Page (700-1,200 words), About Us Page (700-1,200 words), FAQ Page (500-1,000 words).
6) Proofreading for law firm SEO
Your content is your opportunity to impress potential clients. As such, your spelling and grammar must be impeccable. Mistakes in your online content erode trust. Carefully proofread each article for typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors before you publish it.
It is best to have someone else proofread your article for you. However, if you do not have someone to proofread it, use a grammar checker like Grammarly to ensure your article is free from mistakes.
Your online content should accurately reflect the quality of your firm’s service. Always ensure your article is free from errors and omissions before publishing it.
7) Do not plagiarize or cannibalize content
Plagiarism is stealing content from other people’s websites. Content cannibalization is stealing content from your own website. Plagiarism and content cannibalization both cause your website to rank lower on Google.
Originality is important for Google rankings. Thus, we recommend reviewing your article using plagiarism-checking software such as Grammarly before you publish it. This way, you can eliminate repetitive language and ensure the content is 100% original.
8) Use a professional photo
Every article you publish should have a featured image that is engaging and directly related to the written content. The photos should be of professional quality and in a consistent style with the other pictures on your website. The images should be clear, centered, properly focused, uncluttered, attention-grabbing, and directly correlated to the written message.
You can find free, professional-quality photos at Pexels, Pixabay, and other stock photo websites.
9) Put a call to action on every page
Every page on your website should have a clear call to action, such as “Contact Us” or “Schedule a Free Consultation Today.” The call to action is how your website converts readers into clients. Your call to action may prompt the reader to call, email, complete an intake form, or make a purchase. The goal is to get the reader to contact you or buy something.
10) Include a sources section in your blogs
Include a sources section at the end of your blogs, with descriptions and links to the sources. Include links to relevant forms, statutes, and government agencies. Only include authoritative sources like .gov and .edu websites in your sources section.
Do not include internal links in the sources section – this section is for authoritative external links only.
Also, do not include a sources section on your practice area pages – the sources section is for blogs only.
11) Backend SEO for law firms
Backend SEO is off-page optimization, which means the reader doesn’t see it. Backend SEO improves search results by helping search engines better understand your website’s purpose. Here are a few simple tips for optimizing your website’s backend SEO.
Install a WordPress SEO Plugin
Installing a WordPress SEO plugin makes it much easier for you to configure your backend SEO. Two of the most popular free SEO plugins are Yoast and Rank Math. For each article you publish, use your SEO plugin to optimize the article for tags, keyword density, title readability, alt text, Google snippets, and metadata.
Add Alt Text to Photos
Alt text is a brief description of the contents of images and graphics. Alt text allows visually impaired readers to know what’s in the photo without seeing it. Alt text makes your site more accessible, and Google rewards accessibility. Thus, alt text optimizes your images for SEO and helps drive traffic to your website.
The alt text should describe the photo’s contents in enough detail that someone would know exactly what’s in it without seeing it. The alt text should include the context of the image.
It’s a good idea to include keywords in your alt text. For example, if you are a business law firm writing a blog about purchase agreements, a good alt text for the blog’s photo would be ‘’business person signing a purchase agreement.’’
Do not include the words ‘’photo’’ or ‘’image’’ in your alt text. The search engines already know it is a photo because of the file type.
Indexing and Site Mapping
Google indexing is essential for your rankings. If your web pages aren’t indexed, they will not appear in Google search results. Request that Google crawl and index each page of your website.
You can request that Google index your pages individually or submit a sitemap to index many pages simultaneously. To determine whether your pages are indexed, go to your Google Search Console.
Whenever you add a new page or update an existing page on your website, have Google crawl and index the page to reflect the update.
Google Snippets and Meta Descriptions
Google snippets are short descriptions of your article that appear underneath the title of your article in search results. The snippet should describe the article’s contents convincingly enough and in enough detail to get readers to click on your article instead of a competitor’s.
Thus, your Google snippets are crucial to your SEO’s performance. If a competitor’s Google snippet is more engaging than yours, people will visit the competitor’s article instead of yours.
Your Google snippet should contain sharply written text that makes readers want to click your link. Boring copy does not work here. Use powerful words that trigger emotions. Tell who the article is for, what it’s about, and how it accomplishes its goal. Focus on the reader and what they are looking for.
Use keywords, related keywords, and location keywords in your Google snippets.
Optimizing Your URLs
Your URL is the address of your web page (e.g. https://signaigolegalcontent.com). Your URLs should be descriptive and reader-friendly. However, URLs should also be concise – no more than 75 characters.
Standardize your URL naming policy to make your website easy to navigate. Use keywords in your URLs, but don’t keyword stuff.
Don’t cannibalize URL slugs from your other web pages, as it leads to functionality issues.
12) Track your law firm SEO performance
Google offers several tools for tracking content performance. We recommend using Google WordPress Site Kit to collect statistics from Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Google Ads in one place – this will allow you to see which articles are performing best and which need to be updated.
In general, you track website traffic and conversions. Traffic is the number of people visiting your site. Conversions are when somebody contacts you through your website, such as by signing up for your email list, filling out a contact form, calling you, scheduling an appointment, or buying something.
The goal is to get as much traffic and as many conversions as possible.
13) Hire a professional law firm SEO writer
Writing great legal content takes time. Many lawyers do not have time to blog consistently. Google rewards consistency. If you want to develop your blog but don’t have time, hire a professional. However, don’t just hire anyone because you may waste your money.
Legal content is highly specialized, technical, and competitive. It isn’t easy to appear at the top of law firm search results. That means when hiring a writer, hire an experienced writer who specializes in legal content writing and has a proven track record of writing great legal content. It’s best if the writer is a lawyer or former lawyer.
Contact us today for a complimentary consultation. You will get to talk to an expert legal content writer and learn strategies and techniques to achieve your desired results.
Schedule your free consultation today because we have limited space available.