SEO campaigns for legal firms and lawyers usually have several objectives, although some are more important than others. The main priorities of an SEO campaign implemented on behalf of a legal firm will tend to be focused on getting the law firm’s website ranking at the top of Google.
For those unaware of how SEO and Google’s search results are related, the main thing to consider is that rankings occur for every possible search term that someone might enter into the search box. For any given search, Google’s algorithm will instantly display the top ten websites on the first page of results that it has calculated to be the most relevant and suitable for that search term. SEO is designed to ensure that your website is the one that Google displays first.
User Experience
What Google wants to promote is user experience or UX. UX is what Google aims for, not just in its search results, but for the person searching when they click on any of the results it displays. This means that Google will measure and assess every website page and whether it offers anyone landing on it from a Google search a good user experience.
A good user experience will be subjective for each individual as each has different likes and dislikes, however, their actions when they arrive on a website will tell Google a lot about that website’s UX credentials. UX will manifest itself by a website being highly relevant to the search, having high-quality content, and ease of use, such as having simple navigation.
UX At The Local Level
In Google’s view, the user experience will differ for those making broad generic searches, and those searching for local results. For example, if someone enters the search term ‘The History Of Hollywood’ and they are in Perth, WA, there are not going to be many, if any, results that come from local websites owned by local businesses.
However, if that same person were to type in ‘divorce lawyer near me’, it is almost certain that they want the search results to produce links to the websites of local lawyers and law firms, especially those which specialise in divorce. This points to Google’s desire that its results match as close as possible to what the person searching is looking for aka a good user experience.
How To Rank For ‘Near Me’ Searches
Ranking for ‘near me’ searches is highly desirable for law firms who wish to attract local clients, and there are several steps that you can take to achieve those rankings as follows.
- Complete Google Business Profile: The first and most important matter to sort out is your Google Business Profile. This is free and on Google and is where you can list all your law firm’s details including its location on a map to pinpoint its location within Google’s algorithm.
- Ensure Your Content Includes Location Names: There are many elements within your website’s content that Google checks during its ranking process. So, to improve your website’s ranking for ‘near me’ searches, you must include local place names within your content including blog post titles and headings.
- Create Specific Pages For Target Towns Or City Locations: One of the most effective means of ranking for local searches is to create individual pages for each of the main locations you wish to rank for. These can be towns, cities, or specific areas within a city.
- List Your Law Firm In As Many Online Directories As Possible: Google scours the internet looking for ranking signals, and one type of online location you can utilise to boost rankings for ‘near me’ searches is online directories. Called ‘citations’ each one includes your address to help you rank for local searches.
- Acquire Backlinks From Location-Specific Websites Or With Geographical Anchor Text: Backlinks help boost rankings, and for local rankings here is what you should do. Get backlinks from websites that have a local theme, make the hypertext in the backlinks local place names, or both.