Picture this: a potential client, emotionally drained and overwhelmed by a family legal crisis, turns to Google with a desperate search like “divorce lawyer near me” or “child custody attorney [your city]”.
Will your firm be the one they find? Or will they go to the competition?
Things aren’t the same as they once were and let’s face it. In 2024 family law clients don’t rely on the Yellow Pages.
Search engines, referrals, and social media are their lifeline, and that’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) becomes your most powerful tool.
But here’s the thing: SEO isn’t a magic wand. It requires strategy, savvy, and yes, investment. Done wrong, and your efforts could bring you new cases.
Don’t panic. We’re not here to waste your time. This guide will cut through the fluff and deliver the high-impact SEO strategies that actually get family law firms seen in 2024.
Buckle up, because we’re equipping you to:
- Dominate local searches and become the go-to firm in your area
- Master the keywords that bring in truly relevant clients
- Transform your website into a lead-generating machine
Don’t just wait for clients, attract them!
Just like any other business on the planet you need revenue. And chances are you need more clients to come through the door predictably to pay the bills.
Boosting social posts and launching ad campaigns may provide an initial push, but in terms of sustainable growth and value to your website, nothing beats a well-planned SEO strategy. [Based on biased experience].
Planning your approach involves focusing on certain on-page SEO factors.
These begin with content. Do you have practice area pages geared towards your specific ICP’s? Can they find what they’re looking for and make the decision that you’re the firm they should hire? Your potential clients are likely feeling the most hopeless they have felt in their lifetime. They’re desperate. They need you.
This is your time to shine with great content that addresses their pain points and proves how you can help guide them to success (if you’re the right choice).
Next, we like to move onto mobile friendliness and site structure. As majority of users access sites through their mobiles, ensure that your law firm’s site is as easy and efficient to navigate on mobile as it is on the desktop.
Your site’s content may be top-notch, but if it takes more than four seconds to load, users are likely to click on a competitor’s site instead. To prevent this, it’s crucial you optimize your site for speed. Slow site speed generally leads to higher bounce rates, thus working on your website’s speed ensures that traffic to your site doesn’t go to waste.
Additionally, building a network of internal and external linking can significantly benefit your site’s SEO.
Internal links aid Google in understanding the layout of your site, the relationship between pages, and the overall value of those pages. External links, on the other hand, enhance the authoritative aspect of your site’s content and assist potential clients in discovering more useful information.
How We Do Family Law SEO
In our pursuit to enhance online visibility for family law firms, I highlight the specific SEO strategies I employ.
This exploration goes beyond a cursory understanding of SEO and delves into the intricate procedures that truly endow a firm a competitive edge. We will cover four core strategies: content creation, link building, on-site optimization, and local SEO.
Content Creation
I perceive content creation as an integral part of any successful SEO campaign. It encapsulates everything an enterprise publishes online – website copy, blog posts, landing pages, case studies, videos, and social media posts.
Knowing that legal advice seekers often begin their journey with a Google search, I form a rich content repository to lure in, enrich, and ultimately convert leads. Goal-oriented content, infused with trust-enhancing educational and engaging notes, form the crux of this strategy.
While content creation might be daunting for busy attorney, I take the reins in crafting and administering top-notch, relevant content with a specialized legal marketing team.
Link Building
My link-building process, another facet of my SEO strategy, focuses on procuring quality links from external websites. We focus on niche relevant sites where possible like Superlawyers, Best Lawyers, HG, Martindale, Lawyers.com, etc.
A good link profile not only boosts your domain authority but also signals search engines that your website hosts valuable and highly relevant content.
My approach embraces diverse tactics – guest post link building, broken link fixing, and citation link sourcing from online directories like Yelp or Avvo.
Each strategy helps garner quality backlinks, guiding your website on its journey to rank high on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
Onsite Optimization
Onsite optimization forms the backbone of my SEO workflow. Without it you really have nothing.
It involves improving the various elements of your website that, when combined, lead to an overall higher ranking in search engine results.
Factors such as site speed, mobile responsiveness, meta tags, and structured data all fall under onsite optimization’s ambit. By methodically refining these elements, I make your site more navigable, user-friendly, and transformative – enhancing user satisfaction while sending positive signals to search engines.
Local SEO
Finally, local SEO takes centerstage when targeting clients within specific locales. The reality that many people use phrases such as “family lawyer near me” or “divorce attorney in [City Name]” when conducting online searches dictates this strategy’s importance.
I deploy Google Business Profiles or GBP’s for clients so their business shows up in local search results, the local pack, Google Maps and we create listings for Bing, Yelp, Apple Maps, etc.
A complete and verified profile remains instrumental in outshining the competition and attracting potential clients in your area. Through these strategies, I empower your law firm to gain the upper hand in the digital space.
Done-for-you content that’s quality-assured by attorneys
As an attorney, you’ve got a plate full of responsibilities. Creating high-quality, SEO-optimized content for your firm’s website doesn’t have to be one of them. That’s where done-for-you content comes into play. What is it?
Simply put, it’s content crafted by professionals cozied up with SEO best practices, tailor-made to fit your firm’s unique needs.
Why is quality-assured content crucial? For starters, quality content is a vital part of SEO. Well-written and vividly descriptive copy that incorporates relevant keywords lets Google’s algorithms know exactly what you’re all about. If your content is top-notch, you’ll find yourself climbing up the ranks in the SERPs, which in turn increases your visibility and attracts more potential clients to your site.
Link building is another key component of on-site optimization, as it boosts your domain authority and showcases your valuable content. Contextually relevant internal linking allows Google to better understand the layout and value of your pages, and can help your pages ascend in the SERP rankings.
Let’s delve into the domain of mobile user experience. Your website needs to be as smooth and navigable on mobile as it is on desktop. Given that the majority of users access websites on mobile devices, it’s essential to optimize the mobile experience. A slow site or one that’s difficult to navigate can lead to high bounce rates, driving visitors back to the SERPs to click on your competitor’s site. So, part of your done-for-you content package should include site speed optimization.
Lastly, A/B testing is an effective tool for website optimization. By testing different versions of a page or component, you can identify and remove barriers to conversion, improving your site’s overall user experience.
Remember, website optimization isn’t just about ticking boxes. It’s about making sure that every visitor to your site is immediately impressed and eager to engage with your firm. Done-for-you content alleviates the task of content creation and allows you to focus on what matters most – providing expert legal services to your clients.
Link building and outreach that won’t put your reputation at risk
In the quest for robust online presence, the quality and quantity of external sites linking back to your law firm’s web pages play a pivotal role.
These serve as trust signals for search visibility. I prioritize creating opportunities for valuable backlinks on highly pertinent legal publications, directories, and resources. These efforts lead to construction of authority indicators for your website. In my outreach campaigns, I focus not just on volume, but also on contextually relevant targets and diversity. This strategy ensures your site appears natural and organically viable in search algorithms.
However, bear in mind that even compelling content can’t make up for site infrastructure issues that might shroud your visibility. I conduct detailed technical audits to flag up potential problems, say, site speed, broken links, accessibility issues, and backend weaknesses.
The subsequent action includes optimization of critical areas such as site architecture, Content Management System (CMS) platform, URLs, page loading times, and server configuration. These enhancements construct a swift, seamless user experience, promoting adequate crawling and indexing of pages.
Finally, remember that visibility in organic search results directly translates into high-quality website traffic. Improved credibility through higher rankings can be a game-changer, ushering in more potential clients for your firm.
In essence, link building and outreach, if executed correctly, won’t put your reputation at risk; it will bolster it, transforming your family law practice into a recognized, trusted brand in the digital arena.
On-site SEO that’s engineered to help your law firm rank
After we’ve set the context on the importance of SEO in enhancing the online presence of family law firms, let’s delve deeper into on-site SEO.
Firstly, we need a keen eye on keyword research, it’s a critical pillar in SEO. By leveraging tools like Ahrefs, we can pinpoint relevant keywords that potential clients might search for. This ensures that your firm’s website aligns seamlessly with user intent.
For example, for a family law firm, essential keywords might include “divorce attorney”, “child custody lawyer”, or “family law advice”.
Secondly, internal linking comes under the spotlight. By astutely connecting relevant pages within your site, you improve its navigability, enhancing user experience and making information retrieval a breeze. To illustrate, a blog post about divorce proceedings could link to your firm’s service page on divorce.
A well-crafted sitemap provides a roadmap to site visitors and search engine crawlers, making it easier for them to locate desired information. The utility of a sitemap resides in its ability to guide users seamlessly through your site, providing them with a positive browsing experience.
Off-page SEO, more concrete in the form of backlinks, plays a substantial role too. These serve as trust markers that your content holds authority, escalating your website’s prominence on search engine rankings.
Moreover, tools like Google’s PageInsights aid in gauging your site’s performance metrics, peeking into key determinants like page load speed and mobile friendliness. Reiterating, with over half of the global traffic originating from mobile devices, it’s elemental to ensure your site is responsive across devices.
Lastly, pay heed to site security. Google spots unsafe sites and often handicaps them from earning a good rank. A regular scan for firewall vulnerabilities and SSL certification, assuring a secure connection, thus becomes a primary imperative in the SEO checklist for your law firm.
Local SEO that makes you unmissable in your metro
Digging deeper into the world of SEO optimization, local SEO deserves special attention. It’s an integral component for family law firms seeking to establish their footprints in specific geographies or metros.
First off, focusing on geo-targeting can enhance your visibility drastically in local search results. For instance, include geographic keywords, such as “Family Law Firm in New York,” to render your site more relevant to searchers in the specified locale.
Additionally, Google My Business (GMB) establishes a massive presence in local search results. Take advantage of GMB by maintaining an updated and accurate profile. Ensure that your firm’s details—address, operating hours, phone number—are precise, and encourage satisfied clients to leave a review, as it impacts your reputation score.
Moreover, optimizing your content for voice search can play a crucial role. With the proliferation of Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, it’s imperative to create content that caters to this growing form of search. Phrases like “Find a family law firm near me” must echo in your content strategy.
Make sure your website encounters zero barriers when accessed on mobile devices. As the lion’s share of local searches happen on mobile devices, it’s only wise to optimize your site for this harrowing trend.
Lastly, unload some SEO baggage with structured data or schema markup. Schema makes it easier for search algorithms to understand your site’s content and enhances your appearance in search results with rich snippets. It almost feels like being on a first-name basis with search engines!
By dialing in on these techniques, I can assure that it’d make your firm unmissable in the local search results, enhancing volumes of quality traffic, boosting credibility, and catalyzing client conversions. It’s not a quick fix, but with consistent effort, local SEO can significantly boost the performance of your family law practice.
We’ll help you escape the platforms other agencies handcuffed you to
I know. You’ve pumped money into a pre-packaged SEO solution, watched your rankings flounder, and now you’re shackled to a platform that’s not delivering. Guess what? I’ve got the key, and it’s custom SEO strategies for family law firms.
Custom SEO isn’t a one-size-fits-all fix, but a tailored strategy. It offers unique solutions to your firm’s unique challenges. It’s not just about making your site visible to search engines. It’s also about making it valuable to your clients, thus boosting your conversions.
Your potential clients aren’t just searching for ‘lawyers.’ They’re looking for very specific services that you offer. Tailoring your SEO strategy to target these specifics enhances your visibility to high-value demographics in your area. For instance, clients regulated by FDA, USDA, and CBP might be lurking in your area, unchartered. That’s where custom strategies come in.
Investors like Redmon, Payton, Braswell have noted an increase in organic traffic and heightened visibility with custom strategies. Smaller firms have also reaped benefits – Drip Bar, a compact yet ambitious law firm, experienced exponential business growth courtesy of a bespoke SEO approach.
Custom SEO also enables analyses of the competitive landscape. You can discover where your competitors rank and strategize to surpass them. Additionally, it employs data-proven approaches, rather than vague ‘best practices.’ This means your strategy grows and evolves with the changing landscape of SEO.
Shake off those handcuffs; the only constraints on custom SEO are the ones you define. Embrace customization and watch your traffic surge. Your liberation begins now! Let me guide you to breaking free and reaching your optimal growth with a tailored SEO strategy.
What to expect when you work with us
Before an active connection begins, you’ll receive a detailed proposal crafted by our seasoned SEO experts.
It’s packed with flexible pricing options tailored to align with your budget and revenue targets.
Expect to obtain a comprehensive report encompassing a full keyword sweep and a website report card. That is beneficial for establishing where you and your competitors rank in your field. It’s a process supported by our data-proven strategies and executed via thorough content analysis.
Our commitment to transparent pricing keeps you informed at all times about the costs associated with our premium services. Over time, the expertise we pride ourselves in should result in a substantial increase in organic traffic, heightened visibility, and exponential business growth for your family law firm.
As our bond strengthens, we’ll then provide you with an overview of some typical SEO metrics. These include completed task items, keyword rankings, trending patterns for organic traffic, conversions originating from organic traffic, insights from Google My Business, new links acquired with associated link metrics, as well as improvements or analysis related to Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).
Additionally, User Engagement Signals and an outline of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and upcoming priorities give you the whole picture of your SEO performance and the road ahead. Throughout this process, rest assured, we’ve got all the complications covered. With your trust in our professional team, I am confident that we can elevate your efforts and drive outcomes, leading to the growth of your family firm.
At all junctures, anticipate receiving clear and precise information. We ensure this by consistently referring back to authoritative sources, avoiding fluff, and directly addressing any relevant concerns or queries you may have. As no two law firms are the same, our customized approach, underpinned by solid SEO strategy, delivers what your firm uniquely requires to shine online.
How to Rank Your Family Law Practice on Google
So, you’ve learned the ropes of SEO for your family law firm. From content creation and link building to on-site optimization, you’ve got the tools to boost your online presence for your family law firm. Remember, it’s all about quality content, mobile user experience, and the power of A/B testing. Regular technical audits, keyword research, and backlinks are your best friends in this digital journey.
Custom SEO strategies aren’t just a fancy phrase – they’re crucial for your firm’s unique needs and targeting those high-value demographics. A detailed proposal, comprehensive keyword sweep, and website report card are more than just deliverables; they’re your roadmap to online success.
Keep your eyes on the prize, which is increased organic traffic, visibility, and business growth. And don’t forget, transparency in pricing and regular updates on SEO metrics, User Engagement Signals, and KPIs keep you in the know. With a solid SEO strategy, your family law firm is set to rank on Google and achieve online success.
Need Help? Let’s Chat
Understandably, SEO can feel like a complex beast, especially while juggling the demands of running your family law practice. If the strategies outlined feel overwhelming or you simply don’t have the bandwidth to take them on, don’t hesitate to reach out.
I specialize in tailored SEO solutions for family law firms, ensuring you climb those rankings in 2024 and well beyond. Let’s schedule a consultation and discuss how I can turn your website into your most valuable asset.
Casey Meraz is the founder of Juris Digital, Casey Meraz Consulting, Local SEO Experts and the author of How To Perform The Ultimate Local SEO Audit. He has written two books on SEO and has spoken at many digital marketing conferences. Casey is widely recognized as a Local SEO Expert.