SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) FOR LAW FIRMS: A STEP-BY-STEP ROADMAP. 

Most people have a healthy dose of hatred towards lawyers, business people included!

We rely on their legal expertise and services in a number of business operations or personal matters, but then there are moments when we just can’t bear them. 

Lawyers have a bad name for many reasons, such as the assumption of the high prices they charge for their services or that they handle cases with no emotion. And we know that lawyers will use pompous legalese while conversing with their “learned friends” within the earshot of “normal people” just because they can, right? But that hatred is neither here nor there so, relax lawyers, a potential client is looking for you. That said, some law firms utilize the same legal lingo to attract clients. 

A non-lawyer client who requires your services doesn’t use or understand your legal jargon. And lawyers who are approachable, have a friendly brand and online presence, and use simple marketing strategies and clear communication are more likely to get new clients and keep the ones they already have happy, satisfied and paying.

If you want to help people in need of your services sign up and pay for your legal advising services, you need to strategically market your practice, even if you are an expert at law. A Digital Marketing Agency will help your law firm attract and retain quality clients.

A law firm can get a lot out of hiring a marketing firm, such as:

Most successful business people will eventually require the services of a law firm. Yet, the number of new law firms in Nairobi and the country keeps growing. The average person knows a lawyer, as do their grandma and cousin. That being said:

• How can you differentiate your legal practice from the competition so that potential clients hire you? 
• How can they choose one option out of hundreds? 
• What can you do to distinguish yourself from other legal experts and find your target demographic? 

Remember, your Legal Practice also requires a solid marketing strategy. Since many people now use the internet to find the goods and services they need, it is important to have a strong online presence. Law firms have many growth opportunities. 

By working with leading digital marketing agencies you will have the capacity to increase brand awareness and visibility, increase client engagement and online potential. Law firms can demonstrate their skills and influence target audiences through this strategy. Agencies can also assist businesses grow or get out of ruts.

An agency will help in optimization and listing your law company on Google and other online directories as one of the best approaches to attract potential clients. Being in organic search is excellent, but the goal is to be seen, heard and found first. People will find and trust you more if you are at the top of the search results.

Lawyers that need SEO support should work with a law firm marketing agency. A Digital Marketing Agency can assist you market and promote your business in the online space by creating high converting content and other strategic marketing services to your current and potential clients without worrying about your competition. And let’s face it, if you know that a professional is putting your marketing plan into action, you’ll be able to relax and focus on being a lawyer.

Why hiring a digital marketing agency is an investment for law firms

1. More customers will call or visit if your business is known. SEO agencies have worked well for most successful law firms. Without a skilled marketing plan, your firm will fall behind. An Agency will create and implement a good SEO plan for your law firm which will help more people easily find the firm online. This boosts exposure and digital identity.
2. A competent marketing agency can help you outperform your competitors and achieve a return on your marketing investment.

A marketing agency will make your website more visible, understandable, and attractive to potential clients. These strategic steps can attract and retain quality clients. It will increase business growth.

3. Legal job that looks good: An SEO service provider will constantly improve your marketing strategy as you focus on proving your expertise. Potential clients will linger on your website to learn more about your services and make up their minds to call or visit your office. When customers find what they want on your site, they contact you without going elsewhere.
4. The marketing agency that the law firm hires can help you figure out who your target audience is and how to meet their needs in a strategic way. To do this, The Agency will create segments of your target customers into groups and make customer personas for each group.

Personas help in figuring out what makes each customer in the market act and feel the way they do. Segments help figure out how interested people will be in your Firm’s services.

When used together, segments and personas will give actionable insights that will help in choosing the right marketing channels and make the user experience more personal. 

Optimizing a law firm’s website

Search engine results pages and ranking: Google uses a complex algorithm to figure out the order in which pages are shown when a search term (Keyword) is used. To get to the top of Google’s search results, the marketing agency will optimize your website in a way that meets Google’s constantly changing standards while still making it easy for visitors and potential clients to find the information they’re looking for. 

In digital marketing, a keyword is a word or group of words that a potential client types into a search engine like Google or into a search bar to find a service or product they are looking for. Your website is the most important part of SEO. Your marketing agency’s legal and law firm SEO campaigns should include:

1. Keyword research for lawyers and law firms: means looking for keywords to use on your site that are relevant, get a lot of traffic, and have levels of converting.
2. SEO for law firm websites: Among these are: Creating and publishing new content on social media, newsletter and blog page that is relevant to your audience and supports your keyword strategy on a regular basis. Your law firm needs a full SEO plan to get the right clients and keep making content that keeps people interested and gets them to buy. Most people who use the internet never go past the first page, so it’s good for law firms to be on the first page of search engines. SEO helps in:

• Increasing website organic traffic
• Boosting foot traffic at your law firm
• Generating more leads
• boosting Return On Investment (ROI)
• Stay relevant and on top of the legal industry competition. 

3. Make sure your website is easy to use, easy for one to find their way around and responsive. Responsive web design, sometimes called responsive design, makes websites visible on all devices and screen sizes, from small, medium to large, that is; phone, tablet, laptop and desktop. 
4. Local SEO: Local SEO is a strategy that helps your business show up higher in Google’s local search results. You have to pay attention to where you are in the world. This means that if you have more than one office location, each one should have its own well-optimized page on your website if you want to rank well for people in your geographical area.

That said, it’s important to have a Google Business Profile (Google My Business). This is a simple tool that businesses and organizations can use to manage their online presence across Google. Getting your business verified on GMB and updating the information about the firm will enable potential customers to find and call you.

5. Backlinks: These are web links from one page on one relevant website to another page on another website. When someone links to your site, this is called a “backlink.” If you link to another site, that site will have a link to you from your site. These sites: Kenya Law Report, Kenya Law Reform Commission, African Legal Information Institute, etc. can mention your sites and create quality backlinks to Law firms in Kenya. 

Backlinks boost your site’s authority and help you rank better for keywords on search engine results pages (SERPs). Get as many backlinks as possible but, the quality of the website that links to you is important.

6. Blogging: As part of its SEO strategy, a law firm should keep a blog. Google’s “freshness” ranking signal rewards sites that update their content often by moving them up in search results. Using search phrases that are good for research can also help blog posts. Some search phrases get a lot of visitors, but some of your site’s service pages won’t be able to rank well for them. Still, they would be a great addition to a post on your blog.
7. PageSpeed: This has been a ranking factor for desktop searches for years and now for mobile searches. Google warns “slowest experience” pages will impact SEO.Visitors won’t wait for your slow site to load, even if Google likes it.
8. If your pages load slowly, people searching for “Law Firm near me,” “Legal Firm in Nairobi,” “Affordable Law Firm,” “Family Law Firm,” and other terms will go to your competitor’s site if it loads faster. This potential client is anxious about legal issues and won’t wait long, probably less than someone exploring the internet for fun.
9. Want to test the speed of your website? Do it here: https://pagespeed.web.dev/ 

If your pages load slowly, people searching for “Law Firm near me,” “Legal Firm in Nairobi,” “Affordable Law Firm,” “Family Law Firm,” and other terms will go to your competitor’s site if it loads faster. This potential client is anxious about legal issues and won’t wait long, probably less than someone exploring the internet for fun.

Want to test the speed of your website? Do it here: https://pagespeed.web.dev/ 

8. Measure Your Results: You’ll want to keep track of your progress as you add SEO strategies to your digital marketing plan for your law firm. This can include keeping track of how much your site’s traffic grows, which pages get the most visitors, how many links come into your site and how good those links are, and more. Google Analytics and Google Search Console have a lot of information, and you can check your Domain Authority (DA) score and do a lot more with these reports and online strategy. .

Most people only look for lawyers and law firms by asking people they know for recommendations. Others search online with Google and choose one from the first page of results. So, if you want your website to rank higher than those of your competitors who have a full SEO strategy, you need more than just keywords. If you want to learn more about how SEO can help your best potential clients find your law firm online, you can email us at cx@charlizemarketing.com or fill out this form to get a customized digital marketing strategy for your firm.