Three Simple SEO Tactics to Increase Your Law Firm's Website Traffic
Josh Anisfeld
Chief Digital Officer, Baretz+Brunelle | Digital Strategy | Marketing Technology & Automation | Legal Marketing | Digital Marketing
Google’s algorithm is a complicated, ever-changing labyrinth. Most law firm marketers will say "We don't really do SEO." Most of them will speak of keyword searching and backlinks. Yes, those are incredibly important to search engine optimization, but they are also the most complicated and time-consuming. Did you know that there are three technical (on-page) SEO tactics that are simple, take little time, and will have a big impact on helping your law firm rank higher?
I’ve audited many law firm websites and these three issues are consistently bubbling up because firms have not implemented them within the initial build of the site or added them as part of their ongoing content publishing practices.
Every website CMS provides you the ability to optimize the following three elements. Fix these and you will have a major win on your hands.
Every Single Page Should Have a Meta Description
Meta descriptions are concise summaries that appear in search engine results below the page title. See this example:
The meta description provides users and search engines with a glimpse of what a webpage contains. For law firms, crafting informative and engaging meta descriptions is vital. Every single page on your website, including your homepage, should have a meta description approximately 120-158 characters. Each meta description should be unique and accurately reflect the content of the respective webpage.
Including relevant keywords in your meta descriptions can also help improve your SEO. These keywords should be strategically placed to capture users' attention (you can even bold them!) and entice them to click on your link. By paying attention to meta descriptions, law firms can increase their click-through rates and ultimately enhance their website's search engine ranking.
Every Page Should Also Have a Descriptive H1 Title Tag
H1 title tags are HTML elements that define the main heading or title of a webpage. They serve as a roadmap for search engines, helping them understand the content and hierarchy of your pages. For law firms, it's essential to use H1 tags effectively. As with meta descriptions, H1 tags should be on every page. While there are differences of opinions on one vs. numerous H1 tags, veer on the side of relevancy by using one to start that helps describe your page. For example:
In the above example, Hudgson Russ Attorneys ensures each practice page uses the practice focus on their H1 tag, so when users type "banking & finance attorneys" into Google, the search engine recognizes this page as relevant to the search query.
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In another example, BelzerLaw ensures all of their blog post titles are descriptive and use them as the H1 title tag for their respective pages - in this case Understanding the Colorado Data Privacy Law.
Each page on your website should have a unique and descriptive H1 tag that accurately represents the page's content. Incorporate relevant keywords into your H1 tags to signal to search engines what the page is about. Consistency and clarity in your H1 tags not only improve SEO but also enhance the user experience by making your website more accessible and easy to navigate.
Page URLs Matter
The structure of your website's URLs (not just the domain, but the entire URL for each page) can significantly impact your SEO. To optimize your law firm's website, make sure your URLs are:
Concise: Many website platforms will default the page URL to the title itself. So if you have a long blog post title, you’ll have a long URL. But you can always change the URL. After your main domain, try to stick to 3-7 words to help describe your page. No need to use short filler words such as “the”, “a”, or “if”. For example:
Descriptive: The entire point of SEO is to make things as simple as possible for search engines to identify and relate to what people are searching for. Therefore, make your URL descriptive of exactly what the page is about. For example, assume a firm publishes a blog post about new funding for the FTC and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice titled “New Biden Administration Funding is Subpar” (which in itself isn't a great blog post title, but I digress):
Descriptive URLs not only help search engines understand your content better but also provide a user-friendly experience. Visitors can quickly grasp the topic of a page by glancing at the URL. This can lead to higher click-through rates and improved search engine rankings.
Finally, do not use underscores in your page URLs. Google views hyphens as word separators but cannot recognize underscores and therefore thinks they are part of the word structure. By using hyphens, Google can read your URL to identify the topic and place relevancy to the search queries by users.
These three easy SEO fixes can make a significant difference in the online visibility and performance of your law firm's website. By optimizing meta descriptions, using H1 title tags effectively, and crafting user-friendly URLs, you'll be on your way to attracting more clients and establishing a strong digital presence. Remember that SEO is an ongoing process, so regularly monitor and adjust your strategies to stay competitive in the ever-evolving online landscape.