SEO for Lawyers - The 8 best tips for more visibility
- Autor: Andreas
- 16. Januar 2024
- Lesezeit: 5 Min.
SEO for Lawyers
1. Keyword research: Find the right keywords for your services
The keyword research is always the first step in search engine optimization. It focuses on determining which keywords should help your website get found and which search terms can bring in new clients.
For law firm websites, the most relevant keywords typically consist of “lawyer” or “law firm” + city or “lawyer” + service + city, depending on the specific legal services offered.
However, small differences can be significant. For example, it is useful to know whether people search more often for “Employment Lawyer Los Angeles” or “Specialist Employment Lawyer Los Angeles.” Keyword research can also reveal additional relevant terms that can be integrated into the website.
In general, a law firm can quickly identify **20–50 relevant keywords** for its website. The larger the firm and the more locations it operates in, the more keywords become important.
1.1 Further examples of monthly search queries in the course area
1.2 Which tools can you use for keyword research?
Most keyword research tools are paid. You can use the SE Ranking keyword generator three times a day for free and without registering.
If you request support from us with your search engine optimization, we also use other professional SEO tools for keyword research.
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SEO for Lawyers
2. The Google business profile for lawyers
To rank in the top 3 positions below the map on Google (the so-called Local Pack) for a keyword like “Employment Lawyer in Chicago” having a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is essential.
This profile can be optimized to a certain extent for important search terms. Below, we will show you the different ways you can improve your ranking.
2.1 Keywords in the law firm name
2.2 Text content of reviews
2.3 Other factors
- Business category
- Geographical proximity (cannot be influenced)
- Consistency of NAP data (Name, Address, Phone) across social media, directories, etc.
- Business opening hours
- Completeness of other information in the Google Business Profile
- Text content of questions and answers
SEO for Lawyers
3. Lawyer website: Homepage, additional SEO landing pages and content
Of course, a law firm’s own website also offers great potential for search engine optimization. Its primary purpose is to ensure that your services appear in the organic search results (standard search results) of Google & Co.
The key here is to first structure your website optimally for various search terms and create relevant content accordingly.
3.1 Homepage
- The homepage is usually optimized for the main service and related keywords. For example, search terms like “Lawyer Munich” or “Law Firm Recklinghausen” are often suitable.
- If you specialize in a specific field of law, such as labor law, it often makes sense to optimize the homepage for the relevant keywords. These could be, for example, “Specialist Lawyer for Labor Law Bremen” or “Traffic Law Lawyer Recklinghausen.”
3.2 Additional SEO landing pages
- A landing page can rank for multiple keywords that are thematically very similar. For example, the same landing page can rank well for “Specialist Lawyer for Labor Law Berlin,” “Labor Law Lawyer Berlin,” or “Lawyer Warning Notice Munich.”
- For each additional city or new service, it is best to create a separate SEO landing page. You should never list all services on a single page like “Our Areas of Expertise.”
- Every blog article is essentially an SEO landing page that can rank for relevant keywords on Google.
- The content of landing pages should be tailored to the keywords of the respective pages (see point 4).
- Landing pages should be optimized as much as possible for on-page SEO (see point 5).
3.3 The right content for a service page such as “Criminal Law” or “Employment Law”
Content is king. This is particularly true for search engine optimization. The focus of your own content strategy should always be on the keywords of a page and the user’s search intention for the respective keyword. The specific question is: “What information do users want to have when they search for a keyword like “Employment Lawyer Chicago”.
Content elements or sections on the SEO landing page could, for example, include information about the legal field, about you as a lawyer, client reviews, FAQs about the legal field, etc.
Were SEO landing pages with good content enough for top results?
If you have created your own SEO landing pages for accountant and created the appropriate content, that is often enough to get you to page 1 on Google. Of course, this depends very much on the competition at the respective location.
SEO for Lawyers
4. Lawyer website: Further on-page measures
(Example: Add meta tags in WorPress via the RankMath plugin)
- Meta Tags: For every SEO-relevant page (homepage, service page, blog, etc.), you should customize the meta title and meta description individually.
- Structured Data: These can help expand your Google snippet (e.g., with star ratings).
- Headings: Headings can be optimized on every SEO-relevant page.
- Images: At least one image should be optimized for search engines on every SEO-relevant page. Additionally, you should always consider the file size of images (see also the “Technical SEO” section).
- Internal Linking: Internal links can also improve the ranking of individual pages. Important pages should therefore be optimally linked internally.
SEO for Lawyers
5. Lawyer website: Technical SEO measures
(Screenshot Googpe Pagespeed Insights)
Technical SEO measures can quickly overwhelm you, especially if you are not a programmer. Overall, you can also do a lot yourself when it comes to technical SEO for a new website.
- Hosting: Choose the right hosting provider or a package that ensures good page speed. Even law firm clients don’t like waiting too long for a website to load.
- Images: Compress images as much as possible.
- SSL: Get an SSL certificate from your hosting provider. It is often available for free and secures data transmission on your website.
- Mobile: Ensure that your website displays optimally on mobile devices such as smartphones.
- Indexing: Your website must be indexed by Google to rank well. If there are issues, you can request indexing via Google Search Console. Feel free to contact us if you need further assistance.
- Google Search Console: Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that offers numerous advantages for search engine optimization. It helps with indexing, provides insights on click-through rates, security, and more. You should definitely register your website here.
SEO for Lawyers
6. OffPage SEO for your lawyer website
(Screenshot Website Authority Checker von ahrefs)
Just like SEO for tax advisors or SEO for real estate agents, off-page optimization also plays an important role for lawyers. Off-page optimization refers to all measures that do not take place on your own website but can improve your own rankings. This may include the following measures:
- Backlinks: Try to acquire as many backlinks as possible from reputable and, most importantly, thematically relevant websites (i.e., sites related to legal topics).
- E-E-A-T: This is a concept used by Google to determine who is a trustworthy publisher. Simply put, your informational articles can rank better if you establish yourself as an expert on a topic. Guest articles, mentions on professional magazine websites, and similar strategies can help with this.
- Social Media: While social media is not believed to have a direct impact on Google rankings, it can still help position you as an expert, generate backlinks, and increase visibility.
SEO for Lawyers
7. Conclusion
Search engine optimization offers great opportunities for lawyers and law firms from all disciplines to attract new clients and draw attention to their own services.
The focus should be on optimizing your own website and your own company profile in order to lay the foundation for your own SEO success.
In principle, it is also worthwhile to carry out permanent SEO measures for your own website.
SEO for Lawyers
8. Frequently asked questions about SEO for lawyers
Is it beneficial to have an important keyword in the domain name?
How long does SEO take for lawyers?
How much does SEO for lawyers cost?
- How many pages need to be optimized for search engines?
- How many locations does your law firm have?
- How much content and how many texts are created by you or your employees?
- Will only on-page optimization be performed initially, or will backlink building also be included?
- What technical SEO measures are required?
- We optimize individual pages of your website on-page for €350–500 plus VAT.
- Many SEO providers offer monthly packages starting at €1,000 net and upwards.
Is it worth having your own blog in terms of SEO?
- You can establish yourself as an expert for both website visitors and Google.
- You can effectively use blog articles for internal linking.
- You can integrate your own services into blog articles.
From an SEO perspective, should you book a paid entry in business directories and specialist portals as a lawyer?
From an SEO perspective, booking a paid entry only makes sense if the corresponding pages themselves rank very well for important keywords.
As I said, you have to look on a case-by-case basis to see how well each portal is positioned in search engines for its own services.
Since I also really enjoy imparting knowledge, I also founded the german version of the platform yourseocourse.com in 2022 and the english version in 2025. Here, in my SEO online course, I will show you how you can systematically and effectively optimize your website for search engines yourself.
