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These days, all SEO is local. What matters to business owners is that their brand can be discovered by consumers within the community—the folks who might actually become paying customers. That’s certainly true for law firms, which may care about national name recognition but probably care even more with potential clients in their own backyard.

Local search success doesn’t happen by accident; the good news, though, is that there are some simple strategies firms can take to generate results.

5 Things Law Firms Can Do to Improve Their Local Search Visibility

1. Include the right keywords.

For attorneys, there are a couple of keyword categories to keep in mind. They are:

• Hiring intent keywords. These are the words and phrases a client might use when they are looking for an attorney to hire—e.g., estate planning lawyer, commercial litigation firm, real estate lawyer, etc.
• Research intent keywords. These are the words and phrases prioritized by those who are simply trying to get the lay of the land, and to determine whether they need an attorney at all—e.g., what is a will, do I need a trust, what are the penalties for a DUI, etc.

We’d recommend including both types of keywords in your content; use the Google Keyword Planner to help you determine some smart phrases for your firm’s website.

2. Have a Google My Business page.

We can’t recommend this highly enough. Signing up for a Google My Business account is free, and it’s what allows your firm to show up on Google Map results—i.e. to be prominent in local searches. Make sure you take the time to sign up for a profile, fill it out completely, and work in some of your keywords where possible.

3. Optimize your website

There are a number of on-page SEO opportunities for lawyers to keep in mind—too many to name them all here. To get you started, though, here are some steps we recommend:

• Make sure you have a meta description, including keywords.
• Include a call to action on every page of your site.
• Include an H1 title tag on each page of your site, ideally with a keyword included.
• Make sure your NAP (name, address, phone number) information is listed on every page of your law firm website.

4. Get citations and links.

In terms of off-page SEO opportunities, citations and links are especially valuable. You can often get listed on other sites simply by asking—for example:

• General/national business directories
• Industry-specific directories
• Local business associations and Chambers of Commerce

Reaching out to claim these opportunities is very much worth the effort, and can add a little credibility to your firm’s website.

5. Cultivate reviews.

Reviews on Facebook, Yelp, and especially Google can help your business reach a wider audience. Indeed, Google puts a lot of emphasis on reviews, so it’s very much worth your while to directly ask your clients to provide some words of feedback. And when you get reviews, whether positive or negative, view it as a chance to show some customer service, thanking the reviewer and, if necessary, asking how you can improve their opinion of your firm.

Local SEO for Law Firms

These local SEO tips can help your firm be discovered by the right people—and if you’re ready to put them into action, we’d love to help. Contact Driven2020, a marketing agency that specializes in helping law firms, today. Connect with us at your next opportunity and we’ll start the conversation!