You may have noticed when performing a search on Google or another search engine that you’ll often see results that pertain to your city or area without having to specify a location for your search. When trying to find local businesses around you however, this can be a very helpful tool that just adds ease to your life. However, what people don’t realize is that there is an extremely helpful marketing tool in this as well, and it is called local SEO.

Now, if you’re not familiar with the technical marketing side of your business, you might be asking, what is local SEO? Well, we’re here to tell you not only what it is, but why it is very important for your law firm, and the benefits of using it.

What Does Local SEO Mean?

Local SEO refers to the process of optimizing a business’s online presence to attract clients from relevant local searches. When most businesses take advantage of local SEO, they generally promote their products or services to local prospects or customers/clients.

Local search engine optimization (SEO) allows businesses to gain larger amounts of online attention when potential clients or customers search for topics related to a particular business. Of course all businesses face issues when trying to gain new attention, but law firms face much more difficult challenges that can make it even harder to attract new clients. Well, that’s where local SEO comes in and will become your best friend. Local SEO allows law firms to be able to leverage the power of local search, allowing them to draw in targeted clients who live in or around their local area.

However, don’t let us make you think that it is the easiest process, to properly take advantage of local SEO, a lot of hard work goes into it. For example, various information is gathered to support local search, such as social profile pages, content, citations, links, etc. There are also countless strategies that we also try and use for better results, such as claiming a business listing, or taking the necessary steps to have a franchise location appear in a local Google search.

Why Should Law Firms Perform Local SEO?

Now that we’ve explained what it is, and some of the process that goes on when performing local SEO, let’s explain why you and your law firm should take advantage of it. Four out of five consumers perform local searches on search engines to try and find the right business that meets their needs, according to Google My Business. Because so many people are using local searches, performing local SEO would show people in your area, who are using local searches for lawyers, you and your law firm. Which will hopefully boost your new clientele.

Now let’s go more in depth to the benefits of performing local SEO. The benefits of SEO for law firms are vast.

Beyond increasing a law firm’s rankings in the search results, SEO works to draw in more traffic that’s much more likely to convert into qualified leads.

There are many benefits that law firms can enjoy by working with a law firm marketing agency
on their local SEO strategy, such as the following:

• Outranking their local competition, improving click-through to their website.
• Driving more phone calls through Google My Business and other local listings.
• Generating new traffic through high-quality localized content.
• Collecting more positive client reviews to improve their online reputation.
• Attracting high-volume traffic and leads on autopilot.
• Turning existing and new site traffic into leads (phone calls and form fills).
• Solidifying their law firm as a reputable authority in their niche.

However, there are also other tools that should not be ignored.

Drive More Phone Calls from GMB & Local Search

Your website is a big part of your law firm, but it isn’t the only tool. While your website can take up one spot in the search results, you can also drive clicks by having an optimized Google My Business profile.

This in simpler terms means that when your potential clients search for “personal injury attorney near me” or “Los Angeles personal injury attorney”, your law firm’s GMB profile can rank higher for these terms. And because your law firm has a GMB page, it will allow users to click on your website link, or even give you a call using the number included in your profile.

When using SEO to your advantage, you’ll discover high-volume, low-competition keywords that you can use in engaging blog posts on your website. This content will then attract new clients who are searching for similar terms and then will guide them down your lead generation funnel.

Some SEO content ideas for law firms include:

•  How-to guides.
• Complete guides on legal topics.
• Localized practice area pages.
• FAQ pages (Good for Featured Snippets).
• Ebooks.
• Checklists.
• Interviews with industry professionals.
• Local event guides.

Proof SEO Works for Law Firms

Most law firms don’t realize they should be investing in SEO, and once they finally do, will begin to see a slow trickle of traffic to their site. This is especially the case for firms that have a lot of local competitors that have clearly invested in their own SEO efforts.

However, a case study was recently done, and the results showed that one law firm that was generating little to no traffic ended up generating upwards of 5,000 organic sessions per month in the first few months. And beyond that, within 24 months of starting SEO, they were generating over 12,000 organic sessions per month.

Imagine if that were your law firm. Well, it can be. Local SEO is a lot of work, and can be done alone, but is much easier when working with a marketing agency. If you work with us, we can help you utilize local SEO to improve your local presence and create more opportunities for potential clients to find you online. Waiting any longer is just prolonging your potential cases.