Local SEO, or local search engine optimization, is an important component of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy designed to increase traffic to your law firm’s website through organic local search results. The aim is to not only increase the quantity but also the quality of your website’s traffic so the people in your community who need your services the most can find you quickly with an online search. Optimizing for local search requires proper knowledge, skill, planning, and organization. An effective local search campaign ensures potential clients in your geographic area know you are there and are a law firm of choice in your area.

Why local SEO is so important

What law firm doesn’t want to be at the top of the search results in their market? If you search for your law firm by its name, your firm’s website should show up at the top of the page. Unfortunately, that’s now how a majority of people find a lawyer.

Most online legal searches are non-branded, meaning they are a series of generic terms like “Montgomery divorce attorney” or “truck accident lawyer in Charleston.” One thing these searches have in common is that they are location-based. People want to work with a lawyer in their area, not one in another city or state.

Google delivers these local search results to your potential clients in several useful ways:

• Organic Results— These are the “regular” search engine results appearing on the results page that are determined by factors like relevancy, domain authority, links, and more.
• The Local Pack — Most searches with local intent will return Google’s Local Pack feature at the top of the page. These are listings pulled from the Google Business Directory. Law firm listings relevant to a person’s search, along with a location map, are included.
• The Local Finder— By clicking “More businesses” under the Local Pack results, Google will return even more relevant local listings for law firms alongside a locator map.
• Answer Boxes— If a searcher types a question into the Google search field, Google may return relevant answers from a local attorney with a link to the firm’s website.
• Featured Snippets— Similar to answer boxes, featured snippets can provide requested information (like the statute of limitations in Georgia) to a query with a link to a local attorney’s website.
• FAQ Schema— This is a specific type of market that can help your firm’s results appear on the first page of Google with a “People also ask” box.
• Local Service Ads (LSAs)— While these are pay-per-lead ads, getting “Google verified” can help your firm show up at the top of search results while you grow your overall SEO strategy.

Local SEO involves tailoring your SEO efforts to reach people in your local geographic area. More specifically, we help your law firm appear in as many of these different search results as possible.

Local SEO that helps you dominate your market

It’s impossible to do well by focusing on just one aspect of local search. Instead, you need a comprehensive local SEO strategy that will help you achieve your online marketing goals. Our digital marketing specialists have spent years perfecting the tactics that work best for law firms so that you can get the sound guidance and services you need. There are no instant rankings, but efforts put into building your SEO strategy are designed to deliver positive results.

Focusing on Google’s Top Local Search Ranking Factors

When it comes to showing up in local search, what we’re really talking about is dominating Google’s organic search results. Considering Google has over 91% of the global search engine market share, this is where you want to concentrate your efforts.

While Google is known for evolving its search engine algorithms, experts agree that several main factors determine local rankings — distance, relevance, and prominence.

Distance relates to how close your law firm is to a searcher’s location. Relevance looks at how closely your firm’s local business listing or website matches the searcher’s intent. Prominence refers to whether your firm has established itself as a leader in its market by receiving positive customer reviews, building citations, and creating content.

Other factors can and do impact your local search ranking. When you work with us, we will create an effective strategy designed to target the specific elements that influence your success in local rankings.

A presence in the local search results, in conjunction with first page rankings in the organic results, means a much greater likelihood that your firm will be chosen after a potential client conducts a Google search.

Establishing and optimizing your local listings

According to Bright Local, up to 87% of consumers used Google to evaluate local businesses last year. It’s vital that your law firm claim its local listings and optimize them to edge out the competition in these local searches. We can help.

Our team of local SEO experts will create and verify your Google Business Profile (GBP), helping ensure your firm appears in Google’s local search results. Setting up your GBP with basic information merely scratches the surface if you want to get the most visibility in your local market. The optimization process includes:

• Ensuring listing accuracy
• Adding descriptive text and practice areas
• Including photos and video
• Showing hours of operation
• Offering answers to common questions
• Keeping on top of updates

A fundamental component of a strong local listing is NAP, which refers to having your business Name, Address, and Phone number consistent across all local listings. Whether it’s a directory listing, social media profile, or your law firm’s website, we ensure this data is correct and consistent.

Helping you get the online feedback you need

When it comes to outperforming your competitors in the local listing, online feedback is essential for two reasons — it impacts local search rankings, and it influences potential clients’ perceptions.

Having positive reviews is considered a favorable attribute by searchers, who generally want to read about other’s experiences before committing to a professional relationship. A stream of positive reviews, and even a few negative reviews handled properly, also boosts a law firm’s trustworthiness and credibility, which search engines reward with higher local rankings.

We help your law firm build trust with potential clients by encouraging online feedback from current and past clients. Additionally, we help your firm respond appropriately to reviews to improve your online reputation.

Leveraging high-quality links and citations

Strategic link-building is an important part of an effective SEO strategy. When you’re trying to rank well for local search terms, high-quality links are just as important. This refers to having reputable and relevant websites link back to your law firm’s website, which is like a vote of confidence for your firm.

Local citations are another key foundational factor for local SEO. With or without a link, citations are mentions of your law firm’s name, address, and phone number (NAP). The place to start with citations is your Google Business Profile. But to get in front of the competition, you need more than one or two sources.

Law firms have many options, which we explore and leverage on behalf of our clients. These include sites like Facebook, Apple Maps, Bing, your local Chamber of Commerce, and the many legal directories available for law firm profiles and listings.

Creating and posting SEO-optimized content

Your website, blog, and social media content must also be optimized for local search. For example, if your law firm works in multiple locations, you can create landing pages for each area you represent, such as “Family Law in Baltimore,” “Family Law in Phoenix,” and “Family Law in Kansas City.”

Local keywords should be used throughout your website, blog content, and social media posts to emphasize the geographic area you serve. Additionally, we help optimize your content using these targeted keyword phrases in headings, descriptions, anchor text, and other areas that can help your firm’s website rank well in local search.

Ensuring you have a mobile-friendly website

Whether a potential client is using a desktop computer or a smartphone to search for a “criminal defense lawyer near me,” they should get the results they need quickly and seamlessly.

Having a mobile-friendly website is vital for your local SEO efforts for several reasons — a majority of local searchers are now using mobile devices, and Google is using mobile-friendliness as a website ranking factor.

We help ensure there are no roadblocks to your local SEO rankings by making your law firm’s website easy to use on mobile devices. This includes everything from making sure your site loads quickly to ensuring the content is easy to navigate and consume on a small screen.

A personalized approach to your firm’s local SEO strategy

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we will develop a customized approach to your law firm’s local SEO strategy designed to produce the best possible results. Instead of simply appearing in local search results, we want to help you dominate your market with a combination of digital marketing strategies.

We help our clients get found and chosen by their target audience using our results-driven tactics that include website design, SEO, content marketing, video marketing, social media management, and more. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and website audit.