On-Page SEO Checklist for Law Firms

While working with a professional law firm SEO agency is one of the best ways to put your law business on the (Google) map, there are many tactics you can implement today even if you don’t have any SEO experience at all!

With this on-page SEO checklist, you’ll learn the basics of how to conduct keyword research, optimize web pages, and generate more traffic through great content.

Ready to rank? Below we share the only on-page SEO checklist you need to get started with quality law firm SEO content.

What is On-Page SEO for Lawyers?

On-page SEO for law firms involves optimizing your law firm’s website pages for both search engines and web visitors so the rank higher in search engines. A specific area of search engine optimization, on-page SEO typically involves optimizing the content (body copy, web pages, etc.) and the HTML tags (page title, description, headings, etc.) on your website.

Why On-Page SEO Matters for Law Firms

Clearly the main appeal of implementing on-page SEO is that it can help attract new users to your law firm website. But there are actually many more benefits to on-page SEO for law firms – both for clients and for your business.

Here are a few reasons why on-page SEO matters for your law firm:

• On-page SEO can help improve your organic rankings, which can lead to more traffic (as users tend to click on websites that rank high in search)
• By optimizing for certain keywords related to your niche, you can attract more relevant, likely-to-convert traffic to your website
• On-page SEO strategies also help improve user experience by optimizing page load speed, mobile-friendliness, images, and navigation
• Better on-page SEO often means more chances to outrank your competitors
• Compared to other marketing channels like paid advertising, on-page SEO is a relatively cost effective way to drive traffic for months or even years to come

Here’s Proof That On-Page SEO Works!

We’re all about data around here! That’s why we conducted the State of Law Firm Website Rankings study to deepen the understanding of law firm SEO and what factors influence search engine results rankings.

We analyzed organic rankings of nearly 16,000 law firm websites and landing pages and found that there is a ​​strong relationship between high-ranking pages and the elements of a web page.

We ran multiple statistical models to identify the most important variables that affect rankings. Those ranking factors are:

• Number of entities (i.e. keywords) used on a page
• Entities in the title tag
• Web page user experience
• Variations in the number of unique outbound and inbound links
• Variations in the interactive or dynamic capabilities on a web page

The data from the study results informs many of the recommendations we make to law firms regarding on-page SEO. It is very clear that the content of a page, how the page is structured, and the user experience of a web page plays a huge role in law firm website rankings.

Law Firm On-Page SEO Checklist

Now, time for the good stuff! If you want to get started with SEO yourself and start seeing results for your law firm, this on-page SEO checklist will help. This is based on a similar process that we follow for our own clients.

Conduct Keyword Research

You must first determine what words (i.e. “keywords”) your potential clients are using to search for services like yours. This involves more than just guessing but actually using reputable SEO tools to validate the organic search volume and competition level of said keywords.

Tools like Semrush and Ahrefs are industry standard when it comes to keyword research.

Simply start by searching for relevant keywords and phrases related to your practice areas. These tools will then show you whether these terms have ample search volume. They will also show you other keywords you might not have thought of.

You will want to choose keywords with a balance of mid-to-high search volume and mid-to-low competition. That is, you want to target keywords that people are actively searching for but aren’t too competitive for your law firm to rank for.

Keyword research is a pretty big topic by itself, so we created a separate guide on how to conduct keyword research specifically for law firms.

Check it out: How to Do Law Firm Keyword Research

Review Your Information Architecture

Your website navigation is very important when it comes to user experience. It is what allows people to find your services, learn about your law firm, read client reviews, and contact you for more information.

So, take a look at your current site navigation.

Is your main menu easy to follow? Are your service pages easy to find? Will people know how and where to contact you?

If the answer to any of these questions is No, it might be time to update your site architecture. You can usually look at other reputable websites for inspiration.

Here’s an example of what this might look like for a probate law firm:

• Main navigation
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Services
    • Probate Administration
    • Estate Planning
    • Estate Litigation
    • Guardianship
  • Resources
  • Testimonials
  • Contact Us
• Footer navigation
  • FAQs
  • Glossary
  • Legal Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Once you have a navigation that reflects your core categories and makes it easy for people to contact you, you are well on your way to improving your on-page SEO and user experience.

Build Out a Content Strategy

Based on the keywords selected during the previous step, it’s time to map these keywords to web pages or articles on your website. This will become the foundation of your SEO content strategy.

For example, say you offer the following services: Estate Planning, Wills, and Probate Administration.

During your keyword research process, you might have surfaced the following keywords:

• Estate planning
• Estate lawyer
• Will lawyer
• Probate attorney
• Probate lawyer

Likely, a pattern will start to emerge. Keywords that are very similar to each other (in terms of topic) should be “mapped” to their respective web page.

For instance, on the ‘Estate Planning” services page, you will likely optimize for terms like “estate planning”, “estate lawyer”, and any geo-specific keywords that apply.

On the “Probate Administration” service page, you will want to target keywords like “probate attorney” and “probate lawyer, and “probate law [ city ]”.

As a result, your content strategy may look something like this:

Once you know what keywords you plan to target on which page, it will become much easier to structure, write, and optimize your content according to said keywords.

Structure Your Content with Headings

Search engine “crawlers” (or “bots”, as they are often called) essentially comb over your web pages looking for information. They look at keyword usage. They look at the body content. And they look at the structure.

Structuring a web page using H1, H2, and H3 headings is essential for both search engine bots and user experience. Headings provide a hierarchical structure to your content, much like if you were structuring an essay or a newsletter.

Here are the different types of headings (i.e. heading tags) and how to use them:

• H1 Heading – The H1 heading is the highest-level heading on a web page. There should only be one H1 heading per page, and it should reflect the primary topic or purpose of the page.
• H2 Headings – H2 headings are subheadings that come after the main H1 heading. They break down the content into sections that are related to the main topic of the page. You can have multiple H2 headings on a page.
• H3 Headings – H3 headings are subheadings that are nested under H2 headings. They provide more specific details within the sections. Like H2s, you can also use multiple H3 headings on a page to break up the content.

Here’s an example of how you might structure a web page offering Probate Administration services:

• H1 Heading: “Expert Probate Administration Services for a Smooth Estate Settlement Process”
  • H2 Heading: “Understanding Probate Administration”
    • H3 Heading: “What Is Probate?”
    • H3 Heading: “Role of the Probate Administrator”
  • H2 Heading: “Benefits of Professional Probate Assistance”
    • H3 Heading: “Efficient Estate Asset Distribution”
    • H3 Heading: “Minimizing Family Disputes”
  • H2 Heading: “Navigating the Probate Process”
    • H3 Heading: “Filing the Petition”
    • H3 Heading: “Validating the Will”
    • H3 Heading: “Managing Debts and Claims”
    • H3 Heading: “Distributing Assets to Beneficiaries”
  • H2 Heading: “Why Choose Our Probate Administration Firm”
    • H3 Heading: “Extensive Legal Expertise”
    • H3 Heading: “Personalized Guidance”
    • H3 Heading: “Dedicated Client Support”

Building out the structure of your pages or articles before you start writing will help you keep organized and ensure you don’t miss any crucial information. It will also offer an easy-to-follow structure for users and search engines.

Write High-Quality Content

Now it’s time to write the content (or hire someone to write it for you). This is where the rubber really meets the road in terms of on-page SEO.

First, you’ll want to develop informative and engaging content that addresses legal topics and client concerns. This can be within your web page content and in your blog articles.

Next, use clear headings, subheadings, and bullet points for readability. Add graphics, images, and videos to keep readers interested and engaged.

Most of all, aim to create comprehensive, well-researched content. If you want to be a thought leader and win more clients, you will want to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. The best way to do this is through written content.

Here are a few tips for writing great SEO content:

• Avoid keyword stuffing but instead maintain a natural flow of writing
• Offer unique insights, perspectives, or solutions that set you apart
• Write attention-grabbing headlines that accurately reflect the content’s topic
• Avoid jargon or overly technical terms without explanations
• Address common questions, concerns, or problems your target audience may have

Many business owners assume they need to “write for SEO”. The right approach is actually to write valuable and interesting content, and then focus on SEO best practices (like URL structure and metadata).

Optimize for Target Keywords

If not done so already, you will want to incorporate your target keywords (the ones you selected for your respective pages) into the page content. The goal is to weave these in naturally, in the context of providing value to users.

You should include your target keyword(s) in the body content, headings, and subheadings, as appropriate. The content should still read well and “flow”, but you do want to communicate the primary topics that your page is about.

As stated previously, you want to avoid keyword stuffing, which essentially means overusing your keywords or adding them throughout your content in an unnatural way. The goal should always be to maintain readability and content quality.

Write Your Metadata

The areas where keywords matter the most is in your metadata (i.e. the page title and page description). These are two components that are “read” by Google and often appear directly in the search results.

You will often see these fields when you open the blog or page builder within your content management system (CMS). They might be labeled as “title”, “title tag”, or “page title”, or “description” or “meta description”, respectively.

Be sure to craft compelling and concise meta titles (up to 60 characters) that include your target keywords.
Write meta descriptions (up to 160 characters) that summarize the page’s content and encourage clicks from the search results.

Here are a few examples of optimized title tags and meta descriptions for a probate law service page.

Example 1

Title Tag: “Expert Probate Law Services for Efficient Estate Settlement | Smith & Associates Law Firm”

Meta Description: “Navigate the probate process seamlessly with our experienced probate law team. We provide expert guidance for estate settlement, will validation, asset distribution, and more. Contact us for personalized legal assistance.”

Example 2

Title Tag: “Comprehensive Probate and Estate Planning Solutions | Johnson Law Group”

Meta Description: “At Johnson Law Group, we offer comprehensive probate and estate planning solutions. From drafting wills to probate administration, our experienced attorneys ensure your assets are protected and distributed as per your wishes.”

Example 3

Title Tag: “Trusted Probate Lawyers | Secure Your Family’s Future Today | Brown Legal Services”

Meta Description: “Brown Legal Services provides trusted probate lawyers who specialize in securing your family’s future. We handle probate administration, estate planning, and asset protection to safeguard your loved ones’ financial well-being.”

Use a Concise URL

Each page or article should have a unique URL that quickly identifies what the content is about.

Ideally, your URLs should be short, concise, and include relevant keywords. Avoid using “stop words” like of, and, then, etc. Use hyphens to separate the words in the URLs for readability.

Check out these examples of optimized URLs:

• brownlawfirm.com/services/probate
• brownlawfirm.com/about-us
• brownlawfirm.com/blog/what-is-probate
• johnsonlawgroup.com/estate-planning
• smithassociateslaw.com/services/estate-settlement

As you might have noticed above, some of these URLs include a “subfolder” (e.g. /blog or /services). You can nest like content within these subfolders so your website follows a hierarchy. For example, all of your legal services can live within /services or /practice-areas, and all of your blog posts can live within /blog or /articles.

Add Internal and External Links

Linking to other pages on your website or linking to outside sources are two ways to add additional value to your content.

Through internal linking (linking to your own content), you can connect users to related service pages, articles, your About page, your content page, and more. This makes the other content on your website easier to find and keeps users engaged with your content.

External linking (linking to other websites) can involve linking to outside sources like case law documents, news articles, studies, and more. Just be sure to link to authoritative, reputable sources that provide accurate information to users.

For example, say you have a blog post titled “How to File for Divorce in Washington State”. You can link internally to your Divorce Law services and Contact pages. And/or, you can link to divorce case law resources for Washington State, studies about divorce rates, etc. on other websites.

Optimize Images

Few people want to read a wall of text with no images! Adding media is a good way to keep readers engaged and provide supporting visuals to your content.

Of course, you will want to follow on-page SEO best practices for images as well, to ensure your images are “readable” to search engines and the right size for mobile-friendliness, etc.

First, use descriptive file names that include relevant keywords. For example, johnson-probate-law-logo or file-for-divorce-101-ebook.

Next, add image alt text for accessibility and to provide context to search engines. This can be done within your CMS when you upload and optimize the images. Image alt text should concisely describe what the image is about and, ideally, contain relevant keywords, if applicable.

Use a Mobile-Friendly Design

Over 55% of website traffic comes from mobile devices and 92.3% of internet users access the internet using their mobile phone. Having a website that is mobile-friendly is an absolute necessity when it comes to user experience and SEO.

Ensure your website is responsive and displays well on various devices and screen sizes. Many website templates have mobile-friendly versions built in but, if not, it may be worth it to work with a website designer to ensure your website is optimized for mobile.

Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to test the mobile-friendliness of your website. This tool will also tell you the specific components that need to be optimized.

Somewhat related, your website should also be optimized to load quickly on any device. Be sure to optimize your images and use browser caching to improve page load speed. You can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and address speed issues as well.

Add Schema Markup

Adding schema markup is a more advanced strategy for on-page SEO but is worth it if you get it right. It essentially involves adding code to your website that helps search engine bots understand your content.

You can implement structured data markup to enhance search results with what’s called “rich snippets”. These are specially formatted excerpts that describe your business, showcase reviews, and more.

Include relevant schema markup for legal services, reviews, and contact information to make this content easier for search engine bots to understand, increasing your chances of winning a “rich snippet” placement.

You can use ChatGPT to generate structured data markup and even provide instructions for how to implement it on your website.

Update Old Content

Laws change, studies become obsolete, and new case law comes to the surface. With that, your website content may need to adapt to accommodate new information.

Keep your content up-to-date by revisiting and refreshing it on a regular basis. Do you have new information to add to an old article? Need to remove a service you no longer offer?

This process of updating your content not only provides value to users but shows search engines that your site is active and relevant. So, make it a habit to revisit old content and keep it fresh with new information and insights.

On-Page Tools for Attorneys

On-page SEO is made easier when you have access to accurate, reliable data. SEO tools can help you identify on-page SEO issues, uncover keyword insights, and access more helpful data to inform your law firm’s SEO strategy.

Semrush

Semrush is an industry-leading SEO tool that helps with all things keyword research, competitor research, content writing, on-page SEO, and more. Find the right keywords to target on your website, generate SEO-friendly content outlines, explore backlink opportunities, and audit your site for on-page SEO issues so you can keep your site up-to-date and optimized for search engines.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is like a detective tool that helps make your law firm’s website better for search engines. It looks at who is linking to your site, where they are linking from, and the authority of those domains. It also helps you find the best keywords to use on your site so that more people can find you when they search online. Plus, it lets you spy on other law firms to see what they’re doing to get more visitors. Using Ahrefs helps your website show up higher in search results, so more people can discover your services online.

Google Keyword Planner

Although the primary role of Google Keyword Planner centers around providing keyword suggestions for Google Ads campaigns, its insights can inform on-page SEO strategies for law firms as well. Drawing from Google’s extensive data, this tool offers accurate search volume and keyword difficulty for your chosen keywords. This information will help you adjust your keyword choices, all while uncovering related keywords to expand your content’s reach.

Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights is basically a speed checker for your law firm’s website. It helps you make your website load faster, which is important because people don’t like waiting for slow websites. When your website loads quickly, visitors are happier and search engines like Google are more likely to show it to others. Google PageSpeed Insights gives you tips and advice on how to make your website speedier, like optimizing images and cleaning up heavy code.

Improve Your On-Page SEO with the Pros

There are many steps you can take today to improve your law firm’s SEO! But if you’re over the DIY approach and want to work with the pros, we’re here to help! Hennessey Digital provides on-page SEO services to lawyers, optimizing everything from your law firm’s site content to its code to boost your site’s search performance.