A practical guide to search engine optimization for law firms
The following introduction to SEO covers the basics of search engine optimization. It's enough to get started, but real expertise takes more experience and depth. It's why Google made a guide to help you with the basics, which we will summarize here.
For the complete guide, read Google's SEO Starter Guide . This is the authoritative source for SEO best practices.
Use the "View Source" option in your browser. See the <title> tag? Does it have useful information including your name and phone number? If not, then you're probably missing out on some serious traffic for people trying to find you.
The #1 most important thing on your site. Now let's look at another example. Go to your current site and use your browser's View Source option. Is your <title> tag what you want people to see in search results?
Example of bad:
<title>Criminal Defense and Personal Injury</title>
Example of good:
<title>Boone Moyle Law Firm | Criminal Defense & Personal Injury | (979) 481-1431</title>
Correct. This is why your own website doesn't show up for "Boone Moyle" — there is no way Google knows how to find you except the URL.
Another very important thing is this: Which of the following URLs is better for SEO for a truck accident search?
Option 1: https://example.com/page0001.html
Option 2: https://example.com/areas-of-expertise/personal-injury/truck-accidents/
The second one is better. Clean, descriptive URLs are part of why pages are so important for SEO. Learn how to format URLs for your ads.
Guess what happens if a bunch of people link to your pages, and then one day, you change all the URLs?
Answer: You lose the progress. Your rankings crash.
Google loves to see minor improvements and changes on your web pages. Freshness signals matter.
If you rename or move a page, always set up a redirect from the old URL to the new one. Redirects are basic SEO practice, and skipping them can destroy rankings.
Case study: A client's site dropped from #1 to #26 after launching a new site because the firm renamed pages without using redirects. Simple redirects would have preserved their rankings.
Google indexes the mobile version of your site first. If your site is not mobile-friendly, rankings suffer. Use responsive layouts and test on multiple devices.
Slow sites frustrate users and reduce search visibility. Optimize images, enable caching, and use modern hosting/CDNs.
Adding schema markup (e.g., LocalBusiness, LegalService) helps Google display enhanced results such as star ratings, business hours, and contact info.
Thin content does not rank well. Each practice area page should clearly explain services, include FAQs, and use plain language that matches search intent.
Backlinks from reputable legal directories, bar associations, or local news establish trust with Google. Quality matters more than quantity.
Let us handle the technical details while you focus on serving clients.
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