By Marc Apple ● ● 6 min read
Table of Contents
TL:DR By incorporating the best immigration lawyer SEO practices into your law firm’s website, you can improve its online visibility dramatically. Your firm’s SEO strategy should include creating high-quality content for your site and using the right keywords.
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If you’re a lawyer, SEO might not be something you think about daily. However, you should understand that not using SEO could negatively impact the traffic to your law firm’s website and lead to a lack of immigration law marketing leads.
If nothing else, your law firm should outsource SEO services to ensure you stay in the good graces of Google and other search engines. The American Bar Association reports that almost one-third of firms use this SEO approach.
It would help if you also learned more about SEO and its importance in improving a firm’s online visibility. Find out everything you need to know about using SEO for website optimization so you may start making a stronger SEO push.
What Is SEO, and Why Is It Important to a Law Firm’s Online Visibility?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s a process that involves improving a website’s content to help it rank higher on search engine results pages.
SEO is essential because, without it, you may discover the people in your community can’t find your firm online. For lawyers, online presence is everything — and if one doesn’t take SEO seriously, Google and other search engines might look the other way and avoid recommending it to internet users.
The U.S. has nearly half a million law firms, which makes it difficult for search engines to choose which firms to include at the top of their results pages.
Search engines prioritize firms with SEO strategies. If your firm gets buried underneath other local firms because you still need to prioritize SEO, you could regret this decision.
Your online presence might not reflect this, even if you have the best firm in your area. The only surefire way to reverse this trend is to use legal SEO tactics.
What Are the Best Immigration Lawyer SEO Practices?
Now that you recognize the importance of SEO, you should start optimizing your site immediately. Before doing this, you must know about the best immigration lawyer SEO practices.
Unfortunately, some firms use bad SEO practices that don’t produce the intended results. Keyword stuffing, cloaking, and using duplicate content are three common SEO mistakes firms make.
To counteract these harmful trends, we have compiled a list of more worthwhile SEO practices for law firms below. Take them for a test drive to experience the results they produce.
Creating High-Quality Content
Google and other search engines only want to suggest that people read high-quality content to find answers to their questions. For this reason, you shouldn’t ever post anything on your firm’s site that isn’t well written, grammatically correct, and filled with factual information.
If you have the time and desire, you may create the copy you need to improve SEO. After all, you are a legal expert capable of explaining the complexities of immigration laws and helping others understand them.
If you can only commit to spending a little time writing, look for someone who understands the law as well as you do to create copy.
The more authoritative it is, the more inclined search engines will be to move it up to the top of their results pages.
Choosing the Right Keywords
Creating high-quality copy for your site will get it off to a great start, but you should continue to push the envelope. To leverage the leading immigration lawyer SEO practices, you’ll also need to incorporate relevant keywords into your copy.
You should be able to find your fair share of free and paid keyword research tools. Consider investing in one that will show you which keywords you should consider using in your content.
Consider your firm’s target audience and think about what types of things people who would theoretically be interested in working with your firm might Google to get to your site. If, for example, your firm specializes in assisting those who wish to apply for green cards, those in your target audience may type in things like:
- What are green cards?
- Who qualifies for a green card?
- What is the easiest green card to get?
- What is a green card vs. citizenship?
- How long is a green card valid for?
Answering these questions will work wonders for your SEO. This approach will highlight your knowledge about a niche topic and convince search engines to elevate your rankings on their results pages.
As a bonus, it will also force you to stay on top of the latest immigration-related news.
You will serve as a better lawyer to your clients when you’re constantly on the cutting edge of the legal industry.
Adding Internal and External Links
Optimizing your firm’s website requires more than just the right keywords. It also helps to incorporate internal and external links into the mix.
Internal links direct visitors to other pages already published on your site. They help make it more “sticky” and reduce the chances of people leaving after just a few minutes.
External links direct visitors to other sites. These links will enable you to provide sources for the statistics you cite in your work.
They also open up link-building opportunities with other webmasters that will further enhance your SEO efforts. If these webmasters notice you linking to their work, they may be more likely to return the favor.
Earning Backlinks to a Site
Earning your firm’s website backlinks is arguably the most effective way to improve its SEO. When another site links to yours, it will let Google and the other search engines know it is legit.
Earn enough of these backlinks, and it won’t be long before you skyrocket up search engine results pages.
In a perfect world, several sites will link to a blog article titled “What Are Green Cards? Everything You Need To Know” that you have posted. This could lead to Google suggesting it to internet users whenever they search, “What are green cards?” and provide you with tons of organic traffic.
Updating a Site Regularly
Immigration law firm marketing isn’t something you do one time and then stop. You must continue to take advantage of digital marketing to use it to its full potential.
The same can be said about SEO. You cannot optimize your firm’s SEO once and expect the results to last forever.
Instead, you need to update your site regularly. The simplest way to do this is to set up a blog and add a few new articles each week. This will keep your firm looking current and ensure your SEO efforts stay on track.
You might not see a dramatic improvement in your SEO overnight.
However, search engines should eventually reward you as long as you consistently update your blog with fresh copy.
Is Local SEO Important for Lawyers?
In addition to utilizing the best immigration lawyer SEO practices, we recommend including local SEO in your firm’s digital marketing strategy.
Local SEO is similar to traditional SEO in that it can improve your website’s standing on search engine results pages. The difference is that local SEO does this on a local level and provides your firm with a more substantial presence in local search results on Google and other search engines.
You will improve your firm’s local SEO by:
- Creating city pages
- Adding location-specific keywords
- Writing copy catering to local interests
You will also boost your firm’s local SEO by claiming and optimizing its Google Business Profile. This involves adding your business name, address, and contact information.
Give Us a Call for Help With Improving Your Law Firm’s Online Presence
For an immigration lawyer, SEO isn’t always top of mind. Those who work at law firms have so many other important issues to worry about.
If you love the sound of leveraging SEO to improve your firm’s online visibility but don’t know where to start, Forward Push Law Firm Marketing is here to help. Begin working with our search engine optimization experts by calling us at (800) 692-4037.
FAQs About Immigration Law Marketing
Do Immigration Lawyers Need To Use SEO?
Immigration lawyers need to use SEO if they want their sites to stand out. There are nearly 500,000 firms in the U.S., making it difficult to separate themselves from the pack without website optimization.
Should Lawyers Handle SEO on Their Own or Hire SEO Companies To Help?
Lawyers may handle SEO independently if they have the experience and, more importantly, the time to do so. However, many firms that invest in SEO hire outside companies to help.
How Much Should Law Firms Spend on SEO Services?
The total amount spent on immigration lawyer SEO services should be based on a firm’s size, current SEO standing, and digital marketing goals.
