As a lawyer, law firm, or legal adviser, your online presence needs to be strong, credible, and authoritative to rank in the SERPs. Link building for lawyers is an essential part of that.
Organic search, which most new law firm clients experience through Google, is an essential part of how lawyers get clients.
Why do some law firms dominate search results while others struggle?
If you’re struggling to pull in clients through SEO (search engine optimization), you might need a strong link building strategy to give you that extra boost.
In this guide, we’ll explore practical link building tactics for lawyers and share lessons for long-term SEO gains.
Why Do Law Firms & Lawyers Need Backlinks?
Backlinks and link building are essential for lawyers and law firms. Here are a few reasons why:
- Google counts high-quality and relevant backlinks, especially when they’re from a website with a higher domain authority (DA) rating as a KEY part of their ranking factors.
- If you want to rank within the top 10 of relevant SERPs results, you need to aim for 1000 backlinks.
- According to various surveys of lawyers, SEO, including backlinks, is one of the most effective marketing channels for law firms.
- Another study found that: “Google is predominantly used to find law firms, with prospects choosing firms from the top search results.”
Billboards, bus benches, and an expensive downtown office might make you think you’ve got a presence. You assume it’s enough for potential clients to remember your name.
However, one of the most shocking things is: “Prospects are aware that there are numerous law firms to choose from, but recall of specific names is low”
If potential clients have seen your name around but can’t remember it then they’ll simply start searching for “lawyers near me”, and other location-based searches. Or they’ll search for specific terms, such as “personal injury …”
If your firm doesn’t show up in the top search results they’re not going to find you. It’s that simple. No billboard is going to fix that.
Link building is an essential part of SEO, and one of the most effective ways to get front-of-mind and top-of-search for the clients and cases you need to win.
What Counts as a High-Quality, Relevant Backlink for a Law Firm?
You need solid evidence to win a case, right? Online, you need high-quality and relevant backlinks to rank higher on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for keywords in your location and for the type of work you practice.
Sure, you could buy a bunch of links from shady websites, but that’s like gathering evidence that won’t hold up in court.
It might look good on the surface, but it won’t do much to boost your credibility.
How do you know which links are worth pursuing?
Here are some factors to help you judge that:
- Organic Traffic: Instead of just looking at fancy metrics, focus on whether a website gets a lot of visitors from Google. If it does, it’s a good sign that Google trusts it—and that’s a good sign for you too.
- Relevance: Imagine you’re a personal injury lawyer. Getting a backlink from a legal advice website? Awesome. Getting one from a pet grooming blog? Not so helpful. Aim for links from websites that are relevant to your practice area.
- Anchors: This is the clickable text of a link. Make sure it accurately describes the content it’s linking to. For example, if your page is about “divorce laws,” use anchor text like “divorce laws explained” instead of just “click here.”
- Link Profile: Variety is key. Mix up your link-building tactics to create a natural-looking link profile. Think of it like a balanced diet—too much of one thing isn’t good for you. Try guest posting, directory listings, and digital PR to keep things diverse. More on this later!
- Destination: Focus on building links to pages that offer valuable information. Of course, you want people to hire you, but first, they need to know you’re an expert. Create content that educates and informs, then use internal links to guide visitors to your sales pages.
How to Create a Law Firm Backlink Strategy
So, we’ve established that not all links are beneficial for your law firm’s website. The key is to build a strong, strategic backlink profile.
But this ideal backlink profile isn’t built overnight.
You need a good strategy and the patience to implement it. And we can definitely help with the former.
Here are some initial steps to get you started:
Assess Your Current Backlink Profile
Before you can improve your link-building efforts, you need to understand where you currently stand. Conducting a backlink audit is the first step.
Here’s what you should look for:
- How many backlinks do you currently have?
- What is the quality of these backlinks? Are they from reputable, relevant sources?
- How do your backlinks hold up as compared to your competitors?
- Do you have links from a variety of different websites, or are they all from the same type of source?
- What anchor text is being used? Is it varied and relevant?
Set Actionable SEO Goals
The first step should have revealed the gaps in your current link profile. Now set clear goals to fill these gaps and make your strategy bulletproof.
Decide your SEO objectives: Are you aiming to rank higher for specific keywords, increase overall website traffic, or boost your domain authority?
Next, assess how many backlinks you need to achieve these goals. This number can vary greatly based on your current standing and the competitiveness of your target keywords.
Finally, identify the types of backlinks that will be most beneficial for your strategy and let the link building begin!
Link Building Tactics for Lawyers
So now you’re on the hunt for some solid backlinks to boost your law firm’s SEO game. There are a couple of routes you can take but it boils down to two main paths:
Earn links or buy them.
Each approach has its own pros and cons, and choosing the right one depends on your goals and resources.
Buying links may offer a quick fix, but it comes with risks such as penalties from search engines. On the other hand, earning links through valuable content and genuine relationships can take a lot of time and effort.
Let’s take a look at some strategies for both:
Tap into Paid Link Building Opportunities
As a lawyer, you can ‘buy links’ through tactics like paid Guest Posting and Link Insertions (Niche Edits).
Guest Posting involves writing articles for other websites and getting backlinks in return. This lets you share your expertise and gain visibility while earning valuable links to your site.
You can spread awareness about legal issues on other law blogs or add insight to industries like technology, finance, or healthcare where legal advice is needed. The goal is to capture the site’s audience to grow your own.
Link Insertions require less effort because it simply involves inserting your link into a website’s existing articles.
Of course, you have to choose reputable websites to ensure the backlinks are valuable and safe. Use this method as part of a broader link-building strategy to minimize the risk of penalties from internet search engines.
Bloggers Outreach
You can have the most authoritative content and linkable resources in the world but you need the right exposure to bring in the links.
Instead of waiting for link opportunities to land in your inbox, you make it happen through consistent, pro-active blogger outreach.
You can start by combining a list of these websites and searching for the contact details of the site owners. Then you just have to reach out to them with a personalized message highlighting your content and explaining why their audience might find it valuable.
Don’t forget to offer something in return, such as a backlink or a guest post.
As Google’s internal data, our case studies, and another study on backlinks prove, your business needs high-quality backlinks to rank higher in search engines and bring in more organic traffic, and sales leads.
If this sounds like too much work alongside your actual cases and legal work: We solve this problem with done-for-your SEO Blogger Outreach services.
However, if your firm requires a comprehensive strategy that handles guest posts, citations, and PR all at once, investing in a managed link building campaign is the most effective way to build undeniable authority without sacrificing billable hours.
Earn Links with Newsworthy Stories: Digital PR
Buying links is quick and effective but it shouldn’t be your only link building strategy. As they say, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Diversify your link profile by earning links with newsworthy content instead.
This is called Digital PR, and it’s a great way to become a viral phenomenon.
Effective digital marketing and PR can even land you on the front pages of news websites like BBC, Buzzfeed, and the Wall Street Journal!
This means greater social influence and more link juice for your law firm’s website.
Share your expert opinions, unique insights, press releases, or legal research to become a valuable resource to journalists, bloggers, and website owners.
Leverage the Power of Your Network
Your connections in the legal field can be a goldmine for backlinks.
Talk to colleagues, clients, and others in your industry who have websites or blogs. They might be willing to feature your law firm or link to your content.
Working together on projects, giving testimonials, or sharing helpful resources can all lead to valuable backlinks and more exposure for your firm.
Networking can make a big difference – sometimes, all it takes is asking for a link to give your SEO a boost.
Optimize Your Presence on Legal Directories
Platforms like Avvo, Justia, and FindLaw are go-to sources for people looking for legal help.
List your firm on these directories and keep your business information consistent. This can bring in more clients along with valuable citations and backlinks.
Here are some of the top legal directories where you can list your firm:
- Avvo
- Martindale
- Justia
- SuperLawyers
- FindLaw
Apart from these well-known platforms, look for smaller, area-specific directories. These localized directories can be particularly beneficial for attracting clients in your immediate vicinity and enhancing your local SEO efforts.
It’s important to note that directory links are often marked as “nofollow,” meaning they don’t directly influence your search engine rankings. Despite that, they can still drive traffic to your website, bring in more clients, and increase your credibility.
Lessons for Long-Term Link-Building Gains
It’s important to understand that link building isn’t a quick fix. If you treat it as such, your strategy will end up falling flat.
To achieve a good ROI through your link-building efforts, you need to optimize for the long run.
Here are some valuable lessons from our own link-building expertise in this niche:
Plan ahead
Let’s be real, an SEO strategist who promises short-term gains is likely misleading you.
While short-term benefits are possible, they should be viewed as milestones in a longer-term strategy.
For example, even though we doubled a website’s domain rating in two months, this achievement was part of a broader, long-term plan.
Don’t Fall for ‘Get Links Quick’ Schemes
You’ve probably seen offers from small SEO agencies boasting about huge networks of sites, affordable backlinks, and a no-fuss approach. These should raise red flags.
Buying cheap backlinks is often ineffective and can harm your website’s domain rating. Instead, focus on high-quality sites and work directly with webmasters.
Focus on anchor text
Branded anchors are often looked down upon. We’re here to tell you that they’re actually not that bad. You just have to use them right and be as transparent as possible.
Search engines and readers appreciate relevant and transparent links. That’s why you should avoid exact-match keyword anchors, as they can seem manipulative and perform poorly.
Know your Success Metrics
You can’t crack how effective your strategy is if you’re measuring the wrong metrics. Here are some key points to focus on:
- Increasing Organic Traffic.
- Achieving a higher Domain Rating than your competitors.
- Building more Referring Domains that contribute to organic traffic.
What’s Next?
As a law firm, you might be new to Search Engine Optimization and link building. But winning at SEO isn’t that different from winning cases in a court of law.
The first lesson is that whether you go for paid links or earn them through digital PR, there are no overnight success stories in this game.
Simply focus on high-quality and relevant backlinks, avoiding shortcuts for sustainable growth.
Talk to us today about SEO services you can depend on. OutreachMama is trusted by over 300 companies worldwide to generate high-impact organic growth from Google. OutreachMama can deliver every SEO service you need to improve your rankings and drive more traffic, sales leads, and customers to your website.
Off the clock? You’ll find me behind the lens, capturing the world through photography, or catching NBA games (minus any recent All-Star debates) – or maybe even experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen! Let’s chat about SEO, strategy, or maybe even your favorite classic basketball moments.