Local law firm SEO in Toronto is an important part of the overall marketing strategy for your firm. By optimizing your website and local listings, you can attract more customers who are looking for a lawyer in their area. However, local search engine optimization is not something you can set and forget—it takes time and attention. The following list outlines some of the steps that we recommend taking to get started with local law firm SEO:
Claim and optimize your Google My Business (GMB) listing.
When it comes to local law firm SEO, you need to claim and optimize your Google My Business (GMB) listing.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is a free service that allows you to create a business listing in the Google search results for local searches. It also enables customers to find you online, connect with you on social media, and call or visit your store—all from one place: Google Search. Claiming your GMB listing will help ensure that potential clients can easily find information about your firm in the search results.
Optimize every page of your website.
- Create a sitemap.
- Use the same keywords on every page.
- Use the same title tags and meta descriptions on every page.
- Use the same link structure on every page (i.e., internal links).
- Create image alt tags for all pages, with different alt text for each image type (e.g., large product images versus small product images).
Review your NAP listings on local directories.
The next step is making sure that you have NAP listings on all local directories. NAP stands for name, address, and phone number.
There are a few different ways to do this:
- Use Moz Local, or another tool to verify your NAP. You can even add additional information such as your email address and website URL if it’s available.
- Check your listing on Google My Business (GMB). The GMB listing should match up with what you have in the other directories of note (Yellow Pages, Yelp etc.). If you have different NAP across these platforms then it may be time to update them all at once so they’re consistent.
Create quality content for your website.
Creating quality content is the most important element of your website. Good content is more than just words on a page, and it’s not just about keyword stuffing either.
For example, if you want to rank for “personal injury lawyer,” you might think that creating a page titled “Personal Injury Lawyer” would be enough. However, when you write great content, there’s no need for such straight-forward titles because it will likely be found directly in search results anyway. Instead of creating pages with generic titles like this one, try using something as simple as: “How To Choose A Personal Injury Lawyer.” This way you’ll still get the benefit of being seen as a leader in personal injury law while also bringing up new information that may not have been thought about before—which will give users an incentive to share what they’ve learned with friends who need advice similar to theirs!
Generate inbound links to your website.
You need to generate inbound links to your website. Link building is a long-term process, and you’ll want to be patient. Focus on quality over quantity when building links; high-quality links are more valuable than low-quality ones, and authoritative sites are more valuable than non-authority sites.
Encourage customer reviews of your business.
Encouraging customer reviews of your business is one of the most effective ways to improve search engine rankings. To get people writing about their experiences, you need to:
- Ask in person at the end of the job. This can be done verbally or via email, but it’s best if you have a template that makes it easy for customers to provide feedback. If they’re happy with your service, it’s likely that they’ll be willing to write a review online as well.
- Ask on social media. You should also ask for customer reviews on Twitter and Facebook whenever possible—it doesn’t cost anything and will help build up goodwill among prospective clients who see these posts! When asking for social media reviews, keep in mind that you won’t get many responses unless there’s some kind of incentive involved (for instance, offering discounts off future jobs).
- Use review sites like Yelp or Google My Business pages when applicable—these are great places where people share positive experiences with businesses online! By linking directly from your website homepage into these platforms’ pages (where appropriate), potential customers can instantly find out what others think before deciding whether or not they want services from yours specifically.”
Local search engine optimization is not something you can set and forget. It’s an ongoing process that requires constant attention and maintenance. That said, local SEO will work for you if you give it time, attention, and quality content.
There are a few things to keep in mind about keeping up with your local SEO efforts:
- You’ll need to keep up with changes in the algorithms used by Google and other search engines. Local SEO is very much in flux right now as technology evolves—and so do the ways people find businesses on the internet! You should check into what new features might be helpful for your business (for example, Google My Business) as well as any new recommendations from industry experts (like us!).
- You should also keep track of developments within your industry as they happen; this means keeping tabs on news stories that could affect how customers find services like yours online.*
Conclusion
The key to Toronto local law firm SEO is creating quality content that attracts links and helps with local search rankings. If you’re looking for help with your local law firm SEO strategy, we can help.
