Many law firms rely on attracting new clients through local Google search results. The problem is that Google usually only shows 3 lawyers/law firms.
If you are in a competitive market, you’re competing against dozens and sometimes hundreds of other lawyers and law firms for that next call or client.
There are many factors that Google uses to rank lawyers in the top three search results.
However, I have seen law firms that have excellent reviews and listings failing to make this top spot. In those cases, they have missed out on formatting the front-page title right to rank.
The good news is that it should take you less than 5 minutes to fix and should get results fast with a WordPress website.
Step 1. Locate the Edit Page Title & Meta Section
Most of the websites we work on use WordPress, and it is easy to modify the “SEO Title” and “Meta Tag.”
To make edits quickly, we recommend using a free SEO plugin such as Yoast or RankMath. If you don’t have one, just go to the “Plugins” section to download and activate one.
Once you log in to your site, locate your home page and click Edit.
You will then see an option to Edit the Page Title and Meta.
RankMath Steps
Here is a sample of how that might look using RankMath (Here are the full instructions):
When you click on Edit Snippet, a new window will open in which you may change the title in the Title column.
Yoast Steps
Here is a sample of how that might look using Yoast (Here is the detailed instructions from Yoast):
Step 2. Page Title
Once in the Edit, make your home page title include your primary Google Map keyword and your law firm’s name.
An example would be “Personal Injury Attorney | Smith and Jones, P.A.”
It needs to be less than 60 characters. Remember that your law firm name needs to match the Google listing.
In the past, we noticed an advantage with stuffing keywords and even using emoticons. Unfortunately, Google has cracked down on these types of listings. So, I would not recommend using these tactics any longer.
Step 3. Page Meta
Let’s optimize those meta descriptions.
This is old-school SEO, but a recent study shows that 30% of websites don’t even use meta descriptions.
Now, perhaps that’s understandable when another study shows that 70% of the time, Google will rewrite the meta description, usually because it’s not using the keywords that the user is searching for. (This may give us a hint that the meta is still super important).
If we write a well-crafted meta description, it can compel users (potential clients) to click.
That means using keyword-rich descriptions that people are searching for, so when Google does use your meta description, it’s encouraging those clicks and acting as marketing copy for your website.
Writing the meta is very simple and just an expansion of the page title. Here is an example:
“Smith and Jones, P.A.., are personal injury attorneys in Atlanta, Georgia. Call now 1-888-123-1234 for a free consultation.”
Once you are done, update the page and resubmit the page in Google Console.
If you’re already investing in SEO, Ads, and website optimization, but are not yet seeing the results you really want, call me directly at 561-880-5790 or fill out the review form.
