25 Tips to Dominate Google Search for Law Firms in Houston Texas

25 Tips to Dominate Google Search for Law Firms in Houston Texas

As discussions over at runrex.com reveal, SEO for lawyers and law firms is extremely competitive, with the majority of the most expensive search terms involving litigation and lawyers. Houston, Texas is home to many law firms, including some of the biggest in the country, so it is not easy to stand out as a law firm and get the results you are looking for in terms of search results. This article will look to help by listing 25 tips to dominate Google search for law firms in Houston, Texas.

• Ensure that your site is being indexed

One of the first things to do if you are looking to dominate Google search is to make sure that your website isn’t blocking Google’s crawling and indexing bots. As explained over at guttulus.com, search for ‘site:’ followed immediately by your domain address and you will get a list of all of your indexed pages as well as the meta-descriptions for each of them. Make sure everything is displayed as it should.

• Consider your clients’ language when conducting keyword research

Selecting the right keywords is key if you are to dominate Google search. One thing that will help you select the right keywords is making sure that you consider the language that your market and the people of Houston, Texas use. Make sure that your list of keywords takes into account the language used by your clients so that you can target the language the market is using rather than the technically accurate language.

• Use your audience’s language rather than legal-speak

On a related note, when providing legal information on your website, it is recommended that you skip the technical jargon and use language that is clear and that everyone will understand. This will ensure that you reduce bounce rates, which will lead to your law firm losing search rankings due to poor user experience.

• Optimize your site speed

Speed is also a very important factor for ranking on the first page of Google, which means that if you are to dominate Google search as a law firm in Houston, Texas, then you will need to optimize your site speed and make sure that it loads as quickly as possible.

• Optimize your GMB

According to discussions on the same over at runrex.com, another tip that will help you dominate Google search as a law firm in Houston, Texas is making sure that you optimize your Google My Business. Without an optimized GMB, you are unlikely to show up in the local search and map results for any search query or your target keywords.

• Create a GMB listing for each of your office locations

If your law firm has got multiple office locations in Houston, if you want to do well in Google search, make sure that you create one listing for each office. This will enhance the user experience for visitors, leading to higher rankings on Google search.

• Reviews and testimonials

If you are to dominate Google search, then having social proof on your listings and profiles in the shape of reviews and testimonials is crucial. Once you claim and optimize your GMB listing, make sure that you start asking for reviews, as positive reviews will boost your rankings.

• 4- and 5-Star reviews are preferable

Rather than looking for perfect 5-star reviews, a combination of 4- and 5-star reviews, is the way to go if you are to dominate Google search. These look more genuine and appear more authentic to people who are checking out reviews and testimonials. Also, once tabulated in the overall score of your law firm’s rating out of 5 stars, if you have a 4.7 – 4.9 out of 5, you will seem more authentic and legitimate to clients. If your reviews are perfect and seem fake, Google’s algorithm may detect this, impacting negatively on your rankings.

• Build the right backlinks

As the experts over at guttulus.com point out, backlinks are one of the most important factors in Google search rankings. If you want to dominate Google search, then you should make sure that you are getting credible and high-quality backlinks to your site.

• Look for links with strong local signals

Speaking of quality backlinks, if you want to do well on Google search, you should look for links derived from websites owned by local businesses and organizations in your law firm’s area, in this case in Houston, Texas. This includes local coalitions, non-profits, local businesses, schools and universities, and so forth. These links will show Google that your business is relevant locally, improving your rankings.

• Don’t forget about local directories and citations

Local online directories such as Yelp are also important to your law firm if you want to dominate Google search. Make sure that you claim your listing in such directories, particularly Yelp, and that you optimize your profile, ensuring that your NAP (name, address, and phone number) are up to date and identical to your GMB profile. They will help you build trust ins search engines, increasing your rankings.

• Build backlinks from legal directories

Legal directories like FindLaw and Lawyer.com offer free lawyer profiles on their websites and can be an excellent source of backlinks. This will help you build legal relevance for your law firm, and will also boost your rankings on Google search results.

• Ensure that you get in front of your prospective clients as frequently as possible

As discussed over at runrex.com, search engines are now smarter and more complex than ever, which means that the amount of information on the internet has grown. People are now typing in longer and more sophisticated search queries rather than typing in one or several keywords. If you, therefore, want to dominate Google search, make sure that you are ranking for as many keywords as possible so that you can get your law firm in front of as many of your prospective clients as possible.

• Comprehensive FAQs

You should also ensure that your FAQs focus on the specific area that your law firm specializes in and that answers are as in-depth as possible. avoid generic FAQs with short, general answers, or ‘it depends’ answers asking users to call and find out more. If you want to rank in the high positions on Google search, then having better and more comprehensive answers as compared to your competitors is a must.

• Include visual elements on your pages

Having visual elements such as graphics, tables, and videos to support the content will make it easier for your visitors to understand the services you offer and how the area of law that you specialize in works as well as how your law firm helps clients with specific types of cases. This will also lead to higher rankings on Google search since it boosts user experience.

• Markup every page with schema

The extremely competitive nature of law firm SEO means that Markup Schema is very important for firm websites. If you want to improve your rankings on Google search, make sure that you are marking up web pages individually with custom schemas specific to each page’s content.

• Optimize for mobile

The majority of searches, particularly on legal matters, are conducted on mobile devices rather than on desktop, as revealed in discussions on the same over at guttulus.com. Therefore, if you are to dominate Google search, make sure that your website is optimized for mobile.

• Select high-value keywords

Not all keywords are born equal as some are more valuable than others. If you want to do well on Google search as a law firm in Houston, Texas, you should make sure that you are targeting keywords that are of high value in Houston. Research which services people in the area commonly look for, and make sure you are targeting said keywords.

• Security

Optimizing your website is key if you are to do well on Google search, and one of the areas you need to focus on is the security of your website. Make sure that you have an HTTPS / SSL certificate for your website as having a secure website will increase its credibility, improving your rankings.

• Provide long-form content

Before hiring the services of a law firm, people like to conduct thorough research on their area of interest. You want to, therefore, give them as much information as possible to help them decide to choose your law firm. This is why you should have long-form content on your site, on various related topics. This will increase user experience and, consequently, your rankings.

• Have a social media presence

Remember, the more authority your website has, the higher it will rank on Google as explained over at runrex.com. You, therefore, want to get as many users to your site as possible, and one way to do this is by taking advantage of your social media profiles to get as many people as possible to visit your website.

• Don’t forget to blog

Not only does having a blog increase trust in your law firm, but it will also help you rank higher on Google search. Potential clients will always research before hiring a law firm, and your blog will answer any questions they have, leading to more visits to your site, and improving your rankings.

• Consider guest-posting

Guest-posting is blogging on another site, and it is another thing you should consider doing if you want to dominate Google search. Find sites that have a crossover in your area of practice or the people interested in your legal specialties for guest-posting opportunities. If you specialize in entertainment law, for example, you can look for companies in this industry such as those that cater it actors, musicians, and so forth. This will create quality content as well as backlinks, leading to improved rankings.

• Use the right calls-to-action

Generic CTAs like “get in touch” or “call the number” are no longer effective. If you want to do well on Google search, you must use CTAs that are effective like “get a free consultation with our lawyers now” or “we are prepared to fight for the compensation you deserve”, as these will motivate users to want to act immediately. Make sure that your listings clearly show these CTAs.

• Don’t forget about analytics

Tracking, measuring, and analyzing data is important if you are to dominate Google search as a law firm in Houston, Texas. Analytics is key as it will let you know which tactics are working and which are note, as well as which parts of your website are holding you back, allowing you to optimize for better rankings as explained over at guttulus.com.

On top of the tips listed above, finding and hiring the right SEO partner is another thing that will help you dominate Google search. When it comes to Houston, Texas, the highly-rated runrex.com and guttulus.com are the best agencies in the area for such services and should be at the top of your list when looking for such services.