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An SEO Checklist for the Homepage of Your Law Firm’s Website

by Alanna Fichtel • January 23rd, 2019 • SEO | Blog

homepage SEOBuilding a website for your law firm is a large undertaking – considering SEO best practices to increase your search engine visibility can make the task even more complex. To make the process more manageable, it can be helpful to break your SEO strategy down according to each portion of your website.

While your homepage is an important lead-in to your firm and the rest of your website, it’s not always the highest ranking page. Still, a well-optimized homepage can help attract and engage an audience, greatly benefiting your firm’s online reach. Following are several items your firm should ensure it includes on the homepage of its website.

Keyword Focus

If your firm is focused on one particular area of the law, you should use keyword phrases that relate to your core topic. For example, if you run a personal injury firm, keywords relating to personal injury should be the focus of your homepage, with other pages detailing the subtopics of this practice area. For larger, more general practice firms that do not have a single focus, they can rank for their firm name, brand, or even location.

Keywords are integral to any SEO strategy, but it is important to keep in mind not to overdo it. Your homepage keywords should be weaved in to your content so that it reads naturally, and not be repeated so much that it sounds forced.

Title Tag and Meta Description

Related to your homepage keywords are two more on-page aspects that need to be thoughtfully developed in order for your page to be easily searchable. The title tag of your homepage should include your firm’s name and a 4-5 word phrase that describes your practice and perhaps the location you serve. Again, if you are a large firm with no one specific practice area or focus, the title tag can include your brand name.

Along with a relevant title tag, your homepage needs a clear and succinct meta description that accurately describes what the page, or in this case, your firm, is about. This description along with your title tag is what viewers first see when searching for your firm online, so it should be written in a way as to entice people to click on your page. Be sure to keep your meta description under the allotted space limit of 156 characters.

Video Content

On-page SEO is obviously important for Google search rankings, but video content and other multimedia elements are a great way to engage viewers and keep them interested in your site. By including videos on your homepage, viewers will remain on your site for a longer amount of time, which will help improve rankings on Google as it has several ways to track user engagement on a website. In addition, the nature of video content allows you to optimize for long-tail keywords that might not make sense in written content.

Clear Navigation

Navigation is especially important to your homepage, and a good navigation bar on the homepage can be used as the header for every page of your website. It should contain links to each practice area, testimonials, FAQs, and other important information your audience might be looking for when first landing on your website in their search for an attorney. Having clear links on your homepage to information a potential client might be looking for will increase the likelihood that viewers will explore the rest of your site, thus increasing search rankings. If your homepage navigation is unorganized or unclear, viewers will quickly leave your site to search for information elsewhere.

Calls to Action

While each page of your website should have more than one way to contact your law firm, a well-designed call to action is integral to an effective homepage. A CTA button or form should be easily viewable and accessible on the homepage of your firm’s website. Again, a main goal of the homepage is to engage an audience with preliminary content so as to entice them to do further research on your site, and hopefully become a client. An effective call to action can get viewers to take the next step as early as when they land on your homepage. Additionally, when viewers respond to CTAs, Google knows that users are engaged on your site, which will improve its search rankings.

Reputable Awards

Creating a homepage that reflects your firm’s reputation can have positive impacts on SEO. Applying for certain awards such as Super Lawyers, Rising Stars, and awards from the American Bar Association can be a worthwhile investment for your firm – you can improve your website’s search ranking results by having reputable backlinks to your firm’s website. Additionally, potential clients may be more inclined to contact your firm if there is evidence of your firm’s trustworthiness and past success in the form of awards on your homepage.

Takeaway

There are many parts involved in building a successful SEO strategy for your law firm’s website, but homepage SEO should not be overlooked. These are just some of the ways to get started, and you should not stop here – any SEO strategy requires continuous updating and review in order to ensure your firm can be easily found online. If you need help with your law firm’s SEO strategy, feel free to reach out to us for a consultation.

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