Search for “lawyer SEO company” and you’ll see page after page of agencies promising the same things. Rankings. Keywords. Traffic. But if you’re running a law firm, that’s not what you care about. You care about clients. You care about new cases. So the real question is simple: what does a lawyer SEO company actually do to make that happen?
Why SEO for Lawyers Matters
When people need a lawyer, they don’t pull out a phone book. They don’t always ask a friend. They go to Google. Type “personal injury lawyer near me” or “divorce attorney in [city]” and look at the first page. Those firms are getting the calls. The rest aren’t. That’s the point of lawyer SEO services: showing up when people search. If you’re not on page one, your competitors are.
What a Lawyer SEO Company Actually Does
Let’s break down the work that matters.
1. Website Audit
The first step is a full review of your site — like running diagnostics before fixing a car. A good audit looks at:
- Site speed.
- Mobile friendliness.
- The strength of your practice area pages.
- Your keyword positions versus competitors.
Without this strategy in place, your firm is just guessing. This is the starting point to a strong website.
2. On-Page SEO
Once the audit is done, the site itself gets tuned up. That means:
- Titles and headers written the way people search.
- Metadata that draws clicks.
- Schema markup that tells Google your practice areas.
- Internal links that connect your content and guide readers.
3. Local SEO
Most clients search for a lawyer close to home. That’s why the map pack matters so much. A good law firm SEO company will:
- Fully optimize your Google Business Profile.
- Build consistent citations in directories like Avvo, Justia, and FindLaw.
- Help you collect reviews that boost both trust and visibility.
- Create geo-targeted pages that rank for “near me” searches.
When someone looks up “DUI lawyer near me” at 11 p.m., this is how you get the call. See Google’s own Business Profile rules to understand why this matters.
4. Content That Builds Trust
Ranking is one thing. Getting someone to call is another. That’s where content comes in. A solid SEO strategy includes:
- Practice area pages that explain your services clearly. A personal injury lawyer SEO plan often centers on accident-related keywords.
- Blog posts that answer common questions: “What happens after a car accident?” or “How is child custody decided in [state]?”
- FAQs that match conversational searches like “How much does a bankruptcy lawyer cost near me?”
- Guides that dig deeper, showing depth and authority.
5. Backlinks
Google looks at backlinks the way clients look at referrals. If trusted sites point to you, you must be credible. The right backlinks come from:
- Local newspapers and publications.
- Bar associations.
- Reputable legal directories.
- Guest articles on established sites.
It’s about quality, not quantity. Ten strong backlinks beat a hundred weak ones. Moz’s guide on backlinks breaks this down well.
6. Tracking Leads
This is where most agencies drop the ball. They show you traffic charts. Impressions. Clicks. None of that matters if it doesn’t lead to calls and clients. At Matador, every client gets a monthly report showing:
- Every call we generated.
- Every contact form submission.
- Every chat lead.
- Each conversion tied back to SEO.
Why Hire a Lawyer SEO Company Instead of a General Agency
Could a general agency do your SEO? Maybe. But law is different. Competition is tougher. Rules are stricter. Mistakes are more expensive. A specialized agency knows bar rules. It knows which terms can be worth thousands per case. It knows clients choose lawyers based on trust, not gimmicks. That’s the difference between empty clicks and real cases.
How Long Does It Take?
Lawyers always ask this — and for good reason. The answer depends on your market.
In smaller cities, results can often show up in 3-6 months. But in large markets, it can take 6-12 months, or even longer if you are in a tier 1 city.
What Really Matters
So what does a lawyer SEO company do?
A great lawyer SEO company will do the following: 1) review your site; 2) fix the basics; 3) build your local presence; 4) publish valuable content; and 5) earn credible backlinks.
Most importantly – a good lawyer SEO Company will track every single lead. Good SEO companies for lawyers know that rankings or traffic don’t matter unless the phone is ringing and your business is growing.