The Link Building Strategy Guide for Lawyers
What Is Link Building?
In the legal profession, you build your law firms’ reputation through winning cases. That said, not all cases are the same.
Winning a multi-million-dollar settlement builds your law firms’ reputation more than fighting a parking ticket.
A good link-building strategy works the same way. Some law firm websites have more authority than others. Your goal is to find multiple high-quality links directed to your site. These tell Google you are an authority on the topic. Links are as much of a crucial part of overall SEO strategy for lawyers as law firm keywords are.
The more authoritative links you have that point toward your website, the stronger the signal you send to Google that your law firm’s website is a quality resource worthy of citation. Therefore, websites with high-quality backlinks earn higher rankings on search engines.
Attract more leads to your law firm“>The ways to acquire backlinks include:
- Guest blogging
- Social media promotions
- Manual outreach
- Pursuing competitors’ backlinks
However, the challenge is that link building takes time to work. According to Linkbuilder.io, it generally takes 11 months to hit peak traffic from link building.
If you add too many links too fast, you raise red flags with Google. Instead, you should slowly build up your link profile using the link-building tactics we offer below.
Note: Links are either follow or no-follow. No-follow links on a website do not help your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy because Google cannot read the link. However, the link still goes back to your site, it just doesn’t improve search engine rankings.
For example, the attorney site Avvo is no-follow. However, many attorneys earn business from the site by answering prospects’ questions. Remember, link building is one component of a broader digital marketing strategy.
Why Link Building Is a Must for Law Firms
Links determine your website’s domain authority. The more inbound links from relevant and authoritative sources, the more reputable your law firm becomes online. Which in turn drives up your SEO, be that SEO for personal injury, SEO for DUI attorney, or any other law firm specialty. 90% of marketers use content pieces as their main link building strategy to acquire backlinks.
A link building strategy forms part of search engine optimization, yet it offers more than mere high rankings on search engine result pages for your law firm. Building links also has the following benefits:
- Improve Google rankings
- Increase organic traffic
- Boost referral website traffic
- Raise domain authority
- Ramp up sales and revenue
- Establish relationships in your niche
- Increase brand visibility
- Achieve a better conversion rate
What Is the Difference Between Link Building and PR?
Link building is about impressing Google to achieve a higher position on search engine rankings, whereas PR is about impressing consumers. Traditionally, link-building seeks opportunities to gain links in places where your target audience is online, i.e., forums, local citations, free directories, industry blogs, and publications.
Although these websites might not have high domain authorities, they are relevant to your brand, which makes them a powerful element for supporting your organic strategy.
On the other hand, digital PR focuses on getting links on top-tier websites like newspapers, magazines, and so on so that people talk about your brand and in turn improve its ranking positions. These top-tier sights have a better trust flow and help achieve a higher SEO with the ultimate aim of gaining brand exposure.
How Do You Make Link Building Safe?
Poor black hat link building strategies backfire and may get you penalized by Google, either algorithmically or through manual action. To ensure your link building is above board, you should not:
- Buy low-quality links
- Exchange links
- Guest blog off-topic content
- Comment on forums or blogs if your only purpose is to leave a link in the comment
- Have any low-quality or spammy links that are unrelated to your law website
Links should always be useful for a website user. They are meant to be clicked on, so if a link doesn’t fulfill this function, it shouldn’t be there.
7 Link Building Strategies
1. Blogging
We discussed in the past how important it is to use blogging to draw traffic to your site. A quality blog demonstrates your law firm’s thought leadership in the legal industry.
The unique content you create often gets referenced by others as proof of the point they want to make. These references to your blog posts usually come with natural links to your site that Google uses to determine your search rankings.
2. Guest Posts
Once you start posting content on your site, you should find guest posting opportunities with online publications, blogs, and relevant websites as well.
One recommendation we have is to wait until you have been blogging on your site for a few months before writing guest posts on third-party websites. A few months of blogging allows you the chance to refine your writing process before you start sharing your work on other websites.
The benefit of writing a guest post is two-fold. First, you get access to their readers. Second, you receive a byline at the top or bottom of your post with your name, summary, and a link to your website.
The byline adds a positive backlink for search traffic and the chance to connect with readers who read your post.
While guest posting opportunities abound, you should be selective by choosing websites within a similar niche and a higher domain authority. After all, not all inbound links are created equal.
Here are a few sites where you might be able to write a guest post:
- Above the Law
- The Legal Intelligencer (Division of Law.Com)
- Law and Crime
3. High-Quality Directories
A few years ago, directories were a surefire way to build your search rankings. The challenge was too many marketers abused the system with black hat link building strategies. Today, you need to be careful using free and paid directories for backlinks.
Only work on listing your site on reputable legal directories. Otherwise, you can hurt your link building campaign efforts. Here are a few of the best business directories.
4. Lawyer Directories
Once you’ve added your site to general business directories, you should also add it to attorney directories. Like we discussed in the $500K Attorney, attorney directories have multiple benefits.
One benefit is the link building capabilities. Because of the diversity of these sites today, you need to choose the best strategy to match your link building efforts. Here are the top attorney and practice area directories to join.
5. Local Directories
You should not focus exclusively on attorney directories. Also, consider using local directories as well. The top local directories to start with are:
- Yelp
- Google Business page
- Bing Business Page
- Angi
- Merchant Circle
- Foursquare
- Manta
- City Squares
6. Local Citations
If you have an office, you should also look into citations. These citations are valuable for your law firm, as many potential clients may find you online via local SEO and Google Maps.
Instead of a website link, a site lists your Company Name. Google artificial intelligence can match the company name to your Google My Business Page. The search engine looks at the citation as an indication of authority, similar to high-quality links to your website content.
The catch is your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) on third-party websites needs to match the information on Google. You can check your NAP information on third-party sites with the Moz Local tool.
7. Public Relations (PR)
The next link strategy combines PR with attorney SEO. Every time you interview with a news organization, they usually share your story on their website. Often, they link to your site in the story when they reference you as the expert. A great source to get started with this is Help A Reporter Out.
The great thing is you can use this link building strategy with bloggers, podcasters, and other reputable websites like news outlets or even legal publications.
Since you are an expert in law, many reporters want to hear your thoughts on different legal matters. Find the best news sites to connect with your prospects, as well as drive valuable links to your site.
Final Thoughts on Link Building for Law Firms
Driving links to your law firm’s website is a crucial component of your SEO strategy, and they also bring great marketing ROI for law firms. It helps search engines discover your web pages and determines which ones should rank higher in search engine results. If you want to execute law firm link building within the confines of Google’s algorithm, then use a few of the ideas above to create the best backlinks for your website.
If you have further questions about how to develop a successful link building campaign, contact us today for a free consultation at 312-265-0580.
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