GUIDES
The ultimate guide to search engine optimisation for law firms
In our comprehensive guide to SEO for law firms, we explain all the essential considerations involved in optimising your site to get it ranking for relevant Google searches.
Ultimate guide to SEO
What is SEO?
Search engines can drive a great number of relevant visitors and audiences to your law firm’s website. However, there are certain key steps that must be undertaken to optimise your online channels and present them effectively to search engines.
Each of these steps helps you to secure the top rankings for relevant keywords and thus attract the best possible business.
This optimisation work is known as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). It spans 3 core areas: on-page SEO, off-page SEO and technical SEO.
The steps below help your site appear for valuable queries and convert visits into quality instructions.
SEO for lawyers - Increasing enquiries from clients searching for your services
Great SEO is about matching useful content to real search demand and turning that demand into enquiries. That means building pages around high-intent topics (not just one or two trophy phrases), publishing expert guidance that answers the question directly, and making it easy to call, email or book.
We’ve seen firms double enquiry levels by expanding local visibility and improving conversion paths on key pages.
To do well online, it is critical that potential and existing clients can find you easily when searching for services relevant to your offering. It is important not to focus on one or two main key phrases, such as ‘Solicitors London’, or ‘Personal Injury Lawyers Birmingham’, but instead focusing on driving as much traffic as possible from as many relevant key phrases/keywords as possible.
If done properly (particularly with great content marketing) you can achieve excellent results. For example, we doubled a firm’s enquiry levels through expanding their local presence and constantly refining the conversion process to maximise their return on investment. The graph below tracks the number of phone call enquiries over the year:
If you want the full service approach, our SEO for law firms programme brings the strategy content, and tracking together to grow instructions.
Be wary of the promise "we'll get you to number 1 on Google"
Search changes constantly. Google’s techniques, algorithms, and results pages evolve all the time and ranking number one for a single phrase is no longer enough to deliver meaningful enquiries. Results now blend ads, local listings, AI summaries, and organic rankings, which means relying on just one keyword will never generate the volume or quality of traffic your firm needs.
What does work is building a broad set of strong positions across multiple practice areas. As trusted advisors to competitive firms, we’ve seen this approach consistently drive growth in enquiries. The key is staying aligned with current best practice, measuring outcomes regularly, and ensuring a firm’s online presence is fully optimised to generate new business.
SEO activities
Stick to white-hat tactics. Google rewards authority, useful UX, and in‑depth content. Sites that used aggressive link schemes or thin content in years past continue to see volatility after broad updates. Building authority now means robust on‑site content, credible mentions and links, consistent local signals, and strong review profiles.
Even many ‘grey-hat’ activities that were once considered good practice are no longer valid. Google is becoming increasingly advanced and now looks to reward legal sector online platforms that are highly authoritative, deliver a good user experience (UX) and are full of in-depth valuable content.
Google is increasingly looking for other external signals to your website which are both relevant and authoritative. Today, online prominence is achieved through a mixture of on-site SEO work and off-page factors such as relevant backlinks and social media links.
What are the most important on-page SEO factors for law firms?
On-page SEO is the process of optimising your law firm’s web pages so that both search engines and human readers can understand them clearly.
This involves refining the page content, meta titles, headings, and URLs, as well as other key ranking factors. Done well, on-page optimisation improves visibility in search results while making your pages easier for potential clients to read and act upon.
High‑quality, well‑structured content on key landing pages is the foundation. Large practice pages and guides tend to rank and convert better, particularly in competitive areas.
Current studies also show how click behaviour concentrates at the top: the top 3 organic results attract ~54% of clicks, with position 1 around ~40% on average, so quality that earns top placements is worth the effort.
A practical content checklist for 2025
- Fix duplicate or missing title tags and meta descriptions
- Use a single H1 with clear subheads
- Audit and refresh older content; prune what no longer serves users
- Compress and describe images with accurate alt text
- Cluster related topics and avoid keyword cannibalisation
- Improve readability with short sentences and scannable formatting
How to satisfy demand and add value
To provide great content, you need to satisfy real search demand by answering the questions people are asking.
That starts with keyword and question research around each service area (for example: “probate lawyer Newcastle,” “how long does probate take?” or “fixed-fee wills”). From there, build guides that explain processes, pitfalls, timelines, fees, and when to seek advice — and make it effortless for readers to contact your team if they need help.
As Jay Baer puts it, this is about “giving away information snacks to sell knowledge meals.” By sharing valuable insights upfront, your firm builds trust, demonstrates expertise, and attracts enquiries from clients who already see you as the authority.3
Say, for instance; you were looking to get your site ranking well for terms relating to Probate Lawyers in Newcastle. After conducting initial keyword research, you would aim to write a thorough, informative guide on probate in England & Wales.
This guide should outline what the main processes are and how your lawyers can assist clients. It should have your unique brand proposition scattered throughout the piece, detail some top tips or common pitfalls, and explain what the main legal terminologies are
We use a range of SEO tools as part of our content auditing process and can determine what might be missing from any given web page or indeed any online platform.
Over time, you will gain expertise and you will be able to spend less time on keyword research and more time writing and optimising the content and making sure all the features above are in place.
Making your content linkable
For your content to rank, it must be both visible and capable of being linked to. That means publishing on public, indexable pages — not hiding core guidance behind images, sliders, Flash plugins, gated areas, or login screens. Content hidden in those formats is unlikely to be discovered or ranked by search engines.
Once your content is accessible, support it with a promotion plan so relevant sites can cite and link to it. Strong off-page signals — such as links, citations, and mentions across trusted sources and social channels — remain some of the most important drivers of authority and visibility for law firm websites.
Meta title - keywords plus user intent is key
The meta title defines the title of your page, and it plays a key role not only in SEO but also in social sharing and browsing. It’s the text users see in search results and in their browser tabs, so it needs to be clear and relevant.
Aim for around 50–60 characters, written for humans first. Place the main topic early, keep it readable, and ensure it reflects the content of the page. For example, a personal injury page might use:
Personal injury solicitors for [type of claim] – [City] | [Firm]
Well-crafted meta titles help search engines understand your page while encouraging clicks from potential clients.
Benefits of a great meta title
Not only will you get an automatic SEO boost by placing the keywords you are targeting into the meta title of the page, but it will also make your page much more clickable in search, which itself is an SEO bonus.
When you’re dealing with over 100 pages of content, it can be tricky optimising all of your relevant meta titles. Working with a legal marketing agency like MLT ensures that you get it right the first time, without it having to be redone again.
Law firm URLs
The URL of your law firm page is also important for on-page SEO purposes.
A good URL structure will include relevant keywords and be concise. For instance, for a family lawyer’s main family law landing page:
Lawfirmwebsite.com/family-law
A poor URL structure will have no or few keywords and possibly contain unnecessary, irrelevant further levels. For example:
Lawfirmwebsite.com/ 1234/xyz/5678
Google will also be able to see that an over-optimised URL structure is trying to game the system and therefore is equally of little value (whereas in the past it may have been somewhat useful). An example of a poor keyword-stuffed example would be:
Lawfirmbrand familylawyers anddivorcesolicitors england.com/ family-law- lawyers-solicitors- england-and-wales- child-finance-support- alimony-family-law
If you can have a thought-out URL structure in place before you start implementing your content, you’ll see significant ranking improvements for your law firm and won’t have to unpick a great deal of poor (or non-existent) optimisation.
Often, it’s easier starting again from scratch on a new online platform than trying to fix a broken one that’s not fit for purpose.
Keep URLs short, descriptive, and consistent, e.g. /family-law/ rather than deep, parameter‑heavy strings or keyword‑stuffed slugs.
Ranking factors that boost visibility
There are many other factors that determine how your firm will rank in Google and other search engines. Ensure to implement 8 factors mentioned below to improve your law firm’s SEO.
Headline and title tags
One clear H1, logical H2/H3s, H4's if necessary and focused terms.
Internal links
Every key page should be reachable in four clicks or fewer.
External links
Some SEOs question the value of external links. Link sparingly to authoritative sources where it helps the reader.
Body text
Your firm should reflect real search language without stuffing.
Meta description
Write a compelling snippet to increase user CTR.
Images
Use descriptive file names and ensure to include optimised alt text.
Meta keywords
Skip them - they're obsolete.
Social proof
Compelling review content and shares can lift click-through and trust signals.
Click-through matters
Users reward higher organic positions with far more clicks; paid ads at the very top average only low single‑digit CTRs, while the first organic result approaches ~40% on many datasets.
Why does on-page SEO matter for law firms?
Despite serious competition from other firms, if you can get your on-page SEO perfected, your law firm can achieve the following:
Increased prominence in search
Increased traffic and enquiries
Maximised business generation potential of your website
Technical SEO in 2025: Core Web Vitals and speed
Google replaced FID with INP (Interaction to Next Paint) as a Core Web Vital. Aim for INP ≤ 200 ms at the 75th percentile across mobile and desktop. Alongside LCP and CLS, these metrics correlate with better UX and improved search performance.
Local SEO ranking factors
Local SEO is all about optimising your website to improve your rankings in local search engine results pages (SERPs). For law firms specifically, local SEO can be critical to attract potential clients who are looking for legal services in your location.
By optimising your website for local search, your law firm can improve your visibility in your area, gain more traffic from your targeted audience and, ultimately, generate more business.
Top 3 priorities for local SEO in 2025
Local visibility drives enquiries for most practices, and if you’re not taking advantage of this your firm is missing out.
Google Business Profile (GBP) hygiene
Complete categories, services, descriptions, photos, and opening hours; keep NAP consistent across citations; add FAQs and messaging. Consumers still lean heavily on Google for local research, and only ~4% say they never read reviews; ~96% are open to writing one. Fresh responses matter.
Reviews and recency
Maintain a steady flow of detailed, photo‑backed reviews. BrightLocal’s 2025 data shows continued reliance on Google reviews and growing use of alternative sources; video content from the business is widely consumed during research.
On-page + local content
Create location pages and answer local intent queries clearly; add driving directions, nearby landmarks, and service availability.
Why this matters
- Google maintains a ~90%+ share of general search in the UK, so optimising for Google and Maps remains pivotal
- For local research, many users click map/Local Pack results, so a strong GBP presence helps capture those actions
For detailed tactics, see our: Guide to Local SEO for law firms.
Off-page SEO / ‘link building'
Links from relevant, reputable sites still act as signals of authority, Focus on:
- Digital PR in your practice areas
- Legal directories with editorial standards
- Community, charity and chamber sponsorships for local citations
- Thought-leadership on respected legal blogs and publications
What are some of the key components for off-page SEO?
Digital PR in your practice areas
Well-executed digital PR campaigns can earn high-authority links and press coverage for your firm. This might include publishing research, issuing press releases on significant case outcomes (within compliance rules), or commenting on topical legal issues.
By targeting stories in your key practice areas, you can secure mentions on reputable news sites and industry platforms, both boosting visibility and building authority.
Legal directories with editorial standards
Not all directories are equal. Focus on respected legal directories such as Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, or The Law Society that apply editorial or verification standards. A listing in these carries more weight than low-quality, “submit your link” sites.
These trusted sources often appear high in search results themselves, creating additional visibility for your practice.
Community, charity and chmaber sponsorships for local citations
Supporting local initiatives, charities, and business chambers not only builds goodwill but also creates opportunities for authoritative local citations. Sponsorship pages, event listings, and chamber of commerce profiles often include high-quality links that reinforce your firm’s local relevance, a key factor in law firm SEO.
Thought-leadership on respected legal blogs and publications
Supporting local initiatives, charities, and business chambers not only builds goodwill but also creates opportunities for authoritative local citations. Sponsorship pages, event listings, and chamber of commerce profiles often include high-quality links that reinforce your firm’s local relevance, a key factor in law firm SEO.
Avoid quantity‑over‑quality link schemes. If performance stalls after six months with sound on‑page work, a lack of credible links is often the gap.
GEO for law firms in 2025 (Generative Engine Optimisation)
Search behaviour is shifting.
AI summaries now appear in a meaningful share of results: studies across March–May 2025 show 13–18% of searches (mostly informational) featuring AI summaries, with visible growth since January. Users click fewer traditional links when a summary is present. Your content needs to be GEO‑ready to appear as a cited source in these answers. Search Engine LandPew Research Center.
Google itself reports that AI Overviews increased usage for queries where they appear, reinforcing the need to feature in those summaries rather than ignore them.
See our dedicated service: GEO for law firms – be seen where clients now search.
The changing SERP: zero-click and why coverage matters
A large share of searches end without a click. Independent 2024 research found 59% of EU and US Google searches were zero‑click, with a material portion of the remaining clicks going to Google’s own properties.
In 2025, AI summaries deepen this pattern. The takeaway: win visibility across organic, Local Pack/Maps, and AI summaries — not just the blue links.
Building a sustainable SEO strategy for your firm
Successful law firms don’t rely on quick fixes. Instead, they take a structured approach: publishing useful content at scale, ensuring each practice area is easy to find, growing local prominence, and building authority through credible mentions.
Quick wins may offer a short-term boost, but they rarely last and in some cases can even harm long-term visibility.
Good law firm SEO isn’t about “tricking” search engines. It’s about implementing a layered, multi-faceted strategy that combines technical improvements, high-quality content, local optimisation, link earning, and continuous testing.
The firms that succeed measure everything against meaningful outcomes: enquiries and new instructions.
Because search engines constantly update their algorithms to improve results, SEO best practice also evolves. Choosing a trusted partner or building in-house expertise that understands the legal sector and adapts to these changes is essential.
Done properly, SEO for law firms delivers consistent, compounding results that strengthen over time.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
FAQS: SEO for law firms in 2025
AI summaries appear on ~13–18% of searches in recent studies, and users click fewer traditional links when a summary shows. Make your pages GEO‑ready with clear Q&A sections, citations, structured data, and up‑to‑date guidance so you’re cited inside those summaries.
(Search Engine Land)
Yes. Click studies show the top organic spots still capture the majority of clicks, with position 1 around 40% on average. Local Pack visibility and inclusion in AI summaries now sit alongside that goal.
Pass Core Web Vitals with INP ≤ 200 ms, strong LCP and CLS, and fast mobile performance – especially on content with forms and calculators.
Very. BrightLocal’s 2025 data shows only ~4% say they never read reviews; ~96% are open to writing one. Keep GBP updated, reply to feedback, and add fresh photos and video.
(BrightLocal)
Yes. Regulators still cite Google’s 90%+ share in general search. Your plan should cover organic, Local Pack/Maps, and AI surfaces on Google, plus monitoring of Bing/Copilot and Perplexity where relevant.
If you want visibility inside AI Overviews and assistants like ChatGPT/Copilot, yes. GEO complements SEO by shaping content so AI systems can cite your pages. Read more here: GEO for law firms.
Leads and case‑ready enquiries first, then assisted conversions, rankings for priority terms, Local Pack exposure, GBP actions (calls, directions, messages), AI summary citations, Core Web Vitals, and link growth.
LEGAL SEO IN THE UK AND BEYOND
Improve your online visibility with SEO
Our team of experts make SEO for lawyers easier. If you’re struggling with your search engine optimisation efforts or if you aren’t acquiring enough leads from your existing law firm SEO strategy, give us a call on 0333 344 2722 or fill out our online enquiry form and we’ll carry out an analysis for your firm.