Ever wonder how websites appear at the top of search results? It's all thanks to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and a large part of that is On-Page SEO. This guide is your friendly introduction to making your website perform better and drive improved search results, helping you attract more visitors and potential clients for your law firm without needing a technology degree!
What is On-Page SEO?
On-Page SEO is the process of optimizing webpages and their content for both search engines and users. On-Page SEO is primarily focused on writing, arranging, and labeling of your content so search engines can easily understand the page’s structure, identify what the page is supposed to be focused on and confirm that this is what the page is actual focused on. By making a few adjustments, you can tell search engines what your website is about, making it more likely to show up when people search for relevant topics.
Keep in mind that Google and other search engines tend to rank pages higher when their content demonstrates strong value and relevance to a specific search term. In other words, optimizing for SEO alone won't boost web performance if the content doesn't provide value to the target audience. So, the focus must be to leverage SEO techniques not to boost page rankings but to better help Google understand the content that is on the page.
How and Where to Make These Changes:
Most of on-page SEO adjustments can be made through your website's Content Management System (CMS), the platform you use to edit and manage your website's content. A few of the most popular CMS’s include WordPress, Drupal, Wix, and Squarespace. These platforms offer user-friendly interfaces that allow you to edit titles, descriptions, and manage your website's content without needing extensive coding knowledge. The first step is to talk to your firm’s webmaster (or whomever is responsible for the site) to see what your website CMS is and whether you can gain access and training in using your site’s CMS. Note – most modern CMS platforms are user-friendly and super easy to use (after a few hours of training). If your firm’s website is ten-years-old or older, it most likely does not have a user-friendly CMS.
What You Can Do Yourself
Here's what you can do yourself to improve your On-Page SEO:
1. Content is King (and Queen):
- Write high-quality, informative content: This is the foundation of good SEO. Remember, as mentioned above, the goal of on-page SEO is not to “trick” Google and the other search engines that your content is quality content. The goal is to actually create quality content that will absolutely bring value to your visitors. Focus on topics relevant to your audience and their search intent. Write engaging articles, blog posts, practice area descriptions, and firm information pages that answer user needs and provide something unique. Note, in creating content for law firm websites, you should put in a little bit of time studying and thinking about the various pages that you want on your website (practice pages, about the firm pages, contact pages, etc.). This will help you to understand the content that you want on each individual page.
- Target the right keywords: Research keywords people use to find websites like yours. Tools like Google Keyword Planner can help. Include these keywords naturally throughout your content, but don't stuff them in! Obviously, the keywords need to match the content on the page. If you are creating / optimizing a page for the practice area “patent law”, the term “patent law” should be in the copy multiple times, however, along with understanding search term count, the search engines also can understand the readability of a page and is looking for a page that is clear and easy to read.
- Optimize for long-tail keywords: Aside from the general main search terms that you are writing for, you should also think about “long tail” terms that may not be searched for as much as popular search terms but that are more specific and have less competition. Targeting "best hiking trails near Denver" might drive better results than just focusing on "hiking trails" and “Estate planning lawyer for blended families” might be higher performing than “estate planning”. Make sure that you focus on both long tail and general search terms on your webpages by ensuring that you have some level of frequency of the long tail terms in the page content.
- Structure your content: Part and parcel with writing clear and useful content is organizing and identifying the content. To do this on a webpage, we use Metadata including Title Tags, H1 tags, H2 tags, etc. This is akin to naming a chapter or creating a heading for a set of paragraphs to make content easier to read. This is important both for the search engines and for the readers. For each webpage, the first heading the search engines and readers see should be a Title Tag. Each page only has one title tag and ultimately this should both reflect what the page is about and the search term that you want the page to be found for. The Title Tag is primarily used by search engines and should be around 40 to 60 characters long. A great example for a personal injury law firm main page could be something like “Plano Texas Personal Injury Litigation Attorneys.” This both maps to what the firm does, what the page is about and what a main consumer search term might be. Next are H1s and H2s. Whereas the Title Tag is focused on a specific search term or phrase, the H1 is the headline of the page for the reader. In most cases they are very similar. A well optimized page will only have one Title Tag and one H1 tag. These can be the same and should be very similar, but they can be a bit different. Remember, the Title Tag is a bit more focused on SEO and what the search engines first see, where the H1 is focused on the reader and can be a longer and more descriptive. A page might also have one or more H2 tags. These H2 tags are used to identify different content sections within a webpage. H2s can be thought of as paragraph headings in a block of copy. They serve both to guide readers and search engines through content.
- Internal Linking: Link to other relevant pages on your website to improve user experience and show the search engines the structure of your site. This helps search engines understand your website's structure and improves user navigation. While some CMS offer options for internal linking, it might require some basic understanding of HTML coding for more complex linking structures. A great example for a law firm would be having the main practice area page linking to each of the detailed practice area pages. It is important to note that it is not enough to have the links as part of the overall site navigation but put links within the content on the pages as well.
- Meta Descriptions: These short summaries appear under your page title in search results. They entice users to click on this page, so make them informative and engaging (around 160 characters). Most website CMS allow you to edit meta descriptions directly.
2. Technical Tweaks (Some May Require Help):
While many SEO improvements can be done through your CMS, some technical tweaks might require help from a web developer or SEO specialist. Here's a breakdown:
Beginner-Friendly:
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Given that the majority of web surfing happens on a phone or tablet, it is critical that your website looks good and functions well on all devices (phones, tablets, desktops). Most modern website builders offer mobile-responsive themes, which means that the website will format automatically based on the size of your mobile device’s screen. If your site is not new, it is quite possible that you are losing a substantial amount of traffic and potential clients as your site probably does not display well on a cell phone.
- Fast Loading Speeds: Nobody likes a slow website! Slow page loading speeds are penalized by the search engines and often cause visitors to prematurely leave your site, Tasks as simple as optimizing your images (size and image types) may go a long way to ensuring speedy loading times. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to check your website's speed and optimize for faster loading. Many CMS platforms offer plugins or built-in tools to help optimize images and improve website speed. Depending on how your site is configured, video content can cause long load times.
- Media Optimization: Use relevant filenames, alt text descriptions, and image titles for all of your website images and videos. This helps search engines understand your images and improves accessibility for visually impaired users. You can usually edit image filenames and alt text descriptions directly within your CMS. You can also find free online tools to compress image sizes.
- Secure Your Site: An SSL certificate (indicated by "HTTPS" in the URL) encrypts data and shows visitors your site is secure. Some hosting providers offer automatic SSL certificates but installing them manually might require technical knowledge. If your site does not have an SSL certificate, you will need to apply for one, which can usually be done through your web hosting provider.
May Need Some Technical Help:
- Crawl Accessibility: Make sure your website is easily crawlable by search engine bots. Optimize your site's structure and navigation to ensure all pages are accessible. Typically, tools such as Google Console or SEMRUSH will show what pages are indexed, which pages are crawled, but not indexed, and which pages are not crawled.
- Schema Markup: Schema Markup is the language search engines use to read and understand the content on your pages. Not all sites use it but implementing schema markup allows search engines to enhance your search listings and display them as rich snippets. Many schema types like ratings, reviews, breadcrumbs, FAQ and other markups help visitors notice a listing, even if it ranks further down on a page. Implementing schema markup code requires some understanding of coding and SEO best practices. Plugins are available for some CMS platforms, but they might require customization.
- User Experience (UX): A user-friendly website with clear navigation and engaging content keeps visitors coming back for more. Ensure fast page load times, intuitive navigation, and responsive design to enhance user satisfaction. Many older sites look dated and can drive potential clients to click out of your site and go to another site.
- Advanced Speed Optimization: Optimizing website code and server performance can be technical and probably require a developer's expertise.
3. Bonus Tips:
- URL Structure: URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the way we identify and find websites. A URL is composed of a protocol, a domain name, a path to the webpage, and a webpage name. Keep your website addresses descriptive and relevant to the page content. Ensure your URLs are clean, descriptive, and optimized for search engines. Remove broken links, add internal links, and maintain a clear sitemap.xml to facilitate crawling and indexing.
- Social Media Sharing: Make it easy for visitors to share your content on social media platforms. Integrate social sharing buttons into your website to encourage visitors to share your content.
If you're unsure about tackling a specific technical SEO task, there are resources available to help:
- Free SEO Audits: Many SEO tools offer free website audits that highlight technical issues. SEMRUSH.com and Moz.com are two of the most popular audit sites.
- CMS Documentation: Most website builders and CMS providers have extensive documentation and tutorials to help users navigate their platform's features, including some SEO settings.
Remember: SEO is an ongoing process. Regularly create fresh, high-quality content, monitor your website's performance, and adapt your strategy as needed. By following these beginner-friendly tips and seeking help for more complex tasks, you can take control of your website's ranking and attract more visitors through the power of On-Page SEO.
Happy Optimizing!
