Think of how many times you’ve clicked past the first page of search results when you’re looking for something on Google. The same goes for your website and potential leads that are looking for the services in the practice area you’re in. If your firm isn’t on Google’s first page, it doesn’t seem to exist to searchers. And if your website isn’t showing up in Google at all, even when you search your law firm’s name, you might have a big problem.
A majority of people don’t click past the first page, which means not showing up in search engine results pages may mean you’re missing clients. The good news is, our legal marketing services offer search engine optimization (SEO) that may help your web site start ranking better and generate leads faster.
Here’s how to make sure your law firm website shows in Google search results.
Your site hasn’t been indexed
The most common reason your law firm website won’t show up in search results is it Google hasn’t indexed your website. Indexing is the process of Google saving your website to their database. If your site isn’t in the database, it can’t show up in search results!
If you just recently launched a new website, it can take some time before it starts showing up in search results. Google is usually pretty quick to index new websites but the process can take up to a week for a new site to be fully indexed. You can speed up the process by submitting your website to Google through Search Console and check the status of your site’s indexing there too. Don’t get too nervous, sometimes site indexes just take some time before they show up.
Another common reason a site isn’t indexed is because your website’s code is telling Google and other search engines not to index your site. When a website is newly launched or if you’re not sure how to manage a website, it’s easy to leave a button checked that tells Google not to index your firm’s website. If that happens, Google will ignore your website entirely.
However, if your website has been around for some time, has already been indexed, and still isn’t showing up in search results, there may be a different reason why.
Your website was removed
Sometimes if your website isn’t showing up it may be because it has been removed from Google. Google works off of a quality system that it uses to gauge whether or not your law firm website meets their guidelines. If Google believes that your site doesn’t meet their qualifications or somehow violates them, your website could be removed from the index.
Your site may be banned or penalized as a result. If you find that you have been penalized for failing to meet Google's qualities, you may have the option to fix the problem and get your site back up to running. The process can be pretty complex, however, so working with a professional law firm SEO provider is usually the next step. Deindexing is often the result of poor quality SEO services.
If your website traffic has dropped because your rankings have suddenly decreased or disappeared, you may have to do an audit of your website to see where the problem area is. An SEO expert may be able to help you get your website traffic back through an SEO recovery strategy.
Lack of SEO content
Search engines like Google work by scanning for content on your website. If your law firm site doesn’t contain very much content, the chances of it turning up on Google’s first page may be slim. Blog posts are important for anyone who is trying to turn their website into a lead generating machine, especially for law firms.
Having content relevant to search queries is one way Google may determine if your website should show in search results. Google interprets website content by looking at the words and overarching meaning of your law firm’s web content to determine if it’s valuable to people using their search engine.
When a person is searching in Google for the specific keyword or phrase, your website may turn up for your target audience that is searching for relevant content. Your website doesn’t necessarily have to have that exact phrase on your site anymore, as SEO has changed significantly in recent years, which makes some parts of ethical compliance for SEO easier. Google now looks for whether your content helps answer the questions or solve the problems of their search users.
Writing content is one thing but writing content with targeted keywords and topics may help boost your website’s rankings and make it turn up higher in Google search results, including local SEO results. Law firm SEO experts like us work closely to maximize your keyword optimization to get you to rank higher and generate leads through high quality content.
Your keywords are too competitive or are irrelevant
Believe it or not, some keywords can actually be too competitive for your law firm to rank. When it comes to attorney marketing, having niche keywords may help you rank higher. When there is an oversaturated market for specific searches, your site may not appear on the first page of results.
Part of working to improve your SEO is understanding what are achievable goals for your law firm now and what to work towards in the future. We work with clients to help them identify lucrative niches in their market and rank their website for searches related to those areas.
Additionally, not all keywords hold the same value when it comes to the value to your business. Some keywords outperform others when it comes to your firm’s revenue. That is why it is important for your marketing to make sure you aren’t pursuing rankings that won’t make a positive difference to your firm’s finances.
We offer keyword research that helps you narrow down what keywords you are able to rank for and what is relevant to your firm and market. With that, keyword relevancy also changes as Google updates and searchers look for different things. We make sure to audit your keywords and monitor their performance to stay up-to-date with how your website is ranking.
How can I optimize my law firm's website?
There’s many reasons why your website may not show in search results. However, there are a few takeaways when it comes to optimizing your website to get quality leads and higher rankings.
- Audit your website for Google best practices
- Add relevant keywords that help you rank
- Write content that answers questions and problems
- Use link building and backlinks to boost website quality
- Keep your website information up to date
If you find that your website isn’t showing up in search results, an SEO audit is the first place to start to figure out what’s wrong. Sometimes it’s a simple fix as clicking a button and other times it’s months of work to improve your overall website and content quality. Many of our clients have seen significant improvement in their law firm website traffic, search results, rankings, and SEO after working with us.
Working with an expert law firm SEO company may take the stress out of having to monitor your own website’s health and performance.
Our team works to ensure that you get the most out of your legal marketing services. We closely monitor Google’s practices and updates as well as your law firm website’s performance. We can help you develop a strategy plan to maximize your keywords and content creation so you don’t have to.
If your website isn’t showing up in search results, give us a call to see how we may be able to help. Contact us today for a free initial consultation and learn how you can improve your law firm's SEO.
Kim Herrington is Creative Director of Orsanna where she leads the production and strategy for clients' marketing and advertising. She founded Orsanna over seven years ago to bring quality marketing services to business owners.