7 Link-Building Strategies to Boost Your Law Firm’s SEO
By far, the legal industry is one of the most fiercely competitive markets. You are often competing with law firms with lawyers who often have 20 or 30 years of experience in the field and who often have a strong marketing budget. However, none of that matters if they do not have a strong SEO presence.
In fact, one of the issues we often see when it comes to law firm websites is a lack of high-quality backlinks. Google and other search engines will have an easier time ranking sites with good-quality backlinks because this gives them more information about your site and underlines that your site is trustworthy.
Here are 7 link-building strategies, including specific places to get links from, that will help improve your online presence and help you get more legal clients.
Get Listed in Legal Directories
Getting listed in respectable legal directories is one of the simplest ways to begin developing backlinks for your legal practice. These directories help with discoverability from the clients themselves, and search engines often have built-in trust with these websites since the sites often vet their members.
Some of the best legal directories for law firm website backlinks include:
Avvo
Justia
Find Law
Nolo
Super Lawyers
When submitting your law firm website to these places, ensure that your law firm's name, address, and phone number (NAP) are complete and consistent across all platforms.
Write Guests Posts for Legal Blogs
No matter what legal industry your law firm falls into, you have a wealth of knowledge and experience as a legal professional. By sharing that information through guest posts, you not only build high-quality backlinks, as these sites often allow you to link back to your website, but you prove that you are an expert in your field, sharing that expertise with a broader audience.
You can submit your insights to places like Above the Law or through niche blog sites focusing on personal injury, corporate law, family law, etc. Be sure that the content you offer is informative, free from bias, and offers value to its readers.
Submit Press Releases to News Outlets
Press releases by your law firm can be a great way to increase traffic on your website, but it is also a fantastic way to generate backlinks from news sites. Whether announcing a new office location, a major case win or participating in a community event, press releases can be a formidable part of your linking strategy.
Here are a few legal news distribution sites:
PR Newswire
Law 360
Legal Newswire
When submitting, like with directories, you want to ensure that your NAP is present and consistent. Also, do not forget to work on your author bio and double-check that your website has been included.
Use Qwoted For Expert Mentions
One of the premiere ways to get backlinks used to be a site called Help a Reporter Out (HARO), where professionals in their field, such as lawyers, could submit news and information directly to news sites and reports. Sadly, this site closed in 2024.
However, alternatives do exist. Qwoted is a platform that connects experts, like lawyers, with journalists looking for professional insights. By signing up and responding to relevant queries, you can get featured in news articles, which often include a backlink to your law firm's website.
Create Shareable, Link-Worthy Content
One of the best and most effective ways to increase your law firm's backlinks is by creating shareable, link-worthy content. Comprehensive legal guides, case studies, or infographics will naturally attract backlinks. That is because when other websites see your content as helpful resources, they are likelier to link to it.
Here are a few ideas for shareable content:
How-to guides for common legal procedures
Case studies that highlight successful outcomes
Infographics breaking down complex legal topics
The more informative and unique your content is, the higher the chances other sites will link to it, improving your backlink profile and SEO.
Reclaim Unlinked Mentions
Occasionally, someone may mention your legal practice online without providing a backlink to your website. When this happens, you can contact the website owner and request a link be added. This tactic is known as link reclamation and is a quick way to build backlinks with minimal effort.
To find an unlinked mention of your website, you can use tools like Google Alerts or Ahrefs to find specific mentions of your law firm across the web. Once you find your unlinked mention, remember to be courteous when asking for a link correction.
Fix Broken Links
There are many broken links across the web, and you can capitalize on this by making it a part of your link-building strategy. Finding broken links on other websites and offering your material as a substitute is known as "broken link building." Many websites contain links to out-of-date, nonexistent legal content, which gives you a chance to offer a replacement with your own valuable and helpful content.
You can use an extension like Check My Links or Ahrefs to find what kind of broken links a website might have. Once you find that a site has broken links, reach out to the webmaster and suggest the specific content you recommend for a website. This helps both parties: they fix a broken link, and you get a valuable backlink​. It's truly a win/win!
Make Link Building A Part of Your Legal Strategy
No matter what part of the legal sector your law firm exists in, link building is an essential part of your search strategy. By following these link-building strategies, you can ensure that you boost your website's authority and increase trust with both search engines and users.
Link building can be a ot of work, so if you want to focus more on winning cases than driving clients to your website, reach out and partner with us!
