Law Firm Link Building
Link building is an essential part of the search engine optimization (SEO) process for law firms and attorneys. When a prospective client searches for the services offered by the firm, it’s important that the firm be ranked highly by the search engines so that the firm’s website will be seen (and the firm will be considered) by prospective clients.
A significant factor in website rankings is the number and quality of incoming links to a firm’s website, as search engines treat these links much like a real-life recommendation. An “incoming link” is simply a link to a firm’s website from another website, blog, or social media page. When search engines consider that value of the incoming link, they look at:
- The “Authority” of the site with the incoming link (is the other site deemed to be highly authoritative?)
- Whether the content on page with the incoming link is contextually relevant (does it also concern legal matters, or is it completely unrelated to law)
- What Anchor Text is used in the actual link (“tucson personal injury attorney“, for instance, would have more value than ”click here“), and
- The text on the redirect page (the page on your website that appears after the link is clicked, which is often the home page).
Incoming links do not have the same value
Incoming links to a law firm’s website are not all equal in value. Here are a few general principles:
- A link from a website that has similar content will be worth much more than a link from a website that has unrelated content.
- A link from a highly-ranked website will have much greater weight and influence on search result rankings than a link from a low-ranked website.
- One-Way Links are the best. Reciprocal links (you link to my site and I’ll link to your site) are of little or no value for search engine optimization. This does not mean that reciprocal links should be avoided completely; it still is helpful if your firm is being promoted by another website.
Links are only one part of high search engine rankings
Attorneys are sometimes under the impression that obtaining dozens of incoming links is the solution to getting high search engine rankings. This is no longer the case.
Search engines are placing an increased emphasis on aspects such as blogging, video, and social media involvement for high rankings. Thus link building for law firms should be thought of as only one of the important components in achieving high rankings, not as the sole factor.
When we work with attorneys, we create comprehensive SEO programs around what actions will be the most cost-effective for a law firm. As a starting point, a Competitive Analysis is usually undertaken, as this will help direct SEO efforts so that they are better targeted.
