Link building for law firms is an essential practice that can help you engage potential clients. This is a strategy that can help you rank your website and services on Google’s first page. It puts you in front of the right audience when they are looking for link building services like yours.
That’s why link building for attorneys is considered so crucial.
But not everyone knows how to build links for law firms. Most companies often get it wrong or start following outdated link building strategies. As a result, they end up investing in practices that hurt the website’s SEO instead of improving it.
To achieve better SEO results, you must build quality backlinks. That’s why we recommend white hat link building for law firms. But for law firm link building in 2022, you need to follow the latest trends.
In this ultimate guide, we have included the best ways of link building for lawyers. We have mentioned the basic terms, facts, and useful tips that are useful for both newbies and expert marketers.
What are Backlinks?
A backlink is a link that refers readers from one website to another. And the site where the link is placed is called a referral website. The more links you get from other websites to your own the better.
Source: backlinko.com
In simple words, backlinks are votes of confidence that other websites give to your site. This tells Google that you are an authority and know what you do. As a result, Google will start treating your site as an expert source and will improve its ranking.
What Is Link Building for Lawyers?
The concept behind link building for lawyers is the same. Other websites link back to your site and people will visit your site after clicking that link. This helps you:
- Get more traffic
- Spread brand awareness
- Find new audience
- Improve the website’s SEO
- Increase Ranking on search engines
But this all depends if you work on getting good backlinks.
Are All Backlinks Good?
When it comes to link building, many law firms think that it’s all about acquiring backlinks. They forget the fact that not all backlinks are equal and not every backlink is good.
That’s where the quality of backlinks comes into play.
Good backlinks are those that you get from reputable websites. These are industry-related websites that offer value to their readers and have the audience you want to target. Therefore, you must always pay attention to backlink quality while link building for law firms.
How to Assess Backlink Quality?
There are a few factors that can help you evaluate backlink quality. These will help you become familiar with the tactics that may work for your site.
Source semrush.com
Pay attention to the below features when you are trying to build links.
Domain Authority or Domain Rating
These are two different metrics that describe how good a website is.
Domain Authority (DA) is the prediction metric developed by Moz that shows how well a website is ranking on search engines. On the other hand, Domain Rating (DR) is developed by Ahrefs and the metric tells you how strong the backlink profile of a site is.
We recommend you check the DA or DR of the website before link building. A DA score of 35+ and DR above 30 are good for law firms.
Referring Domains
Before you start building backlinks, make sure to check the backlinks of those sites. The more referring domain a website has the more value it’ll have on search engines. And a link from such a website will surely boost your own ranking as well.
However, you should try to get links from multiple sites. The more backlinks you get from unique domains the stronger your backlink profile will be. So, instead of focusing on acquiring links from a high DA site, pay attention to getting backlinks from various websites.
Do-Follow vs No-Follow Links
There are two types of backlinks that you’ll hear about the most. The type of link that you get will also impact the strength of the backlink.
Do-Follow Links
These are the types of links that pass the most authority and link juice. When you get a do-follow backlink it means the referring website is putting its trust in your services.
Source semrush.com
No-Follow Links
In contrast to do-follow links, no-follow links don’t pass much authority. When a website gives you a no-follow link, it means they don’t Google to associate their site with yours. However, these types of links do transfer some authority to your website.
Source semrush.com
Anchor Text
This is the word where your link is placed on a referring domain. Readers click on these words when they are browsing to know or read about what you are offering.
Anchor texts act as signals and help Google get context. So, the anchor texts against which your website’s links are placed matter a lot. These also help you improve your website’s SEO and strengthen your keywords.
Link Velocity
This is a term that represents the pace at which you generate links for your website. You should do link building for law firms at a rapid rate for new websites. But don’t do it too much otherwise search engines will take it as a spammy activity.
How to Do Link Building for Law Firms – Step by Step
Now that you are familiar with the basics of link building, let’s focus on the how part.
We have outlined a step-by-step guide that will help you perform white hat link building for law firms.
Submit Profile to Free Directories
The first step towards link building for law firms should be submitting business information. There are numerous directories that list businesses to help users find the right services. However, you should remain specific while submitting your profile and choose directors which are:
- Local
- Niche relevant
- Industry-specific
We have rounded up some useful directories for newbies who are learning how to build links for law firms.
Google My Business
This is a platform developed by Google itself where businesses can create their profiles. Google My Business (GMB) should be your first choice to post business information. It can help you get found in local searches within your focus area.
Bing Places
It’s the same as Google My Business but built by another search engine (Bing). This can help you get found in the Bing search results especially if you are a US law firm.
LawGuru.com
This is more of an online QA network where people ask questions. But the platform also has a free online directory where you can submit your business information.
Yelp.com
You probably already know about this platform and may have used it for a different reason. This business directory platform is not specific to attorneys and lawyers. But if you are link building for a law firm, Yelp is the right place to submit your business profile.
You can optimize your business profile for law-related queries and information. This will help you generate traffic and leads as well as a quality backlink.
Avvo.com
This is another directory website where you can create or claim your business profile. You can pass your website URL for link building and can also post relevant information.
Justia.com
As the name gives it away, this is a directory website specifically for law firms. You can create or claim your business profile on this platform. But the best part is that you can get two backlinks which is beneficial if you have a services website and blog.
HG.org:
This is another free directory for lawyers but you’ll only get no-follow links. Still, you can drive traffic to your law website by sharing useful information.
There are a lot of business directories online where you can submit your profile and build links. But, you must keep in mind that not all directories offer the same results.
Host Events and Podcasts
If you are a new business, we recommend you host podcasts and events. This is the next big thing to spread awareness about your law firm and get mentioned. Of course, getting mentioned will help you acquire high quality backlinks for law firms.
Webinars and virtual conferences are more effective when you are trying to get more eyes on your business.
You can also host QA sessions for your audience and students. This way you can engage communities and bloggers who are interested in law-related information. And you will be able to secure multiple backlinks when they link back to your business website.
Publish Quality Content
In the online world, nothing can beat quality content. You should start working on content production as soon as your website is live. However, the process of producing quality content may take time.
But when you’ll have engaging content on your site, other websites will be eager to link back to you. They will be happy to provide backlinks to your law firm if the content is valuable. All you need to do is focus on providing useful information that readers are looking for online.
You can publish content in various forms and types including:
- How-to guides
- Exclusive interviews
- Ebooks
- Quizzes (Question/Answers)
- Infographics
- Videos (Vlogs)
Source: mariopeshev.com
You should plan your content ahead and try to come up with unique content ideas. Always try to provide solutions through content while offering information that your target audience is interested in.
Local Link Building
You may have guessed it already. Local link building is a strategy that involves building locally relevant links to your website. This is the most effective way of link building for law firms. When you are offering services in a specific area, contextual backlinks can prove beneficial in terms of SEO.
For this, you should try to get mentioned in:
- Local directories
- Google My Business
- Local media websites
- City blogs
We also recommend you participate in local educational or scholarship events. This way you can create brand awareness and may also get links from authoritative Edu (.edu) websites.
Do Guest Posting
This is one of the best ways to generate high quality backlinks for law firms. You can quickly do link building by publishing guest posts on other websites. However, you must only do guest blogging for sites that are niche-relevant and have the same target audience.
All you need to do is find blogs and websites that publish law-related articles. The next step is to evaluate these websites for link building. If a site has high DA and enough traffic, you should ask them if they accept guest posts.
Normally, websites let experts pitch their own topics to see how they can offer value to them. However, many bloggers also assign topics to write about that their audience needs to know about.
In case you don’t have time to write legal articles, hire guest post writing services. You can get quality articles written by subject experts at lower prices. These are law specialists who like to write rather than attend meetings with clients.
Through guest posting, you can do quality link building for law firms. Moreover, you can drive traffic to your website or blog and may find potential clients as well.
Focus on Outreach
Outreach is an important strategy for websites that are failing to attract links. The process involves identifying link building opportunities by spying on your competitors. You can use the best SEO tools like ahrefs or SEMrush to evaluate their backlinks.
All you need to do is paste their URL in the relevant box. The tools will show you their backlink profile and you can then make a list of link building opportunities. Once you have shortlisted the high DA sites, you can then start blogger outreach for law firms.
However, we recommend you follow effective blogger outreach tips.
Source: searchenginejournal.com
You should not use a generic template and must offer value to these sites. Either offer them a well-written piece of content or ask them to link to your already published guides. The trick is to outreach websites with high domain authority without looking desperate.
That’s why you should focus on your blogger outreach campaign. In case you are new to this, we recommend you hire a blogger outreach service.
Use Online Forums
Online forums like Quora and community websites like Reddit can also help you generate backlinks. These are the places where people go to ask questions and get advice. You’ll be amazed to know that legal questions are some of the most popular questions on such platforms.
You can easily spread awareness and may earn backlinks by helping people on online forums. All you have to provide is useful content and valuable insights to readers.
We recommend you provide thorough answers to their questions with accurate information. Then you can ask them to explore more content on your website or get a consultation from your site.
Unlinked Mentions
If you are unfamiliar, unlinked mentions are where your website or services are mentioned but don’t include backlinks. This is another easy yet effective link building strategy for law firms.
You can find such mentions using SEO tools and can see which sites have mentioned your business. You need to make lists of such websites and reach out to them to acquire backlinks. There is no shame in asking for a backlink if someone is using your content as a source.
Write a Digital PR
Digital PR is one of the advanced rules of link building. There are numerous benefits of writing a digital PR for your business. It can help you engage a wider audience in less time at platforms where your target audience is present.
All you have to do is write a compelling PR stating what services your law firm is offering. You can then publish it on local media sites and acquire quality backlinks.
Help a Reporter Out
Help a reporter out or HARO is a digital platform where journalists hang around. This is a forum where they ask industry experts to shed light on key topics. You may be wondering what it has to do with link building for law firms.
Well, HARO can help you secure editorial backlinks from top media websites. And all you have to provide is a concise answer with expert insight. This is the easiest way you can get editorial backlinks.
Create Shareable Assets
Lastly, we encourage you to create and publish shareable assets. This includes both textual and visual content including infographics and images with useful quotes.
People are always in search of useful information and are looking for advice. By creating graphics, tweets, and other quotable resources, you can stand out as an industry expert.
The best part is that most websites and bloggers now prefer to use visuals. If you have created such sources which people can share easily, they’ll be happy to mention you. This means you can get brand mentions or may get source links without much effort.
However, make sure that you write your website address and/or add the logo to such sources. Otherwise, someone else may get credit for all your efforts.
Link Building Tips for Lawyers
We hope you now have a better understanding of link building for law firms. We also have pro link building tips for lawyers that can help you build backlinks quickly.
Publish Legal Advice Articles
This is a strategy that can help you build high quality backlinks for law firms. Legal article contribution involves writing guides containing useful tips for a specific audience. Each article provides a resource for learning and answers queries about specific legal issues.
Source: inboundlawmarketing.com
It’s like having a thirty-minute session with clients and offering free legal advice. You can publish such articles on editorial sites like Forbes or blogs that have a targeted audience.
For example, you can publish legal advice for personal injury on a lifestyle blog. You can do the same for popular legal directories such as personalinjury.com, lawguru.com, and lawyer.com. But make sure that you get a do-follow link from a high DA website when you contribute a legal article.
Utilize Social Media
Most marketers think of social media as a marketing medium and tend to overlook its link building potential. In fact, some SEO professionals also ignore social media platforms because they offer no-follow backlinks.
But, the purpose of using social media is to not get do-follow links. The main purpose behind developing link building for attorneys through social media is to acquire links from people that are using this medium. By amplifying your content across multiple channels, you can create authority backlinks.
That’s because social media platforms are now key distribution channels for content. You can get traffic and may acquire some backlinks when you post content on social media to engage the audience. You should not forget that traffic is also a ranking factor and Google does rank websites based on their monthly visitors.
Acquire YouTube Links
Law firm link building through YouTube is another pro tactic. The strategy is based on the Trust Flow and involves getting links from websites with high DA sites.
In case you don’t know about Trust Flow, this is a system that rates websites based on their level of trust. This was coined by Majestic SEO measures websites’ tTustflow depending on how close they are to source sites (seed sites).
Backlinks from websites like Wikipedia or YouTube are extremely effective. It’s hard to do link building for law firms on Wikipedia, but you can secure backlinks from YouTube. You can place links in:
- Your profile
- Channel description
- Video description
The best part is that the link placed in your YouTube profile is a do-follow backlink.
Don’t Ignore Paid Directories
We have mentioned that your first step should be to get backlinks from free directories. But creating your unique profile on paid directories is another effective way to do link building for law firms.
Although you have to pay, this is a strategy that’s worth it.
When you create profiles on such directories, you get do-follow links. Since such sites are a bit exclusive, you’ll be able to acquire authoritative backlinks. However, we recommend you inspect the paid directories for spammy links before creating your profile.
Outsource Link Building for Law Firm
This may surprise you but outsourcing link building for law firms can generate better results. Even if you have an in-house SEO team, you should consider hiring an external team.
Source: linkdoctor.io
That’s because link building is a relatively low-value yet time-taking task. If you are a lawyer, you should pay attention to handling cases instead of worrying about building links. Plus, your time is more valuable and you can hire someone else to do the job at a lower price.
But, you should get an idea first about how much link building costs. Then get quotations, ask companies about their strategies, and hire the best SEO link building service.
We have also written a comprehensive guide on should you buy white hat backlinks.
Keep a Balance between Quantity vs Quality
There is no denying that the number of backlinks does matter. But one should not look at the numbers blindly while link building for law firms.
Backlinks from new referring domains do improve a website’s SEO. But a premium backlink from a high DA website is worth more than ten from average DA domains. However, we are not saying that you should only aim for authoritative link building.
You should build as many backlinks as you can while avoiding spammy websites. But don’t forget to keep a balance between the quality of links and the number of backlinks.
Takeaway Words
We hope you have found the answer to your queries related to link building for law firms. You only need an effective strategy to get high quality backlinks for law firms. If you are a starter, do directory submissions, publish quality content, and post guest blogs.
If you face difficulties in generating backlinks, Globex Outreach can help you. We have over 15 years of experience in SEO link building and can help you get high DA backlinks.
