Digital footprint decides the success of immigration lawyers. In this write-up, we look at SEO for immigration lawyers and how you can boost the rankings on search engines with immigration SEO.
The legal industry has been a slow-mover in adopting digital marketing strategies. In the pre-covid world, most law firms relied on traditional marketing methods to attract new clients. However, we are seeing an increase in the number of clients starting to search for lawyers online. This has got people in this profession to take interest in SEO and other digital marketing strategies.
If you are an immigration lawyer, you must take digital marketing seriously. Lack of online visibility can keep you away from potential clients. Most people these days rely on the Internet as their first source of information. SEO for immigration lawyer not only increase your odds of attracting new clients but is important for your survival in a tech-savvy world.
Immigration Lawyers’ SEO Tips
#1 Focus On Local Immigration Keywords
The job of immigration lawyers is slightly different than that of other lawyers and so is immigration lawyer SEO. Most of your clients are likely to come from different countries. They search for attorneys online in specific locations. Hence, you should focus on local immigration keywords. For instance, if a client is looking to hire an immigration attorney in San Francisco, they are likely to search “San Francisco immigration attorney” or “best immigration lawyer in San Francisco”. It is important to have a strong local search SEO strategy to retain clients.
Local search immigration is also less competitive than broad keywords such as “immigration attorney in the United States”. A person looking for an immigration attorney in New York isn’t likely to hire you (if you are based in San Fransisco) even if they land on your website using a broad keyword. Though you can target broader keywords to drive traffic, your focus should be on local keywords.
#2 Set Up and Optimize Google Business Profile (GBP)
SEO for immigration lawyers in the majority of cases is centered on ranking high for local keywords in a small geography. Several factors decide your ranking in a targeted region. Top among them is your Google Business profile (GBP). A GBP profile lets you claim ownership of the business and also increases the trust factor in the minds of your clients.
If you haven’t set up one, it should be among your first tasks. In case you already have a GBP profile you should optimize it with your address, phone numbers, email, etc. Take advantage of the local maps that let your potential clients find their way to your office. GBP draws its signals from external sources and hence you should work on similar profiles on Yelp and other local business directories. This is important as it lets you attract clients even if your website doesn’t rank at the top of the search results.
#4 Leverage Content Marketing
Content marketing is the cornerstone of immigration SEO and for all other law firms. Google and other search engines have become the first source of information for people. An average person looking to immigrate or having problems with their visa turn to the search engine to gather information on the laws governing immigration. In most cases, they do this before searching for an immigration attorney.
Content marketing is the perfect opportunity for you to cast a net and grab the attention of your future clients. By posting blogs that educate people on immigration law or how the latest amendments affect them, you can attract new clients. Blogs that answer people’s queries feature at the top of the search results with snippets. Focus on writing blogs on the current amendments. Writing in a Q&A format that answers people’s queries is helpful as they attract organic traffic and can lead to client acquisitions.
#5 Get Authoritative Backlinks on Your Website
Link building is one of the most rewarding immigration SEO strategies but a challenging one. Acquiring backlinks for lawyers is typically challenging as it is difficult to get your posts published on the top legal sites. You must remember that the quality of the backlinks is an important ranking factor.
Write guest posts for the top legal websites and get a link back to your website. Media and news-related websites are also a good source of quality backlinks, and you should try and get your articles published. If you can’t get a link from these websites focus on local business directories for your linking strategy.
#6 Make Content Attractive
This isn’t seen as an important ranking factor but one that holds great potential. You can generate lots of traffic through social shares. It is the best way to attract direct traffic to your website and make a strong impression on the mind of a casual visitor to your website.
Add graphics, charts, and images to your content to make them appealing to the eyes. Illustrate complex topics using infographics and images as average people find it difficult to understand the nitty-gritty of law. When people spend more time on your web pages it is considered a signal for quality and can boost your SEO rankings.
#7 Focus on Page Load Speed
How many seconds does it take for your website to load? If it is under 3 seconds you are faster than 50% of the websites in the world. If it loads within 2 seconds you are faster than 75% of websites. Google uses page speed as an important ranking factor and a single second increase in page load time can affect your rankings and vice versa. Page load time is thus an important element in SEO for immigration lawyers.
As Google adopts a mobile-first indexing approach you must focus on page load time on mobile devices as it is usually slower in comparison to desktop version of your website. Use advanced compression tools to compress images on your website and opt for a reliable hosting partner to improve page speed and user experience on your website.
#8 Streamline Your Website Structure
Attorney websites have tons of content and yours isn’t likely to be any different. Unorganized content and site structure are bad for SEO and can affect the rankings of your website. When you streamline the site structure by publishing site maps it allows search engine crawlers to index pages of your website faster. Your blogs and static pages rank high on the search engines.
All content pages should be categorized logically to allow users to find what they are looking for. Focus on the main navigation menu, footer navigation, and internal links on your web pages. Internal linking should be relevant and helpful to your users. Remember you can’t fool Google or other search engines as they are way smarter than they were in the past.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, Immigration SEO follows the same tried and tested principles of Search Engine Optimization with added focus on local search. Building a website alone won’t help you rank high on the search engines; SEO requires a well-pronged approach. Both on-page and off-page factors require major thrust.
If what you have read above sounds complicated and time-consuming, you need a marketing agency to manage your campaign. In case you are looking for one that specializes in immigration lawyers SEO, Cyrusson Inc. can help you grow your online footprint.
We are a top-rated agency specializing in SEO for immigration lawyers. Along with SEO, we also offer PPC, Social Media Marketing, and Branding services to our clients. Call us to book a free consultation today! We let you focus on your clients while we bring prospective clients to your door.