There’s no shortage of services you can provide as a real estate lawyer, but if no one knows about them it’s a challenge to generate new business. 

For that reason, it’s critical to implement a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that drives results.

There’s no right or wrong way to approach SEO as a real estate lawyer. 

What works for you may not work for the next person, and vice versa. 

Your goal is to compare SEO strategies for real estate lawyers to collect information that you can use to roll out a plan that suits your situation.

Schedule a free discovery session to learn how Kaleidico can fit into your marketing strategy.

Why do real estate lawyers need an SEO strategy?

In simple terms, SEO efforts are designed to drive organic traffic to your law firm’s website. And when that happens, there’s a greater chance of converting visitors into paying customers. 

Moz defines search engine optimization as:

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is a set of practices designed to improve the appearance and positioning of web pages in organic search results. Because organic search is the most prominent way for people to discover and access online content, a good SEO strategy is essential for improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website.

Adding to the above, here are some benefits of a well-thought-out SEO plan:

• You position your website to rank high on the search engines for your targeted keywords.
• Organic traffic is free (no more paying for ads).
• The internet is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• It helps build credibility and trust. 
• It helps build your brand and personal authority.

Even if you’ve done without SEO in the past, you don’t have to continue down this path in the future. Doing so means you’re missing out on all the benefits above, among others.

How much does an SEO strategy for real estate lawyers cost?

Money generally comes into the equation with any marketing strategy. 

You want the results, but you understand that they won’t come right away. 

Here’s the thing you need to remember — for the price of hiring a new marketing director, you can hire a full-service marketing agency to manage your SEO, content creation, web design and development, and more.

According to Salary.com, “the average Marketing Manager salary in the United States is $110,118 as of March 29, 2022, but the range typically falls between $95,948 and $129,647.”

Imagine how much you could do with that budget at an agency. 

For the cost of hiring one person, you could hire an entire team to manage your marketing plan. 

7 SEO tips for real estate lawyers

SEO success comes down to one thing: traffic and leads. Every move you  make should be done with this in mind. 

Below are seven SEO tips for real estate lawyers. You may not implement all of these at the same time, but they should be part of your near-term plan. 

1. Build a high-quality website

Without a website, there’s no need for SEO. 

Just the same; if you don’t have a high-quality website, you’re holding yourself back from reaching your goals.

What does “high-quality” mean? Some things to consider include:

• Visually appealing
• Simple to follow navigation
• Clean code 
• Super fast
• Mobile-friendly

If you’re building your own website from scratch, consider using WordPress or Squarespace. With a variety of templates to choose from, these services make it simple to build SEO-friendly law firm websites.

Our article, “33 Common Law Firm Website Mistakes,” will help you understand what you should and shouldn’t do when creating a website. 

2. Add important content and landing pages to your website

The proper approach to on-site SEO improves your chances of getting your law firm’s website to the top of the search engine results pages for your target keywords. 

In addition to your home page, here are some other pages to add to your website:

• About us
• Contact
• Attorney bios
• Pages for service area 
• Legal guides 
• Frequently asked questions
• Help
• Mission statement
• Case studies and results
• Testimonials 

On these pages, add the keywords for which you want it to rank. 

For example, if you’re a real estate lawyer in San Antonio, you could use keywords such as:

• San Antonio real estate closing lawyer
• San Antonio foreclosure lawyer
• Short sale lawyer in San Antonio

You want to target that local SEO. This means that if your contact information and location are clearly listed on your website, Google will pull it for queries from prospective clients in your area.

The key to success is creating high-quality, comprehensive, and actionable advice that hits home with your reader. If you do this, everything else will take care of itself. 

Note: keyword stuffing is a thing of the past. Write for the reader first and search engines second. Even down to the copy on each of your pages, the visitor’s journey should be easy to navigate. 

If you don’t think your law firm’s website is intuitive, then other visitors won’t either. 

3. Blog regularly

After you have your static website built — which includes the pages above — it’s time to answer this question: What’s the best way to regularly share content with your audience (and search engine crawlers)?

The answer is simple: Blog.

With a blog, you’re able to share as much content as you want. Search engines love fresh content, so you’ll want to get on a schedule of publishing several pieces each month.

We recommend trying to publish new pieces at least four times a month, though six would be ideal. 

To get started with your blog, consider the following:

• Create a content calendar with the goal of publishing a minimum of four blog posts per month. 
• Review your competitors — especially those ranking high in the search engines — for inspiration. 
• Conduct keyword research — Google the terms you want your law firm’s website to rank for. Take note of the results, related questions, and where/who your competitors are.
• Track your results, as some types of content will perform better than others. 

You have the creative freedom to write about anything you want. As long as it’s related to real estate law in some manner, it probably has a place on your blog. 

Examples of the types of blog posts you can write include:

• How-to’s
• Legal guides 
• News
• General legal information

As noted above, the more content you create, the more you’ll come to understand what’s engaging your audience and what’s performing well in the search engines. You can then tweak your approach accordingly. 

Content marketing is one of the cheapest and most successful ways to generate leads. It’s worth the time and budget. However, lawyers are not known for having all this extra time in their schedules. That’s where a law firm SEO company comes in. 

An experienced digital marketing agency will generally have a team of writers experienced in content for your industry. Tell them your goals and they’ll deliver high-quality content to go on your blog.  

4. Keep a tab on your online competitors

It’s safe to say that you’re not the only real estate lawyer in your local market. 

It’s good to keep tabs on your online competitors, as this allows you to answer questions such as:

• What are they doing well? 
• What are their weaknesses?
• How are they performing in the search engines?
• Are there any holes in their strategy that you can exploit?
• What types of blog content are they creating?
• What keywords are they targeting?

There are various tools you can use to answer these questions, such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google search console. 

Once you know where your competitors stand — such as what keywords they’re ranking for — use that as inspiration to create “better” content with the goal of stealing traffic away from them. 

Because everything works together, your content marketing strategy will ideally position your law firm as an authority in the field. 

Show potential clients that you have all the answers they need and give them information that your competitors won’t. 

5. Add contact forms and/or CTAs on every page

Every page of your website is an opportunity to generate leads. 

However, if the prospective client can’t figure out how to take action, they’re more likely to leave your website in search of a competitor. This is why it’s so important to add a contact form and/or call to action (CTA) on every page. 

For example, if you’re writing a blog post about how to close on a home, you could use a CTA in the final paragraph that looks like this:

“For more information on the legal side of closing on a home, contact our law firm at [email address] or [phone number]. One of our experienced lawyers can answer your questions, provide guidance, and set up a personal consultation.”

From a website design perspective, consider if you can add your firm’s email address and/or phone number to the header and/or footer. This way, prospects don’t have to search for your contact details. It’s always right in front of them. 

6. Add your company to online directories

This is one of the best ways to build your brand and increase your online visibility. 

Start by creating a Google My Business account and follow that up with local and legal-specific directories. 

Some options include:

• Yellow Pages
• FindLaw
• Avvo

While adding your company is a good starting point, you can take it one step further by seeking reviews. The more positive reviews you have on Google, the greater chance there is that someone will contact you about your services.

It’s acceptable to ask clients to share a Google review, but you can’t tell them what to write or incentivize them to take action. 

For more context, read Rule 7.2: Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services: Specific Rules, published by the American Bar Association. 

This rule outlines what you can and can’t do in regard to asking for reviews. 

7. Focus on creating engaging titles

It’s easy to focus so much time on the content you create that you overlook the importance of the little details, such as an engaging headline for your blog post and meta description. 

This is the information potential clients see in the search engine results. The headline is obviously the title of your piece, and the meta description is the short preview of the article that you see in each result, usually in a few sentences. 

Engaging titles and descriptions increase the likelihood of a prospect clicking through to your website. 

Your title should include the primary keyword you’re targeting in that post. 

For example, choose the keyword you want to rank for, such as:

• Pittsburgh Real Estate Lawyer
• Real Estate Lawyers in Pittsburgh
• Pittsburgh Real Estate Closing Lawyer

Then, make it interesting and make potential clients want to read further. That headline then turns into “How to Find the Best Real Estate Lawyers in Pittsburgh.” 

It’s important to include this keyword from an SEO perspective. 

As for the meta description, even though it’s not necessarily a ranking factor it’s still important to driving users to your website. 

A generic meta description — or none at all — reduces the likelihood of people clicking through to your website.

Here are two example meta descriptions for a page titled “Pittsburgh Real Estate Closing Lawyer.”

• How to close on a home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• Our law firm specializes in helping Pittsburgh homebuyers with the closing process. Contact us today for more information.

Which one is more engaging? Which meta description makes you more likely to click through to the website? The answer is obvious: The second one.

If you’ve neglected to focus on headlines and meta descriptions in the past, review what you currently have in place. Tweaking these two elements on already established pages or blog posts could result in more immediate traffic to your website. 

Real estate law firm SEO with Kaleidico

With the guidance above, you should have a clear understanding of how to create, implement, and carry out SEO for your real estate law firm. 

Content, SEO, and keeping up a website is easy enough to carry out. But we understand that our clients need the time and team members to strategize. 

Kaleidico is a full-service digital marketing agency that specializes in the legal and mortgage industries. Our team will provide you with expertly designed websites, top-quality content, and attentive account management. 

Schedule a free discovery session to learn how Kaleidico can fit into your marketing strategy.