Keyword research for law firms

Most SEO campaigns will start with thorough keyword research. If you want to be able to attract the right type of visitors to your site, you will need to have a good understanding of what is being searched, how often it is searched for, and with what intent those searches are performed.

Although it’s possible to break down search intent into a multitude of different categories, we will discuss the main three here:

Informational Searches:

These are searches where the prime focus is finding information on a specific subject or answering a question. There is no commercial intent or desire to purchase a product or services. Some examples would be:

• How much does a solicitor earn?
• What does a barrister do?
• What is the difference between a barrister and a solicitor?

Searches with Commercial/Transactional Intent:

In these cases, the person conducting the search is likely willing to spend money or take action (fill in a form, pick up the phone). They are actively looking for a solicitor, are ready to file a claim, or need some kind of legal service. Some examples of legal commercial searches:

• Divorce solicitor Manchester
• Accident solicitors near me urgent
• Help with filing a claim for personal injury
• How much compensation can I claim for a mis-sold pension?

Navigational Searches:

In these cases, the person knows exactly what they are looking for, for instance, they are looking for a particular law firm.

Short tail and Long tail keywords

Short-tail keywords can be described as “main search terms”. These are usually highly competitive, broad search terms with high search volume. If we imagine that we are a law firm offering family law services, then one of our main short-tail keywords would be: “Divorce Solicitor”. A long-tail variant of this could be: “Can I move my divorce case to a different solicitor”.

While it is tempting to only target short tail keywords, most searches performed these days are four words or longer (some estimate it to be around 70% of total searches). While the monthly volume might be lower, so will the competition. The commercial intent might be a lot better defined in longer keywords too.

Tools and methods for finding relevant keywords for your law firm

Before we use any tools, we should aim to create a starting list of any relevant keywords we can think of ourselves. We should also note down some competing law firms that we know are offering the same kind of services. This will give us something to start with and expand upon.

Google-ads keyword planner

This is the only true ‘official’ source of Google search data. The keyword planner is aimed at advertisers on the Google Ads platform. You can sign up with your Google account here and use it for free.

Competition in the case of Google’s own keyword tool refers to the amount of advertisers paying money to appear in the sponsored section at the top of the search results. It does not take SEO difficulty into account. For organic competitiveness scores, we can use other tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush. Nevertheless, a high competition indicates that the keyword is possibly lucrative, as many firms are bidding for the same spot. The same goes for the “top of the page bid”: if people are willing to spend between £9.54 and £107.97 (per click!) to appear in the sponsored section for “best divorce lawyers UK”, then each visitor who has searched for that specific term is potentially worth a lot of money.

Review this entire list and note down keywords that are relevant to the services you offer. Once you are finished, repeat the process with more competitors.

SEMrush and Ahrefs

The best keyword research tools in the industry as of 2023 are SEMrush and Ahrefs. Both calculate an organic competitiveness score, taking into account domain authority, backlinks, and other factors. They also offer many more options for expanding your keyword lists than the regular Google tool does.

Both companies monitor the top-50 in google for thousands of legal keywords allowing you to quickly spy on your competitors, see what they are ranking for what pages are generating the most traffic.

Finding keyword opportunities through google search console.

Google search console gives you insight into what people were searching for when your law firms website appeared in the search results, regardless of how many people actually clicked on it. If your homepage is targeting “mis-sold pension claims” there will be hunderds of other related searches you will appear for. This can give you a very solid understanding of what searches your website already appears for and what queries might need to be anwered on each page to be as relevant as possible.

Finding relevant keywords through the “people also ask” and “related searches” snippet.

Google will often display highly related questions in their rich snippet boxes. These questions are deemed highly relevant by the algorithm. You may want to answer these on a seperate page or the questions can be used to expand upon already existing content content. Be sure to cross-check the competitiveness scores and search volumes in the other tools discussed earlier in the article.

At the bottom of each page on google there will be a box with search queries that google think are relevant.

If you keep clicking on new related searches while adding them all to a spreadsheet it is easy to quickly build up hundreds of relevant keywords.

In only 60 seconds I managed to go from just “divorce lawyer” to the following list :

divorce solicitors near me
divorce solicitors free advice
divorce solicitors uk
best divorce solicitors near me
cheap divorce solicitors near me
fixed fee divorce solicitors near me
divorce lawyer uk cost
divorce solicitors cost
fixed fee divorce solicitors uk
how to find a good divorce lawyer uk
can you get legal aid for a divorce in the uk
do you need a solicitor to divorce uk
free legal advice for divorce uk
free legal aid for divorce
divorce solicitors free consultation near me
divorce solicitors fixed fee
what am i entitled to if i divorce my husband
how long can a spouse drag out a divorce uk
how long do you have to be separated before divorce is automatic uk
citizens advice divorce
divorce solicitor
divorce lawyers near me
intentionally delaying divorce
how long does a divorce take for unreasonable behaviour
automatic divorce after 7 years uk
sneaky divorce tactics
how long can a divorce be put on hold
ex dragging out divorce uk
why do lawyers drag out divorce cases
his divorce is taking too long
How much does it cost for a divorce solicitor in UK?
Is it worth getting a solicitor for divorce UK?
Can you get a divorce without going to court?
How much does a divorce cost if both parties agree UK?
Is it best to get a solicitor for a divorce?
Can I get a divorce without a lawyer?
What do you talk about when going through a divorce?
Do I need a solicitor for an amicable divorce?
How do I choose a good divorce lawyer UK?
What is the average cost of a divorce lawyer in UK?
Can you get free legal advice for divorce UK?
What questions should I ask a solicitor about divorce?
What is a fixed-fee divorce?
Can you pay monthly for a divorce?
How do I choose a solicitor for divorce?
Do both sides need a solicitor in divorce?
Do both parties have to have a solicitor in divorce?
Do I need a solicitor if my husband is divorcing me?
Can I do a divorce without a solicitor?
What happens if both parties apply for a divorce?
Can my wife delay a divorce?
How do you deal with an unwanted divorce?
How do you stop a divorce you don't want?
How long does a divorce take in UK if one party doesn't agree?