Ever wonder why some lawyers consistently appear at the top of Google searches — picking up most of the files — while others remain buried in the results, relying on referrals?
The answer often lies in a simple but powerful SEO technique that many lawyers overlook.
The Power of Exact Match Keywords
When potential clients search for a lawyer, they use straightforward, direct search terms. Our data shows that most people search for:
- “Vancouver criminal lawyer”
- “Toronto family lawyer”
Yet many law firms optimize their websites for more formal, technically correct terms like:
- “Vancouver criminal defence lawyer”
- “Toronto family law lawyer”
This small difference can dramatically impact your firm’s visibility. Here’s why: Google prioritizes exact matches to search terms. When your website content perfectly matches what potential clients are typing into Google, you’re more likely to appear in those crucial top positions.
A Real-World Success Story
One of our Vancouver clients, a first-year call, was initially ranked 49th on Google (page 5) for their main search term. Their website consistently used “criminal defence lawyer” throughout their content.
After adjusting their key pages to include the more commonly searched term “criminal lawyer” (while maintaining appropriate use of “defence” in the detailed content), their ranking jumped to position 9 on page 1.
Seeing these impressive results from a single optimization, they engaged us for an SEO campaign. We helped them climb even further, reaching the #3 position in Vancouver’s competitive criminal defence market.
How to Implement This Change
- Review your website’s headings and titles
- Look for instances where you’ve used extended legal terms
- Consider incorporating shorter, more commonly searched variations
- Maintain your professional terminology in your content
Important Note
This isn’t about compromising professional standards – it’s about being discoverable. This strategy focuses on using common search terms in key locations while preserving a professional tone.
Ready to Improve Your Rankings?
Want to see what your competitor firms are doing to get clients from Google? Contact us today for a free 15 minute call so we can show you what they are doing, and how you could get those files instead.