Link Building for Lawyers: Definitive Guide

91% of all pages on the internet never get a single organic visit from Google.

That’s a statistic your law firm can’t afford to ignore. If your website isn’t ranking, potential clients are missing out on your services.

The solution?

A solid link-building strategy. By securing high-quality backlinks, your firm can boost its search engine rankings, attract more traffic, and establish itself as a trusted authority in the legal sector. While many strategies exist, not all are created equal. Some, like guest posting and link insertions, offer faster, more reliable results, while others, such as HARO and digital PR, can be slower and less predictable.

In this article, we’ll explore the most effective link-building tactics for law firms, focusing on strategies that deliver consistent, measurable success.

What is Link Building for Lawyers?

Link building refers to the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. These links play a critical role in SEO by signaling to Google and users that your website is credible and trustworthy. For law firms, having high-quality backlinks from reputable websites is especially crucial because they enhance your site’s authority, helping you rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).

A good link-building strategy does more than just boost rankings—it expands your audience, opens up new avenues for industry relationships, and creates opportunities for future collaborations. As law firms build their backlink profile, they establish their expertise and attract relevant traffic from diverse sources.

The Purpose of Law Firm Link Building

Apart from SEO performance, link building also serves to expand your law firm’s reach and visibility. Links from relevant, authoritative sites expose your brand to new audiences, turning their followers into potential clients. This exposure not only drives more traffic but also fosters relationships with other businesses, media outlets, and influencers within the legal industry, opening doors to future partnerships and collaborations.

Not all links are created equal, though. Google prioritizes quality over quantity, so links from authoritative, relevant websites are far more valuable than those from random or unrelated sites.

What Makes a Good Backlink?

A key part of any link-building strategy is understanding what makes a good backlink. While many SEOs discuss metrics like Domain Authority (DA) or Domain Rating (DR), it’s important to note that these are not direct Google ranking factors. Instead, focus on tangible factors that influence the value of a backlink:

1. Organic Traffic: Backlinks from websites with strong organic traffic indicate that Google already trusts these sites. Pages that rank well in search results for relevant keywords are more valuable to link from.
2. Relevance: Links from websites or pages that are relevant to your law firm’s practice areas carry more weight than links from unrelated sites. Google tends to assign higher value to backlinks from pages that are contextually aligned with your content. So backlinks from dental sites might not be good for your site.
3. Anchor Text: The anchor text of a backlink should be descriptive and relevant to the content of the linked page. While it’s important not to over-optimize anchor text, ensuring it accurately reflects your page’s topic helps improve search rankings.
4. Placement & Characteristics: Google takes into account where a link is placed on a webpage. Links embedded naturally within the body of the content are far more valuable than links in sidebars, footers, or unrelated sections.
5. Follow vs. Nofollow Attributes: Ideally, you want to acquire “dofollow” links, which pass SEO value from the linking site to yours. However, “nofollow” links can still drive valuable referral traffic and play a role in your overall link profile.
6. Destination: While it can be challenging to get backlinks to sales-oriented pages (like your practice pages), it’s still crucial to build links to content-rich pages and internally link them to your practice pages to increase visibility.

Top Strategies for Link-Building for Law Sites

Law firms have a unique advantage in the link-building landscape: their access to specialized knowledge and authoritative content. Leveraging this expertise allows them to attract high-quality backlinks, boosting their website’s credibility and search engine rankings. Below are some of the most effective strategies law firms can use to build a strong backlink profile.

1. Guest Posting on Industry-Relevant Websites

Guest posting is one of the most effective and reliable strategies when link-building for law sites. It’s not just a quick fix — it’s consistent, scalable, and can provide the kind of high-quality links that will continuously benefit your site. By writing valuable content for other industry-related websites, you can consistently earn authoritative backlinks while establishing your firm as a thought leader.

Guest posting stands out because it gives law firms control over the content and the links within it. You get to choose the websites, pitch your ideas, and deliver expertise in a way that positions your firm as a trusted source. This strategy is effective because it doesn’t just result in one or two links. When done right, guest posting can lead to a steady stream of backlinks from relevant, high-traffic websites — offering a long-term SEO benefit.

 

Moreover, guest posting is scalable. As your content gets published across a variety of platforms, your reach grows exponentially, opening doors to more opportunities. Whether you’re targeting niche legal blogs or broader industry publications, this method ensures that your law firm is consistently being featured in front of the right audiences, earning valuable exposure along with backlinks.

Ultimately, guest posting can be the foundation of a successful link-building campaign. It offers a steady flow of high-quality links and consistent traffic. If you focus on building relationships with editors and providing valuable content, guest posting could be the only link-building strategy your firm needs.

Actionable Step

Identify high-quality, relevant blogs and websites in your niche, and develop guest post ideas that demonstrate your firm’s expertise. Offer valuable insights in your content and ensure the articles are engaging and informative. Then, include a link back to your site naturally within the body of the article to secure a lasting and impactful backlink.

2. Link Insertions: A Quick Route to Backlinks

Link insertions, also known as “niche edits” or “curated links,” are another highly effective and efficient strategy for law firms seeking to build their backlink profile. If guest posting is about creating new content for backlinks, link insertions allow you to capitalize on content that already exists—content that’s already ranking well on Google. This strategy offers fast, powerful SEO benefits because it involves inserting your link into articles that are already indexed and trusted by search engines.

What makes link insertions particularly attractive is their immediacy. Unlike guest posts, where you wait for new content to be published and indexed, link insertions give you an instant SEO boost. By placing your link in a relevant, authoritative article that’s already ranking, your law firm can quickly gain visibility and traffic without waiting for the long process of content creation.

Link insertions are especially useful for linking to pages that don’t typically attract backlinks, such as service pages or contact pages. Inserting links into highly relevant and well-trafficked content allows you to drive targeted traffic to those pages, making link insertions a valuable tool for diversifying your backlink profile.

Although link insertions often involve a fee, when done properly, they are worth the investment. They offer one of the quickest ways to build powerful links and can complement guest posting as part of a comprehensive link-building strategy.

Risks of Paid Link Insertions

It’s important to note that link insertions often come with a price tag. Website owners may ask for a fee in exchange for placing your link in their content. While this practice is common, it can carry risks, as Google frowns upon paid links if they appear unnatural or are part of a link scheme. If Google detects that a large number of your backlinks come from paid sources, your site could be penalized.

To minimize this risk, ensure that the websites you are reaching out to are high-quality, authoritative sources relevant to your law firm’s industry. Avoid sites that seem to sell links indiscriminately or that publish low-quality content, as these could harm your website’s reputation in the long run.

Actionable Step

Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify high-ranking articles relevant to your law firm’s practice areas. Reach out to the website owners and suggest adding a link to your content where it naturally fits within the article. By offering additional value to the readers, you’ll increase your chances of getting your link inserted. When done strategically, link insertions can provide an immediate boost to your SEO efforts.

Additional Link-Building Tactics for Law Firms

1. Create Linkable Assets and Perform Outreach

Creating valuable, linkable assets is a cornerstone of any successful link-building strategy. These are high-quality pieces of content that naturally attract links because they provide unique value to the audience. Whether it’s in-depth legal guides, FAQs, statistics, or original research, law firms can leverage their expertise to build authority and earn backlinks.

In-Depth Guides

Law firms have a wealth of specialized knowledge. By creating comprehensive, easy-to-understand guides on complex legal topics, your firm can attract backlinks from journalists, bloggers, and other sites that cite your material. For example, Farrer & Co’s guide on Coronavirus furlough measures in the UK earned links from high-authority sites like Wired and the Institute for Family Business, proving that well-researched content acts as a magnet for backlinks.

FAQ Pages

Legal FAQ pages are another effective way to build links. By answering common legal questions clearly and concisely, your page becomes a useful reference for non-expert bloggers, journalists, and other site owners. A well-positioned FAQ page can earn backlinks, as seen in the example of a legal FAQ on TikTok’s potential ban in the U.S., which garnered backlinks from high-domain authority sites like Gizmodo and Yahoo.

Statistics Pages

Journalists and content creators frequently need statistics to back up their points. Providing well-researched statistics relevant to your practice area can lead to natural backlinks. Wilkinson & Finkbeiner’s U.S. divorce statistics page is a prime example, earning over 450 backlinks from sites like Metro and Yale University.

Original Research

Publishing unique legal research or insights can position your firm as an authoritative source. Original data, like a study on the rise of divorce applications during the pandemic, can attract major media coverage and backlinks, as shown by citations from Business Insider and Fox News.

Actionable Step

After creating these valuable assets, outreach is essential to get them noticed. Identify relevant websites, journalists, and bloggers who would find your content valuable, and reach out with personalized emails offering your resource. If your content offers unique value, it’s likely to earn high-quality backlinks.

2. Blogging for Sustainable Link-Building

A well-maintained blog can be one of the most effective and sustainable ways for law firms to build links. By regularly producing insightful and valuable content, you can naturally attract backlinks as other websites reference your blog posts as authoritative sources. Blogging also offers flexibility in the types of content you can create, allowing your firm to address trending issues, offer how-to guides, or analyze recent legal cases.

Blogging helps law firms increase their SEO visibility by ranking for a wider range of keywords. The more topics you cover, the greater your reach, which can result in an uptick in organic traffic and backlinks. Law firms like Kingsley Napley have successfully used blogging to attract high-quality links from websites like Wikipedia, The Guardian, and Yahoo.

Topics that Attract Links

Certain types of blog content are more likely to attract backlinks. These include:

• Breaking Down Complex Legal Issues: Simplifying complicated topics can lead to other websites, including news outlets, referencing your blog for clarification.
• Trending Legal Topics: Writing about current events and legal changes can attract backlinks from journalists covering similar issues.
• How-To Guides: Providing step-by-step guides for navigating legal procedures increases the chances of other websites linking to your content.
• Case Studies: Analyzing important legal cases or decisions can result in backlinks from bloggers and journalists looking for expert analysis.

Actionable Step

Develop a content strategy for your blog. Use tools like Google Trends or Ahrefs to identify trending legal topics and keywords that will attract traffic and backlinks. Regularly post high-quality, insightful content, and promote it through outreach to relevant websites, journalists, and bloggers.

3. Leverage Community Mentions

Building relationships within your local community or professional network is a simple yet effective way to gain backlinks. Many law firms overlook the value of asking satisfied clients, business partners, or collaborators for backlinks. These individuals or businesses often already have positive connections with your firm, making them more likely to link to your website.

For example, you could ask for a link in exchange for providing a testimonial to a business or partner you’ve worked with. Additionally, if a client writes about their experience with your firm in a blog post, request that they include a link back to your site.

Another opportunity lies in events or conferences your firm attends. Often, event websites will mention your attendance and provide a backlink to your firm.

Actionable Step

Reach out to clients, collaborators, or partners with websites and request a backlink. You can offer something in return, such as a testimonial or a social media mention, to make the exchange mutually beneficial.

4. Becoming a Source for Journalists

Journalists frequently seek expert opinions and legal insights, offering law firms a chance to earn valuable backlinks from major media outlets. Platforms like Help a Reporter Out (HARO), ResponseSource, and Qwoted connect journalists with industry experts, making it easy for law firms to offer expertise in exchange for a backlink.

Lawyers who provide timely and insightful responses to journalist queries often see their comments featured in news articles, which leads to authoritative backlinks. This can significantly improve your firm’s visibility and credibility.

Actionable Step

Sign up for HARO or similar platforms and set up alerts for legal-related queries. Be prompt in responding to journalists, and provide well-thought-out insights that require minimal editing, increasing your chances of being featured.

5. Offer a Scholarship

Offering a scholarship is another effective way for law firms to build backlinks while giving back to the community. When you create a scholarship and promote it to universities and educational institutions, you can earn backlinks from .edu websites, which are highly authoritative.

Shook and Stone successfully used this strategy by offering a $2,500 scholarship, resulting in backlinks from prestigious .edu sites like Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Illinois. These high-authority backlinks contributed to boosting their SEO and online reputation.

Actionable Step

Create a scholarship page on your website outlining the prize, eligibility criteria, and application guidelines. Then, reach out to local universities, high schools, and scholarship directories to promote the opportunity and gain backlinks.

6. Get Easy Wins from Free Directories

Legal directories provide an easy, straightforward way to build backlinks. Listing your firm on top legal directories such as Avvo, Justia, and FindLaw helps potential clients discover your services while also contributing to your backlink profile. While many directory links are “nofollow” and may not directly boost your SEO, they still help diversify your link profile, which is valuable.

In addition to major legal directories, smaller niche or local directories can provide targeted backlinks that improve your site’s local SEO performance.

Actionable Step

List your law firm on top legal directories like Avvo, Justia, and FindLaw. Also, explore smaller, area-specific directories relevant to your firm’s practice areas. Check your competitors’ backlink profiles to see where they are listed and replicate their efforts.

7. Discover Unlinked Mentions

Unlinked mentions occur when your law firm is mentioned online but without a link back to your website. Finding these mentions and requesting a link is often an easy way to acquire a backlink, as the site already acknowledges your firm’s value.

Actionable Step

Set up Google Alerts or use tools like Ahrefs to track mentions of your law firm. When you discover unlinked mentions, reach out to the website owner and request that they add a link to your site.

Measuring Success: Tracking Your Link-Building Results

Once you’ve implemented your link-building strategies, it’s crucial to measure their effectiveness. Tracking your efforts not only allows you to see what’s working but also helps you adjust and refine your approach for even better results. Link building is not a one-time effort; it requires ongoing monitoring and tweaking to maximize its impact on your law firm’s SEO and traffic.

Tools for Tracking Backlinks

Several tools can help you track the growth and quality of your backlink profile. Here are some of the most popular ones:

• Ahrefs: This tool provides detailed insights into your backlink profile, showing the number of referring domains, new and lost backlinks, and the quality of the sites linking to you. You can also analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles to see where you can improve.
• SEMrush: Similar to Ahrefs, SEMrush allows you to track your backlink growth, identify toxic links, and discover new linking opportunities. It also provides keyword ranking data to see how your backlinks are influencing your SEO.
• Google Search Console: This free tool from Google gives you an overview of how your website is performing in search results. You can monitor your site’s traffic, check for errors, and get a basic understanding of your backlink profile.

These tools help you measure the volume of backlinks as well as their quality. The more high-authority, relevant backlinks your law firm earns, the stronger your site will perform in search results.

Monitoring Keyword Rankings and Organic Traffic

One of the most significant benefits of a successful link-building campaign is improved rankings for your target keywords. As you acquire more high-quality backlinks, your site should start to rank higher for valuable search terms in your practice areas.

Using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, you can track the rankings of your target keywords over time. Pay close attention to any changes in keyword rankings that coincide with your link-building efforts. This can help you determine which strategies are having the most significant impact.

In addition to keyword rankings, monitor your site’s organic traffic using Google Analytics or Google Search Console. Look for upward trends in traffic as you implement your link-building strategies, and note any traffic spikes that align with acquiring major backlinks from high-authority websites.

Adjusting Your Strategy

Link building is a dynamic process that requires continual adjustment. Regularly review your backlink profile, track your progress, and tweak your strategy based on the data you collect. If certain strategies are yielding better results—such as guest posting or niche edits—consider focusing more of your efforts on those areas.

On the other hand, if you find that some tactics are producing low-quality links or not contributing to your rankings, you may need to rethink or scale back those strategies. Flexibility is key to achieving long-term success.

Actionable Step: Set Up Monthly Backlink Audits

To stay on top of your link-building progress, set up monthly backlink audits using tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Search Console. Track the growth of your backlinks, evaluate their quality, and compare your keyword rankings and organic traffic over time. Regular audits will help you stay focused on what works, allowing you to optimize your link-building efforts for maximum impact.

Link Building for Law Firms — Focus on What Works

When it comes to boosting your law firm’s online presence, link building isn’t just optional — it’s essential. However, not all strategies will give you the results you need. Methods like guest posting and link insertions provide consistent, scalable results, allowing you to take control of your SEO efforts and secure valuable backlinks. On the other hand, while platforms like HARO and digital PR offer opportunities, they can often be slow, unpredictable, and hit-or-miss.

To build a strong backlink profile and drive traffic to your site, it’s important to prioritize strategies that deliver measurable success. Focus on tactics that offer control, speed, and reliability, and make the most of your firm’s expertise by creating content that naturally attracts links. With the right approach, your law firm can rise above the competition and take full advantage of the benefits of strategic link building.

FAQs on Link Building for Lawyers

How long does it take to see results from link-building efforts?

The timeline for seeing results from link building varies depending on the strategies used and the quality of the backlinks obtained. With strategies like guest posting or niche edits, you may start to see an SEO impact within a few weeks to a few months. However, link building is a long-term strategy, and the most significant improvements in search rankings and traffic typically occur after consistent efforts over several months.

What are the risks of poor-quality backlinks?

Backlinks from low-quality or irrelevant websites can harm your law firm’s search engine rankings. Google’s algorithms are designed to detect unnatural links, and if they identify that your website has acquired backlinks through manipulative tactics—such as spammy directories or paid links—it could result in a penalty, causing your rankings to drop. Always prioritize earning backlinks from high-authority, relevant sites.

Should law firms avoid paid link-building services?

While some link-building services offer quick wins, paying for backlinks can be risky if not done ethically. Google penalizes websites that engage in manipulative or unnatural link-building practices, especially if it detects paid links that don’t follow its guidelines. If you do work with a service, make sure they use ethical, white-hat strategies like guest posting, creating linkable assets, or securing legitimate niche edits.

How many backlinks does my law firm need to rank higher on Google?

There is no set number of backlinks required to rank higher, as Google’s algorithm considers various factors like the quality, relevance, and authority of the links. A few high-quality, authoritative backlinks can be more valuable than dozens of low-quality ones. Focus on building a diverse backlink profile with links from reputable, relevant sites in the legal industry.

Can internal links help with SEO, or are external backlinks more important?

Both internal and external backlinks play important roles in SEO. While external backlinks from other websites help establish your site’s authority and relevance, internal linking helps Google understand the structure of your website and the relationship between different pages. An effective internal linking strategy can boost your site’s SEO by guiding users (and search engines) to your most valuable content.

Are local backlinks important for law firms?

Yes, local backlinks are crucial, especially for law firms that rely on attracting clients in specific geographic areas. Links from local businesses, community websites, and directories not only improve your local SEO but also help establish your firm’s authority in the region. Combining local backlinks with general industry links can create a well-rounded backlink profile that enhances both local and national search rankings.

How can I monitor my law firm’s backlink profile?

You can track your backlinks using SEO tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush. These platforms allow you to monitor new backlinks, evaluate their quality, and analyze competitor backlink profiles. Google Search Console is another free tool that helps you track your website’s performance, including backlinks, and can alert you to any manual actions or penalties related to unnatural links.