LawyersSydney SEO
Family, criminal, wills, conveyancing. When someone in Sydney needs a lawyer, we make sure your firm is one of the first they find, with a page that answers their exact problem and copy written within the rules.
01Law firm SEO
Nobody searches for "a law firm". They search for a family lawyer, a criminal lawyer or a conveyancer, usually with a suburb attached. SEO for law firms starts by giving each of those searches a page that answers it.
Practice area pages, then suburb pages. A page for family law, criminal law, wills and estates, conveyancing, employment, immigration and commercial work, if you do it. Each explains who it's for, how the process works, what it roughly involves and who in the firm handles it. Then pages that pair your biggest practice areas with the suburbs you want to win, like "family lawyer Penrith".
Google Business Profile categories are US-style. In Australia, Google still uses names like "Family law attorney" and "Criminal justice attorney", alongside "Lawyer" and "Law firm". It reads oddly, but these are what's on offer, and the exact list changes from time to time. We check what the firms ranking in your area use, pick a primary that matches your main practice, and only add categories for work you actually take on.
List every service. Google allows up to 99 services on a profile. Bail applications, AVO defence, property settlements, parenting arrangements, probate, contract reviews, visa applications: each is a separate search. We write a plain description for your top 20.
Category names as they appear in Google Business Profile at the time of writing. We confirm what's available on your profile.
02Legal SEO by search type
A parent whose son was just arrested and a couple thinking about separation are both searching for a lawyer. They want completely different things from the page they land on.
Example searches, placed by how quickly the person needs a lawyer.
Criminal matters, bail and AVOs are searched on a phone, often late, often in a panic. The page needs a phone number at the top, clear hours (including after hours, if you take those calls), the courts you appear at and a short, calm explanation of what happens next. Google Maps matters most here, because people call one of the first three.
Family law, wills and commercial work are researched for weeks. People read about how property is divided, what a parenting plan is, or what happens without a will. Clear guides written by your lawyers rank for those questions and build the trust that brings the call later.
03Local SEO for lawyers
For criminal and family matters, people often search the court as much as the lawyer. A page for each court you regularly appear at is local relevance Google understands, and useful information for a nervous client.
A court page explains where it is, parking and transport, what to expect on the day, and that your team appears there. It links to your criminal or family law page and your office, if it's nearby. Pair that with an office address on Google, reviews that name the suburb, and our local SEO service handles the map side. If you're in the west, see SEO in Penrith too.
04Experience and trust
Legal pages sit in what Google calls "Your Money or Your Life" territory: topics where bad information can seriously hurt someone. Google's own guidelines say it looks harder at experience, expertise, authority and trust on pages like these.
In practice, that means real lawyer profiles. A photo, admission details, the courts they appear in, any accredited specialisation, memberships, and the guides they've written. Every practice area page and guide says who wrote or reviewed it, and links to that profile.
And nothing you can't back up. No "best lawyer in Sydney", no "we always win", no specialist claims without accreditation. That's partly the conduct rules and partly good sense: clients and Google both notice.
Example. A made-up profile showing what a lawyer bio page should cover.
05Legal advertising rules
Law firm websites are advertising, and lawyers have stricter advertising rules than most businesses. We write within them, and the firm signs off on everything before it goes live.
The short version of the rules. The conduct rules under the Legal Profession Uniform Law prohibit advertising that is false, misleading or deceptive, and limit when a lawyer can describe themselves as a specialist. NSW also places specific restrictions on advertising personal injury legal services, which narrow what those pages can say. This is general information, not legal advice. You know your obligations better than we do, which is why you approve the copy.
Directories that count. Legal directories are citations Google trusts. Depending on your firm, that can include the Law Society of NSW's lawyer search, recognition in guides like Doyle's Guide where it has been genuinely earned, and legal directories already ranking for your practice areas. Plus the core listings: Apple, Bing, Yelp and Foursquare, all matching your Google profile exactly.
06SEO for law firms, step by step
Your lawyers' time is expensive, so we ask for it only where it matters: the facts and the sign-off.
Where your firm ranks for each practice area across your area, what the firms above you have that you don't, and any spam listings in the way.
Week 1Categories, every service, descriptions, hours, photos of the team and office, and a review request routine at the end of each matter.
Weeks 2 to 4Title tags, headings, matching details, schema and a map. Then practice area, court, suburb and lawyer profile pages, each approved by the firm.
Weeks 5 to 8Legal directories, Apple, Bing, Yelp and Foursquare. Then guides answering real questions, weekly posts and steady reviews.
Weeks 9 to 12See where your firm stands first. It's free.
Other professional services work the same way. See SEO for accountants, or our wider SEO services.
07Results
We haven't published a law firm case study yet, so we won't pretend. These are local service businesses where we ran the same process.
Design Timber Flooring
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AAA Mould Removal
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08Free law firm review
We'll record a free 3-minute video comparing your firm with the law firms ranking above you for your practice areas, and what to fix first.
A limited number of law firm reviews each week.
Your local SEO review lands in your inbox within 48 hours. Check the junk folder too, just in case.
FAQ
What lawyers and practice managers ask us before getting started.
SEO for lawyers is the work that gets a law firm found on Google when people search for legal help. It covers your Google Business Profile and Google Maps ranking, practice area and suburb pages, lawyer profiles, reviews and legal directory listings, all written within the advertising rules lawyers work under.
Rank in the map results for each practice area in your area, give every practice area its own page, and make it easy to call. Urgent matters like criminal law and AVOs depend on Google Maps and a phone number up top. Research-heavy matters like family law depend on helpful guides that build trust.
Google uses US-style names in Australia, such as "Family law attorney", "Criminal justice attorney" and "Estate planning attorney", along with "Lawyer" and "Law firm". Pick the primary that matches your main practice, add others only for work you do, and check what the top firms near you use.
Yes. SEO is a form of advertising, and the same rules apply: no false, misleading or deceptive claims, specialist wording only for accredited specialists, and in NSW, specific restrictions on advertising personal injury services. This is general information, not legal advice. The firm approves all copy before it's published.
Yes. Family law, criminal law, wills and estates, conveyancing, employment and immigration are different searches from different people. A dedicated page for each, written for that client, ranks better than a single "practice areas" list and gives people the answers they came for.
They can. People often search the court as much as the lawyer. A useful page for each court you regularly appear at, such as Parramatta or Penrith Local Court, adds local relevance and helps nervous clients know what to expect on the day.
Legal topics are what Google calls "Your Money or Your Life" content, where it looks harder at experience and trust. Profiles with admission details, practising certificates, courts, accreditations and the guides each lawyer wrote show Google and clients who is behind the advice.
The Law Society of NSW's lawyer search, recognition in guides like Doyle's Guide where you've genuinely earned it, legal directories already ranking for your practice areas, and the core listings: Apple, Bing, Yelp and Foursquare. Your details must match your Google profile exactly.
It depends on how many practice areas and suburbs you want to rank for and how competitive they are. Criminal and family law in central Sydney take more work than wills in a smaller suburb. We record a free 3-minute review first, then quote for what's needed.
Profile and website fixes often show movement within weeks. Competitive practice areas in Sydney can take several months to reach the top three. Research-based guides keep building traffic long after they're published.
We write the drafts from a short brief with your lawyers, structured to rank and easy to read. Your team checks the law and approves every page before it goes live. We don't give legal advice, and the content says so.
Access to your Google Business Profile and website, your practice areas and the courts you appear at, lawyer details for profiles, a quick sign-off on drafts, and a routine for asking satisfied clients for reviews at the end of a matter.
Barely anything. You just do what you do best: Turn phone calls into customers.
See where your firm stands on Google for each practice area, and what's sending clients elsewhere.