The Optimal Local Landing Page For Law Firms

(Last Updated: Oct. 1, 2019)

We gathered data from the top ranking websites, across four legal practice areas, in the 50 largest metros of the United States.

We started this study back in 2016 and have now completed it three times. Follow this post through to the end to see how things have changed from before.

2019 Study

It’s that time of year again. Our study has been updated and as always, we made it a priority to incorporate some new data points that we didn’t have in the past. We looked at GMB Category usage across the practice areas we analyzed, included referring domains to the link section, and the usage of SSL’s.

The rest of the study stayed the same. Searches were done in the largest 50 metros in the United States for the following practice areas: Business, DUI, Injury, and Estate.

Look through the data and compare it to your own site. If you want us to put together a industry analysis for you where we compare your site to the numbers from our study, we can do that. Just click here to get started.

Here is what we found.

Statistics pulled from the infographic above.

92%

of top landing pages were home pages

91%

of top landing pages were mobile friendly

85%

have the firm’s NAP visible

93%

have local pack ads showing on mobile

75%

of top pages have their location in the title tag

75%

is the average on-page grade from Moz

41%

of local searches show a 2-1 clustering

62%

of top landing pages have their business name in the title tag

42%

of top landing pages ranked in maps and in organic listings

38%

have the firm’s name, address, and phone number in schema

42%

of top landing pages have testimonials

28%

of top landing pages have a video

40%

of top listings had questions

26%

have the location or keyword in their GMB business name

21%

have embedded a Google map on their landing page

70%

local pack ads showing on desktop

51%

of top landing pages had keywords in their H1

44%

of top landing pages are using H1’s

17%

of top landing pages have reviews in schema

21%

of top listings has answer

25%

are using Google Posts

89%

of sites are using an SSL

2,457

is the avg number of backlinks to a top pages

1,015

is the average word count on top landing pages

129

is the average number of referring domains to attorney sites

80

is the average Google desktop speed score

49

is the average Google speed for mobile

50

is the average number of reviews on Google

22

is the average aHrefs Domain Rank

22

is the average Moz Domain Authority

19

is the average number of reviews on Facebook

15

is the average number of reviews on Avvo

7

is the average number of reviews on Yelp

2018 Study

As we started doing our research for the 2018 study, we made it a priority to incorporate some new data points. We added Google Q&A’s usage, other review sites beyond Google, the concept of the 2-1 clustering in local packs, and Google Posts. We not only wanted to look at the original data points from 2016 but made sure we included current SEO tactics.

We kept the rest of the study as similar as possible by performing searches in the largest 50 metros in the United States for the following practice areas: Business, DUI, Injury, and Estate.

Statistics pulled from the infographic above.

90%

of top landing pages were home pages

89%

of top landing pages were mobile friendly

83%

have the firm’s NAP visible

82%

have local pack ads showing on mobile

78%

of top pages have their location in the title tag

75%

is the average on-page grade from Moz

56%

of local searches show a 2-1 clustering

55%

of top landing pages have their business name in the title tag

48%

of top landing pages ranked in maps and in organic listings

44%

have the firm’s name, address, and phone number in schema

36%

of top landing pages have testimonials

30%

of top landing pages have a video

28%

of top listings had questions

25%

have the location or keyword in their GMB business name

22%

have embedded a Google map on their landing page

13%

local pack ads showing on desktop

11%

of top landing pages had keywords in their H1

11%

of top landing pages have reviews in schema

10%

of top listings has answer

6%

are using Google Posts

2803

is the avg number of backlinks to a top pages

935

is the average word count on top landing pages

74

is the average Google desktop speed score

73

is the average Google speed for mobile

53

is the average Moz local score of top landing pages

28

is the average number of reviews on Google

22

is the average Moz Domain Authority

14

is the average number of reviews on Facebook

12

is the average number of reviews on Avvo

7

is the average number of reviews on Yelp

2016 Study

Over four years ago we did research and created the infographic titled “The Anatomy of an Optimal Local Landing Page”. In that study, we focused on various industries such as food, automotive and insurance. A lot of things have changed in four years so we re-did this study to to identify what is working in todays results as well as solely focus on the legal industry.

To complete this study we performed searches in the largest 50 metros in the United States for the following practice areas: Business, DUI, Injury, and Estate. We then focus our attention on the top ranking site in the local map pack for each search term. Here is an example of a search result showing which site we would have gathered information from for our study.

Once we collected the list of over 200 top ranking sites, we started analyzing each site to determine what these sites were doing to outperform their competition.

Here is what we found.

Statistics pulled from the infographic above.

90%

of top pages have their location in the title tag

86%

of top landing pages were responsive designs

86%

of top landing pages were home pages

86%

have the firm’s name, address, and phone number

84%

of sites have a click to call phone number

82%

of top landing pages have a type of call to action

76%

of top landing pages ranked in maps and in organic listings

64%

display their company’s awards and trust symbols

61%

of top landing pages have a form

54%

of top landing pages have their business name in the title tag

46%

have the firm’s name, address, and phone number in schema

43%

have a photo of the firm’s staff

43%

of top landing pages have a local photo

40%

of the header images are of an attorney

38%

of top landing pages have testimonials

36%

of top landing pages have a video

24%

had links to sites to review their firm

19%

have a direction button or text

17%

have embedded a Google map on their site

12%

of top landing pages had keywords in their H1

10%

of forms have a captcha

10%

have parallax image or video background on the page

6%

of top landing pages have reviews in schema

2033

is the avg. number of backlinks to a top landing page

945

is the average word count on the top landing pages

95

is the average Google user experience score

75

is the average Google desktop speed score

62

is the average Google speed for mobile

62

is the average Moz local score of top landing pages

17

avg. number of reviews on Google

4

is the average number of onsite form fields

C

is the average on-page grade from Moz

There you have it. 3 years of data to help shape how the legal marketing landscape continues to change and get more competitive. Some of the items in our study add value in the form of stronger ranking signals, others help by increasing conversions once potential clients get to your site.

Go through each point of the study and make sure you have implemented each one in your own way. Not sure how to tackle the list? Feeling overwhelmed or confused by all the data? That’s what we’re here for. Contact us and let us help you level the playing field with your top competitors.