Onsite SEO for law firms

Technical infrastructure

Before content scales, the site has to be crawlable, fast, and structurally sound. That means clean URLs, canonical tags, XML sitemaps, mobile-first rendering, and Core Web Vitals that hold on real devices — not just a passing Lighthouse score on desktop.

• Server-rendered or statically generated HTML Google can index
• Robots.txt and meta robots that block only what you intend
• Self-referencing canonicals on every indexable URL
• Submitted sitemap with valid lastmod and no orphan URLs

On-page elements

Each page needs a clear keyword target, a title and description within Google’s display limits, and heading structure that matches the intent of the query. For law firms, that usually means city + practice-area combinations, FAQ coverage, and copy that answers injured-client questions without overpromising.

• Titles ≤60 characters; meta descriptions ≤160 characters
• One H1 per page aligned to the primary query
• FAQ sections with FAQPage schema where appropriate
• Internal links from hubs to supporting pages

Content and page architecture

PI firms need scalable templates: practice-area hubs, location pages with genuine local detail, and blog content that builds topical authority. Thin city swaps hurt; depth compounds. LawVert builds this architecture the same way we run it for Conduit Law — 508 location pages, 25 practice areas, and a validation pipeline that catches metadata drift before deploy.

Schema and structured data

JSON-LD helps Google understand page types and can unlock rich results. At minimum: Organization and WebSite sitewide, BreadcrumbList on nested pages, LegalService on practice-area and location pages, and FAQPage where you publish real Q&A content.

What onsite SEO does not include

Backlinks, directory listings, Google Business Profile, and third-party mentions live in offsite SEO. Onsite is the house; offsite is the neighborhood reputation. Both matter — but fix the foundation first, or external signals land on pages that cannot rank.