How to perform competitor analysis for legal SEO?

Understanding the Importance of Competitor Analysis in Legal SEO

For law firms aiming to enhance their online visibility, performing a robust competitor analysis is a foundational step in any successful legal SEO strategy. With an increasing number of prospects using search engines to find legal services, ranking highly on Google is more important than ever. A precise understanding of how competing law firms are achieving their search positions allows you to identify opportunities, close gaps, and outpace rivals in your niche.

Identify Your True Competitors

Start by identifying which law firms are ranking for your target keywords. These are not necessarily the firms you compete with in a business sense, but those who dominate search engine results pages (SERPs) for terms relevant to your services and location. Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs or SE Ranking to search for top-performing keywords in your region, and note which firms consistently hold high rankings in Google’s organic results.

You should look beyond national or well-known firms and focus particularly on local competition — those showing up for search queries that potential clients in your area are using.

Analyse Competitors’ Keyword Strategy

Once you’ve identified your SEO competitors, examine which keywords they are targeting. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can provide insight into their organic keyword portfolio, helping you understand:

• Which keywords drive the most traffic to their site
• Keyword difficulty and search volume for relevant terms
• Content gaps or keyword opportunities they may have overlooked

Pay attention to long-tail keywords. For instance, while many firms may target “divorce solicitor London”, your competitors might be gaining conversion-focused traffic from more specific terms such as “child custody solicitor in North London”. These terms often have lower competition and greater commercial intent, making them valuable additions to your own keyword targeting strategy.

Evaluate On-Page SEO Elements

Examine how your competitors structure their content on core pages such as practice area service pages and blog posts. Key elements to look at include:

• Title tags and meta descriptions
• URL structure
• Use of headers (H1, H2, etc.)
• Internal linking strategy

Well-structured content with clear headings and relevant keywords helps Google understand the topic and relevance of each page. Benchmark pages that rank well typically include optimised headings, strategically placed target keywords, fast loading speeds, and mobile-responsiveness.

Assess Content Quality and Strategy

Quality content is one of the most crucial elements in legal SEO. Assess what type of content your competitors are producing and how frequently they publish. Are they writing detailed legal guides, publishing blog articles addressing common client questions, or posting news about changes in the law?

Evaluate the length, readability, use of legal citations when appropriate, and how effectively they address the user’s intent. High-ranking content in the legal sector often strikes a balance between professional tone and accessibility, making complex legal information understandable without oversimplifying the nuances.

Backlink Profile Review

Backlinks remain a strong ranking factor, and understanding your competitors’ link-building strategies can offer critical insight. Investigate their backlink profiles to uncover:

• Where their links are coming from (legal directories, guest articles, press coverage, etc.)
• The quality and authority of these referring domains
• Anchor text usage

Tools like Majestic, Ahrefs or Moz can uncover backlink opportunities that your firm may pursue as well. Focus on acquiring links from reputable legal websites, news media, academic institutions, and industry-specific publications.

Review Technical SEO Foundations

Assess you competitors’ websites for overall user experience and technical performance. Factors such as site speed, mobile usability, crawlability, structured data mark-up, and secure HTTPS protocol all play an important role in search engine ranking. Google Lighthouse and Screaming Frog are useful tools for identifying technical strengths and weaknesses of competing sites.

Analyse Local SEO Strategies

For most firms, local visibility is paramount. Investigate how other law firms are optimising for local search intent. Review their Google Business Profiles, online reviews, local citations, and use of location-based keywords. Take note of the consistency in their Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) across directories, which boosts local SEO performance.

Also explore if competitors are creating location-specific landing pages tailored to key cities or boroughs — an effective strategy for dominating local searches.

Monitor Performance Over Time

Competitor analysis is not a one-off activity. SEO is a dynamic field, and legal firms must continually refine their strategies as rankings shift, algorithms update, and client expectations evolve. Set regular checkpoints to reassess competitor websites, rankings, and strategies to stay current and maintain a competitive edge.

Implement Your Findings Strategically

Gathering data is just the beginning. The true value lies in applying these insights to enhance your own SEO efforts. Prioritise actions based on impact and feasibility. Whether it’s optimising underperforming pages, producing higher-quality content, or earning authoritative backlinks, each improvement brings you closer to stronger rankings and better online visibility for your legal practice.

Conclusion

A comprehensive competitor analysis empowers law firms with the intelligence they need to outperform rivals in the online landscape. By thoroughly examining keyword usage, on-page structure, backlink strategy, content output, and local SEO efforts of high-ranking legal websites, you can make more informed decisions and strategically boost your firm’s digital presence.