Chapter 3 | Technical SEO for Law Firms That Want to Rank

Technical SEO: The Infrastructure That Supports Every Case You’ll Ever Sign

If SEO is your growth engine, technical SEO is the chassis.

It’s the framework that holds everything together—and when it’s cracked, no amount of content, backlinks, or paid ads can carry the load.

And yet, most law firms either overlook it entirely or assume their agency is “handling it.”

Spoiler: most aren’t.

Technical SEO issues are quiet killers. They don’t scream. They just slowly choke your rankings while you wonder why the phone stopped ringing.

What Is Technical SEO?

Technical SEO is how you make sure that Google—and your potential clients—can:

• Access your website without friction
• Understand what your pages are saying
• Navigate your content easily, especially on mobile
• Trust your infrastructure enough to recommend it

It’s not glamorous. But without it, everything else is built on sand.

The 7 Technical SEO Non-Negotiables

If you’re a PI firm looking to grow, here’s what your tech stack must have in place:

1. Fast Load Speed

Google expects pages to load in under 3 seconds. On mobile, even faster.

If your site drags, users bounce—and Google takes notes.

Most common speed killers:

• Bloated themes and code
• Uncompressed images
• Shared hosting plans
• Plugin overload

Pro move: run your site through PageSpeed Insights. Then actually fix what’s flagged.

2. Mobile-First UX

Google ranks your mobile site—not desktop. If mobile is clunky, rankings suffer.

Quick checklist:

• Can users read text without pinching?
• Are buttons easy to tap?
• Do forms work properly on iPhones and Android?
• Is mobile load time under 2.5 seconds?

You don’t need a flashy app. You need clean, fast, intuitive mobile UX.

3. HTTPS Security

Still running on HTTP? You’re bleeding trust.

Google flags it. Browsers warn users. Clients bounce.

Get an SSL certificate. Keep it renewed. No debate.

4. Crawlability and Indexing

Google can’t rank what it can’t see.

Your checklist:

• No accidental “noindex” tags on live pages
• Robots.txt file is clean and intentional
• An up-to-date XML sitemap is submitted
• Core pages (practice areas, reviews, contact) are indexed

Check Google Search Console monthly. It’s your early warning system.

5. Schema Markup

Schema tells Google exactly what your content is—and lets it show richer results in search.

Law firm must-haves:

• LocalBusiness
• LegalService
• FAQPage
• Review
• VideoObject (if you use video)
• Person (for attorney bios)

You don’t need to write code. Use RankMath or Schema Pro and validate it regularly.

6. Internal Linking Strategy

Internal linking is where technical SEO and content strategy collide.

Good internal linking:

• Helps users navigate
• Guides Google deeper into your site
• Passes authority between pages
• Boosts topical relevance

Pro tip: Don’t overthink it. Just link related pages using natural anchor text. And avoid orphaned pages like the plague.

7. Content Bloat and Crawl Budget

Google doesn’t crawl every page—especially on large sites.

If you’ve got a graveyard of outdated blogs, duplicate pages, or junk content, you’re wasting crawl budget and confusing the algorithm.

Here’s how you clean it up:

• Prune or redirect old content that doesn’t serve a purpose
• Consolidate overlapping pages
• Fix broken links
• Delete anything thin, off-topic, or abandoned

Less clutter = more clarity for Google.

Why Most PI Websites Fail at Technical SEO

Imagine flooring it on the freeway with bald tires and no brakes.

That’s what most law firms are doing with their websites.

Common fails we see every week:

• Slow, template-based sites with outdated themes
• Hosting on bargain-bin servers with zero security
• Broken links and 404 errors everywhere
• Duplicate page versions competing for the same keywords
• No sitemap, no schema, no internal link plan
• Pages that look like they were built in 2008—and haven’t been touched since

The worst part? Most firms have no clue this is happening. And their agency isn’t telling them.

Technical SEO Is Not Optional—It’s Foundational

You could have the best-written blog in your state and a killer backlink profile, but if your site speed sucks or your mobile UX is broken, you’ll lose to firms that nailed the basics.

At AMG, we believe:

• Your site should load like lightning
• It should look clean and professional on any device
• It should be easy to crawl and built to convert
• And it should reflect the level of trust you ask from your clients

You wouldn’t put your client in front of a judge unprepared.

Don’t send your website into Google’s courtroom half-baked.

Chapter 3 Checklist: Technical SEO Essentials for PI Firms

Here’s your go-to audit list:

• Page speed score of 90+ on mobile
• Active SSL (HTTPS sitewide)
• Mobile UX tested on real devices
• No crawl errors in Google Search Console
• XML sitemap submitted and dynamic
• Schema on practice pages, bios, FAQs, reviews
• Intentional internal linking strategy
• Broken links resolved
• No orphaned pages
• Site audit is scheduled quarterly