Methodology

SEO audit methodology for law firms

See the evidence sources, definitions, limits, and prioritization rules used to turn technical, content, local, AI-search, and conversion checks into a reviewable worklist.

Start Your Growth System Compare Plans

At a glance

How the audit turns public evidence into a prioritized worklist

The methodology separates observed evidence from unavailable data, defines what each check means, and prioritizes issues by likely impact on crawl access, understanding, local trust, and consultation friction.

Observed and unavailable data stay separate
No ranking or client promises
Repeatable checks use the same definitions
Attorney review before legal content publishes

Scope and evidence sources

The review uses the submitted public website, visible page content, response and crawl signals, structured data, internal links, sitemap and robots files, and approved external APIs when configured. Private analytics or CRM behavior is not inferred.

Technical and indexing definitions

Checks distinguish accessibility from indexability, canonical consistency from duplication, and a missing signal from an unavailable result. Titles, headings, metadata, image alternatives, broken paths, speed, and mobile behavior are evaluated separately.

Local, content, and AEO evidence

The audit looks for consistent firm identity, office and phone context, attorney and practice-area clarity, direct answers, visible FAQs, descriptive internal links, and structured data that matches the page.

Conversion evidence and limits

The public review can observe calls to action, phone links, booking, intake or contact forms, confirmation language, and visible follow-up expectations. It cannot verify staff response time, lead quality, private CRM activity, rankings, or retained-client outcomes.

Prioritization and worklist

Blocked access and broken consultation paths come first, followed by misleading or missing identity signals, mobile friction, indexation and structure issues, content gaps, and routine metadata improvements. Recommendations remain drafts for firm review.

Questions

Common questions

Is Search Console required?

No. It can add query and page performance context when connected, but the public scorecard does not invent private search data.

What happens when evidence is unavailable?

The result is marked unavailable or not verified. It is not silently converted into a passing score.

Will the same unchanged website receive the same result?

The deterministic website checks use the same definitions. Approved external services can return updated performance data, so the report records the evidence available for that run.

Does the audit guarantee rankings, traffic, or clients?

No. It identifies public technical, content, local, AEO, and conversion-path opportunities without promising outcomes.

Does the audit scrape Google?

No. Competitor page links are supplied by the firm unless an approved data provider is connected.