SEO audits for law firms
Law firms had the highest average of any trade we have 40 or more sites for, at 88.8. The opportunity here is refinement rather than repair.
Note: this is one of our smaller samples. The figures indicate a direction rather than a precise measurement.
What we found
Across 42 firm websites found by searches for 'lawyer', the average was 88.8, half scored 91 or better, and not one scored under 60. Legal is a high-value, heavily contested search category and the investment shows. Sample size is modest, so treat the figures as indicative.
Even here, title tag length was the most common fault, on 19 of the 42 sites, which says something about how universal that problem is. Alt text was second, on 17.
The technical basics are almost all in place: every site was served over HTTPS, only 4 lacked structured data and only 4 lacked Open Graph tags. That changes the nature of the sale: you aren't fixing a broken site, you're competing on margins.
Every fault, and how often
Half the sites scored 91 or more. By band: 78.6% scored 80 to 100, 21.4% 60 to 79, 0% 40 to 59 and 0% under 40. Of the businesses these searches found, 6.4% had no website at all.
| Fault | Sites with it | Points it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Title tag length | 19 of 42 | 4 |
| Images missing alt text | 17 of 42 | 6 |
| Meta description length | 11 of 42 | 3 |
| No H1 heading | 8 of 42 | 8 |
| Missing meta description | 7 of 42 | 12 |
| No sitemap.xml | 4 of 42 | 6 |
| No Open Graph tags | 4 of 42 | 4 |
| No structured data | 4 of 42 | 8 |
| Multiple H1 headings | 4 of 42 | 3 |
| Missing canonical link | 3 of 42 | 4 |
| Thin content, under 200 words | 2 of 42 | 8 |
Measured October 2026 from ppclift's own audits of sites found by searches for ‘lawyer’, each website counted once however many searches found it; sites that could not be read are left out, the same way as the research post. Points are out of the 100-point score.
Sample finding
None of the 42 law firm sites scored under 60. Of the ten trades we have 40 or more sites for, law is the only one where that holds; even dentists had 26 sites below it. The weakest firm sites fail on presentation, the title and description a searcher reads, rather than on the plumbing underneath.
What a typical site is missing
A firm at the median of 91 is most likely losing its few points to the title tag (4 points, 19 of 42 sites) and alt text (6 points, 17 sites), and perhaps a meta description of the wrong length (3 points, 11 sites). None of that is visible to the firm and all of it is visible in a search result, which is the argument: the title and description are the firm's advert on the results page, and on 19 of these sites the title was too short or too long to do that job.
How to pitch it
- Do not pitch a rebuild. These firms have usually just paid for one.
- Practice-area pages are where the wins are: a firm ranking for its own name but not for 'family lawyer' plus its city is leaving the valuable searches on the table.
- Because the baseline is high, a comparison against two named competitors is more persuasive than an absolute score.
Questions about law firms
How do you sell SEO to a law firm whose site already scores highly?
Compare, don't criticise. With an average of 88.8 an absolute score won't impress, but a side-by-side with two named competitors for 'family lawyer' plus the city shows exactly where the firm is losing the click.
Which pages matter most on a law firm site?
Practice-area pages. A firm usually ranks for its own name already; the valuable searches are for an area of law and a location, and each needs its own page, title and description.
Is alt text worth raising with a law firm?
Briefly. It was missing on 17 of the 42 sites, it is a quick accessibility fix, and it is hard for a firm that cares about its reputation to argue with.
What is the quickest win on a high-scoring firm site?
The title tag. It failed on 19 of the 42 sites, it costs 4 points in our scoring, and it is the one change that alters how the firm appears in a search result. Rewrite the home page title to name the practice area and the city, then give each practice-area page a title of its own on the same pattern.
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