Law firm SEO audit: a step-by-step checklist

Before you start

Start with one office and three practice pages. Record the URL, evidence, next action and owner for each finding.

Tools and access you need

You do not need every paid tool. Start with Search Console, PageSpeed Insights and a small crawl. Keep client names and confidential matter details out of screenshots and exports.

Step 1: find practice pages losing search traffic

Tool: Google Search Console. Select the property covering the firm’s website, then:

1. Open Performance → Search results. Keep search type Web.
2. Open the date filter, choose Compare, and compare the last three months with the previous three months. Apply the comparison.
3. Select Total clicks and Total impressions, then open Pages below the chart.
4. Sort the clicks Difference column to find losses. Focus on your selected practice pages, not every URL.
5. Click a page to filter the report, then open Queries to see which searches changed. Use Export to save the evidence.

For seasonal practices, also compare equivalent months year over year. Remove the page filter before investigating another page. Google’s Performance report instructions explain the table controls.

Open the Search results report

Compare the reporting periods

Switch to Pages

Inspect the Queries table

Record: URL, dates, affected queries, clicks and impressions. Diagnose the decline before choosing a repair.

Step 2: diagnose the decline before choosing checks

Keep the page filter. Enable Average CTR and Average position, then select an affected query. Compare the same query, country and device rather than relying on site-wide averages.

These are clues, not diagnoses. Average position can hide changes. Check when the decline began and compare equivalent months before assigning a cause.

Check indexing only when the evidence points there

Use URL Inspection for missing/new pages, disappearing impressions or migration-related URL changes—not every traffic decline. Historical impressions do not prove current indexing.

1. Paste the exact URL into the inspection bar and press Enter.
2. Read the status and expand Page indexing.
3. Check crawl permissions, last crawl and declared versus Google-selected canonicals.
4. Select Test live URL if the current page may differ from Google’s stored version.

Record: status and canonicals. Intentional exclusions may be correct. The live test does not predict canonical selection; requesting indexing does not repair the cause.

Step 3: find broken links and review page metadata

Tool: Screaming Frog SEO Spider. Investigate broken paths and changed metadata:

1. Enter the homepage in the crawl bar and click Start. Wait for the crawl to finish.
2. Open Response Codes and filter Client Error (4xx).
3. Select a broken destination. Open Inlinks in the lower pane to find the source pages linking to it.
4. Export Bulk Export → Response Codes → Client Error (4xx) Inlinks to keep source and destination together.
5. Review the Page Titles, Meta Description and H1 tabs for your selected practice pages.

See the vendor’s broken-link walkthrough.

Record: source, destination and status. Investigate 403s; do not redirect every missing page to the homepage.

For ranking losses, inspect affected pages and competitors. Check service/location intent, titles, H1s, attorney details and contact paths. Review overlapping pages before creating more. Our law firm SEO services cover implementation.

Step 4: test mobile page performance

Tool: PageSpeed Insights. Test a practice page and the contact page, not only the homepage:

1. Enter a public URL and click Analyze.
2. Select Mobile in the completed report.
3. Check real-user Core Web Vitals data if available. Note whether it describes the URL or the whole origin.
4. Read the lab diagnostics below and record an actionable issue, such as an oversized image or blocking script.

Record: URL, device, date and finding. Retest repairs; a higher lab score is not a completed audit.

Step 5: check the office’s local-search information

Tool: Google Business Profile. Sign in with the account managing the office, find the business on Google Search and choose Edit profile. Review its name, address, phone, categories, hours and website link against the location page. Controls can vary by profile and interface.

Open the website destination and confirm it describes that office. Investigate duplicate listings and old addresses. Compare observations from consistent search locations rather than relying on one search from your desk.

Before the campaign

After the campaign

Record: inaccurate fields, linked URL and observation locations. Google’s local-ranking guidance covers relevance, distance and prominence. Our local SEO guide for lawyers explains the broader workflow.

Step 6: check backlinks and contact measurement

Use Search Console → Links for a starting list of referring sites. An optional Ahrefs or Semrush report adds competitor context. Inspect actual sources and destinations; a third-party authority score is not a diagnosis.

In GA4 → Reports, find Landing page under Engagement if your report collection includes it. Filter for Session default channel group = Organic Search and check relevant landing pages and configured key events. If the report is missing, ask the property’s administrator to expose it.

Check phone links and coordinate a form-delivery test with the firm. Verify receipt and who handles incoming inquiries. Tracking an event does not prove delivery or follow-up.

Turn the findings into a repair plan

These are examples. Add evidence, an owner and verification. Our SEO timeline guide explains how to assess progress.