Has your law firm's website suddenly dropped in search rankings? Are you seeing strange backlinks you never created? You might be experiencing a negative SEO attack. This happens when competitors use dirty tricks to hurt your website's standing with search engines. The good news is that you can fight back and protect your online reputation.
For law firms, your website is often the first contact potential clients have with your business. When someone targets it with negative SEO tactics, your client pipeline and reputation can suffer.
A negative SEO attack intentionally harms a website's search engine rankings using tactics like link spam, content duplication, or hacking. For law firms, these attacks can be particularly damaging, as they rely on online visibility to attract clients. If your website disappears from search results, you risk losing potential clients and damaging your reputation. Protecting your site from these malicious attacks is necessary.
Common negative SEO tactics include:
Working with experienced SEO agencies like UppercutSEO, led by Tom Desmond & Sami Ahmad, can help law firms develop a comprehensive strategy to handle negative SEO attacks and protect their online presence. By partnering with SEO experts, law firms can ensure their SEO strategy is secure, ethical, and results-driven.
Before you can fight a negative SEO attack, you need to know it's happening. Here are the warning signs to watch for:
If your website suddenly drops in search results for keywords that were previously performing well, this could be a sign of an attack. While rankings can change for many reasons, a dramatic drop across many keywords might mean something is wrong.
Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. While good backlinks help your rankings, suddenly getting hundreds of links from low-quality sites can hurt you. Law firms should regularly monitor their backlink profiles for suspicious activity, as this is often the first sign of a negative SEO attack. Many SEO agencies offer backlink monitoring tools that can alert you to these problems before they cause serious damage.
If your website suddenly starts loading very slowly or crashes frequently, someone might be attacking it with too many requests (called a "denial of service" attack). This makes it hard for real visitors to use your site and can hurt your search rankings.
If you find copies of your website content on other sites, this could be a sign someone is trying to make search engines think you're copying them (instead of the other way around).
In severe cases, your website might disappear completely from Google search results. This happens when Google thinks your site has seriously violated its guidelines.
Now that you know what to look for, here's how to protect your law firm's website and fix any damage:
The first step in protecting your site is knowing when something's wrong. Set up these tools to alert you to potential problems:
Check these tools at least once a week so you can catch problems early.
If you suspect an SEO attack, start collecting evidence immediately. Take screenshots of unusual backlinks, document ranking drops, save copies of duplicate content, and record other suspicious activity. This information is essential if you need to report the attack to Google or pursue legal action. A proactive approach helps protect your website’s integrity and ensures swift resolution.
If spammy backlinks are targeting your site, you can tell Google to ignore them using the Disavow Tool. First, create a list of harmful links in a text file, then go to Google’s Disavow Tool in Search Console, upload your file, and submit it. Google will then try to ignore these links when evaluating your site. Be cautious—only disavow spam links, as mistakenly removing good backlinks can harm your rankings.
If you encounter duplicate content or unwanted backlinks, reach out to the website owners directly. Locate their contact information in the "Contact" or "About" section, then send a polite email requesting removal. Clearly explain that the content belongs to you or that the links were unauthorized. Keep records of all communications, as some site owners may be unaware their site is being used for negative SEO, and this will assist in resolving the issue.
If someone has copied your content and won't remove it when asked, you can file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request:
Most hosting companies take these requests seriously and will remove stolen content.
Prevent future website attacks by strengthening security measures. Use strong passwords and update them regularly, keep your website software up to date, and install security plugins if using WordPress or similar platforms.
Consider a web application firewall to block threats and back up your website regularly to ensure quick recovery if needed. A proactive security approach minimizes risks and protects your online presence.
A strong defense against negative SEO is maintaining high-quality content on your site. Write helpful articles on legal topics your clients care about, update content regularly, ensure each page has unique, valuable information, and include relevant keywords naturally.
Well-structured content strengthens search rankings, builds authority, and mitigates the impact of harmful SEO tactics.
Negative SEO attacks can be a serious threat to law firms, but by understanding the types of attacks and taking proactive steps to prevent them, law firms can protect their online presence and maintain their search engine rankings. Whether you're dealing with link spam, content duplication, or website hacking, it's essential to have a comprehensive strategy in place to handle negative SEO attacks and defend your website.
