Criminal defense SEO · Practical guides
Criminal Defense SEO: Guides by SBD Marketing
When someone is arrested, the search for a lawyer usually starts on a phone within hours. These guides explain how that search works and what a criminal defense firm needs on its website and Google profile to be one of the names people find and call.
Start here: the 2026 guide to criminal defense SEO
Criminal Defense SEO Guides
The Complete Guide to SEO for Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2026
Our main guide walks through the whole job: building pages around the charges you defend and the courts you appear in, setting up a Google Business Profile that can reach the map pack, fixing slow mobile pages, earning reviews within your state’s ethics rules, and getting named in AI answers.
At a glance
- Who it’s for: Solo defenders and small to mid-size defense firms
- Covers: Charge pages, map pack, site speed, reviews, links, AI search
- Time to read: About 9 minutes
- Updated: October 2026
For criminal defense firms
How SBD Marketing helps defense firms get found in search
SBD Marketing works only with criminal defense law firms, and only with one firm per city. The work is the same work described in these guides, done for one firm at a time.
- Rankings for the charges you defend
Pages built around DUI, domestic violence, drug, theft and other charges in your county, written so they can rank for the searches people make after an arrest. - A Google Business Profile that reaches the map pack
Categories, hours, photos, reviews and local signals set up so your office has a real chance at the three map results that show above the regular listings. - Visibility in AI answers
Consistent firm facts and clear answer-style pages so ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity can name your firm when someone asks who to call.
Talk to SBD Marketing about your firm’s search visibility
Run a criminal defense practice and want to know where you stand in Google and AI search? Here’s how to reach the team.
BUSINESS
SBD Marketing
info@sbdmarketing.agency
BOOK A CALL
sbdmarketing.agency/scheduling
SERVING
Criminal defense firms, USA
WEB
sbdmarketing.agency
Five things to check on your own defense firm’s SEO
You can look at all of these yourself in an afternoon. They come up in almost every audit we run.
Search for your charges, not your name
Type the charges you defend plus your city into Google on your phone. Where you appear for those searches matters far more than ranking for your own firm name.
Open your site on a phone
Check how long the first screen takes to load and whether a tap-to-call button is visible without scrolling. Most people looking for a defense lawyer are on mobile.
Read your Google Business Profile
Confirm the primary category, address, hours and phone number are correct and match your website exactly.
Count your charge pages
If one practice-area page covers every charge, you are competing with firms that have a dedicated page for each one.
Ask an AI assistant about your firm
Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity who handles DUI cases in your city. Note if your firm is named and if the details are right.
Guides in this series
We’re building this series one topic at a time.
How to build a DUI charge page that ranks
Coming soon
Google Business Profile setup for defense firms
Coming soon
Criminal defense keyword research by county
Coming soon
How we put these guides together
Each guide draws on Google’s own published documentation for Search and Business Profiles, the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and what SBD Marketing sees working with defense firms day to day. Search tools and ranking factors change, so every guide notes when it was last updated. Criminal Defense SEO is researched and published by SBD Marketing.
Explore the SBD Marketing network
Criminal Defense SEO is one of 28 guides published by SBD Marketing. Each one looks at a different side of marketing a criminal defense law firm.
Criminal Defense Visual Branding · Criminal Defense Firm Growth · DUI Attorney Marketing · Technical SEO for Law Firms · Legal Marketing Analytics · Law Firm Website Design · How Families Find Defense Lawyers · Attorney Image and Personal Branding · Law Firm Marketing Budgets · Local SEO Lessons from Fitness Businesses · Local SEO Lessons from Restaurants · Game Design and Law Firm UX · Healthcare Fraud Defense Content · Local SEO Lessons from Home Services · Courtroom Storytelling and Legal Branding · Music Industry Branding Lessons for Law Firms · Legal SEO News · Photography for Law Firm Websites · Legal Copywriting and Storytelling · Criminal Justice Policy and Search Trends · Criminal Defense SEO 101 · Law Firm Conversion Science · Defense Marketing for Athlete Cases · AI and Legal Marketing Technology · Out-of-State DUI and Location Search · Video Marketing for Defense Attorneys · Environmental Crime Defense Content
