Internet Marketing for Criminal Defense Lawyers
What is the first thing a person does after discovering they are the target of a criminal investigation?
Your ideal clients are turning to the internet to look for information about the criminal charge and how the cases are prosecuted. After some research, they begin searching the internet for an attorney because:
- for many of your ideal clients, the internet is the only place they can turn because they are unwilling to talk about the criminal accusation with family, friends, or co-workers; and
- after an arrest, the family members who live out of town may start the search for an attorney, and the internet may be the only way they have to find an attorney.
For these reasons, no other area of the law is more suited for online marketing. That behavior has always favored organic search marketing for criminal defense lawyers. What has changed recently is how that information is discovered and which law firm websites are surfaced first.
Today, many potential clients are no longer clicking through ten blue links. They are asking questions directly to AI-powered search tools and reading summarized answers. The law firms that appear in those answers are not the ones with the loudest marketing language. They are the ones whose websites clearly explain the law, the process, and the kinds of cases they handle.
What are attorneys still paying more than $50 a click for competitive terms such as “Seattle DUI Attorney” or “Boston Criminal Defense Lawyers.” In larger cities, even small criminal defense firms with two or three attorneys pay more than $10,000 monthly just on pay-per-click ads. Those pay per click ads no longer return any value. For a fraction of that price, those attorneys could improve their website design and internet marketing strategy enough to dominate the search engines and AI-powered search tools.
Why Criminal Defense Attorneys Choose Internet Lava
Internet Lava is focused on internet marketing, SEO, and website design for criminal defense attorneys. Most of our clients are criminal defense and DUI attorneys. For more than fifteen (15) years, we have earned our reputation as one of the best law firm marketing companies for criminal defense attorneys. Not only do we design the most beautiful sites, but we also put a heavy emphasis on SEO through better content. That focus has helped our clients excel in AI-driven search tools for the cases they want most.
Most of our clients have been with us for more than five years, any many for more than 10 years. As search engine marketing evolves, we help them evolve with it
Our company is large enough to provide a turn-key approach for all of the firm’s internet marketing needs, including designing a stunning website, developing content to attract the firm’s ideal clients, implementing the best SEO and AI strategies, setting up the firm’s online profiles on third party sites, and optimizing the firm’s social media platforms.
Call us for a free consultation to discuss the best SEO services for lawyers practicing criminal defense.
Looking at your current website, we can determine what your competitors are doing better. We can show you what it takes to dominate your market and keep pulling ahead of your competition over time.
How Criminal Defense Attorneys Can Do Better With AI-Driven Search
The way potential clients find criminal defense attorneys is changing, but the underlying behavior has not. People still go online first, often in private, to understand what is happening to them and what kind of lawyer they need. What has changed is how that information is delivered.
Instead of clicking through multiple search results, many people now receive direct answers from AI-driven search tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Jasper, Google Gemini, Brave Search, You.com, Komom Perplexity AI, and Grok. At Internet Lava, we focus on helping criminal defense law firms with AI-driven SEO, and chatbots. We help you create personalized content, optimize search visibility, and instantly engage potential clients 24/7.
Those AI tools summarize information and cite only a small number of sources. The law firms that appear in those answers are not chosen because of advertising language. They are chosen because their websites clearly explain the law, the process, and the types of cases they handle.
For criminal defense attorneys, doing better with AI-driven marketing does not require gimmicks or new technology. It requires better content and sharing more information about your firm.
AI systems favor websites that answer questions directly and in plain language. A page that explains how a DUI case is prosecuted, what penalties are typical, and what defenses may apply is far more likely to be referenced than a page that simply claims to be aggressive or experienced. The same is true for drug cases, federal investigations, probation violations, or asset forfeiture matters.
Structure also matters. Content that is organized with clear sections, logical headings, and focused explanations is easier for both people and AI systems to understand. When a website is built around real client questions—rather than marketing slogans—it becomes easier for those systems to identify what the attorney actually does.
Another critical factor is credibility. AI-driven search tools look for signals that the information comes from someone with real knowledge of the subject. Criminal defense websites that discuss statutes, procedures, courts, and common misconceptions naturally demonstrate that experience. Over-promotional language, by contrast, tends to obscure it.
At Internet Lava, our approach to criminal defense marketing already aligns with how AI-driven search works. We help attorneys build websites that explain specific charges, defenses, and jurisdictions in a way that mirrors how cases actually unfold. That kind of content not only performs better in traditional search results, but it is also far more likely to be surfaced when people ask AI tools for help understanding their situation.
In short, criminal defense attorneys do better with AI marketing when they stop trying to market and start explaining. The firms that do that well are the ones being found—now and in the future.
Why pay-per-click when you can pay for better content?
Many criminal defense attorneys are learning through trial and error that a broad pay-per-click approach is no longer worth the expense. Smart attorneys are beginning to shift away from broad pay-per-click strategies and towards a website with the best content management system. That better content also works well with AI-driven search tools.
Why pay-per-click when you can be at the top of Google Places and organic listings just by having better content and a more comprehensive search engine optimization (SEO) strategy? Instead of pay-per-click, the bulk of the law firm’s marketing budget should be targeted in these areas:
- Creating a visually stunning website design that is easy to navigate;
- Continually adding information and targeted content on specific areas within the criminal defense field;
- Harnessing the power of social media;
- Speaking directly to AI-drive search tools about your firm’s unique qualifications; and
- Continually add informative and educational videos that provide general information important to your ideal potential client.
Spending money on an expensive pay-per-click campaign does nothing to enhance the long-term goals of the website. Targeted pay-per-click marketing can be highly beneficial when testing a new practice area. Nevertheless, the primary focus of the attorney’s marketing dollars should be spent on improving the main website over time.
Improving the website over time requires building backlinks from other quality and relevant websites, adding general information on hundreds of topics within the criminal defense field, and producing short video clips that can be added to the website. The money spent on pay-per-click should be a fraction of the budget spent on the main website.
Read more about the best SEO strategies for criminal defense lawyers.
See Results Quickly for Niche Areas of Criminal Defense
While other attorneys throw money away on pay-per-click, you can build a powerful website slowly but surely. Building content for the main website should result in immediate results in more narrow niche areas such as “Criminal Attorney for Aggravated Battery in Seattle.” Look at the criminal jury instructions in your state. Do you have a page for each of those crimes? Do you also give examples of how your firm handles those types of cases and your unique qualifications?
After working with Internet Lava over the next six to twelve months, you will see your website show up in the vanity searches you are targeting, such as “Boston Criminal Defense Attorney.” After that, you will begin to dominate the search engines.
Does it sound too good to be true? Look at your competitors currently at the top of Google. What do you notice? They have more informative content, pictures, videos, and backlinks. So what would it take for you to be at the top? You must provide more informative content than your competition. Your website must be bigger and better.
Many of those same factors that help you rank organically on Google, also help you stand out in AI-driven search tools. AI can evaluate factors that matter most and reward talented attorneys in specific niche practice areas.
Examples of Niche Areas within a Criminal Defense Practice
The best strategy for criminal defense websites requires determining your favorite niche areas. For instance, an entire website can be built around any one of the following areas:
- Criminal Defense in State Court
- Criminal Defense in Federal Court
- Driving under the influence (DUI) / Driving While Intoxicated (DWI)
- Marijuana Crimes – Possession, Cultivation, Grow Houses
- Drug Crimes – Possession of a Control Substance, Drug Trafficking, Prescription Drug Crimes
- White Collar Crimes – Fraud, Identity Theft, Embezzlement
- Theft Crimes – Shoplifting, Petit Theft, Grand Theft, Grand Larceny
- Criminal Appeals / Post-Conviction Motions
- Violation of Probation / Early Termination of Probation
- Juvenile Crimes
- Traffic Crimes or Traffic Tickets for Civil Violations
- Sealing or Expunction of a Criminal Record
- Violent Crimes – Assault, Battery, Domestic Violence, Child Abuse
- Restraining Orders or Orders of Protection Against Domestic Violence
- Sex Crimes – Voyeurism, Solicitation, Sexual Battery, Aggravated Sexual Battery, Lewd Conduct, Rape, and Failure to Register as a Sex Offender
- Firearm / Gun / Weapons Charges
- Criminal or Civil Asset Forfeiture
- Professional Licensure Issues Related to a Criminal Case
- Representing College Students in Disciplinary Hearings
- Civil Asset Forfeiture in State or Federal Court
For criminal defense attorneys who want more than one of these practice areas, the website can be designed with separate sections to emphasize the qualifications of the attorney or attorneys at the firm to handle these types of cases. Building sufficient content on each topic remains essential in dominating search engines and AI-driven search tools.
Instead of spending money on pay-per-click, you should work with an internet company that will do the hard work to get you to the top by adding hundreds of unique pages targeted to your ideal clients. At Internet Lava, we pride ourselves on creating better content. The information the attorneys have at their fingertips often leads to the best content for the law firm’s website.
Adding Content to Websites for Criminal Defense Attorneys
The most effective criminal defense attorney websites answer your ideal client’s questions when they search for an attorney. Think about it from the potential client’s perspective – they have just been arrested for a criminal offense. They may start by searching for their state’s laws on the particular charge pending against them. They want to know the maximum and minimum penalties, common defenses, possible collateral consequences, and the sanctions routinely imposed by the judge assigned to their case. The first question may be – do I need an attorney?
Searches conducted at this point for a criminal charge in state court tend to be centered around the law itself or a particular defense that might apply in that case. How often has a potential client told you they would like to sue someone for “malicious prosecution?” How often has a potential client said, “The police didn’t read me Miranda, so I’m sure you can win my case.”
You already know your potential client’s questions before they pick up the phone. Why not capitalize on that knowledge and give them general answers to those questions on your website? Tell them what they want to know, and then tell them what they need to know. Then tell them your unique training, experience, and qualifications to handle those types of cases.
By answering general questions that are most important to your ideal clients, you gain their trust before they even call your office. When they do call, their first question will be, “When can I meet with the attorney?”
An effective criminal defense attorney’s website can have a separate page on each of the most common types of criminal offenses. The website should also have separate pages on the most common defenses to fight those criminal charges.
Finally, the website should have information about the particular cities, counties, and courthouses the attorney wants to target.
For each type of criminal offense, the attorney can have a separate page on each statute that applies to that type of criminal offense. For example, suppose one of the attorney’s practice areas is devoted to theft. In that case, the website can have several pages about theft, including shoplifting, petit theft, grand theft, employee theft, embezzlement, larceny, fraud, burglary, robbery, etc.
Read more about how AI has changed content marketing for law firms.
Developing Content for a Criminal Defense Attorney’s Website
Many attorneys want to know how we create content on those particular topics within the criminal defense category. Consider the types of information that can be used to develop your page on a topic like “shoplifting:”
- An introductory paragraph that describes the particular topic on that page;
- A list of cities and counties which the attorney wants to target for that specific topic;
- A general description of the statute and the element of the offense;
- A list of potential collateral consequences – such as the fact the offense is considered a “crime of dishonesty” or impeachable offense;
- Possible solutions to the problem such as a plea to reduced charges, a motion to dismiss or suppress, or diversion programs that might be available in that particular jurisdiction;
- Potential defenses that relate to each element of the offense;
- A general description of the standard jury instructions for that particular offense (never list the exact wording of the standard jury instructions);
- Recent case law dealing with sufficient evidence under that statute;
- Pictures related to that offense;
- Outbound links related to that offense (you can link directly to the jury instructions or the statute to help the client find additional information);
- Internal links to other pages on the attorney’s website that are related to that particular topic; and
- A closing paragraph again describes the law firm, the particular topic on that page, and the cities and counties the attorney wishes to target.
Other internet marketing companies want you to believe that only a few paragraphs are sufficient. Those companies are unwilling to do the hard work required in this competitive market. Their internet marketing plans may have worked five years ago, but an attorney serious about internet marketing today needs a company willing and able to do the hard work required to rise above the competition by writing unique content.
Essentially, writing content for an attorney website requires tons of relevant, informative content. The criminal defense attorney’s website should also provide information about the particular cities, counties, and courthouses in the jurisdiction the attorney wants to target. Keep in mind that Internet LAVA can add all this content to your website. Once this has been done, the attorney can log in to their website, expand on the content, and add as many additional pages as they would like.
The Importance of a Great Content Management System
A content management system allows the attorney to add additional information over the first year continuously. Google and AI-driven search tools look at how often the page is updated. Adding additional content is as easy as hitting the “log in” button, then hit the “edit” button on a particular page. After typing in a few changes, the attorney pushes the “save” button, which can instantly be viewed on the website.
If you write a memorandum of law on a particular topic, cut and paste much of that information onto a particular page of your website. If you attend a legal seminar, add some information you learned to your website. If you have a great result in a particular type of case and want to target more clients with that specific problem, write additional content using the information you gained. If the information does not relate to an existing page, create a new one.
If you add the content slowly, you will steadily see your rankings in the search engines improve. Better yet, send us the content, and we will add it for you until you become more comfortable with the process. With a great content management system and the proper support, internet marketing for your law firm will become an exciting way to watch your practice grow as you learn to target your ideal clients.
Contact Internet Lava to schedule a free consultation. The free consultation will give you a wealth of information about managing your online identity.
After learning what we can do to create or improve your existing website, we are confident you will want to join us.
Get a tremendous jump on your competition and find out how we achieve remarkable results for our clients.
This article was last updated on Friday, January 30, 2026.
MENU
Case Studies
Services
Contact