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In SEO circles, one phrase keeps getting thrown around like gospel:

“Keyword rankings are a vanity metric.”

Sounds sharp. Sounds evolved. But it’s only half true.

And like most one-liners in this space, it oversimplifies the reality.

If you’re a law firm measuring the wrong things, yes, rankings can absolutely waste your time. But used right, they’re one of the most useful signals you’ve got.

Let’s break this down without the crap.

When Keyword Rankings Are Vanity Metrics

If your strategy is built on ranking for whatever has the most search volume, you’re already off course.

Here’s when rankings become worthless:

  • Chasing irrelevant head terms like “car accident” instead of “car accident lawyer Houston”
  • Tracking broad keywords that will never convert and were never meant to
  • Celebrating vanity wins (e.g. we’re #1 for ‘legal advice quotes’!) while your real money pages are invisible
  • Looking at keywords in isolation, rather than understanding how they fit into clusters or intent stages

That’s the kind of SEO reporting that agencies use to justify a retainer while your phone stays quiet.

When Keyword Rankings Actually Matter

Now let’s flip it. Rankings become highly actionable when you:

  • Track high-intent service page terms (e.g. “truck accident lawyer Denver”) to see how well your core money pages are performing
  • Diagnose issues – like a sudden rank drop that signals crawl or indexing problems
  • Spot cannibalization – when two pages are competing for the same term and tanking each other
  • Measure topical authority – are you ranking for the whole conversation around a subject, or just one thin keyword?
  • Watch how AI Overviews and SERP features are impacting your visibility – if you rank #3 but the top of the page is all AI and local pack, that tells you where to shift

Rankings used this way are not vanity, they’re insight.

Rankings Without Context Are Useless

Being #1 means nothing if your CTR is trash. Ranking on page one doesn’t pay the bills if the content doesn’t convert.

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This is where most SEO reports fall apart: they stop at position and ignore everything downstream.

To make rankings meaningful, you need to layer them with:

  • CTR from Search Console – Are people even clicking?
  • Behavior in GA4 – Do they stay, bounce, convert?
  • Page intent – Is the keyword you’re tracking actually tied to a business goal?

You’re not trying to rank for fun. At least, I hope not.

You’re trying to rank to drive qualified leads and revenue. The position alone is just one step in that chain.

What Law Firms Should Actually Track

Here’s what matters for most law firms doing SEO right:

  • Money page keywords – Not fluff. We’re talking about core practice area terms in the locations you serve.
  • AI Overview impact – Is your visibility dropping because of generative answers taking up real estate?
  • Branded vs non-branded term shifts – Are you becoming a go-to name, or just ranking for generic terms?
  • Topic coverage – Do you dominate a topic cluster, or just pop in once?
  • Search trends for local modifiers – Are you showing up when people search for “lawyer near me” equivalents with real intent?

If your rankings don’t tell a story about how you’re gaining ground in your market, they’re just noise.

Use Rankings As a Signal, Not a Scoreboard

Keyword rankings are not the problem. How people use them is.

Ignore them entirely and you fly blind.

Obsess over them without context and you chase shadows.

Smart firms track rankings because they know they’re not the win. They’re the signal that leads to better decisions.

And when you pair them with conversion data, behavioral insights, and strategy, rankings stop being vanity and start being value.

So no, keyword rankings aren’t dead. They just need a grown-up in the room.

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Insights, SEO Basics,