Any online marketing expert knows the importance of optimizing your law firm website for better rankings in search engines. This includes using Google Business Profile for lawyers. By researching and planning the right keywords to use in your online content, you can find yourself listed on the first page of Google and even hit that coveted number one spot. A high search ranking will drive a consistent stream of quality traffic to your website and spur steady growth for your firm.
Keywords, however, are not the only way to improve your rankings. A crucial component of promoting your law firm using Google Business Profile for lawyers is optimizing your site for local searches. In particular, for law firms, potential clients tend to come from the local area. Therefore, including strategies that capitalize on those search queries can help raise your profile and maximize your brand exposure online. Here’s how to use Google Business Profile to promote your law firm in local searches.
What is Google Business Profile?
Google Business Profile is a free service designed to make it easy for local businesses to manage their listings in Google search results. Anytime you search Google for local services in your area, you have likely seen Google Business Profile at work. It displays results on a map and lists other essential details about businesses, including their contact information, website, and even reviews. Legal professionals can use Google Business Profile for lawyers to promote their firm.
Since Google is the premier search engine online, listing your law firm with Google’s My Business is essential for proper search engine optimization or SEO.
A basic approach to Google Business Profile for lawyers is to list your law firm’s name, address, and contact information. When someone searches your firm by name, your firm’s listing appears to the right of the Google search results. Therefore, the display gives your firm much more attention than a search link in a list of other firms.
How improving local search raises your Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile automatically takes your law firm’s info and runs with it–at no cost. Once you’ve entered your address, your firm’s location appears on the local map search results with its name highlighted and labeled.
Your Google Business Profile for lawyers listing automatically displays prominent links to your website and the directions page on Google Maps. This promotion is an excellent way for local search to show potential local clients how convenient it is to find you and how to reach out for more information.
The Google search engine considers many factors when displaying search results. No one knows everything about how it works, but search engine optimization (SEO) experts have been able to discover methods that do increase rankings. The primary three criteria to focus on for local search are relevance, location, and authority.
Relevance
Relevance measures how well the keywords in your content match up with the search terms put into Google. One of the most important spots where relevancy matters is within the site’s title tag, which tells Google what the website is all about.
For example, Rothenberg Law Firm demonstrates this by incorporating “injury lawyer” into their title on Google. Including this keyword both within the title tag and the body of the description affirms for Google that your page is relevant to the search, allowing the firm to rise in the rankings and achieve higher visibility naturally.
Choosing similar keywords to the business category on your Google Business Profile platform is another way to leverage SEO for your benefit. Additionally, it’s a way to make sure you appear high on the list in relevant searches.
Location
The location is pretty self-explanatory, and arguably the most important for Google Business Profile for lawyers. As a local law firm serving a local community, your firm should highlight that fact with accurate location information across your online profiles and website. The Google Business Profile admin area allows you to verify your geographic information and correct it if necessary, including controlling how it shows up on the map.
Authority
Authority is an SEO term for high interest or a quality link. In general, websites gain authority in SEO by having other sites link to them, although there are many other considerations that Google takes into account. Having high authority means your website is likely to be the best place for someone to find information related to the search query.
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More Google Business Profile features = more opportunities
Google Business Profile for lawyers offers several additional features that will give your law firm more prominence in the search results. Here are a few of the major ones that you should know:
Local finder
When someone uses Google to search for “local law firms in Boston,” a highlighted box, known as the Local Finder, appears in the results. The Local Finder will display your law firm (among others) and a small map with a flag showing your firm’s location.
Mobile listing
With Local Finder, Google Business Profile for lawyers also promotes your law firm on mobile devices. On the search page, a box similar to the Local Finder will appear below the main results for easy viewing and link-clicking
Google posts
The newest feature for My Business users is Google Posts. Google Posts takes the concept of a business listing and takes it one step further. They are basically the Google search equivalent of blog posts on your website, giving you the ability to share recent updates about your firm, such as news and current events, directly on the search results page. While it might not seem essential for Google Business Profile for lawyers, photos are a powerful way to improve SEO ranking.
Local Services Ads
In short, Local Services Ads are pay-per-lead ads offered through Google that appear at the top of search engine results. They match prospective customers searching for a service with relevant businesses in the same area. The result? Customers get reliable suggestions, while companies see a better return on investment with more qualified leads.
Even better, with Google’s Local Services Ads for Clio, you can sign up for and manage a Local Services Ads account, set up and run ad campaigns, capture new leads, and measure campaign performance all within a single platform.
Here are some of the additional benefits:
- Build client trust: Earn a “Google Screened” badge verifying your business is qualified to offer legal services.
- Control your budget: Set your weekly budget and pause your ad at any time.
- Pay for results: Only pay when a potential lead contacts you through the ad, resulting in higher quality leads and cases. Plus, new Google Ads users will receive $500 in ad credits when they spend $500.
Learn more here, or book a live demonstration with a Clio expert.
How to use Google posts to your advantage
Google Posts provide the opportunity to deliver updates about your law firm right on the search results page. You can reach local searchers with quality content about your firm even before visiting your web page.
Using Google Posts is a great way to show Google that you are an active business in your local community, and Google will reward you by featuring your firm more prominently in local search results.
How to create a Google post
Google Business Profile for lawyers makes it easy to create Google Posts. Log into your My Business dashboard and navigate to the “Posts” section. You can upload text, an image, or even a combination of both to share an update about your law firm.
Your Google Posts can offer additional news and information beyond just your business listing. For example, you can use Posts to:
- introduce existing and new staff members
- advertise current events your firm might be running, such as seminars or consultations
- links to recent articles about your law firm
- demonstrate recent case successes
- highlight reviews and testimonials from satisfied clients
The idea is that you want to keep an active profile within Google to show that you are a well-managed local business. A trustworthy business not only in Google’s search algorithm but also with potential clients.
Final thoughts on Google Business Profile for lawyers
As more people turn to the internet to find legal help, it’s essential to factor search engine optimization into your overall law firm marketing strategy.
Google Business Profile for lawyers is an easy-to-use, free, and powerful tool which can help you boost your rankings in local search results. Using the features that Google offers for local businesses ensures Google knows your law firm is a valuable service provider in the local community.
In turn, Google will reward you with a higher search ranking, which will deliver more clients to your law firm for years to come.
We published this blog post in January 2018. Last updated: .
Categorized in: Marketing
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