With any business, it’s important to understand how people find your law firm. Without a doubt, the most important tool for any business these days is Google. Because it’s everyone’s go-so search engine, the results that a Google search produce can basically make or break a firm. If you would like to make sure you show up high in a search results, understanding Google is vital.
Recently, Google has upped the ante with a service called Google My Business. Google My Business (GMB) is a comprehensive all-in-one service for businesses — including law firms — to be registered and show up across all of the various platforms offered by Google, including the search engine, Google Plus, and Google Maps. The idea is simple: by managing your business profile in one place, you can be assured of having the best chance possible for your business to get in front of the right eyes, regardless of how they’re actually looking for you.
When it comes to Google Maps, your best chance is to have your firm information current and up to date. You also need to understand how SEO works for law firms. Basically, you need to make sure your information is written as such that a client search will automatically bring you up in the listings. How can you do this? Here are a couple of tips:
1) Make sure that your information follows the basic guidelines: your listed name should be your actual, real-world business name. The contact information, including addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses should match and be exactly the same across all of your various platforms.
2) Google gives you the chance to pick categories to place your business in — it’s important to be as specific as possible. Don’t just choose “law firm” unless you specialize in everything. Priority will always be given to the specializes categories. So, choose the specific categories that your firm specializes in.
3) In addition to choosing the right categories. Your written business description must contain appropriate keywords. These keywords are vital, as they will help to direct the client to your listing. So, if you specialize in, say, disability law, then it’s important for your business to be listed with the phrase “disability law” somewhere in the description.
4) Add high quality photos to your profile. This helps Google know you are a real, “legitimate” business, and will help boost your ratings in the searches. In addition, it will help clients choose you, because you will also seem more legitimate. At a minimum, you should have four or five different photos uploaded to your GMB business page.
5) If your firm has multiple locations, make sure each location is listed with a unique phone number and listing in GMB. This way, Google will be less likely to confuse or “lump” your businesses together.