With Google My Business for lawyers, now called Google Business Profile (GPB), you can maximize your law firm’s presence in relevant searches.
The primary objective of the lawyers’ Google Business Profile is to enhance their online presence and visibility in local searches. It helps attract potential clients by providing essential information such as contact details, office hours, client reviews, and directions. It also allows lawyers to engage with clients through reviews and updates, ultimately driving more website traffic and increasing client base.
In this post, we will show you how to create a GBP, optimize it, and increase your chances of attracting and converting clients. Let’s get started.
Key Takeaways
- Establishing a fully-optimized Google My Business profile is essential for lawyers to improve their local search rankings, appear in Google Maps, and enhance visibility and trust with potential clients.
- Accurate and consistent business information, including name, address, and phone number (NAP) details, selection of correct business categories, and high-quality photos, are critical for optimizing a law firm’s Google My Business listing and local SEO.
For a complete guide to maximizing your law firm’s local SEO, check out our Local SEO for Lawyers article!
- Regular activity on Google My Business, such as responding to reviews, updating posts, and analyzing Insights data, greatly influences client engagement, online reputation, and strategic decision-making for lawyers.
Unlocking the Potential of Google My Business for Law Firms
Establishing a Google Business Profile is no longer optional for law professionals, as more and more professionals set them up. It’s a free directory listing that allows you to:
- Create an informative page;
- Control the information available to potential customers;
- Provide vital information such as your law firm’s name, location, contact details, business hours, and services offered.
An optimized Google Business Profile can:
- Improve your law firm’s local search rankings;
- Build trust with detailed information and positive reviews;
- Feature in Google Maps search results;
- Get legal clients to engage through clicks, calls, and visits.
Local Google Search Ranking Factors
To capitalize on the power of local search, lawyers need to focus on Google’s three main factors for local rankings:
- Relevance – Google wants to show searchers the most relevant businesses. Relevance measures how well your law firm’s business description matches the user’s search intent (for example, if they need a family law or personal injury attorney).
- Distance – Measures how far the searcher’s location is from your law firm’s location. So, it’s essential to ensure your location is accurate.
- Prominence – Prominence requires your company to appear in various online and offline spaces. You need a good law firm website, social media profiles, and many positive reviews. Your law firm’s business listing should appear in directories such as Yellow Pages and Yelp.
Your aim is to appear in the Google Local 3-Pack, a selection of three local law firms that best fit the individual searcher’s needs. These appear at the top of the person’s Google search results.
Claiming Your Spot on Google Maps
When included in a law firm’s Google Business listing, the firm’s physical location directly affects local search results due to Google’s distance calculation. For example, clients may type in terms such as “personal injury lawyers near me” or “injury lawyers in [City].” The results will vary based on their current or last known location.
If you don’t include a physical address in your Google Business listing, the law firm will not appear in the Google Maps app, and potential clients won’t be able to select directions to the office.
Also, don’t forget many potential clients find local businesses on Apple Maps, so include your listing there, too.
Crafting a Winning Business Profile
Creating a Google Business account is only the first step — you must also optimize it. You can use Google Business Profile for lawyers to do that. Here are the key steps:
- Select the appropriate business category;
- Add service areas;
- Verify your business location;
- Ensure your business hours are up to date.
Selecting the Right Business Category
Legal offices should select a primary business category that is as specific as possible, representative of their main business, and in line with what drives the most revenue.
For example, “law firm” is too general and is a common mistake companies make. However, “personal injury attorney,” “real estate attorney,” or “divorce lawyer” is specific enough. If you’re not sure, check what categories your main competitors use.
After choosing the primary category, companies can enhance their search visibility by incorporating secondary categories that further describe their legal services.
Writing a Persuasive Law Firm’s Description
A persuasive description on Google Business Profile informs and distinguishes the firm from competitors. A law firm’s Google Business Profile description has a character limit of 750 characters, and you should place the most important keyword at the beginning of the description to optimize discoverability.
While inserting one or two relevant keywords is okay, do not overdo it—it will sound unnatural, and your goal is to convince clients to hire your law firm. Instead, use simple, convincing, people-focused language to show prospective clients what your company offers and why you differ from others.
In addition to the main description, each secondary category can contain an individual description of up to 300 words, providing an opportunity to explain your legal services further.
Adding Attributes
The attribute section includes additional info about your company, including details such as:
- The owner’s identity (women-owned, Black-owned, Latin-owned, veteran-owned);
- Accessibility information (wheelchair-accessible entrance, bathrooms, etc.);
- Crowd information (LGBT+ friendly, transgender safe space);
- Amenities (restroom, gender-neutral restroom);
- Service attributes (Online appointments, onsite services, languages used).
Essential Elements of an Effective Law Firm’s Google Business Listing
Several key components make up a successful Google Business Profile. Accurate business information and the correct primary category are critical ranking factors in the local pack, while a well-crafted business description further enhances the profile.
Consistency in Business Information
Consistency is critical when it comes to business information. Maintaining consistent Name, Address, Phone number, and Website URL (NAP+W) information is essential for improving search engine optimization (SEO) and generating more leads.
Inconsistent NAP+W across different platforms can undermine the legitimacy of your business, negatively affecting client trust and your ranking in local searches.
Showcasing Legal Expertise Through High-Quality Photos
In the digital age, a picture is worth a thousand words. Upload high-quality photos and videos of the legal team and office space to make your profile more engaging and positively impact the firm’s visibility.
Furthermore, as a local business, you will help prospective clients recognize your building by adding photos of your exterior.
Navigating the Verification Process for Law Offices
Once your Google Business Profile is set up, the next important step is to verify it. This helps ensure the accuracy and credibility of your business information. You will receive a postcard with a unique PIN number, which you must enter into the verification portal within five business days.
While awaiting the verification postcard, Google recommends refraining from editing your business name, address, or primary business category. Also, it’s best not to request a new code. Doing any of these things may cause verification delays.
Quick Guide to Verifying Your Business Address
Verifying a business address starts by completing the Google Business Profile creation with accurate details such as business name, the correct category, and complete physical address. For firms with multiple locations, individual verification is needed for those with fewer than ten locations, while firms with ten or more locations can use bulk verification.
Streamlining Phone Calls and Contact Methods
Phone calls are the most common method of contact for lawyers. Furthermore, your Google Business Profile can be employed for call tracking to evaluate the origins and performance of the calls you receive.
Most law firms use call tracking with their Google Business Profile to maintain an accurate log of their contact details, including name, address, and phone number.
Amplifying Visibility with Google Posts
Google Posts is another feature legal offices can leverage. Google My Business posts help you stand out and drive more leads by sharing information about services, events, and special offers.
Strategies for Effective Google Post Content
Creating compelling Google Post content is an art. A good post should include engaging content, such as client testimonials and direct calls to action, alongside photos or videos to make a post more engaging.
Adding a call-to-action button in Google Posts can increase engagement and direct potential clients to take the desired action.
Timing and Frequency: When to Share Google Posts
The timing and frequency of Google Posts can significantly impact their effectiveness. Maintaining a regular posting schedule helps keep a law firm’s profile fresh and relevant.
Legal offices should aim to post on Google Business Profile once weekly as this frequency is optimal for keeping the profile updated without overposting.
Enhancing Client Trust with Google Reviews
Google reviews play a significant role in a law firm’s online reputation. Reviews directly impact a firm’s online reputation and visibility, making them critical to a law firm’s Google Business Profile.
More Google reviews can also mean greater trust from prospective clients, directly affecting your conversion rates. Responding to reviews on your law firm’s GMB profile demonstrates client engagement and positively influences search engine rankings.
Responding to Reviews: The Path to Engagement
Responding to reviews, whether positive or negative, is crucial for building trust and demonstrating a law firm’s attentiveness and care for clients. When addressing negative reviews, legal offices should do so with professionalism, uphold client confidentiality, and avoid impulsivity in their responses.
Tracking and Improving Review Scores
Monitoring and enhancing a law firm’s Google review scores is another crucial aspect of managing a Google Business Profile. Client feedback is critical for law offices on Google My Business as it directly impacts their online reputation and visibility.
Asking clients for feedback instead of reviews typically generates higher-quality and more authentic responses, positively influencing review scores.
Looking to build a strong online reputation and increase client engagement?
Learn how our Law Firm SEO Services can help!
Managing Multiple Offices
Managing a Google Business Profile can be more complex for legal practices with multiple offices. A law firm with offices in different cities or towns should establish a separate Google Business Profile for each location.
Adding separate listings for each location increases your relevance and the chance of being discovered based on distance calculations. Finally, it improves your visibility in search engine results, especially on maps.
Individual Profiles for Each Location
Creating separate Google Business Profiles for each location can be a strategic move for multi-office legal companies. Companies can list multiple business locations by using Location Groups or by importing a spreadsheet with the required information for each location.
A practitioner listing is an individual business profile for lawyers on Google Business. It gives lawyers a distinct presence with primary categories for their services.
Centralized vs. Decentralized Management Approaches
Centralized management oversees all Google Business listings from a unified control point, simplifying oversight and decision-making.
On the other hand, decentralized management allows each law firm location to act as an independent entity with its specific Google Business Profile, leading to potentially better engagement with local businesses.
Google Business Profile Insights: Measuring Success
Understanding Google Business Profile Insights can significantly enhance a law firm’s ability to measure the success of its online marketing efforts. Google Business Profile Insights allows law offices to interpret profile performance data visually through charts accessible via the Insights tab on the Google Business dashboard.
The Insights section includes data on how clients find the law firm, categorizing it by direct, discovery, or branded searches and providing keyword data from Search Queries for SEO optimization.
Understanding Client Interactions via Insights
Analyzing client interaction data in Google Business Profile Insights can provide valuable insights to refine a law firm’s online presence and marketing strategies. Law offices can track client interaction actions such as requesting directions, calling the business, and visiting the website, available in the Insights section of their Google Business Profile.
These insights detail the number of people who found the firm online and how they got there, empowering legal practices in refining their online presence and marketing strategies.
Leveraging Data for Strategic Decision-Making
Data-driven decision-making is crucial in today’s competitive environment. Legal practices can ensure consistent and strategic content delivery by using the following tools to schedule their posts:
- Sendible
- Agorapulse
- Hootsuite
Meanwhile, geo-grid ranking tracking tools provide an accurate view of a law firm’s map pack performance across a single area.
Summary
In conclusion, Google Business Profile is invaluable for legal offices seeking to enhance their online presence. Legal offices can significantly boost their visibility and connect with potential clients by setting up an optimized profile, managing reviews, and leveraging insights,
FAQs about Google My Business for Lawyers
What is the importance of Google My Business for law firms?
A Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is essential for legal offices because it allows them to control their online information and improve visibility to potential clients. It is a free directory listing that enhances the firm’s online presence.
How can a law firm improve its local search rankings?
To improve its local business rankings, a law firm should focus on relevance, distance, and prominence, which are Google’s key criteria in this category. These factors help the firm’s online visibility and reach.
What is the role of reviews in a law firm’s Google Business Profile?
Reviews are critical in shaping a law firm’s online reputation and its visibility in Google Business Profile. They are part of Google’s local ranking category called Prominence. Reviews may also increase your conversion rates, as 42% of people in the US highlight positive reviews as the factor most likely to swing them towards making a purchase.
How should law firms manage multiple locations on Google My Business?
A law firm with multiple offices should set up individual Google Business Profiles for each location using Location Groups or importing a spreadsheet with the necessary details. This ensures accurate representation on Google My Business and helps potential clients find the nearest office easily.
How can Google My Business Insights help law firms?
Google My Business Insights can help legal practices by providing visual performance data, including client acquisition, profile interactions, and keyword data for local SEO optimization. This tool allows firms to gain valuable insights to enhance their online presence and attract potential clients.
