Think about your law firm’s online presence. When you think about the number of clients you’ve gotten in the real world as compared to leads through your website contact form or from social media engagement, do you worry about how many leads you’re generating online?
If so, you might need to improve your law firm’s Google My Business. This is one of the best digital marketing strategies you can use to put your law firm on the map, literally and figuratively.
Why? By creating a Google My Business account and optimizing your local SEO, you’ll reach more customers than ever in your area. Any time they complete a Google search for legal services near them, you’ll be likely to come up in the results.
Ready to make your business stand out more than ever? Read on in this blog, where you can learn more about how you can make Google My Business work for you.
1. Provide All the Relevant Information
Many people using Google My Business will simply include obvious information such as their business name, address, and hours. But when you include even more information, this optimizes your account. As a result, clients will be more likely to find you.
But what type of information should you provide to optimize? How can you let your potential clients know what they’ll be getting when they contact your law firm?
In addition to the basics above, you should include in your listing what services you provide and at what cost. Get specific with the different types of cases you work on—and don’t forget to make it clear if you speak or serve clients in both English and Spanish.
By providing these details, you’ll both be improving your Google My Business ranking and be providing your clients with the answers they need about what you can do for them.
2. Use the Right Keywords
One of the best ways to show up higher in Google search results is by using search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. If you’ve already been writing content to attract more clients, you likely know keywords are a big part of SEO strategy.
But how do keywords work, exactly? Well, keywords are the words your potential clients are typing in when they’re completing a search on Google.
By identifying what these are and putting them in your content, you make your content more relevant, which drives it up in search results. This is not only a great content strategy generally, but it can also drive up your local search listing.
For example, let’s say a large segment of your client base includes Spanish speakers who have employment disputes. When having a legal issue, they might look up “Bilingual employment lawyer.”
In your Google My Business business description, you could include these keywords, making it more likely that your account comes up. As a result, they’ll call you up first before they call another lawyer.
3. Update Your Business Hours
Speaking of calls…you need to update your business hours anytime they change. Going out of the office for a vacation in the Caribbean? Update your hours to reflect this. Do you prefer to have a half-day on Fridays?
Whether you prefer to relax after work or live by the work-hard-play-hard maxim, update your business hours anytime they change.
This will provide your potential clients with a more positive online experience, making them more likely to want to work with you.
4. Add Photos
Did you know that businesses that have photos on their Google My Business accounts get 42% more direction requests than those that don’t? You may think that, because you’re running a law firm, images aren’t as relevant for you.
But by adding photos, you’ll get more interested customers. It will also make your business look more professional and legitimate.
We’re not saying that you have to post a selfie of yourself and a happy client coming out of court after a successful case. But some pictures of your law office and your smiling staff will certainly make your office seem more friendly and professional.
5. Encourage Reviews
How do you know when you’re doing a great job? When people are raving about you, of course. And when word gets around to your potential clients, they’ll know you’re doing a great job, too. For this reason, Google algorithms drive up your law firm listing on Google My Business whenever you have many reviews—especially positive ones.
So how do you make these algorithms work for you?
Encourage reviews. Ask your clients, after you’ve worked with them, to leave you reviews. You can do this with an email organization software like Mailchimp. Just set it up so that once you’ve charged your clients for the final bill, they’ll get an automated email requesting a review.
Soon, you’ll be more popular than you ever imagined you could be!
As you can see, using the right optimization strategies for your law firm’s Google My Business account can make a real difference, transforming your business into an even more successful one nearly overnight. Success is just around the corner!
What other strategies do you use to put your law firm on the map?
