It used to be that a local television, radio, or newspaper spot could have a huge impact on your audience outreach, but that is getting harder and harder to maintain as an outreach option.
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t many other options available. On the contrary, modern marketing methods, like search engine optimization (SEO), can help you get potential clients to trust you in ways that are super-efficient and easy.
Many attorneys are turning towards digital marketing and attracting clients through Google My Business.
What is Google My Business?
It is a profile creation and management tool that helps local businesses put together and present their business information to potential clients.
This information includes things such as the location of the business, hours, and even advanced statistics such as star ratings and customer reviews. Google then uses this information to present your business across search engines to those potential clients that are actively seeking a law firm in your area.
Why Optimize My Google My Business Listing?
Keep in mind that when a person searches for a service online, there are literally thousands of options at our fingertips.
Google My Business makes sure potential clients go beyond just seeing the name of the firm and helps them take steps to contact you for their needs.
Optimizing your listing isn’t necessarily easy and requires an approach that includes link building, Google analytics, social media, and Google search engine optimization. It will take time and consistent effort to pay off, but it will be worth the effort in the end.
Putting in the effort will result in additional organic search results and highlight your presence on local results that will appear in the top of the front page of Google, so more people notice you.
Here are five tried and true ways to optimize your business listing on Google that will help you get tangible results.
1. Fill out ALL the details of your listing.
Adding your business name and a link to your website is not enough.
Pay attention to contact details, your business hours, and your address. These small details will help your business be a proper business profile and not just a mere listing.
Be sure that you pay attention to the service area information as well. This tells Google what region you are focusing on and helps gain prominence in local keyword searches. This information can easily be added through city names, postal codes, and area names.
2. Verify your listing.
Even if you already have a listing with the address created, you will have to verify it. This will give your listing more credibility and help improve its rankings among local SEO results. Google may provide you with more than one option for verification.
You will be required to provide a mailing address to receive the verification code, so make sure your address is accurate and one where. You can receive mail without any issues.
3. Focus on reviews.
It is a well-known fact that Google My Business reviews impact your overall local keyword ranking. The more reviews you have on your profile, the higher chance you have of ranking on the coveted top three results in a search.
Due to Google’s guidelines, you cannot ask your social circle to leave reviews on your Google My Business profile or buy reviews. The reviews must come directly from real customers that have done business with you. Keeping that in mind, make sure that you are actively asking clients to leave a review on your profile.
You can request these reviews through email, text, or phone calls. Explain to them that leaving a review takes just under a minute and can be done by clicking on a short URL link.
4. Add photos.
Studies show that Google My Business profiles that use photos get more views, clicks, and direction requests than those without images.
To stand out from your competitors, merely post high-quality photos of your office. Showcase a highly professional environment that will get your clients to trust your practice with their legal matters.
With the availability of high-end cameras on phones, getting such pictures has never been easier.
5. Add a booking button.
Google My Business added a booking feature so that business listings can take direct appointments right from the search results.
This helps potential clients make an appointment without ever having to leave their browser window or contact the business beforehand. This feature is not dependent on business hours and allows you to take bookings from new and existing customers after hours.
Many companies are not using this feature, which could really help you stand out from your competition.
Takeaway
While there may seem to be a lot involved in creating and maintaining a Google My Business listing, the payoff goes above and beyond any effort, you will spend working on it. So, get started today and take advantage of this marketing strategy.
