Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process you can use as part of your marketing strategy to make your firm more visible online by achieving better rankings in Google’s organic (unpaid) search results. When focussing on search engine optimization, local SEO is a vital part of the process. Local SEO ensures your website ranks well when prospective clients in your local area search for the legal services you provide. If you want to improve your local SEO, you should use Google MY Business.
What is Google My Business?
Research has shown that Google My Business is the greatest driver of local SEO rankings. But what exactly is Google My Business? Google My Business is a free tool provided by Google for businesses to manage their online presence. When you create a Google My Business account, your firm will appear in Google’s local business listings as well as on Google Maps. When a prospective client does a local search, business listings are shown at the top of organic search results, right below ads. A Google My Business account is a must-have for all law firms as most people who do a local search are actively looking to hire an attorney.
How to set up your Google My Business account
To create a business account, go to Google My Business and select “start now”. In the search bar, type the name of your law firm and your business address. Continue to add the required information and choose the category or categories that best describe your law firm. If a business listing was already created for your firm, it will appear in suggested matches. When this happens, you will need to claim your business. You will need to verify your business address as well. To do this, Google will send you a verification pin in the mail. Once you have created your business account, add a detailed description of your law firm and the services you provide. You should add your business hours, photos and videos too.
Google My Business ranking factors
Of all the factors that determine rank in the business listings, the three most important are relevance, distance, and prominence.
Relevance
Relevance refers to the extent to which your legal services match the search terms prospective clients use. That is why it is important that you are specific when completing your Google My Business profile. The information on your website will also be considered for its relevance. So, ensure you have related content there as well. Note that in order to stay relevant, you must update your business profile and website regularly.
Distance
If someone does a local search for a personal injury lawyer in Vancouver, your firm won’t show up in the business listings if you are located in Penticton. Your business listing will only show up for searches that are in a close proximity to your business location. After all, no one is going to travel from Vancouver to Penticton just to meet with a personal injury lawyer.
Prominence
The more prominent your law firm is the better it will rank in business listings. Prominence simply refers to how well-known your firm is. Online, prominence might be affected by things such as the number of reviews your firm has received. Prominence is also affected by the amount of information Google is able to gather about your firm from various places on the internet. This means the more quality links that lead back to your website, relevant articles, and directory listings you have, the more prominent Google will consider your firm to be.
Do you need help with local SEO?
There is so much you can do to improve marketing using Google My Business. And this is just one of the many tools Google provides for your law firm to take advantage of. If you need some help with local SEO and other aspects of marketing, the team at Soulpepper Digital Marketing Agency would be more than happy to help. So, give us a call today to schedule a free marketing consultation. Let us show you how we can help you increase your online visibility and grow your law firm.