When someone wants to find a family lawyer, where do they turn? Simple: they look for you online. The only question is, do you know how to get your business into top spots on the relevant search results?
The goal is simple: get your business a high ranking. The problem is that the very businesses who need to optimize—law firms, home contractors, small businesses etc.—aren’t always clear about the best way to go about it.
I’ve built up years of experience in consulting with businesses on optimizing their local presence to build a more active lead funnel. Here’s what you need to know:
Optimizing your “My Business” Listing on Google
When someone near you searches for “family law near me” or “divorce lawyer,” they’re going to encounter a list of businesses. Your Google My Business Listing is your “foot in the door” into this list.
That’s how important it is to get right. The question is, what can you do to ensure your business has a top listing? Here are some of the steps I advocate for my clients:
Set up your business. You only have to go into Google, enter “My Business,” and begin setup. It’s easy enough that I often do this for free with people on the phone. In fact, your business may already be listed there for you, ready to select. Fill in your number, your address, your hours of operation. Pay special attention to your category, which is very important.
Don’t neglect any aspect of the questions they ask. Think about it this way. Google is giving you an opportunity to create a robust listing for your business. When they ask you for photos, for example, they’re not doing it for their own health. They’re doing it because it gives you an opportunity to put your best foot forward. Don’t just upload one and call it a day.
Upload a series of your best photos—photos that show your business in the best possible light. These photos will often pop up as soon as someone encounters you in a search for a local business. And remember that Google rewards businesses that fill out the entire listing. The more information you provide, the more useful you are to Google’s searchers. And Google likes to reward listings that provide value.
Take your time here.
Don’t ignore reviews. Have you ever shopped on Amazon? What’s the first thing you look for when you search for your product? Price is always important. But your eyes are always going to the product ratings. You have to treat your business just like that. Remember that Google will only show three businesses on the first page when someone enters a local business search. Your ticket to getting on this list is good, high-quality reviews from paying clients and customers.
You don’t have to worry about a perfect five-star rating, either. 4.2-4.7 will suffice. What’s important to remember is that you need reviews. If you have ten or more reviews at a high rating, you’re probably going to get Google steering people your way.
One quick note on generating reviews: you don’t have to (and should not) pay for them. Instead, seek out previous customers and ask them to leave you a Google Review. If you’re interested in learning more about what the most effective way to generate reviews looks like, we can show you a demo of the software that we use that has helped our clients generate thousands of reviews. Reach out today!
Build an Authentic Presence
Again, don’t buy your reviews. In fact, Google will ding you if there’s any suspicion that you’re trying to manipulate these ratings.
It all goes back to why I got into the business in the first place. I work within a digital marketing agency that generates quality leads. How do you know when a lead is high-quality? When it’s real. When there’s a genuine person out there on the Internet, and their problem is exactly what you solve and they reach out to you.
Unfortunately, at previous jobs in the industry, I saw that most businesses (especially the larger ones) were cutting corners when delivering the services required to help their clients. They weren’t interested in using the knowledge gap between themselves and their clients which to me is what a business’s obligation should be, especially in the marketing industry.
That’s why we like to sit down with clients and go through their Google’s My Business profile and show them exactly what they can do to optimize it to their advantage. I know that I have specialized knowledge that can help my law clients generate genuine leads in the most effective ways available. I advocate building an authentic presence—because that’s the type of online presence that Google wants to see. They want to deliver real and high-quality business results for its searchers. And the way you connect with that audience is by optimizing your business through authenticity not manipulating Google, but to provide real value.
About the author: George Grandis Copeland, CEO of Laborem Edge Digital Marketing Agency, helps contractors and attorneys get more clients through his exclusive proven marketing system. George has been featured on Yahoo! Finance and AP News. To learn more about his agency, click here: http://www.laboremedge.com/
