You’ve got the knowledge. You’ve got the experience. You’ve got the associates. Now all you need is: CLIENTS. And your first step is making yourself easy for them to find. While some argue that traditional SEO and website updates aren’t as relevant as they once were, one tool remains as vital as ever: Google My Business.

In this handy guide we’ll take you step by step through the process of getting your Google My Business listing posted, how to maintain it, and max out your results.

It’s an online listing form that can help ensure your business appears at the top of Google’s search results when potential clients are searching for an attorney in your area. One of the biggest benefits to listing your business is appearing in GMB’s three-pack of search results where new clients are more likely to click on your firm instead of scrolling by it.

SET UP YOUR GMB LISTING

First, start by going to the Google My Business homepage Start Now. Make sure you have the following information handy:

• Business Name
• Location
• Contact number
• Email
• Website
• Category / Industry / Area of Specialization

It’s best to include as much information as possible to get your business to appear at the top of the results. Add things like:

• Photos & videos
• Service areas
• Hours of operation

Kristal Terrell, Marketing Assistant for Get Online NOLA, recommends: “Selecting a primary business category and additional business categories is really useful. Categories describe what your business is such as “Lawyer” “Law Firm” “Civil Law Attorney” “Tax Attorney” “Family Law Attorney” Etc.”

Next, you’ll need to verify your Google My Business listing. There are several ways to do this but we recommend the option where Google sends a letter to your physical address and you enter the verification code that’s sent on the letter.

Google will send a verification code to the address you provide. Add this code to your account by using the following steps:

1. Sign into your GMB account
2. Choose the business address to be verified
3. Click Verify Location
4. Enter the Verification Code from your Google letter
5. BOOM. DONE.

GMB FEATURES

1) MESSAGES

With GMB, potential clients can message you directly, only they don’t reach you via email or text messages. Messages are received through the messaging feature in your GMB account. Make sure to download the Google My Business app from either the App Store or Google Play.

2) BOOKINGS

To make it easier to bridge the digital/IRL divide, GMB offers a bookings feature to make it easier to get your clients on your calendar and in the door. A great way to take advantage of this is by offering a free consultation with you or a member of your team.

3) REVIEWS

Google is the most-used review site on the internet, far surpassing competitors like Yelp!, TripAdvisor, and Facebook. What people are saying about your law firm in person and on the internet is a vital part of projecting credibility and confidence to future clients. A good review is worth its weight in gold and your review page is an integral part of creating your review funnel system to generate new leads.

4) INSIGHTS

Using GMB’s Performance Dashboard you can see how your listing is performing thanks to some of Google’s top-shelf data visualization. You can see how many people clicked through from Google’s results onto your website, who found you based on a name search, as opposed to searching by service offered, and are people visiting through a text or map search. Knowledge is power, and it’s truer than ever when it comes to tweaking and finessing your business’s listing.

It may sound like a lot of work, but with a little bit of time up front and a commitment to adjust things as you go, you can dramatically increase your firm’s visibility and online presence.

So, how do law firms implement strategies like this? Often they hire digital marketing firms who craft campaigns that can cost well into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Some alternate options are hiring freelancers as-needed to provide specific marketing services — I.E. one person to do SEO, another to do your web development, and so on.

Or, you can work with a consultancy like ours which has expertise in crafting digital marketing strategies and a deep roster of vetted, high-quality specialists. We fight to make sure you get the best deals on vendors and help you put together a game plan that works both with your budget and timeline.

Hopefully this article helped illustrate that it’s well within the scope of an average Google-user’s ability to get their law firm listed on Google My Business. Good luck!

Thank you to Lee Rosen at The Rosen Institute whose blog provided the inspiration for this post.

WHAT IS HAMMER & NAIL?

Hammer & Nail specializes in marketing for legal professionals. From solo practices to mid-sized law firms, we design custom, targeted strategies to help build and expand client bases.