Google is easily one of the most used search engines available worldwide. That’s why creating and paying active attention to a Google Business Profile can help clients find your law firm and manage your online presence. A Google Business Profile, commonly shortened as GBP, is perfect for businesses or individuals that have a physical location, or those who provide services by meeting with clients at other locations.
Benefits of a Google Business Profile
- Control your available law firm information
- It’s free
- Easy to manage
- Interact with clients
- Expand your presence through Google platforms
Potential clients will be comparing you to your competitors, so making sure you complete your profile and use it to your advantage can increase your chances in converting visitors from an organic search into clients. Let’s walk through the steps of how to create and successfully utilize your GBP.
Setting Up Your Account
Your law firm may already appear on Google when searched, but it still is important to verify your business and make sure the details are accurate and up to date.
Here’s how to easily set up your account:
- Visit Google’s Business Profile page
- Click on ‘Manage Now”
- Find or add your law firm
- Enter your address, or select delivery/hide address options
- Choose your primary business category that accurately describes what you do
- Add your phone number
- Add your website URL
Complete All Sections
Go through all of the content sections available and add as much detail as possible about your law firm. The more accurate and complete your GMB profile is, the more likely you will be found in local searches.
These are key factors to pay attention to when filling out details:
- Use your actual business name, not any extra keywords
- List a local phone number, or use your tracking phone number in the primary slot and actual number in the second
- State your accurate hours of operation
- Write an engaging description about your law firm
- Upload photos and videos of your law firm and location
Contact Information
It’s important to ensure that your contact information remains consistent through all platforms you use. This includes having the same business name, address, and telephone number available wherever someone may find your information. You don’t want to potentially lose clients because they could not appropriately contact you or have reached an expired number or email.
Regular Updates
You can update your profile on a regular basis to ensure that your law firm appears as active. Adding new photos or videos, announcing new services, or sharing new information about your law firm are perfect ways to appear engaged with your business online. Google Posts can act as free ads, and posting promotional offers allows viewers to see these Posts before they even get to your website.
Posts have different templates that you can utilize when you create your own. Depending on what your goal is in each post can help you decide which template works best for you:
- Event Posts share an event title and a date range for the event. Event posts only allow 4 lines of text, and are whittled down if call to action (CTA) buttons are involved, so choose something short and attention grabbing to include in your post.
- What New Posts provide the most amount of visible text in your thumbnail. Again, depending on a CTA button, you’ll have 3 to 4 lines of text for information.
- Offer Posts have an offer name, date range, and options of how to redeem the coupon code or offer a link to your site. This gives a shorter description available when you include the lines of text for the name and date range.
- Product Posts have the services you offer and price range, and with a CTA give one line of text.
These updates are live for one week after they have been posted. If you have several active Posts at once, they appear with the most recent post displayed first.
Respond to Reviews
Reviews are always important, good or bad. Having good etiquette and thanking those who leave good reviews can promote client engagement as well as showing you appreciate their time and effort. A bad review may be turned around from a thoughtful and compassionate response from an owner. Potential clients and visitors will always be going through reviews to get an idea of how you conduct services based on other client’s experiences with you.
Answer Questions
Right under where your name, address, and phone number, you’ll find a questions and answers section as a community feature. This allows Google users to ask questions about your law firm, and considering you own it, you should be answering these questions asked. Questions may receive multiple answers, but whichever one has the most likes will be voted up as the primary answer. You are able to ask your own questions, control the conversation about your law firm by offering a FAQ page, and also vote for your answers. Questions answered “by the owner” are always primarily displayed at the top, and can allow you to stand out from other competitors.
Messaging
Potential clients are able to get in touch with you via your GBP with a messaging and chat function. Once you have turned on your “Chat” option, clients will be able to reach you at any time. Messages appear in your Business Profile, where you are able to customize automated messages, share photos, and have one-on-one chats with your clients. If you have bookings available, you can also utilize booking requests that let you view a client’s request and preferred booking time, message your client back with available times and dates, and confirmations.
Expand Your Law Firm Website
Creating a successful Google Business Profile is just one of the first few steps of expanding your law firm online. At Conroy Creative Counsel, we want to help you get the most out of your law firm website. We offer website design, guidance with digital marketing, and Local SEO services to help you stand out from the rest. Contact us today to elevate your reputation and broaden your exposure as a law firm.
