How To Rank Your Law Firm Higher In Google Maps

When a user searches “Personal Injury Lawyer Melbourne”, Google displays AdWord listings first, then Maps, followed by organic listings.

1. AdWords Listings (Paid)

2. Maps (Free)

3. Search Results (Free)

As you can see, the Maps section is the first free area in Google Search results and it’s also hyper engaging for users, so it is prime real estate for law firms wanting to gain exposure locally.

But how to can you improve your Map ranking?

(Quick note before we get into the strategies – we’re excited to see our client Adviceline ranking first in Maps in the below example)

See below the 5 strategies you can use to improve your Google Maps presence.

Update Your GMB Listing Name

The Map results are completely based on Google My Business information and activity, so the first thing we want to do is look at your GMB listing name.

Make sure the name includes a suburb location and your AOP in a natural way (eg Giuliani Injury Lawyers Melbourne). If you try to cram keywords and locations in the name, Google won’t rank it.

Include Specific Categories in GMB

In the GMB settings, allocate 3 or 4 categories of business to your listing to define exactly your area of speciality is.

This will help Google understand your business better and be able to allocate it to the right keywords.

Update Your Location Settings

Something not a lot of people know is that you can change your location settings to be broader and appeal to a “service area” rather than displaying an address.

There’s no right answer to this one, but if you’d like to broaden your scope for visibility on maps, choose a “service area”. If you want to rank locally, use your address. Note that your address will not appear in your listing if you choose a “service area”.

Get More Google Reviews

Google cares a lot about suggesting businesses that will genuinely help their users. Looking at the quantity and average score of reviews is one way they identify good firms.

Ask everyone you’ve ever worked with to add a review to your listing and create processes where fee-paying clients are asked to review as soon as their case is finalised.

Include Lots of Information in GMB

Fill out as much info as you can in your GMB profile. Include service areas, good description content, photos (internal, external etc), videos, anything you can.

The more the better as long as the quality is reasonable, as this shows Google you’re highly active, established and are a legitimate player in your industry.

Good luck!