Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The Google Maps Secret Weapon for Law Firm Search Engine Optimization 

Tom O’Leary, a law firm internet marketing consultant, reports his clients are telling him that they are doing much better with Google Local Listings than with their web sites. In fact, some of his clients don’t even care where their web site shows up in regular search results.

Google map listings are FREE. Several have said that the volume of calls from prospective clients has increased many fold due to their placement on Google Maps. “Google Local Business Listings” and “Google Maps” and “Google Places” are all really the same thing, and lead to the same place.

O’Leary has three posts on his Attorney Marketing Blog which will help you set up your listing and help position it so it is found high up on the first page of Google.

You should read his Introductory piece (and view the video) on getting your firm on the first page of Google, followed byPart I, Preparing to List Your Law Firm On Google Place, and Part II, Building Your Law Firms Google Local Business Listing, which takes you through the process.

Keep in mind, Google maps are not easy and quick to set up or maintain. As many SEO experts have told me, achieving the coveted top three spots on google search engine results is ditch digging, not brain surgery. The smaller the geographical area of your practice, the simpler it is to obtain and keep a high position ranking on the local map. It is harder the larger your market area, such as Atlanta, New York, LA, etc. It will only become more difficult as more and more law firms put an effort into utilizing Google Maps.

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