Google SERP Features & Your Legal Marketing

How long has it been since you clicked to the second page of results in Google?  Exactly. That is why you need to do what you can to get your website on that first page search engine results page (or SERP, for short).  

In the early days of the search engine, you still might have to search through a few pages of results to find an answer to your question. Today, however, a complex set of algorithms allows Google to register headers, bullet points, and even sections of website code in order to display the most relevant content first.

Google understands that the modern attention span is a fleeting thing and will display results differently based on the kind of information someone is searching for. For example – Does the user want to know the score of the football game? Does the user want to know when George Washington was born? Is the user interested in similar questions that other people have asked?

For law firm marketing , some of the search engine results page (SERP) features will be more relevant to you than others. Images, local packs, related searches, Google Ads, tweets, and reviews are going to be more valuable than featured snippets, news results, and videos.

Let’s take a look at some of the features offered by Google for increasing your law firm SEO and how you can apply them to your marketing plan so that your website will rank higher when a user runs a Google search.

Google displays smaller versions of the website images (thumbnails) on the search results page. Make sure your logo is optimized for web and named appropriately so it appears in the image search results.

Make sure the file name and title both include keywords such as your firm name and type of practice, and use dashes (-) rather than underscores (_) to increase visibility.

A “local pack” is a clustered display of local businesses, usually in response to a search for certain types of services in a specific area, i.e, “nearby” searches. This is most beneficial for businesses with brick and mortar locations, and it is necessary to understand how your local businesses are displayed in these sections so you can tag your law firm SEO appropriately.

Related searches are shown at the bottom of the Google SERP. Unfortunately for your law firm SEO, these are likely to display competitors’ brands or services. But, on the flip side, your firm is likely to appear in this section when someone searches for one of your competitors. It is a double-edged sword, so be sure to optimize keywords in your website copy that are relevant to both your brand as a law firm and are similar to keywords your competitors also use.

Google Ads are not organic results, but they are an important part of having a Google presence. You have to make the decision for your firm whether you are going to pay for the ad space, and any leads that come from the ads are not leads that were generated from your SEO practices.

If you maintain a robust Twitter profile, you have a significant chance of appearing in this section if someone searches specifically for your firm or one of the people associated with it.

Particularly if you are participating in a trending conversation on Twitter, the three most recent Tweets will be displayed directly on the Google search page, with the option for the searcher to view them on Twitter.

Most people are searching Google because they want more information on a topic before committing to a course of action. When people search for services, positive reviews are key for ensuring people come to you instead of your competitors. 

Having a testimonials page on your website is a good way to display the positive client experiences people have had. To make use of this for your law firm marketing, you can add schema markups for reviews. By doing this, you make it easier for Google to display the “Reviews” feature in the search results.

There are many other SERP features that you may want to become keep in mind as you enhance your digital marketing efforts such as Featured Snippet, News, Videos, Dictionary. Depending on the social media presence maintained by the digital marketer for your company, those are likely to appear with the Tweets Google displays when people search for you. 

The Featured Snippet is a separate box that displays text from the website right on Google’s page, typically used for information searches. Unless you have arranged press or have a featured story, you will not divert a lot of your marketing energy into news either. 

You may have an occasional fun teambuilding video posted to social media, and unless you run part of your website or blog devoted to the disambiguation of legal jargon, you’re not going to come up much with dictionary searches.

Oamii understands the importance of SEO services and we dedicate ourselves to optimizing your web pages to deliver quality content to bring in new business. We have the tools and the team to make sure that your webpage and your business is not only top-of-mind, but also top-of-search engine!  

When you invest in advertising, you want to work with an agency that brings your law firm the best results.  You want to get the most out of your advertising budget and get the best return on investment. We at Oamii provide quality products and services to our clients while keeping their best interests in mind.  Our deliverables are always provided on schedule, budget, and scope.

You have a choice with your marketing dollars and resources.  If you want to increase your marketing reach with the help of an experienced, professional, digital marketing agency , look no farther than Oamii to crack the code on how to improve your marketing game.  We welcome you to contact us at Oamii to help you market your firm and build your book of business.  Please fill out our online contact form , or call us at 561-228-4111 today.