Until around 2012, Google Local Services Ads (LSA) required Identity verification. Google used to use Pinkerton, then later switched to Evident, a third party which verifies user’s identity. Google announced this to attorneys in some states via email May 27, 2025 in an email titled “Complete identity checks by July 25th, 2025 to continue running ads on Local Services Ads”.
Every attorney on page 1 of Google in the last 20 years has done something to manipulate the algorithm. It’s worth it, people search for attorneys, and the attorneys ranking get cases. Backlinks, in general, come in 3 flavors: good, bad, and ugly. Good links: A good link comes from a site which is geographically relevant, topically relevant, is placed
Optimize My Firm’s internal data shows significant reduction in traffic and click through rates when Google AI Overviews are present for informational legal search queries. Here is a very typical example of a website which has had rankings and impressions remain the same, yet CTR has been reduced. If you look solely at traffic, you’d think the site is losing
The primary category you choose on Google Business Pages (GBP) is one of the most important factors for ranking in Google’s local pack. It’s easy for law firms that focus on one practice area to choose a primary category. For example, a law firm that only takes personal injury cases should choose “Personal Injury Attorney” as their primary category. However,
Technically, attorneys (and other businesses) with Google Business Pages configured as a Service Area Business (SAB) can rank in the Local Pack. However, if there’s any competition in your area at all, it’s highly unlikely you’ll show up in the Local Pack – attorneys with physical locations will display instead. The rare cases where SAB lawyers rank in the local
In most cases, Google allows lawyers to have personal GBP listings besides the primary law firm listing. However, this is not always recommended for the highest visibility. When can lawyers have their own GBP listing? Lawyers can have their own GBP listings as long as they’re public-facing, and not the only lawyer at the law firm. We call these listings
On November 25, 2024, we saw the first test in the world of a Google Local Services Ad (LSA) showing in the Local Pack. You heard it here first. Here’s a screenshot on mobile of the new ad placement. The ad placement has not yet been announced by Google. Historically, LSA ads have shown in Google Search Engine Results Pages
Personal Injury Attorneys everywhere will be happy to know that today, November 20, 2024, Google issued manual actions for “Site Reputation Abuse” against Forbes Advisor. If you’ve been Living under a Rock: If you’ve been living under a rock, Forbes articles have been ranking in Google’s search results for terms like “Best Personal Injury Lawyers Raleigh NC”. Forbes Advisor is
