At Law Firm Marketing Pros, we understand the importance of staying ahead in the ever-evolving digital landscape, especially when it comes to Google Local Service Ads (LSAs). On March 4, 2024, Google made significant verification changes that directly impacted the legal sector. As an award-winning digital marketing agency for lawyers, we are committed to keeping our clients informed and equipped with the latest updates to optimize their online presence.
This blog delves into the recent verification changes for Google LSAs and provides insights tailored specifically for lawyers navigating these adjustments. Continue reading to help your law firm maintain visibility online, then contact our digital marketing company at (561) 948-5001 to schedule a free, 15-minute discovery call.
Understanding LSAs and Their Role in Law Firm Marketing
LSAs have emerged as a powerful tool in digital marketing, particularly for law firms seeking to attract local clients. This paid advertising model effectively promotes legal services to potential new clients within a specific geographic area. LSAs complement existing marketing strategies, offering a cost-effective way for attorneys to reach their target audience.
In the competitive digital landscape, LSAs help law firms stand out. These ads enable lawyers to showcase their knowledge, experience and services to local clients, driving growth and establishing credibility within the community. LSAs can also capture a significant portion of search engine results page (SERP) clicks, making them valuable assets in a comprehensive digital marketing strategy.
By leveraging the power of LSAs, attorneys can position themselves as trusted resources within their communities, ultimately leading to increased client inquiries and conversions. In essence, LSAs offer law firms a unique opportunity to enhance their online visibility, attract new clients, and establish a robust digital presence in today’s competitive legal market.
LSA Verification Changes for Lawyers in 2024: A Positive Development for Law Firms and Providers of Legal Marketing Services
Originally, Google required a somewhat cumbersome background check for law firms – and legal marketing agencies assisting law firms – in the process of obtaining LSA verification. Later, Google relaxed this requirement because they felt that providing the Bar License for an attorney was sufficient. However, bad actors started impersonating lawyers and have gone so far as to create DBAs and the use of “of counsel” wording to enable them to create many fake LSA accounts.
Now, LSA spam has reached a point where Google decided to update the LSA verification process for the legal industry. Although the ability to continue running LSAs demands a new task, overall this news is very welcome.
The New LSA Verification Requirement
Thankfully, for the legal industry and legal marketing agencies, the new requirement for these Google ads is easy to fulfill. Instead of a background check, it’s an ID verification, accomplished through Evident, a business and personal identity verification service. In the early days of the launch of law firm LSAs, Evident was one of the providers for background checks.
What does this mean for your law firm?
Specifically, the law firm owner or senior partner AND any Featured lawyers on your LSA must pass an identity check consisting of sending a drivers license or other standard government IDs. When submitting your ID, ensuring that you enter your exact name into the form used on the ID document provided is critical. If it doesn’t match perfectly it will delay verification.
Advertisers of legal services who receive verification process notifications from Google must complete them within 60 days or Google will remove their LSA ads from the search results. To be clear, this does NOT affect Pay-Per-Click ads, just LSAs.
The result of this new verification process is better protection of potential clients and law firm advertisers from impersonation scams. Ultimately, it should help all legitimate law firm advertisers get better visibility and results from LSAs for their law practices by reducing the spammy listings and fake/duplicate competition.
When Will Law Firms Need To Verify?
Google is rolling out the new LSA verification process in four phases. As of this blog publication, they have not yet announced specific dates:
Other Things Your Law Firm Needs to Know About LSAs
Two other considerations for LSAs are crucial for the success of your law firm marketing online:
- Ensure the validity and working order of the email addresses of any lawyers showing as Featured in your LSAs.
- If your law firm address changes and you update it in your Google Business Profile (GBP), you must also change it in your LSA profile. Why? If it is not an exact match, the GBP and LSA linkage can disconnect which means the LSA will not show any reviews. It may also affect your LSA visibility.
Google Email Updates Your Law Firm Can Expect
According to a Search Engine Land article, law firms can expect to receive the following email.
What’s Next for a Law Firm That Wants to Remain Visible Online?
Law firm advertisers affected by this new LSA verification policy can expect to receive an email from Google seven days before the initiation of the identity verification process for their law firm. Once the identity verification process begins, the law firm’s owner or senior partner and featured professionals in their law practice will receive further instructions via email from Evident.
If the law firm’s owner or a senior partner in the law firm does not pass the identity check within six days, their ad will no longer appear in search engine results pages. In the same way, featured professionals who fail to complete identity checks within six days will stop appearing in the ads.
Why Lawyers Online Should Care About Google’s Updated Verification Process
This updated verification process can protect your law practice from impersonator scams, which, if left unaddressed, could impede your campaign’s reach, resulting in fewer high-quality leads and a lower return on your online marketing investment.
How Can a Law Firm Marketing Agency Help?
Law firm marketing experts can provide invaluable assistance in successfully navigating LSAs and Google’s new verification process.
- Guidance Informed by Experience and Marketing Agency Success: A law firm marketing service with experience and a track record of success with LSAs can guide legal clients through the entire verification process, ensuring compliance with Google’s new standards.
- Optimizing LSA Profiles: Legal marketing companies can assist in setting up and optimizing law firm LSA profiles. By structuring the profile properly and providing comprehensive information about the firm, a full-service marketing agency can increase the visibility of your law firm online for existing clients and prospective clients, and attract more potential clients seeking the legal services you provide.
- Competitive Analysis: Law firm marketing agencies can conduct thorough competitive analysis to understand the strategies employed by other firms in the bid system of LSAs. This analysis can inform strategic decisions and help law firms stand out and attract more clients in the competitive landscape.
- Enhancing Bid Strategies: Legal marketing experts can help a law firm develop effective bidding strategies within the LSA platform. By understanding the bidding system and optimizing bid strategies, a law firm can maximize its chances to attract potential clients.
Leveraging the marketing knowledge and experience of a legal marketing agency can help legal professionals navigate the complexities of Google LSAs and this new verification process smoothly and efficiently to drive better results for their practice.
LSAs and Beyond: Why Hiring the Right Legal Marketing Agency for Your Law Firm Matters
LSAs comprise one vital component of digital marketing services for lawyers. However, LSAs alone cannot make your law firm grow and achieve your business goals. A comprehensive marketing plan includes LSAs and the following:
Law Firm Website – your law firm’s website forms the foundation of your marketing efforts online. Whether it’s a brand new website or a website redesign, it must convey your law firm’s brand and value proposition and attract quality leads—two vital components of law firm SEO that transform qualified prospects into more clients for your firm and increase your bottom line. While web design companies create websites, for best results, work with a marketing agency that focuses exclusively on lawyers. A legal marketing company understands the unique needs and preferences of a law firm and its target audience, whether it practices personal injury, estate planning, criminal law, divorce and family law, or immigration law. Web design is too important to entrust to anyone. To generate organic traffic and convert visitors, choose a marketing agency that understands and successfully services the legal industry.
Reputation Marketing – the success of your law firm relies wholly on its reputation. Online review statistics in 2024 indicate that 95% of customers read online reviews before buying a product, with 49% of consumers reporting that they trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. A significant 94% say reviews have caused them to avoid a business and over 81% of consumers say they check Google reviews first.
Considering these factors, it makes sense that the brand perception of your law firm can significantly impact its ability to retain new clients and increase revenues.
If your marketing company does not prioritize reputation marketing among your marketing solutions, you’re missing a crucial opportunity to promote your law firm by sharing positive reviews and your thoughtful feedback to negative reviews. Both demonstrate your commitment and concern for your clients and enhance your ability to attract qualified leads online.
SEO Services
In today’s online environment, there are three types of SEO:
- Local SEO – many prospective clients search for a local law firm, making Local SEO vital for your business. Local SEO includes the “Maps” geographical component. When implemented correctly by your marketing team, it increases your visibility in the Maps section of the search results for greater visibility. Search engine optimization maximizes the amount of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. If your law firm does not appear on the first page, qualified prospects are probably not finding it because less than 5% of consumers go past page one.
- Organic SEO – refers to the search results below the Maps section, displayed as a list of relevant search results. Although it’s not quite as urgent as Local SEO, Organic SEO can drive additional qualified traffic to your website. Organic SEO focuses more on your website’s relevance for particular searches than on location.
- Content SEO – a content strategy is crucial if you want your law firm to stand out in the minds of online consumers. Particularly with the advent of AI, your original content must adhere to Google’s E-E-A-T formula, which stands for expertise, experience, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Your content team should also know and follow the 7 Forbidden Words in Legal Advertising to comply with State Bar Associations. Your search engine optimization efforts should include the regular publication of engaging and relevant content in the form of blogs, press releases and website content that thoughtfully includes target keywords to help searchers land on your website. Your content marketing can help drive traffic to your blogs and press releases by featuring them in monthly newsletters sent to your database of existing clients and prospective clients.
Pay-Per-Click / Google Ads
When implemented wisely by a savvy marketing agency, pay-per-click or PPC (Google ads) can quickly bring more visitors to your website, increase your brand awareness in the minds of consumers, and generate more qualified leads. Retargeting, which is also a form of PPC advertising, enables you to remind consumers who have searched for what you do or visited your landing page but have not returned or converted about what you do. Using the latest technology, it follows the potential customer around the internet by placing ads during future browsing sessions. Seek a legal marketing agency with a track record of success in PPC.
Social Media
Social media marketing enhances the presence of your law firm online. It serves as a bridge between you and your target audience and allows for direct and personalized communication, enabling your law firm to share valuable insights, legal updates, and thought leadership content with your audience. By actively engaging in conversations and addressing queries on social media, you can establish you and your firm as approachable and trustworthy authorities within the legal field. To promote your law firm effectively online, your social media marketing team must optimize your social media presence and interlink the information across various platforms. From Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and LinkedIn, each platform offers a unique opportunity to connect with different segments of your audience. Weaving a cohesive brand narrative across these platforms ensures that your brand identity and message remain consistent, reinforcing the perception of professional excellence and reliability in the minds of potential clients.
Social Media Ads/Digital Advertising
Digital lead funnels are crucial components of successful online marketing strategies for attorneys, designed to attract new clients, nurture their interest, and guide them towards taking a specific action, such as scheduling a consultation or submitting their contact information. As a brand awareness strategy, it’s a long-term legal marketing tool for business development and increased visibility online.
Website Hosting, Maintenance and Monitoring
Your legal marketing agency should provide a robust and comprehensive reporting system featuring dashboard access, detailed monthly reporting, and a dedicated client success manager who will meet with you monthly to share wins, listen to your concerns and offer solutions.
You want to measure, track and quantify your digital marketing services via:
- Traffic, Google Search and other Search Trends
- SEO Page Placement Report
- Call Tracking
- PPC Updates
- Email/Newsletter Statistics
- Social Media Engagement and Reach
Law Firm Marketing Pros Provides Tailored Digital Marketing Services That Drive Results
Whether you have questions or need help navigating the new verification process for Google Local Service Ads or want to learn more about how our targeted marketing campaigns can attract more clients and increase revenue and profits for your law firm, we’re here to help.
From SEO services to web design and every integral component of digital marketing, let our award-winning agency take your law firm to greater levels of success. Contact Partner and Co-Founder Josh Konigsberg, author of Law Firm Digital Marketing Made Easy: The Only Book You’ll Ever Need to Become a Best-Known Attorney, to schedule a free 15-minute client accelerator call at (561) 948-5001 or complete our online form.
Though brief, this call dives deep into your strategy. Josh will then prepare a complimentary digital marketing brief packed with 25-35 pages of valuable information to help you create a better online marketing strategy that leverages the psychology of consumer behavior by implementing The Law Firm Client Generation System™ to effectively and more effectively market their Law Firm online leading in more qualified lead that are easily convertible to clients at a lower acquisition cost.
Copyright © 2024. Law Firm Marketing Pros. All rights reserved.
This blog is not intended to be legal advice for a lawyer or law practice. No special relationship or privilege exists between you and the Blog and/or its owners, Law Firm Marketing Pros or its Affiliates (“LFMP”). LFMP IS NOT A LAW FIRM and THE AUTHOR IS NOT AN ATTORNEY. You will be representing yourself and your law practice in any legal matter you undertake or any Client you represent as a result of your use of the information provided in the Blog, including any Services offered through the Blog and content available on the Site the Blog is published on, and in all other matters relating to you and your businesses. This Blog may provide audio-video content, referenced articles, newsletters, and other content for informational purposes only. In the process of providing this information, the Blog is engaged in the publication of information regarding business and management issues that may be commonly encountered by law firms. This blog is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. This Blog does not review any of your answers to questions for sufficiency, provide legal advice, or analyze applicable law and apply it to your specific requirements. Accordingly, if you need legal advice for a specific issue, you are advised to seek the advice of your local, state, and/or national Bar Association.
Do you still have questions about digital marketing? Contact Partner and Co-Founder Josh Konigsberg, author of Law Firm Digital Marketing Made Easy: The Only Book You’ll Ever Need to Become a Best-Known Attorney, to schedule a 15-minute discovery call at (561) 948-5001 or complete our online form. Though brief, this call dives deep into your strategy. Josh will then prepare a complimentary digital marketing brief packed with 25-35 pages of value that drives qualified clients directly to your practice.
Law Firm Marketing Pros
250 S. Central Blvd, Suite 100-A
Jupiter, FL 33458
(561) 948-5001
https://lawfirmmarketingpros.com/
