Jump in Local Searches Gives Attorneys New Challenges

(Newswire.net — December 17, 2014) East Aurora, NEW YORK — With consumers searching Google 6 billion times a day, 40% of these searches being local, it’s time for attorneys to get serious about local online marketing.  Moreover, 90% of all searches for attorneys are based on local criteria.  

Most law firms hire a search engine optimization (SEO) guru to help their websites get to the first page of search results. But this strategy risks getting banned by Google for “black hat” practices that try to game the Google algorithm.

To provide a better way to do really excellent search engine optimization, VerdadCara Inc. just announced the addition of press releases to its digital marketing portfolio of services.

48 Hour Local Leads, a division of VerdadCara Inc., focuses on getting local search results for lawyers.  With the addition of press releases to its search services, attorneys not only get more visibility, but they improve their local search results. New York-based digital marketing consultant Paul Beauchemin notes, “Attorneys can leverage the results of pay per click as well as search engine optimization with the use of press releases.”

The purposes and benefits of press releases are multiple.  They:

• often show up at the top of the search results in Google News and, for certain keywords, do so for extended periods of time, thus attracting visitors to websites;
• are a great source of building links to attorney websites (not only are hosting websites worthwhile, but newspapers and/or industry blogs may also pick up the release).  This helps with SEO and rankings in Google My Business listings;
• help highlight expertise and build attorney credibility and authority.  This assists in persuading people to hire these attorneys based upon the appearance of such expertise and/or authority in a particular field;
• coordinate well with social media, like Facebook and Twitter, to push publicity; and
• provide content for websites.

Mr. Beauchemin selected Newswire.net as the preferred press release service because of Newswire’s unique ability to rank well in search results.  Newswire uses certain coding that allows its press releases to help rank businesses in the free Google My Business listings.

Even though press releases seem like an old world media tool used predominantly by large, national companies to build credibility and authority, in the world of digital marketing, they work very well for publicity and SEO, building multiple links and getting companies to the top of the local search results because of their geographically newsworthy nature.

It’s important for firms and lawyers to establish their credibility when marketing to their immediate location and targeting local traffic.  Being quoted in major news media helps build authority status for the attorney that, in turn, creates trust with prospective clients.

The vast majority of Americans use the Internet to find services.  According to the American Bar Association Journal, people looking for a lawyer turn to the Internet first, where, approximately a decade ago, they would turn to relatives or friends for personal referrals or consult the Yellow Pages or the local bar association. 

For more information on Internet and Facebook advertising for attorneys, see “Will Injury Attorney Ads Soon Flood Your Facebook News Feed?”