Ep. 15 Law Firm Local SEO With Aaron Shepard

This is a podcast episode titled, Ep. 15 Law Firm Local SEO With Aaron Shepard. The summary for this episode is: Podcast shownotes The conversation and effort around SEO has been about how to optimize your site, get inbound links and the technical aspects. But increasingly the importance of local SEO has taken center stage. What is local SEO? In a nutshell, local SEO tailors web results to your geographic area. A customization based on where you are in the world. It’s important because typical search isn’t for a specific lawyer, it’s for the type of lawyer you’re looking for or problem you’re trying to solve. Google can take that search data along with your location and give you results that matter to you. If you’re on the East Coast there’s no point in getting results for firms based in San Francisco.  What factors go into optimizing for local SEO? 1. Consistency of information in directories is the most important first step - Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) should be consistent across the 100+ directories that search engines crawl. Tools such as Yext can help, especially if a firm moves offices or changes phone numbers or other contact information. 2. Reviews - Google and other search engines want to provide the person who’s searching with the best options and having a good review helps.  What are Knowledge Cards in Google search results? Knowledge Cards appear on the right in search results with the firm’s logo, address, phone number, short description of services, and other information. To optimize for Knowledge Cards, you must claim your business so you’re the sole source of information. It’s important to have control over your listing. What about law firms with a national or global presence? When someone discovers a firm with a national presence they probably want to have a meeting in the office closest to them. Local SEO will return results based on location of the office in that person's area. Our guest, Aaron Shepard, is an Account Manager at Good2bSocial. His responsibilities include day-to-day account management, social media, and local SEO for various clients. He got his start in legal marketing as a Social Media Intern with Good2bSocial. He then worked at a top political campaign consulting firm, winning a New York State Assembly race and running several grassroots campaigns. He then returned to Good2bSocial to put his skills to work for the legal industry. Twitter: @AaronG2BS