On Local SEO and the Modern Firm

A firm's address is no longer the building on Main Street. It is the third result in the local pack of a Google search performed on a phone, six hours ago, by someone who does not yet know the firm exists.

Three Factors, Roughly Ranked

Local search is governed by three factors that an honest practitioner can influence: proximity, prominence, and freshness.

Proximity is the address; little can be done. Prominence is reviews — quantity, recency, response rate. Freshness is whether anything on the profile has been touched in the last sixty days. Two of three are within reach.

The Review Question

A firm with one hundred and eighty reviews at 4.7 stars beats a firm with twelve at 5.0. The math is unkind to the boutique that does not ask. There is no honor in being unrated.

The practical move: ask every closed matter, by SMS, with a smart link. Most clients say yes. The firm that does this for a year overtakes competitors that have been in practice for decades.

“There is no honor in being unrated.”

The Posts No One Reads

Google Business Profile posts have a small, real ranking effect. Most firms ignore them. A monthly post — case result, community involvement, a brief note on a recent change in the law — keeps the profile in the freshness window. It costs minutes.

It is the kind of work that no one will ever thank the firm for, and that the firm down the street is not doing. Both are reasons to do it.