Social media is quickly becoming a necessary part of marketing for both small and large businesses. While in the past, law firms have relied on more traditional marketing tools along with word-of-mouth to increase business, it’s time to look at newer, digital tools that could be beneficial. Among them is Google+, an often-overlooked but crucial part of your online law firm marketing strategy. Here is why you should look into creating a Google+ page for your law firm.

What is Google+?

Google+ is a social media network that’s very similar to Facebook. Unlike other networks such as Twitter and Instagram, which focus on very specific niche aspects of social media, Google+ like Facebook allows users to distribute a wide range of content, ranging from links to pictures and videos.

Personal users can create individual profiles while brands can create profiles, and their updates will show up in the newsfeeds of users who have added them to their circles (i.e. followed them). If you’re familiar with Facebook, the large amount of similarities between the networks will keep the jump to Google+ from being daunting.

Benefits

So if the two networks are so similar, why should your law firm create and maintain a Google+ page? Because of its unique possibilities:

• Business pages on Google+ allow you to put your website and contact information front and center. The network’s close integration with Google’s search engine even allows you to put a map of your office location on your page.
• The audience on Google+ is significantly more “professional” than most other social media networks. While Facebook users are not interested in a law firm promoting its firm and showcasing its expertise, Google+ user remain invested in sharing and distributing valuable knowledge.
• Even though this has never been officially confirms, research suggests that having a Google+ page will improve the search engine optimization for your business. In today’s digital world, audiences increasingly utilize search engines to find what they need. Having a successful Google+ page can be the difference maker in ranking higher on a Google search than your competitors.

Getting Started

So how do you go about creating a Google+ page? Google makes it easy. After navigating to Google.com, the ‘business’ link on the bottom left of the screen gets you started. From there, a tutorial guides you through the necessary steps.

Once you have set up the page, it’s important to create a strategy of regular content. Always remember that Google+ is not like a website – to be successful, a consistent stream of content and interactions is absolutely necessary. If that sounds daunting to you, don’t worry! That’s what we’re here for. Contact us for more information on how to set up and run a successful Google+ page.

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