Google Business Profile for Solicitors: Local SEO Guide

What is a Google Business Profile and why does it matter for a solicitor?

A Google Business Profile is a free listing that appears when someone searches for a local service or looks for a firm on Google Maps. It can show your firm's name, address, opening hours, phone number, website link, photos and reviews, and it lets people call or get directions in one tap. It can appear for searches that include a place, such as "wills solicitor Burnley", so it may be the first impression a client has of you. Google says local results depend mainly on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search. Distance is how far you are from the person searching. Prominence is how well known you are, and Google lists review count, ratings and links to your business as factors. Because you cannot pay to change this, the work lies in keeping the profile complete, accurate and active.

How do you set it up correctly?

Follow Google's guidelines closely, because mistakes can lead to suspension. Your business name should match the real-world name used on signage, stationery and with clients. Google says not to add taglines, hours, phone numbers, URLs, services or location details to the name. Use a precise address. Post office boxes and remote mailboxes are not acceptable, and Google says a virtual office is not eligible unless it is staffed during business hours. If you see clients only at their own location, you can hide your address and list the areas you serve. Choose the fewest categories that describe the core of the firm, and make them as specific as possible, describing what the business is, not the keywords you want to rank for. List your regular customer-facing hours. If you work only by appointment, Google says not to give hours, though a practitioner who can be contacted during stated hours should list them.

• Name: the one on your door and your letterhead
• Address: where clients can actually reach you
• Categories: few, specific and accurate
• Hours: when someone will really answer

Should individual solicitors have their own profiles?

Sometimes. Google's guidelines say that a public-facing professional who can be contacted directly at a verified location during stated hours should create their own profile, and that support staff should not. For a law firm, that can mean a partner who meets clients in person. There are strict naming rules for such profiles. The practitioner's title should include only their own name, not the organisation's, unless they are a solo practitioner at a branded organisation, in which case Google gives a format of the brand followed by the practitioner's name. Titles such as "Dr" are allowed. A practitioner should not create several profiles to cover different specialisms. Before you create individual profiles, ask whether they would help clients or merely split your reviews and effort across more listings. A firm with a strong main profile and a clear staff page on its website is often better served by putting its energy into the main listing. If you do create individual profiles, keep them accurate and monitor them.

How should you handle reviews?

Reviews are part of how prominent your profile looks to Google and how trustworthy it looks to clients. Google says you may ask customers to leave a review by sharing a link or a QR code. It prohibits offering incentives for reviews, discouraging negative reviews, and asking only satisfied customers to review. It also says staff should not pressure customers to review on the premises, and that quotas or demands for specific content, such as naming a staff member, are not allowed. Reply to reviews briefly and politely. For negative reviews, Google suggests being honest, personalising the reply, responding promptly and moving complex issues to a private channel. Never reveal private details about a client in a public reply, because your duty of confidentiality remains. Our guide to Google reviews for law firms sets out the safe way to ask and reply.

What mistakes get law firm profiles into trouble?

Most problems come from trying to look bigger than the firm is. Adding keywords such as "Best Family Solicitors Manchester" to the name is against Google's guidelines and can lead to suspension. Using a virtual office or serviced desk that is not staffed breaks the address rules. Creating several profiles for one location, or one for every specialism, creates duplicates. Buying reviews, or swapping reviews with other firms, breaks Google's policy on fake engagement. Leaving old details in place, such as a former phone number or closed branch, sends clients to the wrong place. A more subtle error is using the SRA digital badge outside your website. The SRA says the badge can only be used on the firm's website, not in print, emails or elsewhere. Put the SRA number and badge on your website instead. Review the profile each quarter, and every time you move, change hours or add a partner.

How do you know whether the profile is working?

Treat the profile like any other source of enquiries. Record calls, direction requests and website clicks, and follow them through to signed cases. A phone call from the profile that goes unanswered is a lost enquiry, however good your ranking. Use a tracked website link, so you can see visits from the profile in your analytics, and use a call tracking method that is suited to your set-up. Our guide on law firm call handling and missed calls explains how to find out what happens to calls. Check what searches bring people to the profile, and look at your reviews every week, because a stale profile suggests a firm that is not paying attention. Compare the profile with the nearest competing firms, and note what they show that you do not, such as clear hours or a helpful description.

What should a monthly routine look like?

A profile needs light but regular care. Set a short routine, give it to one named person, and make sure someone covers when they are away. Start by checking that every detail still matches your website, your letterhead and your other listings: name, address, phone number and hours. Differences confuse clients and make the firm look careless. Then read and reply to new reviews, using the approach above. Check any questions or messages left through the profile and answer them promptly, because a client who asks a question there expects an answer soon. Look at the calls and clicks the profile produced and compare them with the enquiries your team recorded, to see whether anything is being missed. Finally, check that nothing on the profile has changed unexpectedly. If the firm has a bank holiday closure, a new phone number or a new partner, update the profile on the same day.

• Details match across the profile, website and letterhead
• New reviews read and answered
• Calls and messages from the profile answered and logged
• Nothing changed unexpectedly
• Changes made on the day they happen

Next step

If you would like us to review your profile, listings and reviews, book a free audit. You can also read about our law firm SEO service and review management.