Google Says Some Law Firms are the Authority

What Are Google Snippets?

In their desire to dominate people’s time and attention, Google has created a process where they display content at the top of certain search results. Generally text and images, this content is extracted from websites that have the answer to a simple question a person Googled. For example, these two images show the answers for two simple searches:

Note that these two snippets have a blurb of info and also list the website from where the info was extracted (wisconsin.gov and wikipedia.org, respectively).

As you may imagine, this process often causes less traffic to the two websites listed above. A website can of course opt out of being indexed in Google search, but then they’ll certainly receive much less traffic. When website owners take part in Google’s “free“ indexing service, they must play by the search engine’s rules. Ideally, Google will consider YOU to be the authority, and your top placement in a snippet will result in a bunch of traffic to your website.

Law Firms Often Take Advantage of Snippets

Many law firms have a marketing budget for Google Ads, and this is often great since they can measure the Return on Investment that the ads generate. However, a small group of law firms have also figured out that they can also work on content that puts them in a Google Snippet for a commonly searched phrase or concept. For example, someone may use Google to investigate the cost of a divorce in Bucks County, PA. Here is a screenshot of a recent search on that specific topic:

Or, perhaps you are wondering how much a DUI in Clarksville, TN will end up costing you:

You’ll notice that in both of these searches the local government websites come after one or even two law firms/mediators. Sure, the cost of a divorce or DUI is much more than the state imposed fees, but it’s interesting to consider how these law firms get themselves in a featured snippet.

Google knows that it will remain at the top of their industry if they provide people with good answers and content when they search something online. The writers for some law firms understand that, and they are providing Google with in-depth answers and explanations. For this they are rewarded with a top spot and a bunch of valuable traffic.

Your Website Can Become the Authority

It’s often difficult to understand what Google is thinking or planning. There is not a lot of information out there which describes how Snippets works. However, there certainly are some things you can do to increase the likelihood of content on your website being placed in a featured Snippet:

• Make quality content - This sounds obvious, but the main thing to to focus on what you think your potential clients are asking Google, and then answer those questions on your website.

• Make it easy for Google - In the images above, the law firms had answers in text on their websites whereas the government websites presented content in PDF files. Google prefers the content on the law firms’ websites since that may be considered the path of least resistance for how they extract information from the internet.

• Keep it short and clear - While you want to be informative, your content must be easy for Google and the average reader to understand. Short sentences and simple words are your friends.

Coming Up

In the next several weeks we’ll continue discussing how your law firm can increase its standing on Google when people search for a lawyer in your area. Furthermore, we are going to proceed with our posts regarding so-called AI and how it can be used to help market law firms.

Thanks for reading, and please reply to this email with any questions, thoughts, or criticisms you may have.