Andrew Stickel

Every law firm should have an updated Google My Business profile. Not only does this make it easier for clients to find your law firm’s contact information, but it can also improve your local SEO.

Unfortunately, many lawyers encounter problems with their Google My Business listing.

Sometimes, a glitch in the system makes it impossible to publish changes. Google also mistakenly marks some listings as “closed,” which means clients will think your law firm went out of business.

If you run into any of these problems, you should contact Google for help right away.

Google usually does not take calls to help businesses resolve their issues with Google products.

But, the company does make an exception when the issue involves a Google My Business listing.

Fortunately, Google has representatives standing by to answer questions on this topic.

How To Contact Google For Help

Lawyers can get in touch with a Google representative by calling 1-866-246-6453, or 1-866-2GOOGLE. After dialing this number, you will immediately be asked to enter your Google Adwords customer ID.

You will not be able to speak to anyone until this information has been provided. If you have a Google Adwords account, simply enter your customer ID number, and you will be connected to a representative who can fix the issue with your Google My Business profile.

What If I Don’t Have An Adwords Account?

If you don’t have an account, there’s no reason to hang up the phone. There are two ways to handle this situation.

First, you can spend a few moments creating an Adwords account for the sole purpose of getting in touch with a Google representative. Or, you can use the account number 4914866644 instead.

This account number is linked to an Adwords and Gmail account that we set up in order to make this process easier for our colleagues.

Entering this account number when prompted will give you direct access to a Google representative who will be able to fix whatever issue you are having with your Google My Business profile.

You can’t give Google a call when you are having trouble figuring out how to rank for certain keywords, or you don’t understand why a competitor is ranked higher than you are.

But, you can call Google when you’re having trouble with something related to your Google My Business page.

Every lawyer should take advantage of the opportunity to speak live to a Google representative instead of spending hours trying to resolve the issue on their own.

Toys R Us was a major player in the toy industry for decades. But recently, there have been whispers that the retailer will close all of its stores in the U.S. within the next several weeks.

What happened? Over the last several decades, the world changed drastically, but unfortunately, Toys R Us failed to keep up.

In the early days of the internet, Toys R Us signed an agreement that gave Amazon complete control over the company’s e-commerce business.

Amazon was responsible for building and maintaining the online store as well as shipping out the orders. The partnership was a huge success.

Toys R Us saved itself the trouble of having to learn how to build an e-commerce business, and Amazon profited off selling toys.

But then, Amazon ended the partnership, leaving Toys R Us alone to figure out how to build its online presence for the first time in the company’s history.

This was the beginning of the toy company’s downfall, and it could happen to your law firm as well if you’re not careful.

What Is The Lesson Here?

The lesson in this story is always think about the future.

Toys R Us never thought about what would happen if Amazon ended their partnership, and as a result, they were left behind without a clue as to how to build an e-commerce store on their own.

Think long and hard about where your business is coming from. Is this source going to be around in a year? How about five years?

Lawyers that relied heavily on YellowPages in the past learned the same lesson that Toys R Us did.

No one uses YellowPages to find a lawyer anymore, so law firms that relied on YellowPages to find new customers had to quickly adapt before their business failed.

This shows why it is so important to generate business from multiple sources.

Innovation Equals More Clients

Google, Facebook, and other referral sources are unpredictable. For example, a minor change to Google’s algorithm could make it impossible for you to generate new leads.

Because of this, lawyers must focus on generating leads from multiple sources so if one source is no longer effective, their law firm will not be affected.

Your law firm may be successful now, but that doesn’t mean it will be in the future.

To stay competitive, lawyers must continue to innovate, so they don’t end up like Toys R Us.

Focus on preparing for the future even if business is running smoothly in the present.

Do you have a virtual office for your law firm? Then, you need to know this about Google.

I was recently asked if Google penalizes businesses with virtual or satellite offices. For those of you that don’t know, here’s what a virtual office is.

What Is A Virtual Office?

A virtual office is a service that allows business owners and their employees to work from home or anywhere that has internet access.

Running a law firm can be expensive. Using a virtual office instead of a renting an office space allows legal professionals to cut the expenses of operating a physical location.

A lot of overhead expenses and rent costs are eliminated with this kind of business. Virtual offices are a rising trend in today’s workforce due to their flexibility and affordability.

Unfortunately, Google doesn’t like businesses that use mailbox stores.

This stems from Locksmiths. They used to get a virtual office in every zip code possible, so their business would show up in a Google search no matter which city was searched.

Google caught on and began to penalize companies without a physical location.

How Can You Rank In Google If You Have A Virtual Office?

It’s not impossible to rank with a virtual office, but it’s extremely difficult. If you’re using a virtual office for your law firm, then your Google rank could be suffering.

We found a solution for our clients with virtual addresses that works.

If you have a virtual or satellite office and can afford it, then you can rent an executive suite. Having a physical location for a few months can greatly improve your search rank.

Google won’t penalize you in the searches for having a virtual office when you have a real physical location.

I recommend not going with a Regis executive suite if possible. A lot of people rent these suites and Google has taken notice.

Google is also using third parties to verify physical address locations.

A client of ours recently had a Facetime chat to verify that he really was at the physical location that he claimed his office was located at.

This means that Google is serious about favoring businesses with physical addresses. If you can afford to rent an execute suite, then it’s something you should consider.

Most people looking for an attorney today will turn to Google to help them find one. You need to improve your search ranking if you want to be visible to your potential clients.