Set up your Google Business Profile

When somebody in your town types "attorney near me" into Google, the block of firms that appears above the ordinary results comes from Google Business Profiles. If your firm does not have one, you are simply not in that block. No amount of work on your website changes that.

A Google Business Profile is free. It takes about twenty minutes to create and roughly a week for the postcard verification to arrive. Nothing about it is technical.

Before you start

Have these ready, exactly as you want the public to see them:

• The registered or trading name of the practice.
• Your street address — the actual office a client can walk into, not a PO Box.
• A landline or mobile a person answers during office hours.
• Your office hours, including whether you close over lunch.
• Your website, if you have one. If you don't, leave it blank for now.

Creating the profile

1. Sign in to a Google account that belongs to the firm, not to a personal Gmail that will leave when a staff member does. If you need to, create one such as info@ or reception@.
2. Go to google.com/business and choose to add a business.
3. Type the firm name. If Google suggests an existing entry for your practice, claim that one rather than creating a duplicate — duplicates split your reviews.
4. Choose the category. Use "Law firm" as the main category, then add specific ones such as "Divorce lawyer", "Conveyancer" or "Personal injury attorney" as extra categories.
5. Enter the address. Tick the option that says clients come to you at this address.
6. Add the phone number and website.
7. Request verification. For most South African firms this is a postcard to the office with a five-digit code, which takes five to fourteen days. Some profiles get a phone or video option instead — take it if offered, it is faster.

The day it verifies

Verification is the start, not the finish. Do these on the same day:

• Write the business description. 750 characters, plain language, say what kinds of matters you handle and which towns you serve. No jargon.
• Add photographs. The outside of the building so people can find the door, reception, and a photo of the attorneys. Real photographs beat stock images every time.
• List your services — conveyancing, deceased estates, RAF claims, divorce, labour, whatever you actually do.
• Set your hours, including public holidays.
• Ask your first three reviews from clients whose matters recently went well.

A few South African specifics

• If you practise from a home office and do not want the street address public, tick the service-area option and list the towns you serve instead. Google still lists you; the address stays hidden.
• If your firm has more than one office, each office needs its own profile with its own phone number.
• Use the same firm name, address and phone number everywhere — on Google, on your website, on your letterhead. Inconsistency is a common reason a firm ranks below a smaller competitor.

Once your profile is live and verified, come back to your LawIndex dashboard and request a re-scan. Our next scan reads the public record and your listing and score update on their own.