For personal injury lawyers, a prominent Google Business Profile is vital to gaining visibility with local clients. This is because the top-ranked Google Business Profile listings (those in “the local pack”) receive the majority of clicks (42%).
To rank in the local pack, you must optimize your Google Business Profile for a combination of individual local ranking factors. Knowing which factors to optimize for is, therefore, critical to increasing your position and securing the accompanying revenues.
Google published in the Local Search Ranking Guide that Google Business Profile signals fall into three buckets:
- Relevance
- Distance
- Prominence
These signposts are only helpful to a point. Hundreds, if not thousands, of algorithmic variables, influence the ranking signals that contribute to what ultimately appear as local search results.
Previously, Google Business Profile studies and opinion surveys from localseoguide.com, moz.com, and brightlocal.com have sought to reveal and rank the most important local ranking factors. The goal of our research was to confirm these findings using state-of-the-art machine learning and call attention to any key differences.
Our Google Business Profile study identifies the key local ranking pack factors that are most relevant to the niche of personal injury law. The most impactful ranking factors are presented first, with less impactful factors following.
Personal injury attorneys can use this study to learn how to create an optimized Google Business profile for local search, elevate their position on Google, and gain new clients.
Our Findings:
- The city listed in the Google Business Profile had the greatest impact on rank in the local pack.
- Choosing the business category of “personal injury lawyer” had the second-greatest impact on the Google Business Profile position.
- Adding the string “lawyer” or “attorney" to the title and/or description had a positive impact on business listings' position.
- A higher number of Google reviews correlated with higher positions in Google Maps listings.
- Surprisingly, higher review ratings had no impact on position; this is likely because personal injury attorneys showed similar ratings.
- Greater numbers of photos in a Google Business Profile were strongly correlated with a higher position.
- Regular updates to a profile correlated with higher rankings.
- Google Business Profile listings with robust organic SEO tended to rank higher in the local pack.
- Basic information in the profile showed no impact on position.
Disclaimer: This is our interpretation of the data we analyzed. Everyone outside of Google is operating (at least partially) in the dark about SEO ranking factors. This is our attempt to shed some light on what appears to be most impactful.
The City Listed in a Google Business Profile Has the Greatest Impact on Position
The goal of search engines is to help users find what they're looking for. Meanwhile, the function of Google Business Profile is specifically to help people discover local businesses.
Unsurprisingly, our analysis found that when the search query includes a city, the city listed in the Google Business Profile is the dominant ranking factor.
Similarly, search queries that included a city name alongside “car accident” or “personal injury” tended to get higher results than “lawyer” or “attorney” alone.
These findings were expected because results are only relevant if they're in the vicinity of the searcher. This means that if a search query replaces the city name with a neighborhood or surrounding municipality, the local pack changes.
Shown below are the local pack results for “personal injury attorney” searched from Downtown Denver.
When the search query instead originates from Cherry Creek, a neighborhood in Denver, the results change, as seen below:
As would be expected, the law office nearest at the time of search appeared in both the generic and more localized search. This is because distance is the leading factor in local pack search results.
Complicating this, 90% of surveyed marketers agree that Google's focus on proximity frequently or sometimes harms results quality.
In other words, lower-quality businesses are outranking better ones simply because of their proximity to searchers. This means that attorneys with offices in central areas or along busy throughways have an advantage in local search compared to those on the outskirts.
When optimizing your Google Business Profile, make sure that the city listed matches the city used in your ideal client's relevant searches. A business listing in a less competitive municipality may help you rank higher in local pack results. Tinkering with your city may help you increase your rank, depending on your location and the location of your prospects.
Key Takeaway:
When a city is used in a search query, the city in a Google Business Profile profile is the dominant factor in its Google Maps ranking. Hence, you want the city listed in your Google Business profile listings to match the city used in the typical search query of your target audience.
The Highest Ranking Business Category is “Personal Injury Attorney”
The primary business category, or type, appears to be the second-weightiest Google Business Profile ranking factor.
Our study found that “personal injury attorney” was the highest-ranking business type in the personal injury niche, as seen below.
With few exceptions, most (81%) of the personal injury firms in our analysis used the category “personal injury attorney.”
Other specific legal categories, such as “Criminal justice attorney” and “Family law attorney,” also featured prominently in the local pack. By contrast, general business categories such as “Lawyer” and “Legal firm” tended toward the bottom of the rankings.
This correlation suggests that Google gives higher rankings to profiles with categories that more closely match the search query. Relevance is a signpost of local searches, so a specific category is more helpful than a general category when trying to deliver actionable results.
A search for “lawyer Denver” returns a local pack with four different categories of law offices, as seen below.
If you Google search for “lawyer denver,” you'll notice that only a firm labeled “personal injury attorney” would be chosen to represent their category in the local pack of a general search.
Conversely, every position in the local pack for the query “personal injury attorney denver” exhibits the same specific business category, shown below.
Using a specific business category allows Google to produce your profile for both generic and specific searches. This, in turn, increases your visibility.
A specific business category may also help Google to better answer search intent. Search intent is Google's way of classifying what the searcher wants to do with their search results.
When the category of “personal injury attorney” is used in a search query, the search intent is often transactional. In other words, the searcher is preparing to patronize a personal injury firm and wants the best option. It falls to Google then to produce the most relevant options, and in this case too, a specific category is most helpful.
Key Takeaways:
To attain the highest rank for personal injury queries, set the category in your Google Business Profile to “personal injury attorney.”
Use of Relevant Keywords in the Title and Description Impacts Google Business Profile Rankings
Unlike previous studies, our study showed a correlation between high-ranking profiles and the use of relevant keywords and phrases in the title and description, including:
- City name
- “Car accident”/”personal injury”
- “Lawyer”
- “Attorney”
The word cloud below shows the words most commonly used keywords and phrases in Google Business Profile titles.
Keywords in titles and descriptions seem to be a ranking factor, though less weighty than the business category. Confirming this, attorneys who exhibited a combination of keywords and phrases in their Google Business Profile also tended toward higher positions than those without them.
As seen below, Google Business Profiles that used a combination of keywords in the title, description, or business name saw a bump in position.
This effect was more pronounced for titles than descriptions. The more prominent the text section, the more keyword use appears to impact rank.
Despite this, fewer than a quarter (22.7%) of attorneys surveyed included the keywords “lawyer” or “attorney” in their Google Business Profile title. Only 5.3% of titles used the keywords “car accident” and “personal injury” and just 5% of profiles included the local city in the title.
Descriptions tended to receive more attention. Almost half (43.6%) of attorneys used the keywords “lawyer,” “attorney,” “car accident,” or “personal injury” in their descriptions.
The length of the titles and descriptions didn't correlate with the elevated position in search rankings. However, 41% of personal injury attorneys were missing descriptions, and they tended to have lower positions in the search results.
Key Takeaways:
Adding relevant keywords to the Google Business Profile listing and description had a positive impact on position in local searches, which goes against previous findings.
Review Volume Appears More Important Than Review Quality for Google Business Profile Rank*
Google looks to reviews to determine the trustworthiness of a business.
Not surprisingly, our research found that listings with higher numbers of reviews tended to have higher positions in the local pack. As expected, a low number of reviews correlated with a lower position.
Total number of reviews appears to be an important local ranking factor. A high review count likely indicates to Google that a firm is popular, reliable, and deserves top billing.
The median number of reviews was 14, and 17% of listings had no reviews.
Our analysis suggests that review activity alone matters. Specifically, only the quantity and the recency of reviews seemed to impact Google Business Profile position. Less time between reviews would seem to suggest a greater volume of clients, which is itself an endorsement of prominence.
Surprisingly, review ratings didn't seem to have an impact on the position of Google Business Profile listings.
*This is likely due to the fact that almost 90% of the ratings analyzed were five stars. In fact, the average review rating for personal injury attorneys was over 4.6. If review ratings in the personal injury niche were more varied, it is reasonable to expect review ratings would have impacted Google Business Profile position.
Reviews encompass a variety of nuanced signals that can help with local search, including:
- Ratings
- Positive/negative sentiment
- Recency
- Presence of keywords in review text
Local searching marketing efforts must consider each of these aspects in their campaigns for the best results.
For example, encourage clients to leave detailed positive reviews instead of just five stars. This generates keywords in review text, boosting both search engine optimization as a whole as well as your position. You can also automate the review request process to reliably generate more reviews and increase your Google Business Profile position.
Key Takeaways:
Personal injury lawyers with more reviews tend to rank higher in Google Business Profiles than those with fewer. It is difficult to analyze the impact of review scores, since the average review ratings of personal injury lawyers is over 4.6.
More Photos and Updates to a Google Business Profile Correlates with Higher Position
Our study found that Google Business Profile listings that posted more Google updates and photos tended toward higher positions.
Just over half of attorneys (55%) in our study had posted one or more updates to their Google Business Profiles. The graph below shows the positive correlation between photos and rank increase.
Surprisingly, a large number of photos seems to have a greater impact on position than other ranking factors like reviews and keyword usage.
Posting photos likely signals to Google that a firm is both active and engaged. Meanwhile, photo content is valuable to searchers because it helps them make an informed decision. Our analysis showed that the median number of photos per profile was six, while 5.8% of listings had no photos.
Similarly, posting updates was positively correlated with higher positions. Photos aside, though, it's unclear whether other types of Google Business Profile updates (such as announcements or blog posts) have an impact on ranking positions.
One study found that Google Business Profile listings with 100+ photos receive 960% more search views than the average business. As with a plethora of reviews, a library of photos confers a certain credibility on a law office. This means that personal injury attorneys should make a habit of posting photos to their Google Business Profile.
Key Takeaways:
Personal injury attorneys who regularly add new photos and post updates tend to rank higher.
SEO Best Practices Tend to Increase Position
Organic SEO impacts Google Business Profile rankings, though to a lesser extent than previous individual local pack factors.
Referring domains, for example, are one of the top ranking factors for local search. Our study found that higher Google Business Profile positions were positively correlated with higher numbers of referring do-follow domains, as seen below.
The median number of referring do-follow domains in the personal injury niche was 40.
Keeping with this trend, businesses with higher domain ratings tended to have higher Google Business Profile positions. Our analysis also showed that the more traffic a site receives, the higher its rank tends to be.
A business with a robust web presence is typically worth recommending in local search, and our analysis reflects this logic. On the other hand, a website that doesn't rank in the top 20-30 of organic results will rarely rank in Google Businesses.
In sum, you can increase your local search position with SEO best practices. Google has stated that the local search is informed by the following SEO signals:
Confirming this, we saw domains with a top Ahrefs rank tending towards the higher Google Business Profile positions. Since Ahrefs rankings account for both organic and local SEO, this external data point is telling the same story.
Key Takeaways:
Organic SEO factors such as links, traffic, and web presence appear to impact Google Business Profile position.
Google Business Profile Basics Have No Impact on Ranking
Our study found that basic profile details have no impact on Google Business Profile positions.
This information includes street address, website domain, phone number, etc. Google Business Profile positions also appeared unaffected by the addition of social signals like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.
This is likely because consumers don't make decisions based on these details, and such basic information doesn't help Google cater to the searcher's intent.
Nonetheless, your profile should communicate all key details of your law office, even if including these simply doesn't appear to influence your ranking in any way.
Conclusion: City, Business Category, Number of Photos, and Review Volume Are the Most Important Factors in Local Search Rankings
Our study suggests that profile specificity and engagement are the greatest areas of opportunity for increasing rank in the local pack.
The city listed in the Google Business Profile had the greatest impact on ranking position in the local pack. Following this, the business category of “personal injury attorney” and review volume showed the greatest impact on rank in the local pack.
Notably, the number of photos in a profile also played a significant role in which profiles ranked highest. To a lesser extent, so did the frequency of updates to a Google Business Profile.
Attorneys that exhibited robust organic SEO tended to rank higher in the local pack. Referring do-follow domains, site traffic, and web presence all appeared to impact Google Business Profile position.
Lastly, we were surprised to find no correlation between rating reviews and a higher Google Maps listing in the personal injury niche. The cause of this appears to be the lack of differentiation between individual rating scores (the average review rating for personal injury lawyers was over 4.6).
What do you think is the most interesting takeaway from this study? Do you have a question about the study? Our interpretation of the data?
Contact us — We'd love to hear what you thought.
Technical Annex/Methodology:
Rankings.io applied a state-of-the-art machine learning model to determine the importance of Google Business Profile factors on rankings. This process is more advanced than a simple correlation measure like a Spearman correlation.
We looked at four unique keyword combinations in the niche of personal injury law as they compared to 426 major U.S. cities. This study is a deep dive into the individual ranking factors that our analysis showed to be significant.
You can see a full breakdown of our data analysis here. We also have a GitHub repository of the data that we used.
Below are the technical details of the study in four steps:
Step 1: Keyword Selection
We defined 4 unique keyword combinations in 426 US cities (> 100.000 inhabitants). The format of the search queries was the following:
(city) + “car accident lawyer”
(city) + “personal injury lawyer”
(city) + “car accident attorney”
(city) + “personal injury attorney”
Step 2: Data Mining
To gather the base data for the study, we created a script to collect data points from the Google Business Profile Maps Listing. The relevant entries were scraped from the Google Search page (https://www.google.com/) by entering the above keyword combinations. A basic data overview can be found below.
It is important to note that we did not collect data on proximity factors, given the inherent and practical difficulties in obtaining such data.
Step 3: Data Enrichment
Next, we enriched the listed website domains with SEO data from the third-party data provider Ahrefs. To do this, we cut down the URL website domains to their root and uploaded them onto the Ahrefs bulk analysis tool. All data sets were then merged into one.
Step 4: Data Analysis
We applied a machine learning model (first published in 2017) to determine the importance of Google Business Profile factors on rankings. More information on the model can be found in the full breakdown. Then, we provided a deep dive into single variables that the model identified as particularly important to impact Google Business Profile positions.
