“Personal Injury Attorney Near Me?” That’s me!

If you’re in need of an automobile accident attorney in North Carolina, you might look for a personal recommendation from someone you know. That’s probably a great idea. Many folks turn to a Google search, and more often than not, the search term will turn into “personal injury attorney near me.” What you see after that search is really interesting to me, for many reasons.

PAY TO PLAY

Like anything these days, getting business through Google is definitely a “pay to play” proposition. As of the writing of this post, the first results you’ll see on the above search will be the Google Screened results, which come from the Local Services Ad that many professionals are sold. Can these results help? Yes, in a way. But the reality is that who shows up first, or at all for that matter in the Google Screened list is based on who is paying the most for you clicking that ad and making a call. So if what you’re looking for is a big injury practice with a big marketing budget, then you’re likely to find what you’re looking for with those results.

GOOGLE MAP LISTINGS

The results you’ll see after the GS/LSA lists will be the Google Map that will be slightly more organic, but the first one will STILL be a paid ad. You can simply read the “Sponsored” note on that first listing under the map. The next results are more relevant and will help you to see which attorneys that purportedly (though not always) practice in the area of personal injury and have an office near you. So the real map listings are by far more responsive to the search term than anything else we’ve seen so far. Interestingly, these hits are based on proximity, but they’re also (purportedly) stacked based on useful content. That means that the unsponsored/organic map listings will show the websites with the most helpful information that you can use even if you don’t hire them. That’s a worthwhile bit of info. Another thing that influences those rankings are Google reviews, so use those as a good indicator of experience.

Here’s the point I’m trying to make: Be an intelligent user of Google. When you search for help, know what listings are the results of bids and what are the results of actually helpful websites of reliable, trustworthy law practices with content on them that can help you whether you hire them or not. If you’re looking for an attorney that’s near you (which may or may not be actually relevant), look for the one with the most helpful information and, more importantly, the one with the most/best reviews. At the end of the day, you want a positive experience with a trusted attorney, not a drive-by settlement with a “case manager” that works at Big-Time Jack’s Super Mega Injury firm because they had the most money to pay for ads.