Lost all Local Pack KW Since August

[SocialSpark]

I manage the website and GBP for a defense lawyer in a solo practice. His rankings took a big hit in September, and have decreased to nothing after December. I have done everything I can think of. I've compared his GBP to other attorneys, and everything looks good. I created "products" to link back to his site (like other attorneys do), added pictures, post regularly to his GBP. Nothing is helping. He's in a panic about every other week. He's Google Screened, but rarely gets decent leads from that. He has great reviews, but given his clientele, it's hard for him to get people to publicly endorse him, so while he has 65 reviews, his competitors (who have huge staff and the face of a big time lawyer that doesn't even work in the office) have 400+. It's clear the other lawyers have spent thousands on high-end SEO companies and websites, but this is just one guy, and he doesn't pay me that much.

I've asked him to write stuff from his own perspective, or to create some short videos, to try and make the site more personal, but it's never going to happen. He wants me to hire a writer, but I don't know if that's the answer.

He has provided me with some good case results, which I have currently listed a few on the home page and the rest on a case results page. I thought about creating a custom post type for these so that I can automatically display them on the appropriate practice area page, and have them archived by charges, court (which is location based), etc. Is that a good idea, or is it better to have a page with all of them and links to the practice area pages?

He's been a client for at least 10 years, I want to help, but I just don't know what to do anymore.

Is it possible for a solo lawyer to compete with these big law firms anymore?

I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you so much!

 

[ElizabethRule]

One thing you can do it rebrand to add keywords to the business name and then update the GBP, this can have a major impact on local rankings Do Keywords in Business Names on Google Maps Impact Ranking? Google Business Profile Names & SEO Rankings

As for the reviews, the last review he got was 2 months ago. Review count is important, but review recency seems to be more important for rankings. So he needs to focus on getting 1 review a week, or at least 2 a month - this can have an impact overtime Does Review Recency Matter for Google Rankings?

As for the website, if you have found his organic rankings have gone down over the last few months, check this out Google’s New "Diversity Update”: How to Fix Your Ruined Rankings

Your title tags can also be longer and have more keywords, this can help a ton. Not just the homepage, all your service and service area pages too We Broke the SEO “Rules” with Insanely Long Titles… Here’s What Happened!

Hope this helps! If you implement some of this and see a lift, come back and let us know

 

[SocialSpark]

One thing you can do it rebrand to add keywords to the business name and then update the GBP, this can have a major impact on local rankings Do Keywords in Business Names on Google Maps Impact Ranking? Google Business Profile Names & SEO Rankings

As for the reviews, the last review he got was 2 months ago. Review count is important, but review recency seems to be more important for rankings. So he needs to focus on getting 1 review a week, or at least 2 a month - this can have an impact overtime Does Review Recency Matter for Google Rankings?

As for the website, if you have found his organic rankings have gone down over the last few months, check this out Google’s New "Diversity Update”: How to Fix Your Ruined Rankings

Your title tags can also be longer and have more keywords, this can help a ton. Not just the homepage, all your service and service area pages too We Broke the SEO “Rules” with Insanely Long Titles… Here’s What Happened!

Hope this helps! If you implement some of this and see a lift, come back and let us know

Thanks for these suggestions. I will take a look at all of them. For #1, His business name is "Law Office of..." Is that not enough of a keyword? Are you saying he should officially change his business name to something like "Criminal Defense Law Office of..." or "(criminal lawyer name), Criminal Defense Lawyer"?

 

[ElizabethRule]

Yes, change the name to something with his top keyword in it, like "(lawyer name) Criminal Defense Lawyer". He doesn't need to officially change it on everything, though he certainly can! If he does not want to officially change it he can get a DBA certificate with the name and change it online in key areas like his website and major citations.

 

[SocialSpark]

Will that help with related keywords in the map pack, like DUI lawyer?

 

[ElizabethRule]

Yes - you just need to add "DUI lawyer" to the business name in order for this tactic to improve rankings for that keyword. It's very specific to the keyword you add. I would not go adding a TON of keywords, though, you do not want to excessively keyword stuff. Pick the top keyword and run with that.