Google search is powerful – it can connect you to the perfect website, business, person, image, video, you name it. Sometimes, however, people take advantage of the mechanics and systems in place to get ads in places they shouldn’t be. Although this is not specifically about personal injury, it is still something we think is important to shed light on for the well-being of our clients.
HOW TO ENSURE YOU REACH THE SITE YOU WANT:
In the specific case of searching for law firms, you will find that many unfamiliar links and names will appear after your google search. Many times, these results aren’t even in the legal field that you are searching for! Businesses can buy advertisements through Google. Most of the time this is done to promote their business specifically to those searching for keywords related to what they deal with. For example, if you search for ice cream, you will get search results and ads related to ice cream.
If you search for a personal injury attorney, you may go so far as to search a specific law firm, only to get results and ads from DIFFERENT law firms. There has been an increase in marketing and ad companies purchasing specific ads and keywords to actually prey on or redirect clients to their site instead.
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Purchasing an ad through google basically means that your business will be prioritized if someone searches keywords that you own for your site. This is completely fine.
However, businesses purchase ads are misleading and may lead to false conclusions about a business. Further, if you search for something on your phone, it is harder to distinguish if a search result is actually an advertisement or a real result. So if you were to search Fry | Goehring on your phone, the top result may be a different law firm – BUT – it appears as though it is a direct result of your search.
LONG STORY SHORT…
When you search for something, make sure you find the correct website you are trying to reach. If you are doing a general search, it is smart to try several different sites to find what you are really looking for. Google is definitely a powerful and important part of today’s internet culture, but using caution is always important!
