I needed a lawyer in Kansas (apparently it’s a state in the middle of the country) the other day. I had a client seeking representation in a custody case. I called a friend and got the name of the leading practitioner in the county in which the case is filed.

I needed his phone number. I went to Google, typed in the name, and came up blank. Nothing.

Had I misspelled the name? Was I not being sufficiently specific in my search?

I retyped the name and added “Kansas” to the search.

Still nothing.

I added “family law” to my search. Then the name of the city. After a few more tries I called directory assistance and got the number. Mission accomplished.

But, I wondered, how can it be that, in this day and age, a family law attorney doesn’t have anything on Google. How is that even possible?

If you’re that lawyer (and I can’t imagine you’re visiting this site if you don’t already have some sort of web presence) then it’s time to do something to make it easier for us to find you.

What’s the quickest, easiest way to show up at the top of the Google results for your name?

Create a profile at LinkedIn. It takes ten minutes to register and fill in some details about your practice. Even if you’re already on the web it’s worth being on LinkedIn (you’re already there, I’m sure). Assuming you have a website, your links back to your site, from LinkedIn, pass Google juice which helps move your site up in the search engine results.

Talking about LinkedIn has a bit of a “been there, done that” feel for me, but a surprising number of our brethren haven’t yet figured it out and are, for all practical purposes, invisible.