Attorneys need to claim their law firm marketing turf on Google+ business pages for two key reasons:

Google+ is now the #2 social media site withover 540 million monthly active users, and has grown 58% in the last six months alone.

Google is fully integrating Google+ with search results...so if you’re not on Google+, think about what that means for your SEO.  In fact, it has been reported that Google+1’s (which are analogous to Facebook “likes”) are now the #2 search-ranking factor.

Setting up a Google+ business page for your law practice could not be easier – seriously, it takes just a few minutes. Here are 5 steps to set up your Google+ business page:

1. If you already have a personal Gmail account, do NOT use that address – instead, create a new Gmail account that other people who may be administering your Google+ page can access. For example, ABCLaw@gmail.com.

2. With your Gmail address, go to http://www.google.com/+/business/ to create your page – just follow the Google+ wizard, which will give you classification options for your practice.

3. Populate your Profile with your logo and a tagline if you have one.

4. Optimize your Page with bios, photos, links and other content (like from your blog) so when you promote it there is something to interest people.

5. Promote your Page to contacts and your other social networks. One of the great features of Google+ is Circles, which allows you to group your followers are you wish – so if you practice more than one area of law, you can segment by interest and market to them accordingly.

Google+ is here to stay, so get a jump on competitors who may not be as savvy as you are when it comes to realizing the importance of social media networking and start generating leads.