If there is one thing you can be sure of when it comes to the Internet, it’s change. If you think you have it all figured out, you will be humbled quickly when the next big development occurs. This week’s major development: Google Instant.

So what is Google Instant and how does it change the way clients seek attorneys?

Google Instant is a search enhancement that shows results in real time, letter-by-letter, as you type. For example, in the past, if a client was searching for a criminal attorney in San Francisco, they might have typed, “criminal lawyer SF,” hit enter and then looked at the results. 

So what does all of this mean?

It means that many of your potential clients’ searches will be conducted in a different way. This isn’t necessarily good or bad, it’s just a new way of doing things. Some clients won’t use Google Instant at all. Others will have their eyes glued to the screen from the moment they hit the first letter.

It also means that your office can make use of the technology to improve efficiency. Google claims that Google Instant significantly speeds up the search process, by as much as 2-5 seconds per search. Google’s Marissa Mayer said that “Google Instant will save 350 million hours of user time, over a year.” Whether Google Instant will be able to make your office run faster is hard to say, but it is certainly worth checking out.

In the meantime, it’s also a good idea to play around with the new technology a bit and see what kind of search terms bring up your firm’s website. Just make sure that you are not using personalized search when you test Google Instant if you want to get the perspective of a potential client. A surprisingly little known fact is that when you are signed into Google, you will get different results than other users even when searching for the same terms.

Related Resources:

  • Google Adds Priority Inbox Feature to Gmail (FindLaw’s Technologist)
  • Apple to Update iPad Software: Good for Law Practice? (FindLaw’s Technologist)
  • About Google Instant (Google)

You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help

Civil Rights

Block on Trump’s Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court

Criminal

Judges Can Release Secret Grand Jury Records

Politicians Can’t Block Voters on Facebook, Court Rules