Tag: Website Management

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The Connection Between Being Found Online and Being Worth Finding

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According to a Legal Marketing Survey Report conducted by Avvo and Lexblog, the #1 legal marketing subject solo and small firm lawyers are interested in learning more about is search engine optimization (or “SEO”, in internet parlance).  Not how to build an online referral network, stay in better touch with existing clients using online tools or manage their online reputations, but SEO: a series of tools and tactics that attempt to ensure that a firm’s website is near the top of the search results when a potential client searches online for terms relevant to that firm’s practice.

This level of interest is not without reason.  The practice of law is competitive, and lawyers are competitive.  So there is little surprise that, say, a “Boston DUI Lawyer” would want to do whatever necessary to be at the top of the page whenever some poor unfortunate who has had a late-night run in with the BPD turns to Google or Bing looking for legal help.  But SEO is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to client development online, and it helps to know what SEO can – and most likely cannot – do.

SEO’s Little Secret, and an Aside on SEM

Any busy practitioner has no doubt run across SEO consultants.  For a fee, these folks offer to help make lawyers and law firms more competitive when it comes to the web; i.e., likelier to rise higher in the search results.  It’s important to not confuse SEO experts with “SEM” consultants (although many times the same consultants sell both services).  Pitches along the lines of “get on the top of Google search results – guaranteed!” are based on SEM.  The technique has its place, but must be recognized for what it is:  Search Engine Marketing.  SEM consultants make their guarantee because they will buy ads on Google on a firm’s behalf.  That firm then appears – as an advertisement, not an organic result – on the top of whatever search results ads were bought for.  While it’s a surefire way to get noticed, it can also be very expensive, and requires at least as much thought and analysis as any other marketing campaign.

Unlike SEM, SEO involves making “fixes” to a site – and sometimes off-site strategies – rather than purchasing advertisements.  It’s important to think of SEO consulting as having two aspects:  A technical aspect, and a magical aspect.  There are many straightforward technical things that websites must have in place in order to put their best foot forward with the search engines.  Platforms – be they directories like Avvo and LinkedIn, social networks like Facebook or Twitter, or blogging services like WordPress and Typepad – have already taken care of this work, and those using these services benefit from the fact that their profiles or blogs will already be optimized for the search engines.  However, many lawyer and law firm websites fail on this count, and would absolutely benefit from this technical form of SEO help.

The “magical” side of SEO, however, involves the use of other techniques (examples include keyword stuffing and comment spam) in an attempt to take an otherwise search engine-friendly website and make it even more eye-catching to the Googles and Bings of the world.  Over the years, these tactics have yielded enough short-term successes and alignments of marketing spend with dumb luck to keep this side of the business alive.  But consider: Google tweaks its search algorithm over 500 times a year.  And it is a model of opacity when it comes to providing a peek under the hood at how its algorithm works.  Attempting to outwit Google takes a mix of wild guessing, cargo-cultism and blind faith.

And websites do sometimes get lucky, for a while, by frolicking in the magical end of the SEO pool. But they do not fool or outsmart the search engines for long.  Google and Bing are constantly optimizing for – and throwing billions of dollars and thousands of uber-bright minds against – a goal of returning the most relevant search results.  Period.  Assuming a lawyer’s site has already got its technical SEO house in order, the best technique to do better in the rankings is to give the engines what they want:  better, more relevant content.  And the good news is that this is exactly what potential clients want as well.

Standing Out Once You’re Found

This should be a perfect alignment: Potential clients are looking for in-depth information about lawyers and legal problems, and the search engines strive to surface such content.  So why are so many lawyer websites replete with stiffly-worded bios and empty platitudes about the law and legal practice?  Why is there so little substance and personality to be found?

The legal marketplace is competitive, and competence is only the price of admission.  Lawyers and firms that not only want to be found online, but to be selected online, must do more than cite their impressive credentials and wait for the phone to ring.  Here are some high-level starters:

  • Claim online real estate.  Lawyers must let clients find out about them, in depth, wherever they might be looking – directories, social media, etc.  And all of those places can link back to a law firm website.
  •  Lead with passion.  No firm should be satisfied with a by-the-book, resume-format website.  Lawyers who succeed talk about why they love the law, how they make a difference for their clients, what makes them different from all of the other lawyers out there.
  • Write and connect.  Enough with the dry case summaries or (god forbid) lists of local accidents designed for “keyword optimization” purposes. The best material online is crisp, relevant pieces that potential clients or referral sources will want to read or share.

There’s no disputing the superficial appeal of “magical” SEO solutions. But, ultimately, what the search engines are optimized to find – AND what potential clients want to read – is deeply relevant, authentic and differentiated content.  Firms that relentlessly focus on providing that kind of value will be the winners online.

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Professional and Personal Aspects of Law Firm Social Media

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I’ve seen it far too many times: law firms are often concerned that any personal posts on their firm’s Social Media platforms may hinder their credibility as a professional legal practitioner.  That simply isn’t the case. In fact, if every post is of a professional nature, it may deter the average Facebook user from interacting with your content. You need a good balance of the two.

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If you keep your Social Media presence strictly business, you run the risk of scaring away followers – or at the very least losing their attention. We agree with Ken Hardison, Founder and President of the Personal Injury Lawyers Marketing and Management Association (PILMMA), who says that no more than 15 percent of your social content should be self-promotional. “People love to buy, but they don’t love to be sold to,” Hardison says.

More personal posts – such as employee birthdays and anniversaries, new hires, local news, a thoughtful quote, or even pictures that don’t directly relate to law – will show Social Media users a more approachable side of your firm. However, if you never post anything related to your law firm and practice areas, your Social Media platforms wouldn’t be much of a marketing effort.

So, what’s the perfect recipe for Social Media success?

The best way to promote your website, content and firm on Social Media is through your blog. Blogs often provide shareable information or news and thus lend themselves to Social Media sharing. Blogs bridge the gap between useful, shareable information and promoting your law firm. Combine a healthy flow of blog posts with a balanced blend of non-promotional posts and you just may see more users clicking your links and interacting with your Social Media posts.

Why Are Non-Business Posts Beneficial?

Posts that do not directly relate to law and your practice still serve a purpose. They’re not getting people onto your site. They’re not directly getting you cases. However, they are getting attention in the form of Likes, Shares, +1s and retweets – and therefore giving your brand attention. People are getting to know your firm through the content you share, some of which is business-oriented, some of which is more relatable to the average Facebook, Twitter or Google+ user. The goal should be to appear knowledgeable, professional and approachable. This blend of posts does just that.

Both types of posts serve a purpose. Professional posts receive a few likes and drive traffic to the firm’s website, while more personal posts spread the brand to far more Social Media users, increasing brand recognition and page visibility.

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Best Practices in Business to Business (B2B) Content Marketing [INFOGRAPHIC]

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Content provider ContentCrossroads.com recently developed an infographic about best practices for B2B marketers, including the most popular, most profitable and easiest content to develop for B2B marketers looking to gain the attention of prospects:

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Using Google Alerts to Get Topical News Quickly and Improve Your Content

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Time is of the essence when taking someone from prospect to client.

Obtaining quick notice about local accidents and injuries and/or defective products can provide a competitive advantage.

When an accident has just occurred and a victim is deciding whether or not to hire an attorney, you want to be easy to find. If you are aware of accidents or defective products and pharmaceuticals early, you may have the opportunity to get the inside track on a case.

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Posting alerts and information on your website, blog and Social Media may help your firm be more easily found and give you increased opportunities to get cases.

One tool to identify possible newsworthy topics to post on your site and Social Media platforms is Google Alerts. Every time something new is indexed by Google on your chosen topic, you will receive an e-mail. You can also set Google Alerts to email you a daily or weekly digest that includes either only the best topical matches or everything associated with your selected topic.

There are multiple ways to utilize Google Alerts. You can sign up for your target city/town names, state, etc. for local news. For practice area-targeted news, you can sign up to be alerted for variations of car accidents (and injuries), truck accidents (and injuries, major highways, etc.), train accidents (as well as major train names), hospitals (and hospital injuries, negligence) and drug or product names you wish to target, for example. There are endless possibilities; your usage will depend on what works best for your law firm and schedule. You can even sign up for Alerts on competitors’ names to follow what they are doing. You should set Alerts for your firm and attorneys. Doing this will help you manage your firm’s reputation by alerting you to good and bad news and give you time to respond appropriately.

To develop a list for your Google Alerts entries, ask your attorneys (or have a trusted attorney decide) which topics and locations each person will follow for news or blog information, then sign up for Google Alerts on those topics at http://www.google.com/alerts. When you spread keywords among different people, the time investment is less significant, especially if you schedule a fifteen-minute block each day to read through your alerts.

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Survey Says: Fortune 500 Disclosing Cyber Risks

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Ever since our 2013 prediction, an ever increasing number of public companies are adding disclosure related to cybersecurity and data breach risks to their public filings.  We previously analyzed how the nation’s largest banks have begun disclosing their cybersecurity risks.   Now, it appears that the rest of the Fortune 500 companies are catching on and including some level of disclosure of their cyber risks in response to the 2011 SEC Guidance.

The recently published Willis Fortune 500 Cyber Disclosure Report, 2013 (the “Report”), analyzes cybersecurity disclosure by Fortune 500 public companies.  The Report found that as of April 2013, 85% of Fortune 500 companies are following the SEC guidance and are providing some level of disclosure regarding cyber exposures.  Interestingly though, only 36% of Fortune 500 companies disclosed that such risk was “material”, “serious” or used a similar term, and only 2% of the companies used a stronger term, such as “critical”.

Following the SEC’s recommendation in its guidance, 95% of the disclosing companies mentionedspecific cyber risks that they face.  The top three cyber risks identified by those companies that disclosed cyber risks were:

1)      Loss or theft of confidential information (65%).

2)      Loss of reputation (50%).

3)      Direct loss from malicious acts (hackers, viruses, etc.) (48%).

Surprisingly, 15% of Fortune 500 companies indicated that they did not have the resources to protect themselves against critical attacks and only 52% refer to technical solutions that they have in place to defend against cyber risks.

The Report notes that despite the large number of Fortune 500 companies that acknowledge cyber risks in their disclosure, only 6% mentioned that they purchase insurance to cover cyber risks.  This number runs contrary to a survey published by the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies in which Chubb indicates that about 36% of public companies purchase cyber risk insurance.  For whatever reason, it appears that many of the Fortune 500 companies are simply not disclosing that they purchase cyber risk insurance as a means of protecting against cyber risk.

Almost two years after its issuance, the Report findings indicate that the 2011 SEC Guidance is in full swing and making its way into reality.  As more large companies disclose cyber risks in their public filings, this will continue to trickle down to the smaller companies that rely on those filings for precedent and guidance.  The Report provides a clear snapshot of where things stand in cyber risk disclosure by Fortune 500 public companies.  The scope of the Report is expected to expand to include Fortune 1000 companies, and it will be interesting to see how this data changes, if at all, when comprised of a larger pool of public companies.

Stay tuned!

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Starting an Online Business: Licensing Requirements

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Individuals interested in starting an online business are often confused or uninformed as to the licensing requirements for such businesses.  In many ways, an online business is like any “brick and mortar” store and the owner will probably be required to obtain certain licenses or permits to operate.

Federal Requirements

Business Licenses.  Most businesses do not require a federal business license or permit.  However, a business engaged in one of the following activities should contact the responsible federal agency to determine the requirements for doing business:  Investment Advising, Drug Manufacturing, Preparation of Meat Products, Broadcasting, Ground Transportation, Selling Alcohol, Tobacco, or Firearms.

Tax Identification Number.  A federal tax identification number, also known as an Employer Identification Number (EIN), is a federal identification number issued by the Internal Revenue Service to identify a business entity.  Nearly all businesses are required to have a tax identification number.

If a business is operated as a sole proprietorship, the owner may use his or her social security number in place of an EIN on all governmental forms and other official documents.  However, most small business advisors recommend using a federal tax identification number instead.

To obtain a federal tax identification number, a business owner should contact the nearest Local IRS Field Office or call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Hotline at 800-829-4933.  The necessary form, IRS Form SS-4, can be downloaded directly from the Small Business Administration website.

State Requirements

Many states and local jurisdictions require a person to obtain a business license or permit before beginning business operations.  A business that operates without the required license or permit may be subjected to fines or may be barred from further business activity.  In some localities, a business operating out of a residence may require an additional permit.

While business licensing requirements vary from state-to-state, the most common types include:

·    Basic Business Operation License – a legal document issued by a local governmental authority that authorizes a person to conduct business within the boundaries of the municipality.  Many states have established small business assistance agencies to help small businesses comply with state requirements;

  • Fictitious Name Certificate – a document, usually filed with a state agency, which is required to operate a business using an assumed name or trade name (essentially, any name other than the full, formal name of the individual or company);
  • Home Occupation Permit – a permit which may be required to conduct business from a residence;
  • Tax Registration – if the state has a state income tax, a business owner must usually register and obtain an employer identification number from the state Department of Revenue or Treasury Department.  If the business engages in retail sales, the owner must usually obtain a sales tax license;
  • Special State-Issued Business Licenses or Permits – these permits may be required for a business that sell highly-regulated products like firearms, gasoline, liquor, or lottery tickets;
  • Zoning and Land Use Permits – may be required to develop a site or property for specific purposes
  • Employer Registrations – if the business has employees, the owner must usually make unemployment insurance contributions;

Additional state licenses may be required for regulated occupations such as building contractors, physicians, appraisers, accountants, barbers, real estate agents, auctioneers, private investigators, private security guards, funeral directors, bill collectors, and cosmetologists.

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Social Signals Rank Highest for Best Google Search Results

A new study from Searchmetrics shows that of 44 ranking factors, social signals account for 7 of the top 8 most highly associated with Google search results,  The chart below shows the ranking importance for the top 22:
google search ranking factors in the US

The top findings from the Searchmetrics Ranking Factors-Rank Correlation Study show the following SEO trends for 2013:

  • Keyword domains and keyword links are not nearly as relevant as in the past
  • Social signals directly correlate with better rankings
  • Good content continues to be key
  • The number of backlinks continues to be of high importance
  • On-page technology (URL length, keywords in page titles, page descriptions, H1 and H2 tags, etc.) is still an important basic

This latest study makes it clear that you can no longer ignore social media if you are interested in showing up in Google search results.

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Law Firm Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Five Common Mistakes to Avoid

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Long gone are the days when you could rely only on meta descriptions, title tags, and directory links to boost your firm’s website rankings in search engines. Thanks (or no thanks) to sites using destructive black-hat techniques, Google is on a mission to penalize those who try to win using spammy shortcuts, and reward sites that provide a great user experience.

Below is a list of 5 common mistakes in SEO that can be easily avoided:

Duplicate Content, Consultwebs1. Content that is engaging.

Search engines are designed to deliver the highest quality results to the user; therefore, your content should provide the answer to the visitor’s search query as well as a great user experience. If a user comes to your website and is not impressed with the content, they will quickly leave. When this happens, it indicates to search engines that your site is not offering supportive and relevant content based on that particular search query. You do not want this! You want users to visit your site and be engaged. Remember: write for your readers, not search engines.

2. Duplicate content

Duplicate content, in simple terms, is content that appears on more than one Web page. This is akin to a constantly skipping CD. In short, it’s annoying.

Google can easily determine when content is duplicated. One of the relatively new Google features is Google Authorship

To ensure they are offering users high value content, search engines take pages out of the rankings that are a duplication of other, higher authority pages. Also, duplicate content can lead to Google not trusting the overall quality of the site and penalizing its rankings.

Search engines want to provide users with a varied amount of results, not 20 pages with the same content. To ensure this, search engines omit pages that are a duplication of other, higher authority pages. Omitted pages don’t rank.

Additionally, if Google finds your duplicate content to be spammy, deceptive or an attempt to manipulate your rankings, Google may penalize your site by dropping its rankings.

3. Not using correct keywords

If a user cannot find your website, then what good is it?

If a website’s content is written about the term “vehicle wrecks,” but the majority of users are searching for “car accidents,” the website will miss out on a lot of potential business. It’s crucial to use the correct keyword targets to drive optimal traffic to your website.Target the right words by looking for terms most commonly used in searches. Our SEO specialists use a variety of tools, including Google’s keyword tool,to determine the words and phrases that have the highest search volume for your area of law. However, targeting only the most popular keywords may not improve your rankings. The higher the search volume for a keyword, the more websites you will compete with for rankings, so it’s vital to find a happy medium between the two. Don’t forget, however, that long tail searches (lesser used phrases words and phrases) obtain more relevant traffic than the highest volume words and phrases.

4. Over-optimization

Yes, there is such a thing as over-optimization!

Tactics such as excessive interlinking,keyword stuffed content and tags, and duplicate content within the same site are common over-optimization practices that can hurt your rankings.

Typically, anything over 3% keyword density is too much for a page. Links should only be placed on a page if they are relevant to the content posted on that same page. Remember the saying “too much of a good thing is bad?” Well, that pertains to SEO as well.

5. Assuming that SEO strategies are static. SEO is constantly changing!

There is no such thing as updating a site and never having to do so again. Google constantly changes its algorithm (examples: panda, penguin, so a website has to be reviewed occasionally. What works today may not work tomorrow; it’s important to stay up-to-date on SEO practices used on your site.

Also, by having a blog on your site and adding new posts regularly, you are providing fresh, new content. Google loves fresh content.

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Twitter: Little Statements with Big Consequences for Companies

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Twitter is under attack. In recent months, accounts belonging to media giants CBS, BBC, and NPR have all been temporarily taken over by hackers. The Associated Press is the most recent victim. On April 23, 2013, a false statement about explosions at the White House and the President being injured sent shock waves through the Twitter-sphere. The real surprise is the effect the single tweet had in the real world: the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped so sharply moments after the frightening tweet that $136 billion in market value was wiped out. While the hacking of these massive media outlets make headlines, everyday businesses are not safe from the threat, either. In February of this year, a hacker changed the @BurgerKing feed to resemble that of McDonald’s, putting the McDonald’s logo in place of Burger King’s. The hackers posted offensive claims about company employees and practices. If accounts belonging to well-established companies like these are vulnerable, so is yours. If a tweet can have a profound impact on the nation’s stock market, imagine what an ill-contrived tweet could do to your business.

Business owners may have the knee-jerk reaction to delete their Twitter account, but despite the recent blemishes to its security, Twitter remains one of the most important social media sites out there. Just recently, the Securities Exchange Commission made clear that companies could use social media like Twitter when announcing key information in compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure. Twitter is not just a marketing or PR tool—Twitter is business. And you should never turn your back on existing business. So instead of hanging up your hashtags, consider some steps that can make your Twitter account safer.

Limit Access

Not every employee should have access to the company’s Twitter account. In fact, hardly anyone should, except a few designated employees like the marketing director or business owner. While those with access may never do anything harmful to the account, the more people who have the log-in information, the more likely it is to fall into the wrong hands.

Create a strong password

I know, you already have too many passwords to remember. But a creative password is your best defense against someone seeking to break into your account. Employers should, at minimum, have unique passwords for their most commonly used media sites; please do not use the same word for your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter account. Once a hacker figures it out, they have control of your entire social media presence.

When creating a password, avoid using anything that would be too common. “Password,” “1234,” or the business’s name should never be the only thing standing between you and a hacker. The longer the password, the better. Use a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

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Protecting Your Brand in the New .XXX Top-Level Domain

Recently posted in the National Law Review an article written by atttorneys  Lee J. Eulgen, Antony J. McShane and Katherine Dennis Nye of Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP regarding  ICANN’s established procedures for the use of .XXX as a new top-level domain :

 

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently established procedures for the use of .XXX as a new top-level domain (TLD) like .COM, .NET, and .ORG. However, unlike those other TLDs, .XXX has been designed to clearly signal adult content on the Internet. Given the connection between .XXX and adult content, many brand owners outside the adult industry have reasonable concerns about protecting their name and brand from use with the .XXX TLD.

In part to allay some of these fears, the company behind .XXX, ICM Registry, has created a sunrise period, which has just opened, to help protect brand owners from the use of their trademarks with the .XXX TLD. Between Sept. 7 and Oct. 28, 2011, trademark owners that are not in the adult industry can “reserve” their trademark for a one-time fee of approximately $250. For example, if the fictional ABC Company owns a U.S. federal trademark registration covering the mark ABC, it could reserve www.abc.xxx so that no one else can register or use that domain name for at least the next 10 years.

One important exception to the reservation process is that if two trademark owners both own the same mark, the one that wants to actually register and use the .XXX domain will prevail over the one that simply wants to reserve the same domain. For example, assume the fictional Acme Adult Magazine and Acme Family Restaurant both own U.S. federal trademark registrations for the mark ACME. If the restaurant applies to reserve www.acme.xxx and the magazine applies to register the same domain, ICM Registry will permit the magazine to register and use the domain, and the restaurant will lose its reservation fee.

Failure to reserve important trademarks during this sunrise period could have serious consequences. Most fundamentally, failure to reserve .XXX domain names corresponding to your trademarks could of course lead to undesirable usage of your marks in connection with domain names corresponding to adult web sites. Although brand owners may be able to recover .XXX domain names from others who register and use those domains in bad faith – just as brand owners can in domain name disputes over .COM or .ORG domains – the damage to a brand may be greater from misuse of a trademark in connection with the .XXX TLD by an adult content site than from misuse with another TLD. Furthermore, regardless of what TLD is at issue, the process of forcibly obtaining a domain name through legal means can be expensive. Thus, trademark owners should consider carefully whether reserving their marks during the .XXX sunrise period makes sense for their brands. 

© 2011 Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP.