Everyday at least one of my clients receives an email from someone stating they their website needs to be updated, and the unknown email sender is the best person to do it.
Everyday new people enter the arena of webdesign. some take a software class, others an online class and some buy a program of templates.
I am asked, how often should a website be updated? And what is the difference between a web designer and website development?
First, your website should be updated when:
1.) You have broken links, missing images, difficult navigation, outdated content or outdated firm image.
2.) Significant changes are made to search algorithms and your site results are beginning to decline
3.) You've added new associates or partners
4.) You have new case results
5.) You have received acknowledgements or have articles newly published in legal journals.
When not to update:
1.) Someone guarantees you top placement in search results if they redesign your entire website. As a good attorney, your client may ask you at the onset of filing a case to tell them exactly what they will get when you win the case. Noting the many good cases that have been lost, it's evident that you can't guarantee what will happen. There are black-hat techniques that can get your website in the top results - for a while. However, long term success cannot be guaranteed. And black-hat techniques can come back to haunt you.
2.) You're bored with the look. Being pretty isn't always necessary. If your site is still bringing in new clients and referrals, it may not need a complete overhaul. You may need simple changes to colors and layouts to please your eye without losing the effect the content is making.
3.) You don't think it's pulling in results for you because the calls or emails you are getting are not your exact preferred client. Before deciding your site isn't working, be sure to check the analytics and see what pages or content areas are drawing traffic. I've heard from attorney clients that getting the right clients is a numbers game You may have to sort through several to find the one that is a legitimate case. By analyzing your traffic reports, you will see your website's strength and possible weaknesses.
4.) Because the new kid on the block or the email you just received told you to do it. If someone is telling you that your website is broken, and only they are the ones to fix it - think before acting. If someone approached you with that logic on a case you are working on - not knowing you, your client, the case or your objectives - would you immediately hire them?
The difference between a web designer and a web developer is:
A web designer
1.) can usually make your website look attractive with images, layout and colors. They may use a pre-designed template and simply fill in your information BEWARE of those who use the same template for all their clients. I recently saw a legal web design template used with several law firms. The giveaway was not only the same exact layout, much of the same wording, but on two sites they neglected to fill in the portion that read [insert firm name here].
2.) places all the emphasis on your website, overlooking the integration throughout the internet.
3.) makes promises of quick results without explanation of how these results will be achieved.
4.) request to place your domain and hosting in a new account that they manage, many times without your ability to access. They may buy domains on your behalf, but in their name, and place them in this same account. When you decide to no longer have them as your webdesigner, you may have a difficult time retrieving your assets, and sometimes can lose your entire website.
A good web developer
1.) will analyze your entire web presence and give you a report on the results
2.) will listen to your goals and objectives of your internet presence
3.) will give you an honest opinion of your web presence, which may conflict with yours
4.) may be able to work with what you already have and grow from there
5.) will offer more than just their one opinion of why your website and internet presence is providing the current results.
Many persons selling web services are offering their opinion, their companies opinion and the limitations of their designs. Some will use a marketing service, ( ie Yext, Citygrid, etc) to show you your results. If so, double-check these results. Many times these reports are incorrect, plus these are for-fee services, so the more their report indicates you need them, the easier it becomes to sell you their service.
A good web developer will use unrelated opinions, ie: other non-related web developers and focus groups. Always ask how they derived their assessment of your website and web presence.
Sometimes it's time to refresh your look. It's always time to keep your content current.
Analyze what you have before you agree to an overhaul, when a simple refresh is all you need.
Think of the big picture and long term.
If you think your website needs an overhaul, let's talk. Click to email us. We'll listen first, look at your online presence and then offer our recommendations. One size does not fit all.The solution for you should be unique to your business and goals. Maybe you only need a refresh.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Many websites are losing their search rankings - fast!
Have you noticed a change in the results you've received after a search query? The new Google update may be part of the answer. If you are noticing the difference, just know, that other people are seeing the changes as well.
For many years, online marketers encouraged their clients to buy every domain name that described their products or services, ie: www.idothis.com, www.thisismyproduct.com, www.iamthebestatthis.com, etc. For a long time these exact keyword or brand name domains showed up in the top of the list in the search results even though they may not have had the content that someone was looking for.
According to Google the idea of this recent update is to provide searchers with the most relevant and high quality results. That isn't always the sites with exact match domain names.
Many companies attempted to “trick” the search engine into listing the company’s web site more highly by using a popular exact match domain, yet the website may have delivered low quality content and web spam.
This update reinforces the important of a high quality website. A successful online presence requires an ongoing plan to stay current and engaging. One page websites and business card type websites will continue to fall in the search rankings. Unless someone knows your exact domain name, they may not find you in their search results as easily as they did in the past.
Keeping your online presence high quality should include:
1. Current, relevant and engaging content on your website
2. Properly optimized content (Yes, you can over optimize and black-hat optimize. Both of which will penalize your web rankings.)
3. High quality links into your website
4. Social engagement. (this is more than merely talking about your persona life or posting jokes, unless that is your profession)
5. Unique navigation with relevant engaging content rather than the over used standards.
What to do if you already own exact keyword match domains?
Make sure it meets the list above. If not - fix it, fast before you lose ranking altogether.
Quick summary: Provide information, answer questions, provide a way to continue the relationship.
So you need help doing this? We can help. Contact us. We'll listen first, look at your online presence and then offer our recommendations. One size does not fit all.The solution for you should be unique to your business and goals.
For many years, online marketers encouraged their clients to buy every domain name that described their products or services, ie: www.idothis.com, www.thisismyproduct.com, www.iamthebestatthis.com, etc. For a long time these exact keyword or brand name domains showed up in the top of the list in the search results even though they may not have had the content that someone was looking for.
According to Google the idea of this recent update is to provide searchers with the most relevant and high quality results. That isn't always the sites with exact match domain names.
Many companies attempted to “trick” the search engine into listing the company’s web site more highly by using a popular exact match domain, yet the website may have delivered low quality content and web spam.
This update reinforces the important of a high quality website. A successful online presence requires an ongoing plan to stay current and engaging. One page websites and business card type websites will continue to fall in the search rankings. Unless someone knows your exact domain name, they may not find you in their search results as easily as they did in the past.
Keeping your online presence high quality should include:
1. Current, relevant and engaging content on your website
2. Properly optimized content (Yes, you can over optimize and black-hat optimize. Both of which will penalize your web rankings.)
3. High quality links into your website
4. Social engagement. (this is more than merely talking about your persona life or posting jokes, unless that is your profession)
5. Unique navigation with relevant engaging content rather than the over used standards.
What to do if you already own exact keyword match domains?
Make sure it meets the list above. If not - fix it, fast before you lose ranking altogether.
Quick summary: Provide information, answer questions, provide a way to continue the relationship.
So you need help doing this? We can help. Contact us. We'll listen first, look at your online presence and then offer our recommendations. One size does not fit all.The solution for you should be unique to your business and goals.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Cheap yet costly SEO mistakes
How important is it to monitor your internet presence?
Unfortunately many law firms assign the task of their website and internet marketing to an employee in their firm or hire a service and then just assume it will be fine.
Unfortunately, employees get distracted with other firm matters, or leave the firm for another job; and with the ease of web templates, just about anyone advertising themselves as an internet marketing expert can give the impression that they know what they are doing.
What could possibly go wrong?
This week when monitoring the internet presence of a few potential new clients, I discovered a handful of dangerous yet preventable errors. Unfortunately this errors are more difficult to correct once they are online. With the change in search algorithms changing regularly, what worked yesterday may now seriously work against you today. What I discovered aren't tactics that a knowledgeable webmaster or internet marketer would use, especially since the introduction of Penguin and Panda.
* Black-Hat Techniques.
Be cautious of companies that promise immediate first page Google ranking. “Black hat webspam” is referred to as techniques where the intent is to look for shortcuts or loopholes that would rank pages higher than they deserve to be ranked according to webmaster guidelines. Use of Black Hat webspam, once discovered by Google and other search engines, can get your site penalized and potentially de-listed. Short term exposure on the first page, could result in log term penalty.
* Bulk directory service.
This weekend as I conducted research on a few new referrals, I found one firm listed on several sites, but with a wrong phone number. In fact it was the phone number of the company they hired to provide their SEO. Their firm name, address as well as photos of their partners were correct, however someone calling the number listed would not have reached them. This happens when a bulk listing service is used. The bulk listing service uses the account holders phone number to verify the listings on directory pages such as: yellowpages, yahoo local listings, some area of practice sites and other popular online directories. The solution if you use a bulk listing service, is to have an account set up exclusively for (you) the client by the SEO company, and have the bulk service company phone-verify your actual phone number. It's an extra step that involves someone at your office answering the phone and listening to a computerized code, however, those few minutes could save you from lost clients calling the wrong phone number. You also want to make sure that you are being listed on only legitimate sites and not content farms, which will also work against you. The SEO company can still manage the account, however, the account is one of your internet assets. ( I've written about the importance of your ownership of your internet assets in another post.)
* Paid Inbound Links:
Years ago, cross linking (you list my website on your site, and I'll list yours on mine) was a popular way to increase traffic and give the impression of a site being popular. That tactic was quickly disregarded by all search engines and cross-lining was soon replaced by purchased inbound links. For a fee you could have your company and website listed on numerous worldwide sites which would offer a guarantee of high volume traffic to your site. This volume, again, gave the impression that your site was popular and therefore would rank high in search results. With the release of Penguin, these kinds of marketing ploys are considered web spam, an artificial inflation of the relevance of your website. Google penalizes sites for being deceptive and your site may not only lose it's ranking, it can also lose it's place in Google's index. People tend to forget that Google owns the database that indexes the search results. If you are no longer in the database, then your site will only be found by someone with your specific web address.
* Article Sites.
If you enjoy writing, article marketing was once a long-standing highly used tool to post your same content several different sites with a link back to your website. This practice no longer has the search popularity it once had and at worst, it can cause your site to be penalized by Google and therefore not show up in search results. There are a few legitimate, well respected sites to post your legal articles and receive search benefits.
* Content Farms.
No time to write? Thinking about hiring someone to write your articles for you, or reposting someone else's article, blog or news story to add content to your site? These are all considered farming by Google's algorithm Panda. Ghostwriters have a similarity in their writing and seldom provide unique content to their clients. Instead they rewrite certain phrases, leaving the bulk of the article or blog appearing very similar to the one they wrote for someone else. Using someone who writes exclusively for you is second only to you writing your own articles. According to Google's webmaster guidelines, Panda is designed to reduce rankings for sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. Google likes original, timely content that is informative, educational and useful to the reader. You can take a news story and comment heavily on it, providing a new perspective or in depth analysis, however, simply reposting the original story will cause your site to be considered a farmer, and of low value to searchers.
* Over Optimization
Optimize and SEO are buzzwords that have been chanted by many internet marketers with such a passion that many attorneys repeat these phrases as the holy grail fro their website, yet without any real understanding of what is it and how it can help or hurt your site. One method of over optimization is taking a keyword or phrase and over using it or repeating too many sentences on several pages or multiple sites. Repeating your tag line is one thing, repeating your area of practice over and again is over-kill. There are several other over-kill techniques that can cause your website to fall below the search engine approval. To get the best attention fro search engines, websites should be written for the reader and not for search engines.
It is important to your online success and identity to stay alert of any exposure on the internet. Not only to make sure your contact information is correct, but to make sure that the person's posting about you are known to you; are doing so with your permission and/or are in your employ.
The longer something is on the internet, the more difficult it is to remove. I once heard that the more times a lie is told, the more people believe it, it soon becomes assumed as the truth and more difficult to correct.
It's easier than you may think for someone to post erroneous information about you or post information that helps them to steal your clients or your personal identity.
Conducting a regular Google search, or using Google alerts is important, however remember there are several other large search engines that also may be storing information about you. Be alert, be proactive and be in better control over your internet assets.
Unfortunately many law firms assign the task of their website and internet marketing to an employee in their firm or hire a service and then just assume it will be fine.
Unfortunately, employees get distracted with other firm matters, or leave the firm for another job; and with the ease of web templates, just about anyone advertising themselves as an internet marketing expert can give the impression that they know what they are doing.
This week when monitoring the internet presence of a few potential new clients, I discovered a handful of dangerous yet preventable errors. Unfortunately this errors are more difficult to correct once they are online. With the change in search algorithms changing regularly, what worked yesterday may now seriously work against you today. What I discovered aren't tactics that a knowledgeable webmaster or internet marketer would use, especially since the introduction of Penguin and Panda.
* Black-Hat Techniques.
Be cautious of companies that promise immediate first page Google ranking. “Black hat webspam” is referred to as techniques where the intent is to look for shortcuts or loopholes that would rank pages higher than they deserve to be ranked according to webmaster guidelines. Use of Black Hat webspam, once discovered by Google and other search engines, can get your site penalized and potentially de-listed. Short term exposure on the first page, could result in log term penalty.
* Bulk directory service.
This weekend as I conducted research on a few new referrals, I found one firm listed on several sites, but with a wrong phone number. In fact it was the phone number of the company they hired to provide their SEO. Their firm name, address as well as photos of their partners were correct, however someone calling the number listed would not have reached them. This happens when a bulk listing service is used. The bulk listing service uses the account holders phone number to verify the listings on directory pages such as: yellowpages, yahoo local listings, some area of practice sites and other popular online directories. The solution if you use a bulk listing service, is to have an account set up exclusively for (you) the client by the SEO company, and have the bulk service company phone-verify your actual phone number. It's an extra step that involves someone at your office answering the phone and listening to a computerized code, however, those few minutes could save you from lost clients calling the wrong phone number. You also want to make sure that you are being listed on only legitimate sites and not content farms, which will also work against you. The SEO company can still manage the account, however, the account is one of your internet assets. ( I've written about the importance of your ownership of your internet assets in another post.)
* Paid Inbound Links:
Years ago, cross linking (you list my website on your site, and I'll list yours on mine) was a popular way to increase traffic and give the impression of a site being popular. That tactic was quickly disregarded by all search engines and cross-lining was soon replaced by purchased inbound links. For a fee you could have your company and website listed on numerous worldwide sites which would offer a guarantee of high volume traffic to your site. This volume, again, gave the impression that your site was popular and therefore would rank high in search results. With the release of Penguin, these kinds of marketing ploys are considered web spam, an artificial inflation of the relevance of your website. Google penalizes sites for being deceptive and your site may not only lose it's ranking, it can also lose it's place in Google's index. People tend to forget that Google owns the database that indexes the search results. If you are no longer in the database, then your site will only be found by someone with your specific web address.
* Article Sites.
If you enjoy writing, article marketing was once a long-standing highly used tool to post your same content several different sites with a link back to your website. This practice no longer has the search popularity it once had and at worst, it can cause your site to be penalized by Google and therefore not show up in search results. There are a few legitimate, well respected sites to post your legal articles and receive search benefits.
* Content Farms.
No time to write? Thinking about hiring someone to write your articles for you, or reposting someone else's article, blog or news story to add content to your site? These are all considered farming by Google's algorithm Panda. Ghostwriters have a similarity in their writing and seldom provide unique content to their clients. Instead they rewrite certain phrases, leaving the bulk of the article or blog appearing very similar to the one they wrote for someone else. Using someone who writes exclusively for you is second only to you writing your own articles. According to Google's webmaster guidelines, Panda is designed to reduce rankings for sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. Google likes original, timely content that is informative, educational and useful to the reader. You can take a news story and comment heavily on it, providing a new perspective or in depth analysis, however, simply reposting the original story will cause your site to be considered a farmer, and of low value to searchers.
* Over Optimization
Optimize and SEO are buzzwords that have been chanted by many internet marketers with such a passion that many attorneys repeat these phrases as the holy grail fro their website, yet without any real understanding of what is it and how it can help or hurt your site. One method of over optimization is taking a keyword or phrase and over using it or repeating too many sentences on several pages or multiple sites. Repeating your tag line is one thing, repeating your area of practice over and again is over-kill. There are several other over-kill techniques that can cause your website to fall below the search engine approval. To get the best attention fro search engines, websites should be written for the reader and not for search engines.
It is important to your online success and identity to stay alert of any exposure on the internet. Not only to make sure your contact information is correct, but to make sure that the person's posting about you are known to you; are doing so with your permission and/or are in your employ.
The longer something is on the internet, the more difficult it is to remove. I once heard that the more times a lie is told, the more people believe it, it soon becomes assumed as the truth and more difficult to correct.
It's easier than you may think for someone to post erroneous information about you or post information that helps them to steal your clients or your personal identity.
Conducting a regular Google search, or using Google alerts is important, however remember there are several other large search engines that also may be storing information about you. Be alert, be proactive and be in better control over your internet assets.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Google Gives Search a Refresh
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, over the next few months, Google's search engine will begin spitting out more than a list of blue Web links. It will also present more facts and direct answers to queries at the top of the search-results page.
Is your website be ready?
Amit Singhal, a top Google search executive, said in a recent interview that "Google isn't replacing its current keyword-search system, which determines the importance of a website based on the words it contains, how often other sites link to it, and dozens of other measures. Rather, the company is aiming to provide more relevant results by incorporating technology called "semantic search," which refers to the process of understanding the actual meaning of words."
When was the last time you had an independent analysis of your website (someone other than your own computer, your employees or customers?)
How good (or great) are your website and internet exposure results?
Your internet strategy should include changes to all your internet profiles, website and 3rd party listings when significant changes in the search algorithms are introduced. The older or incorrect your internet image appears, the more out of date, unqualified or unsuccessful you appear. Make sure your online image matches your real firm image.
Wishing you awesome and continuing success.
Sumner M. Davenport
Sumner M. Davenport & Assoc.
Solutions Consultants
Is your website be ready?
Amit Singhal, a top Google search executive, said in a recent interview that "Google isn't replacing its current keyword-search system, which determines the importance of a website based on the words it contains, how often other sites link to it, and dozens of other measures. Rather, the company is aiming to provide more relevant results by incorporating technology called "semantic search," which refers to the process of understanding the actual meaning of words."
When was the last time you had an independent analysis of your website (someone other than your own computer, your employees or customers?)
How good (or great) are your website and internet exposure results?
Your internet strategy should include changes to all your internet profiles, website and 3rd party listings when significant changes in the search algorithms are introduced. The older or incorrect your internet image appears, the more out of date, unqualified or unsuccessful you appear. Make sure your online image matches your real firm image.
Wishing you awesome and continuing success.
Sumner M. Davenport
Sumner M. Davenport & Assoc.
Solutions Consultants
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Why "Likes" Alone Are Not Enough
They’re only one piece of the puzzle.
Just because someone liked your business page doesn't mean they are reading your posts, or after the new Facebook algorithm update, they may not even be seeing your posts.
Just because someone liked your business page doesn't mean they are reading your posts, or after the new Facebook algorithm update, they may not even be seeing your posts.
Page "likes" are only the beginning of the relationship. Social media and networking is about building relationships and not just advertising yourself.
When you posts are "shared", it is usually an indication that someone not only liked what you posted, but wanted to share it with their network of friends as well.
Your marketing goals should include posting interesting and relative content on your page and sharing other people's posts. When you share theirs, they become more interested to see what you are posting. If you share someone else's post, they might be motivated to come back and comment on your shared post, which then keeps your page name in front of their network, and their network's network, and so on, and so on....
Simply put:
1. Post great content that people want to tell their network about.
2. Share content that you find interesting and you want to tell your network of friends and fans about
3. Make comments with substance and invite continued interaction.
4. Comment from your business page, not your profile, if you want people to be drawn to your business page.
5. Repeat
Wishing you awesome and continuing success.
Sumner M. Davenport is a Solutions Consultant.
Best Selling Author and Keynote Speaker
Solutions, not just answers.
Solutions are not one-size-fits-all.
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Monday, March 5, 2012
Legal Directories
It seems that every day a new legal directory is created and your inbox gets flooded with emails inviting you to sign up. It's becoming more difficult to determine which sites are more than content farm and are actually are worth your effort.
I recommend my clients start with the high authority sites, the proven sites, and then include some of the newer and upcoming sites.
• Findlaw.com (fee for inclusion) #426 in top 500 websites
• Avvo.com (free, and advedrtising services)
• Justia.com - attorney listing/firm profile/blawg listing (free and fee services)
• YouTube.com (free) #4 in top 500 websites
and if you regularly get involved in discussions and groups:
and if you regularly write articles, you could include these sites:
• JD Supra (free and fee services)
• HG.org (free and fee services)
• Ezinearticles.com (free) #94 in top 500 websites. Be careful not to post too much content that mirrors what is already on your website. Original content is best.
• Targetlaw.com (free, profile and articles)
• Scribd.com (free)
• Docstoc (free)
This morning my client received yet another referral from a relatively new site.
Wishing you awesome and continuing success
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
More Popular Apps for Attorneys
As more attorneys are finding apps for their mobile devices useful, more apps are hitting the market place.
The following apps were also rated as being popular both in preparing your case as well as in the courtroom.
US Constitution
Federal Rules of Federal of Civil Procedure
Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
Federal Rules of Evidence
Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Free
This app is intended for patent attorneys, particularly litigators. It allows you to use your device's internet connection to efficiently retrieve United States utility patent information, particularly claims, title, inventors, and priority information, if you already know the patent number. Patents can be bookmarked and associated with matter names and numbers, and an editable history of patent numbers is maintained.
$4.99
The super-robust PDF reader for iPad. It handles huge PDF and TXT files, manuals, large books, magazines, and renderings of 100 mb and more with great speed. The ability to mark-up PDFs opens up new doors to GoodReader users who can now use typewriter text boxes, sticky notes, lines, arrows, and freehand drawings on top of a PDF file.
The super-robust PDF reader for iPad. It handles huge PDF and TXT files, manuals, large books, magazines, and renderings of 100 mb and more with great speed. The ability to mark-up PDFs opens up new doors to GoodReader users who can now use typewriter text boxes, sticky notes, lines, arrows, and freehand drawings on top of a PDF file.
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