The question of the day: do you have control of your web site? Do you really? Can you change your page titles at will? Can you change your web page copy? Can you add new pages? Can you add links to those pages?

How about this...if you decide you want to move your site to a new server or hosting company, can you repoint your domain name?

If the answer to any of these questions is "no," then you do not have control. You are at the mercy of whatever company set up your web site and content management system. And if you lack control, then you can forget about being able to do the things that will cause your web site to rank highly in the search engines. Success in search engine marketing cannot be left to chance.

We recently became aware of a practice used by at least one of the big companies in this industry. Apparently, depending on what kind of relationship you have with the company, if you want to point the domain name elsewhere, they require THREE MONTHS to do it. Three months for something that should take about a day. Now that is lack of control.

So what can you do? First off, avoid working with companies that tie you into a content system that is very restrictive. Avoid long-term contracts. Avoid letting another company have control of your domain name (as in the example above). And avoid hiring a large company that is already working with hundreds of law firms, many of whom may be your direct competitors.

Think small law firm marketing company that will give you a high level of personal service and let you keep control. This kind of situation will not only serve you much better in terms of having a web site that will generate leads for your firm, it will probably cost less. More control for less money. Now that's a good deal.

Labels: law firm internet marketing, law firm seo, lawyer seo, lawyer website design, search engine marketing, seo

Due to some difficulty we are having getting started with one of our client's web sites, I wanted to take this time to reiterate the following:

Do not hire a search marketing company that does the following:

> Requires a ridiculously long-term contract that is basically for nothing more than putting the site up.

> Is promoting many of your competitors.

> Does not give you full control of the site.

Our client, who has a contractual web site obligation with one of the big companies in the legal marketing industry (initials "F.L."), has been told that the ability for him to modify his web site's page titles and meta tags has been "locked down."

So...you're not going to promote the site (you might say you are, but come on...), and you're not going to let me do the things I need to promote it?

That is a bad deal. Look, avoid the temptation to take the easy road by just hiring a company because you have heard the name or because the specialize in the legal industry. Hire a REAL SEO firm that knows what it is doing and will do everything it can to get YOUR site to the top.

Labels: law firm internet marketing, law firm marketing, law firm seo, search engine optimization, seo

I am constantly in search of tools to help me make my job easier by getting more done in less time. As such, I love tools that do things for me: submit to directories, create articles (from seed articles), research stuff, whatever. But I have found that anything that relies too much on automation just doesn't do as good a job as what you can do yourself manually. I think the key is to find the right mix of automation, semi-automation, and manual work.

For example, I used to use SENuke for social networking content distribution. But the problem I have is that the program always creates new web sites and blogs, rather than adding content to sites and blogs you have already set up. So over time, it results in lots of orphaned web sites that might (possibly) rank well, but that are of much less value to visitors than a site that has been built up over time with lots of content.

So in this particular case, I have stopped using the program for content submission. I do still use it for keyword research, which saves me a great deal of time, and for creating spun content. I just don't use it for submission. So it takes me considerably longer to submit content to social networking sites, but I have much more control over those sites and can build up content-rich sites over time, rather than creating lots of individual sites that are very light on content.

Here is another example: I used to use Articlemarketer.com for article submission. But the service does not allow for article spinning, and I was finding that my articles were being rejected by Articlemarketer's staff on a regular basis, which always required me to re-work the article, resubmit, and wait for their approval (which at times was taking weeks). I trust my writing, and I don't need that kind of babysitting, so I have stopped using the service.

Now I use a semi-automated article submission service. I have complete control over where my articles are submitted, and I don't have to ask for any one's permission to submit articles. It does take me longer to submit the articles, but they get distributed much quicker and I have much more clarity about what is going on with my submissions. So again, some automation combined with some manual work has become my preferred strategy.

I can't tell you what tools and strategies will work best for you. You just have to decide how much you are willing to trust your name and reputation to automated products, and how much time you have to invest in doing things manually, then try different things until you find the perfect match.

On a different subject, if you are involved in the promotion of law firms, I suggest you check out the following site:

http://lawfirminternetmarketing.ning.com

Have a great day!

Jerry Work

Labels: article distribution, article marketing, articlemarketer, content distribution, internet marketing, search engine optimization, senuke, seo

Do you perform keyword research before writing a new blog post or article? If you do, we applaud you. If not, you're not alone. Most lawyers (and Web content creators in general) probably do not. But starting today, you are going to do things differently. Starting today, here is what you are going to do when writing content for the Web:

1. You are going to use Google's external keyword research tool to find a keyword related to your practice areas and markets that receives some traffic and mild competition.

2. You are going to use that keyword in your content title and prominently in the main text, and if allowed, in bold and in a header (H1) tag.

If you do this, you will have a tremendous advantage over online authors who write without regard to keywords. Why? Because your writing will have focus. It will be specific, and it will very possibly rank highly for your target keyword, helping drive traffic to your web site.

We confess: we do not always do this ourselves. If there is something you want to write about that just doesn't match up with any particular keyword, then go ahead and write it. But the more you write with specific keywords in mind, the more of your content will show up in search engine results pages. And that's always a good thing.

Labels: blogging, keyword research, law firm internet marketing, law firm seo, lawyer seo, legal marketing, seo

Here are some questions you should ask any SEO firm you are considering hiring to promote your law firm web site:

1. What exactly will you be doing? Make sure the firm can explain how it plans on promoting your site.

2. Who will be doing the work? Make sure it is not going to be interns or junior employees working exclusively on your site.

3. Do you have any referrals, testimonials or case studies? You can't go wrong by asking for proof.

4. How do you charge? Make sure you understand what you are paying for.

5. Are you promoting other law firms for the same market? This one is huge. You want to hire a company that is ONLY going to be promoting your web site for your geographic market.

If you find a law firm SEO company that can explain how it works, that has some referrals, and that is going to be promoting your site EXCLUSIVELY for your market, then you may have a winner.

Labels: law firm internet marketing, law firm marketing, law firm seo, lawyer marketing, lawyer seo, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, seo