SEO Strategies for Attorneys: The Importance of Inbound Links
Ever wonder why your competitor’s website consistently ranks on the front page of Google for specific searches and yours does not? Are you frustrated that you can't seem to find your website online unless you either (1) type the domain name directly into Google, or (2) search for your personal name, or (3) search for your law firm’s name (and even then your competition often shows up)?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of artificially boosting your website or blog to the organic results (versus paid advertising) for specific search terms. Google considers over 60 different variables when determining who gets on the first page. One of the most important ones is the number and quality of inbound links your website has. As many of you have personally experienced, when it comes to SEO, it doesn't get any more competitive than the legal industry! When you search for a major key term like “Phoenix bankruptcy lawyer” or “Phoenix divorce attorney” I can guarantee you the people you see in the first 10 results did not get there by accident! They have worked hard at it and most likely they have hired some high-powered SEO experts to help them.
One of the reasons why blogging has become so popular in the legal industry is because of how powerful it is in Google’s eyes. One of the ways that Google determines if your website is an authority is by how often you post new, relevant, unique content on your blog. For example, Joseph McDaniel is a Phoenix bankruptcy attorney who blogs multiple times every day at www.ArizonaBankruptcyBlog.info. As he puts more and more content on his blog, Google rewards him by improving his rankings. We will discuss specifics about blogging in future posts, but there's another strategy that most attorneys overlook when it comes to improving their rankings and that’s building inbound links.
Google loves inbound links!
An inbound link is where one website links to another website. You see this all the time on news websites where they link to a video, a blog post, a resource, or a story on another website. Google measures and weighs inbound links as a sign of your website’s relevance and credibility. In general, the more inbound links your website has -- and the better they are -- the more your website will rank above your competitors.
Good ways to harvest inbound links for your website include social media, writing and posting articles online, sending out press releases online, hiring a professional link building service and joining and participating on online legal directories like HG.org.
Founded in 1995, HG.org was one of the very first online law sites, and developed the first self-listing directories for attorneys and law firms. Today, search engine results show the HG Law Firm Directory at the top for most states or countries when someone is searching for a law firm. HG.org is one of the most trafficked legal sites, with more than 850,000 unique visitors coming to its sites – HG.org sites and HGExperts.com -- each month.
For most attorneys, learning the nuances of power link building is not the best use of their time. You need to know the fundamentals so you don’t get taken advantage of, but if you are serious about generating more leads from the Internet, then you need to be on the home page of Google for the key terms your prospects search for online. The best way to do that is by working with a top-notch link building expert who knows the legal industry and has proven results.
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Becoming a Rainmaker Seminar in New Jersey on March 9
The Rainmaker Institute in coordination with the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Hunterdon County Bar Association present Becoming a Rainmaker: Practice Development Strategies for Small and Solo Law Firms on Wednesday, March 9 from 4-6 p.m. at the Historic Court House in Flemington, NJ.
More than 7,000 attorneys from law firms all over the country have experienced powerful results from attending the Becoming A Rainmaker seminar, which has been sponsored by more than 24 of the largest state and local bar associations.
The Becoming a Rainmaker seminar teaches simple techniques attorneys can take back to their offices and implement immediately. Some of the tools and techniques that I will cover during this highly informative two-hour session include:
- The 7 Ways to Find More Clients and How to Pick the Best Ones for Your Firm
- How to Build a Network of over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 6 months
- Change Your Website from just an Online Brochure to a Money-making Machine
- Passive Versus Active Marketing and why you need both
- Creating Client-generating Surveys: When to Use them and How to Leverage them
- Automating Your Marketing System
- How to Ethically Position Yourself as a Specialist in Your Area
- How to Promote Your Firm to 150,000 people for $140
- Avoid the Most Deadly Marketing Mistakes Attorneys make
- Why Advertising Doesn't Work and what to do instead
- Where to Find and How to Create Positive Media Coverage for your firm and your clients
- The #1 Reason why Attorneys Don’t Receive More Referrals and how to overcome it
- Using Visibility Events to Attract Highly Qualified Prospects to Your Firm
The cost for the two-hour Becoming a Rainmaker law firm marketing seminar is minimal: $77 for NJSBA or HCBA members and $97 for non-members.
Please call 888-816-8935 or click here for registration information.
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I am just now getting my site really optimized for my local area. I appreciate this article very much and your blog in general. I am a personal injury attorney and I finding more people using the net trying to find our services but we miss them because we cannot be found. Thanks again for the info.