A lot of attorneys still believe that if their law firm could just rank #1 on Google they would finally start raking in the big cases and the big money. The truth is that it’s more unlikely now than ever before that your website will ever achieve a #1 ranking. So why do law firm SEO companies still keep claim that an organic SEO program should be your number one priority? The answer is easy – your ignorance and their bonuses. They know that good lawyers are focused on their clients – not online marketing strategies. They also know that once you’re locked in to a 2-year agreement, there’s not much you can do to get out – even if they’re not on top of crucial  developments in online marketing. Your auto-debit is going to keep rolling in no matter how ineffective your online marketing!

Traditional SEO Companies are not Going to Help You Out and Neither will Google. 

Why: Because Google makes their money through PPC ad campaigns. The harder it is to rank #1 on Google – the more likely you are to pay BIG BUCKS to advertise on Google. It’s that simple. That’s why, despite spending thousands of dollars writing page after page of content for your website and blog, buying backlinks, and paying for “SEO” – you still haven’t achieved top ranking on Google.

NOW IT IS EVEN HARDER TO ACHIEVE TOP ORGANIC RANKING 

Any glimmer of hope there may have been in early 2015 was wiped out in August of that year. Google changed their algorithms again – and immediately, large national lawyer directories shot to the top of the search returns. This Google update effectively pushed most small to medium-size boutique law firms out to page two – making it impossible for them to compete through traditional SEO programs. Just have a look for yourself. Search any city in Google and add “…personal injury attorney” to your search string. You’re probably seeing at least 4-5 big national directories crowding out local law firms on page one of the search returns. 

“If you build it…they will come.” – NOT ANYMORE

For years, organic SEO traffic was the key to any law firm’s online success. Law firms that allocated their resources to building blog and website content built an impressive site that quickly gained traction in Google. While not an overnight success, law firms could see their websites moving up the Google rankings as long as their site was aggressively adding content and search engine optimized. The law firms that were displayed on the first page of Google spent their online advertising budgets on content development, video development, backlink building, Google webmaster tools “best practices” code modifications. Google rewarded this quality content with first page listings. But not anymore. Even a first page listing no longer has the power it used to.

It is estimated that 80% of all online traffic is distributed through the top 10 listings (20% goes to paid ads), and that most people never even go to the second page of a search. Of all of this visitors, here’s how the top listings are rewarded: The number one organic position captures 33% of all online traffic, the second organic position captures just 18%, and the 3rd position captures just 11%. If you’re in position number 5 (the top half of the search returns!) you’re only getting 5% of the traffic. That’s just not enough web visits to generate sustainable online leads.

This means that in order to generate real significant traffic organically from Google search returns, your law firm must be in the top three organic listings.

Unfortunately, Google just eliminated this opportunity for many law firms in August. The result was a significant narrowing of the organic opportunities for local law firms – despite their best SEO efforts.

Penguin…Panda….It Makes NO Difference

Whenever Google rolls out an update – whether its penguin or panda – law firm websites have suffered. Virtually overnight, your site takes a hit – often dropping in the rankings and out of competition. The result: months of higher marketing prices with little to no client lead generation. Your law firm’s future is at the mercy of Google and that’s not fair.

Luckily, Law Father has found a way around Google and their algorithms – FOR GOOD. As a result, our clients have enjoyed consistent online traffic and leads – delivering #1 results without a dependence on Google.

Law Father has developed a powerful and proven alternative to blogs that includes the use of remarketing, as well as innovative social and video opportunities. We’ve thrown traditional SEO marketing concepts out the window – and broken free from Google’s SEO rollercoaster ride. The results are impossible to ignore.

If you’re tired of revamping your website, ordering more content, and crossing your fingers that the phone will ring – then now is the time to act. We can show you a whole new way to market your law firm. Contact Law Father today and break free from the limitations of Google for good.

The post Law Firm SEO is a Costly Priority appeared first on Law Father Law Firm SEO.

When someone needs an attorney – how will they find you? It is estimated that 3 out of every 4 people looking for legal help will use online resources like Google to choose their attorney. Yet, Google just made it nearly impossible for anyone to find YOUR law firm. If your law firm has more than 3 competitors in your area – Google probably won’t help you attract anymore new clients.

In the past, one of the ways law firms could attract visitors to their website was through Google’s local pack. This local pack listed 7 local businesses that Google ranked based on a combination of factors that included the web searchers proximity to the business, the number of client reviews in the Google business listing, the strength of an organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program, and the number of business citations available from other business directories. Small businesses could still be ranked highly in the local pack – even when they didn’t have the same exorbitant marketing budget that large firms did to appear through pay-per-click. Even websites that had been penalized by recent Google Panda or Penguin updates could still show up in the local pack, sending significant online traffic their way.

Yet, in August 2015, EVERYTHING changed.

Google reduced the local pack – from 7 listings to just 3 listings. This was an effort to make the local pack more mobile friendly, but it drastically reduced the amount of online traffic local businesses could receive. If you have more than 3 competitors, you could find yourself completely booted OFF the local pack – making it virtually impossible for anyone to find your business online.

If you own a small to medium-size boutique law firm, chances are you relied on the local pack listing to attract clients. Without that listing, how will you bring in business and how will you find new client leads?

Even if you are lucky enough to still rank in the top 3 on Google’s local pack, the online traffic you may have been enjoying will still be drastically reduced. In addition to reducing the local pack, Google ALSO changed the information it displays for the local attorney listings. The top 3 listings no longer have a website link, a phone number or Google+ page visibility. It will take the average consumer 3 clicks to find a meaningful result – like your law firm’s website.

Law Father Offers Impressive Solutions to Google Frustrations

Fortunately, Law Father has found a way around Google and their local listings shake-up – FOR GOOD. No matter the changes Google has made through the years (or will continue to make into the future), our clients still enjoy consistent online traffic and new client leads.

Law Father has developed a powerful and proven alternative to traditional search engine optimization (SEO) that includes the use of remarketing, social media, and exciting video opportunities. We’ve thrown Google out the window – and the results speak for themselves.

Are you tired of changing your website every time Google makes an algorithm change? Are you tired of just hoping that the phone will ring? If so – we’ve got the solution. We can show you a whole new way to market your law firm. Contact Law Father today and break free from the shackles of Google forever.

The post Death of the Neighborhood Law Firm appeared first on Law Father Law Firm SEO.

In February Google removed the entire right side column of PPC advertisements, instantly wiping out a large portion of marketing real estate. And what happens when supply goes down and demand goes up? PRICES GO THROUGH THE ROOF! AND GOOGLE KNOWS IT.

A recent study uncovered that of Google’s top 100 most expensive PPC keywords, 67 are law firm related! And even worse, the top 10 law firm keywords average $540.00 per click. PER CLICK! That’s not a client or even a call. That’s just a click to your website! Are you really willing to spend thousands of dollars a month so that a couple people can view your website?
 

Quality Focused Boutique Law Firms are Getting Pushed Out by Big Advertisers

For years Google was a great way to advertise your law firm and get new clients. The work required to show up in organic search returns and PPC campaigns was a good investment. But today, Google relies on a bidding system that pits big advertising law firms against small- and medium-sized boutique firms, making it impossible for quality focused attorneys to compete online. What’s worse is that Google now allows national lawyer directories to take up 50% of the space local law firms used to occupy in the search returns (more on that in another article).

Unfortunately, Google’s recent PPC ad space reduction isn’t about making Google a better place for consumers. It’s about making Google more money. And they certainly will, as competition gets even fiercer. If you’re a quality focused firm with a reasonable marketing budget – GOOGLE PPC IS DEAD – it’s no longer an option for driving a predicable number of clients to your law firm.

Good Thing for You Law Father Saw This Coming

For years, Law Father has stayed in front of our competitors, working fast to combat Google PPC and algorithmic changes. As a result, we have weathered many storms and continued to consistently deliver new clients to our law firms. So, despite Google’s best efforts to extort cash from lawyers, we’ve worked hard to not be dependent on them. Because of this, Law Father clients have enjoyed consistent online traffic and leads even after Google made it impossible for them to compete.

Law Father has developed a powerful platform and proven alternatives that take full advantage of the real opportunities that exist to drive potential clients to your law firm.

If you’re ready to stop feeding Google and start feeding yourself, reach out to Law Father today. Call us at 720.420.4931 or visit us online at http://www.lawfather.net.

The post Google PPC is DEAD…and That’s a Good Thing for Boutique Law Firms appeared first on Law Father Law Firm SEO.

What is an RSS feed?

We won’t get super technical here – but just tell you what you need to know to get started. RSS is a form of XML markup language that is both readable by humans and machines. Most modern websites have this ability to feed RSS data to outside applications automatically coded into them. And most feeds are accessible through a common URL structure; www.url.com/feed or www.url.com/rss. The icon to left is the universal icon letting you know an RSS feed is available on a site. In most cases, by clicking on this icon, you will be able to load or bookmark this site’s RSS feed into your RSS feed reader.

An RSS feed reader is a website or application that aggregates all of your RSS feeds to one site or application. This site or application lets you see every new post or page added to every website you are tracking at the very moment it is added to the site.  So now rather than checking into every website you are interested in everyday to uncover new content, you can now just check in with your RSS app and see what’s new. This will save you a lot of time, especially if you check in with a lot of sites.

If you add a lot of content to your own website, an RSS feed allows your content to be “subscribed to” by people who are interested in what you share – without those people having to remember your URL or having to actually go to your website everyday. Now this doesn’t mean that you are sacrificing page views in exchange for your content being read only on RSS readers. In most cases the RSS feed only provides the headline and a few lines of content to the subscriber – meaning that if a subscriber wants to read the entire article then they need to click on an automatic link generated in the feed and into your website.

People within the press and industry experts often use RSS feeds to be the first to learn about breaking stories, products, changes in the law or interesting facts. Getting these folks to subscribe to your RSS feed can be an important way of getting more of the content you write included in other web stories and linked back to your website – thus driving more traffic there!

There are a ton of RSS feed readers and applications that you can use to consolidate the information you want from the web. One of my favorite mobile apps is https://feedly.com. Feedly can be installed on your mobile device as well as through browser plugins for desktop viewing as well.

Building a Following with RSS Feeds

Now that you understand the basics of an RSS feed, it’s time to build a following. Don’t just target people in need of an attorney, make your content readable to everyone! This will build a healthy following, and hopefully potential clients who may not have a case now – but might sometime down the road. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1.) Write about national cases that everyone is interested in. Nancy Grace capitalizes on this, so could you!

2.) Create humorous content that appeals to readers. For example, use humor to write about bizarre cases that people just have to click on.

3.) Use headlines to pull in readers. Your content may be about your specific law expertise, but twist the headline to relate to as many people as possible. Tell the reader how someday this issue could happen to them!

4.) Stick to a niche that you specialize in. For example, if you’re a divorce lawyer, write content about relationships, what-if’s, and outlandish cases instead of creating content specifically for people in need of any attorney. The better you represent yourself as an expert in your niche, the more likely the press and other web authors will subscribe to your RSS feed for possible future use.

Using some or all of these ideas, your content will be more likely to catch readers’ eyes without being overly promotional. So what are you waiting for? You’re an interesting person, right? Get started on your RSS feed today. Law Father can assist by creating legal content designed to drive more traffic to your website! Contact Law Father to learn about more RSS feeds and other creative ways we can drive traffic to your law firm’s website.

The post Using RSS Feeds to Create a Permanent Following for Your Law Firm’s Website appeared first on Law Father Law Firm SEO.

Yet many Americans distrust lawyers and the legal profession in general. This makes your job much more difficult—and why it is important to build trust with your clients through Internet marketing and social media.

The Internet and social media have created a paradigm shift throughout the legal profession and our society as a whole. Together, they afford lawyers and law firms the type of tools they need to supply potential clients with the information consumers have come to expect online before making any kind of decision that necessitates a notable commitment of resources. And, empowered by the plethora of information available online, consumers are now educating themselves on legal issues via blogs, videos, and dialogues in online communities prior to compiling a list of potential candidates.

Furthermore, in today’s Internet age, it is extraordinarily easy for a prospective client to verify the lawyers’ experience and credentials online, and evaluate testimonials and feedback from other clients before making their final decision.

So how can you build online trust with your clients? The answer is through successful Internet marketing. The Internet allows lawyers to build their brand carefully and establish themselves as authority figures in their areas of law. Through social media sites, blogging, and revamping your website, you can build a brand that is inviting and showcases what is best about your firm—and what sets you apart from the rest.

The following are some ways you can let the Internet and social media work for you:

• An eMarketer report states that 82% of consumers would trust a company more if the CEO used social media. You don’t have to use all of them. Simply pick a few, post, interact, and evaluate productivity. Continue to utilize the ones that are effective. An SEO legal marketing company can advise you on how best to proceed and help you build a social media presence that reflects your company’s core values.

• Obviously, legal obligations forbid you from discussing details of your representation, but you can certainly discuss other firm activities. Clients want to know that you care about more than profits. Use social media to talk about the local softball team your firm sponsors, the presentation you’re giving at the chamber of commerce, or the booth you’re hosting at the county fair. Providing clients and colleagues a glimpse into the culture of your firm and your concern for the community is a great way to establish trust and engagement without encountering ethical dilemmas.

• Start blogging for your content marketing benefit. A blog can be shared easily through social media channels and can present you as an expert in your chosen field. A blog can also reach potential new clients who are browsing for answers to their legal problems. Present potential clients with valuable legal content to create engagement and begin building trust with individuals who will remember your name the next time they need your services. Nielsen reports that 58 percent of consumers said they trust a business’ editorial content over other forms of web marketing.

Law firms who are not actively promoting their services online and on social media sites are falling behind. No matter how much you advertise, if you are ignoring your online content, then you are losing out on valuable new clients. Internet marketing is more than just building a website, it is about building a brand that sets you apart from the thousands of other lawyers in your area. It shows that you are up to date on current legal topics and that you are active in the community and online. When you build content that shows you care about your clients—and their needs, you will establish yourself as a lawyer to trust.

With millions of people tweeting, posting, and blogging, law firms can no longer afford to treat social media as an afterthought. Let the distinctiveness of your firm shine through, and put internet marketing to use for you.

The post Three Ways Internet Marketing Builds Trust With Your Clients appeared first on Law Father Law Firm SEO.