When you enter a URL into PageSpeed Insights, Google’s bot hits it and records how long it takes specific elements to load. Google then catalogs which elements of the webpage are causing delays. At the conclusion of the PageSpeed test, Google returns a score for both the mobile and desktop site. They then make recommendations on areas that could be improved. Scores range from 0-100, with anything over 90 considered “Good” (the top rating).

Some of the PageSpeed recommendations are easy to correct, such as resizing images. Others are a little more difficult, such as CSS adjustments and JavaSript updates. These types of fixes will most likely require a skilled programmer who can repair your site without breaking other areas of the code or functions.

In addition to creating a good user experience, having a fast performing site can move your site higher in the search returns. Google refers to this as the “page speed ranking factor.” When the Google algorithm examines two very similar sites, it must determine on which site would a person have a better experience? If site A has similar content to site B, but has technical problems and takes a long time to load, Google is likely to reward site B and rank it higher than site A. Google’s motivation is simple: keep people using Google and don’t give them any reason to switch to Yahoo or Bing. If Google continuously sends their users to technically strenuous sites, they will eventually lose those users to search engines that can present better search returns. The more technically unsound your website is, the more likely it is to be buried deep in the search returns.

Further, while Google has been slowly incorporating PageSpeed load times as a ranking factor since 2010, it has only been in the last six months that the “page speed ranking factor” has been applied to ranking mobile sites.

If you are unaware, mobile phone searches now make up nearly 60% of all Internet searches. Google has already adjusted to this trend by ranking technically sound mobile websites above traditional websites when users conduct their Google searches on mobile phones. What you need to know is that if your potential client is looking for a lawyer on her iPhone and your website is not optimized for mobile viewing, she is less likely to find your website than she is a competitor’s mobile website that Google has rated as “Good”. However, if she searches from her desktop computer, and your website is optimized for desktop browsing, she’s likely to receive a different search return from Google, one showing sites that perform well on desktop computers, and perhaps more likely to find your site. But since we now know that mobile search exceeds desktop search, it is equally important that both your sites be as technically sound as possible.

If you have run your law firm’s website through the PageSpeed Insights analysis and are concerned about your scores, Law Father can help. We can examine Google’s technical assessment and create a plan to make the necessary repairs and adjustments. In most cases, this work can be completed in 3-4 days. Once completed, we will then send a re-crawel request to Google, asking them to re-evaluate your law firm’s website and update your website’s PageSpeed score. This work can help improve your page speed ranking factor and your position in Google’s organic search returns. To schedule a PageSpeed update, call 800.325.7715 or fill out the contact form on http://www.lawfather.net.

*As an interesting side note, I ran Google.com through Google’s own PageSpeed analysis and found that Google’s mobile site has a few issues of its own =)

The post Page Speed Load Times and Google Search Engine Ranking appeared first on Law Father Law Firm SEO.

Consider Wikipedia as an example. It’s a website generally considered to be full of useful, truthful (more or less) content, and for that reason many web pages all over the internet reference information found on Wikipedia, and link back to it. That’s the main reason why you’ll see a Wikipedia page as one of the top search results for thousands and thousands of queries.

SEO: The Dark Side

Unfortunately, that’s when the dark side of SEO came into play. Shady businesses entered the equation, offering backlinks for purchase by the thousands that would boost your SEO rank but were ultimately irrelevant or spam. These are called “link farms” or “link directories”. We’ve all seen these sites; huge lists of links to other pages but little or no useful content. Google, of course, noticed this unethical behavior, and in an effort to discourage the practice of link buying, began penalizing websites that had low-quality pages linking to them. They did this by updating the algorithm their search engine uses to determine rank, and this update was given the codename “Penguin“.  Penguin still rewarded pages for “good” (i.e. relevant) backlinks from trusted websites but dropped those with a plethora of bad backlinks from irrelevant, distrusted sites significantly in its search results.

Why would Google care if a website links to a bunch of other websites without offering any real content itself? How does it affect them? Well, the goal of a search engine is to provide a quality user experience by enabling users to find the information they’re looking for as quickly as possible. That’s how ‘Google’ became a commonly used verb. So many people were turning to the search engine to answer their questions that it became a cliché. Link directories and spam websites have no useful information for your average user so they don’t provide a good user experience, and therefore Google would prefer not to send their users to such websites.

What’s Important Now?

So how does your law firm’s link profile matter today? In short, it should only contain backlinks from high quality websites that are relevant to the page on your site they are linking to. Otherwise, it is likely that Google’s algorithm will consider it a low quality, ill-gotten link, and punish your website’s SERP ranking for it. If you have a lot of these links in your profile, it can do real damage to your site’s ranking, making it difficult for potential clients to find out about your firm.

Google’s Disavow Tool

To help people clean up their website’s link profile, Google allows you to disavow (i.e. disown) bad backlinks, in an effort to remove them from your link profile so that you won’t be penalized for them. The company has posted a great tutorial for doing so on its website, which you can find here. What it involves is submitting a list of the bad backlinks to Google asking that they not be taken into consideration when determining a website’s SERP ranking. It’s important to note that by doing this you are merely asking Google to consider your request, it isn’t a guarantee that the links will no longer be included. Also important to note is that Google really, really wants you to try and have the backlinks removed manually before you submit the request, and will require documentation proving you’ve attempted to contact the webmasters for the sites in question asking to have the links removed altogether.

Read More: Paid vs. Organic Search: Allocating Your Law Firm’s Marketing Dollars

But here’s where it gets tricky. Sometimes it’s not possible to reach anyone in charge of the offending website. Other websites will even ask for money in order to have the link removed. Also, those businesses that used to sell backlinks to boost SEO before Penguin still exist today, only now they can be hired to perform “negative SEO” by adding bad backlinks to a competitor’s website in an effort to drive down that site’s ranking in the SERPs.  It’s a highly unethical practice, and one that we recommend under no circumstances. Nevertheless, it’s out there, and could turn into a serious problem if one of your rival law firms tries it out on your website.

Google recommends that you disavow backlinks at least once a week, but even if you don’t have time for that, doing so regularly can be crucial for your SEO success. As a general rule of thumb: once you download the list of backlinks from your Google Analytics account, don’t simply click on them to test them. If they seem irrelevant to you, you’ll often be able to tell by the title; a 99girls.com page likely won’t have content relevant to your law firm’s website.

Contact Law Father for Experienced Help Today

Disavowing backlinks is a tedious, but absolutely essential part of any successful SEO campaign. Doing so ensures that you won’t be penalized without your knowledge – keeping your site and its backend clean from any unwanted spam and making it easier for people to find you. Law Father is a leading SEO and inbound marketing company and has years of experience working with attorneys all over the country. We can help you with any of your website and online marketing needs, including cleaning up your link profile. Contact Law Father today by calling 800-325-7715 or fill out the contact form on our website at www.lawfather.net.

The post Your Law Firm’s Link Profile – Disavowing Bad Backlinks appeared first on Law Father Law Firm SEO.

When most business owners and marketers hear about search engine marketing, they immediately think Google – and rightfully so. In a recent search engine market share study released by ComScore, Google remains the dominant player in the search engine field. In fact, as of March 2014, more than 67 percent of all online searches were conducted on Google. Following behind were Bing with 18 percent and Yahoo with 10 percent. Firmly occupying the bottom places, Ask Network received a 2.5 percent share, more than just the former giant AOL (1.3 percent).

Those numbers should not come as a surprise; in fact, they haven’t changed much for the past 1 1/2 years, as an October 2012 study by ComScore found nearly identical numbers. But what do they mean for your law firm’s marketing strategy?

The Benefits of Google

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Search engine marketing on Google will reach the highest potential audience. With a vast majority of internet users searching Google there is more potential exposure of your ppc ads or organic search results to potential clients. So if your firm has a significant budget, including search engine marketing on Google can have a dramatic affect on your law firm’s caseload.

Going with the Underdogs

But Google’s strength may also lead to its greatest problem: the company charges a massive premium for ad space. In fact, the cost per click on Google AdWords is over twice as high as it is for the Yahoo/Bing network, which seems like a considerable bargain in comparison. In fact, a recent click on Google’s pay network cost $125.00 just for one personal injury related click. That’s just one visitor and in no way a guaranteed client!

The high cost of search engine marketing via Google AdWords is not the only reason going with Yahoo or Bing may be a smart idea. Many companies flock to Google due to its high popularity, but putting some of your marketing dollars into Bing and Yahoo can significantly reducing the competition your law firm is likely to encounter when marketing on these important search engines.

At the end of the day, choosing the search engine on which to market comes down to budget considerations. If your digital marketing budget can take it, going with the industry leader in Google is a safe choice. But if you’re operating on a tighter budget, remember that 1/3 of all searches *(over 50 billion each month) take place away from Google, and can be targeted for a significantly lower cost. Contact us today to let us help you explore the perfect search engine marketing strategy for your business!

The post Google Top Dog – But Bing and Yahoo Still Worth a Shake appeared first on Law Father Law Firm SEO.