Google Search Engine

Has Google’s August Broad Core Algorithm Update Made Your SEO Rankings Drop?

Google SEO Rankings for Lawyers – Latest Google Update…. On August 1st, 2018, Google released a broad core algorithm update that seems to have had an impact on both local and organic rankings. One of the functions of the update has been to demote advice pages with questionable expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) in rankings. YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) websites and pages seem to have been a particular focus. You’ll no doubt have noticed, whether from reading the news or experiencing its effects yourself, that on August 1st, Google released what it’s called a ‘broad core algorithm’ update. This is the same way it referred to the updates in March and April, perhaps in an effort to move away from the irregular, major updates like Possum, Pigeon, Panda, etc. which inevitably send shockwaves throughout the SEO and content industry. What is E-A-T in SEO? E-A-T stands for ‘expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness’ and plays a big part in Google’s Search Quality Guidelines. I’m going to assume you don’t have the time right now to read the 164-page PDF I just linked to, so I’ll summarise this for you here. Making expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness big factors in Page Quality is Google’s way of trying to avoid negatively impacting people’s lives. By ranking sites that offer questionable advice from non-authoritative sources lower than more authoritative ones, they reduce the risk of searchers being scammed, or in more extreme cases, suffering worse physical and mental health. For example, as Google states in its guidelines, with regard to medical sites, “High E-A-T medical advice should be written or produced by people or organizations with appropriate medical expertise or accreditation. High E-A-T medical advice or information should be written or produced in a professional style and should be edited, reviewed, and updated on a regular basis.” This approach extends to news articles (something that’s particularly relevant these days), information pages, financial/legal/tax advice, home improvement sites, and even pages on hobbies such as photography or musicianship. Qualifying a website or content creator’s expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, without performing deep research into authors’ experience or qualifications, is highly subjective, so it’s assumed that Googlers have a way of fairly quickly assessing these factors for millions of websites. In this update, it would seem that websites with low E-A-T are being hit the hardest, so if you’re working with a local business with a tendency to overreach their expertise with their site content, you’ll want to look carefully at its site rankings and assess whether it’s time to find another way to highlight the worth of the site and business. What is a YMYL website? Another term that’s cropping up more since Google’s August core broad algorithm update is YMYL, which stands for ‘Your Money or Your Life’. What Google calls YMYL websites are closely tied to E-A-T, as they include pages that “could potentially impact the future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety of users.” YMYL isn’t a statement of quality; it’s more a category of page or website that has the potential to significantly affect someone’s life, for better or for worse. These include the following (per Google): Shopping or financial transaction pages Financial information pages Medical information pages Legal information pages Legal information pages News articles or public/official information pages important for having an informed citizenry Other (based on evaluator judgment) I’d encourage you to take a look at page 9 of the Google Search Quality Guidelines for more details on these. Conclusion This latest algorithm update, if what we’re seeing from the community is to be believed, may well have been focused on demoting YMYL pages with low E-A-T. Whilst this will definitely impact websites like forums with low-quality advice, it should be noted that local businesses are just as at risk (as shown by Joy and Marie above) from providing advice that doesn’t come from a place of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Google is basically saying here that you MUST create high quality content to prove your an expert, and if you do, you will be rewarded with higher rankings. That actually seems fair and is a huge reason for lawyers to have more content done. Write articles, do blog posts, create FAQs, create many videos.

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Google My Business (GMB) Marketing for Lawyers

Google Local SEO for Attorneys We have a special going for lawyers who want to get top Google My Business rankings and get more 5 star reviews from Google.    You can try this for FREE for 30 days to see how it works and only pay $499 and 99 per month for ongoing local seo and review marketing work. We have put together a package for lawyers that covers what any lawyer needs…….. #1- To have your firm listed in the Google Local 3 pack for keywords related to your practice #2- To have a system setup to make it easier to get 5 star reviews at Google #3- To have new Images, Videos and Content created and used on your blog and social media accounts #4- To have your NAP (Name, Address and Phone #) all setup and consistent across all sites. #5- To have high quality citations setup for your lawfirm at a number of different related sites and directories. #6 – Having a Press Release done announcing any news related to your law firm. The press release will then be distributed to 100’s of news media sites and will contain a link to your website and your firms NAP, Name, Address and Phone #, which are then citations that are listed at numerous high ranking and trusted media sites.   This can have a big impact on your Local SEO results.    * This is an advanced feature performed after first month and part of ongoing monthly service. ** SPECIAL Lawyer Local SEO & Reviews Package – 100% FREE FOR 30 Days, No Commitment and if your not satisfied with the results after the first 30 days, you can cancel and pay nothing. After the first 30 days, then it’s a one time flat fee of $499 and then mk$99 per month for the ongoing Local SEO & Review work on your site.   You can cancel anytime and no contracts. Sign up now below to start your free 30 day trial.  We will start the initial work to get your site better listed in the Google 3 pack, have the review system setup and create graphics and videos for your firm.    We are confident that you will want to continue the service after you see the initial results.  We then have a number of advanced things we will do including the creation and distribution of a press release with your firms contact information. [Contact_Form_Builder id=”13″]

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Google SEO Five Step Special Package to #1

Do You Need Your Website Ranked Higher in Google? Thats an obvious answer but what you really probably need is website traffic of people looking for your legal services.    Google organic traffic should be your #1 target, then having social media accounts setup and fresh content on a regular basis will help get your ranked higher in Google.  You can rank #1 for many keywords if you do it right. We have put together a 5 Step Plan that will guarantee your law firm site comes up #1 at Google for keywords related to your local area and practice area.   You want a LOT of keywords ranking at Google and the key to that is fresh content for your blog and social media sites. **** JULY SPECIAL – Google SEO For Lawyers Package – $3750 worth of SEO Services for $799!! No Monthly Fees!!!  We are running a special this month for lawyers and now is the time to take action on your legal website.     This package has EVERYTHING and a TON of value.  The bottom line is that these days it takes a lot more to be ranked high in Google.   You need content, social media sites, links, citations and more. You want to rank not only at Google organic search, but also Google Local and Google Video searches.      This package has it all, money back guarantee. —> Fill out contact form to get started now.    We are only taking the first 25 law firms for this special.  (Read below for everything included in this package) Google SEO for Lawyers 5 Step Plan Step – I: Full Website SEO Health Check (Day 1) • Initial Backlinks analysis • Google Penalty Check • Competition Analysis Step – II: On Page Optimization: (week-1) • Keyword Research (12 best keyword suggestions) • On page Changes Up to 10 Pages • Title Tags Optimization • META Tags Optimization • Content Optimization • HTML Code Optimization • Internal Linking Optimization • Heading Tags Optimization • Images Optimization • Hyperlink Optimization • Robots.txt Creation/Optimization • Sitemap Creation • Google Webmaster Tools Setup • Bing Webmaster Tools Setup • Google Analytics Setup & Integration Step: III: Social Media Marketing  (We will create accounts if needed, or optimize existing social accounts) • Facebook Account Setup • Twitter Account Setup • Google+ Account Setup • Linkedin+ Account Setup • Instagram + Account Setup • 5 Unique Social Media Posting Step: IV: Local SEO Optimization  (This is KEY to getting ranked on the Google My Business & Map Listings) • NAP Syndication • Google Business Page Creation • Bing Local Listing Creation • Local Map Optimization • 10 Local Citations listings • 5 Local Business Listings • 5 Local classified listing Step: V: Content Marketing & Link Building • Search Engine Submissions • 2 Blogs Writing • 10 Blog Posting Links • 10 Blogs Social Bookmarking Links • 1 Press Release Writing • 5 Press Release Links • 2 Guest Blogging Links • 1 Article Writing • 2 article links • 5 Image Sharing Links • 20 high authority directory links • 5 Social sites Links • 2 Video Sharing Links • 1 PDF Sharing Links • 2 Audio Sharing Links • 20 Social Bookmarking —> Fill out contact form to get started now.    We are only taking the first 25 law firms for this special. 

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Lawyers Need an SSL Certificate by July per Google

GOOGLE SEO MARKETING FOR LAWYERS: SSL is Needed Upgrade your WEB HOSTING to a webhost that automatically gives you the SSL Security certificate and so that you have the https instead of the standard http.    When people on Google chrome visit a site without SSL, they will warn them that its NOT SECURE.  That will turn a LOT of people off bottom line.  Also its possible that you will get a boost in your organic SEO rankings by having SSL, so its really a no brainer and you should upgrade ASAP. —> Contact us about setting up SSL for your law firm.  Google Chrome to Flag Sites with SSL Certificates as Insecure GOOGLE HAS MADE JULY AS THE DEADLINE FOR SSL On February 8th, Google made clear its intentions to formally mark websites lacking SSL Certificates (the certificate which once installed on the website results in an HTTPS secure URL string) as insecure. Google has confirmed a date of “early July 2018” as the start date. They have also disclosed how they will alert web surfers of the non-HTTPS status, or not secure. Sites that remain on the HTTP non-secure protocol will be flagged with a warning in the URL bar of the surfer’s browser. The non-secure flag will be built into the release of Chrome 68, which will be ready for download in early July. HTTPS encryption growth shows that most site owners are taking Google’s warnings seriously. However, it remains that a large group of site owners has been less than motivated to make the change. This adaptive lag is likely a result of confusion over what HTTPS encryption is, the annual cost associated with HTTPS encryption maintenance, and general laziness. WHAT IS AN SSL CERTIFICATE? An SSL certificate is a security certificate that once installed on a web server activates a secure connection between the browser the surfer is viewing the content on and the web server that the content is derived from initially. The website’s URL protocol will change from HTTP to HTTPS. Currently, a security padlock will also be present in the URL as a way to further signal the status of the website’s Google SSL certificate. SSL certificates help the web cut down on instances of cybercrime that are often performed through security loopholes in web browsers. If the connection between the surfer’s web browser and web server are not secure through an SSL connection, a moderately skilled hacker could seize information, such as credit card numbers, as it is being typed into a form on an unsecured website. SSL SECURITY FOR LAWYERS Why are Google SSL Requirements Important? —> Establishes Trust and Builds Brand Power —> Provides Encryption of Sensitive Information —> Provides Authentication —> Contact us about setting up SSL for your law firm. 

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NEW – Google My Business Agency Dashboard

Announced by Google just over a month ago, but finally launched today, Google My Business Agency Dashboard aims to give agency partners full control over their multi-location clients’ multiple GMB profiles. You can register here to get access to the new dashboard. —> Read our 2018 Google My Business TIPS for Lawyers This news is long-awaited by the countless poor SEOs previously stuck manually logging into a separate GMB profile for each location, and, provided it works as well as it claims, this could drastically improve the efficiency and efficacy of your GMB profile updates. Coming as it does after a raft of new features for and improvements to Google My Business (and the local search experience as a whole), this is a timely reminder that Google is taking local SEO very seriously in 2018. Here’s a rundown of the main features in the Google My Business Agency Dashboard: Google My Business Agency Dashboard Features Manage an unlimited (well, Google says ‘thousands’) number of locations from within one account. New ‘Location Groups’ can be set up to collect organizations. Access to the Location Group can by sought by or given by both client and agency. Quick search function allows for easier access to locations within your entire account or Location Group. User Groups help management of teams and access control, with permission levels available for different user types. Invite others to manage listings and view invite status. There are new things that Google is adding every month to the GMB interface.  You can now add short 30 second videos to your listing.   You can also add posts to your listing, so the post will show up under your listing on the google page. Call us today at 630-202-9208 or fill out the online SEO analysis contact form for a free estimate. —> Read our 2018 Google My Business TIPS for Lawyers

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Google My Business (GMB) Marketing Tips

Lawyer GMB SEO Marketing Tips Google My Business (GMB) is more important then ever and should be one of the first things that you do for your law firms Internet marketing strategy. Google is obviously the most important search engine but usually people think organic results and where your ranked for certain keywords.   Yet really its possible that even if your firm low or no organic rankings, you can possibly dominate the local seo results. What is Google My Business? Google My Business is a free service designed to make it easy for local businesses to manage their listings in Google search results. Anytime you search Google for local services in your area, you have likely seen Google My Business at work. It displays results on a map, and lists other important details about businesses, including their contact information, website, and even reviews. Since Google is the premier search engine online, listing your law firm with Google’s My Business is essential for proper search engine optimization, or SEO. A basic approach to Google My Business is to list your law firm’s name, address, and contact information. When someone searches your firm by name, your firm’s listing appears to the right of the Google search results. The display therefore gives your firm much more attention than a search link in a list of other firms. LAWYER GOOGLE MY BUSINESS MARKETING TIPS 1. Claim your Google My Business Profile If you haven’t claimed your law firms GMB profile, which stands for Google My Business – also known as the local 3 pack – then you need to get this done right away. GMB profiles are some of the first organic listings people see when searching for law firms. By default, many firms already have a GMB profile created by Google and sometimes you will find that certain lawyers will have a GMB profile that is created by Google, and sometimes your clients will find this and even though you haven’t claimed or verified this listing, they still can leave you a review. So it makes sense to claim these listings so that you can not only optimize it, but you respond to any reviews you might get. Walk through the following process to claim it: Search for your law firm or attorney name in Google When you see the Knowledge Graph card for your firm, click on the ‘Are you the owner?’ link near the bottom. Start the process of verifying the firm’s ownership. Note that Google will want you to verify ownership in one of two ways – either by phone or through regular mail.  Once you’ve verified ownership, you can edit your GMB profile. 2. Add Photos & Videos to your GMB Lawyer profile Make sure your GMB profile is complete and contains consistent contact information.  Then adding as many images as possible of your law firm can help it rank far better in the local 3 pack.    So add all the existing images you might have put on your blog and facebook. Then create more images and get creative.  Try to have a LOT of images, like 30 – 50! You can do it over time and it seems to make a difference. Here are some image ideas to get you started: show your legal offices on the inside and outside show your firms team, partners, and you describe the areas of law that you practice show your firms logo include your firms tag lines, quotes, or other marketing messages You do not want to put generic stock images or videos into your Google listing.  Google wants images that are related to your firm and what your firm does. So this means photos of the people who work at firm, photos of your locations and the type of law you practice. 3. Onsite Website Optimization Onsite SEO are the things done to your website structure to make it rank well, This is one of the most top tasks you can do to achieve good local rankings. Start with a location-based page: Create a location-based page for the keyword phrases you want to rank for. An example could be ‘Chicago auto accident lawyer’ or ‘Michigan Malpractice Attorney.’   Then you can create other location posts for all the different cities, zips, neighborhoods in your area and then interlink them together. Here are some other tips: Include the location in the copy of the page Include the keyword phrase in the title, the headings, meta description and URL of the page Include the keyword as an image file name of any images on the page Include the keyword in any alt attributes of images on the page Add your firms NAP (name, address, phone number) to the header: Your firm’s name, address and phone number should be on the header of every page, but especially on location-based pages or pages that link to your Google my business – GMB profile. This should also be the same information used in other listings around the web. Make sure it’s all consistent. Substantial quality content: Include a lot of useful content on your pages. Most short articles are like 300 words. So articles longer than 500 words is a good start and the longer the better. 2000 words is a really good start and if you are trying to rank for highly competitive keywords, then the longer the better. 4. Citation signals: Mentions of your firm NAP across the web Citations are like links and are the fuel towards getting higher Google local rankings. Building citations is one of the most influential strategies for ranking well in local search. Citations are simply mentions of your law firm’s NAP, which is Name, Address and Phone numbers on other websites such as directories, social media profiles, business listing websites, and data aggregators. You want to get listings at all of the obvious top directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages and a number of other places that will list your law firm.   Most of these will automatically create listings for your

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How to Deal with Fake Bad Google Reviews

Reputation Management for Lawyers One Star Fake Google Reviews for Law Firms – It Happens! Getting Google Reviews is a KEY part of your online lawyer SEO strategy these days.   Sometimes you will get a bad 1 or two star review and thats just how it goes, you cant please everyone and some people will just use the review system to take out their frustrations with a possible bad outcome of their case.   YET you must monitor your reviews for possible FAKE reviews.     You should know anytime you get a new review, then its a good idea to read it and possibly respond to it. DO PEOPLE REALLY LEAVE FAKE REVIEWS? Yep. No doubt about it and usually this will be about people who decide to hire other people to leave fake GOOD 5 star reviews.  Yet those same people might also decide that getting a 5 star review for them is good, but how about trying to sabotage a competitor with some FAKE one star reviews?  It can happen and Ive seen it a few times now where a law firm all of a sudden will get a one star review that looks SUSPECT. Receiving a fake review on your Google My Business profile is not a rare occurrence. In fact, it is quite common and something many businesses have experienced. Both Yelp and Amazon have sued fake review posters and in New York the State Attorney General took action against 19 NY based companies involved in fake reviews back in 2013. Legal action hasn’t stopped or prevented fake reviews from continuing to be published, nor has paying huge fines, but that doesn’t mean as a legal business owner there is no way to fight back. How Can You Spot Fake Reviews? Well usually its obvious if its a review from someone you dont recognize and not the name of any past clients.  Also if they dont leave an actual review and just leave a 1 star review with no content, thats a possible sign it might be fake.    Google has a set of guidelines for reviews and if someone breaks them, then its possible to get review removed. Trying to have a fake or spammy Google review removed can sometimes feel as frustrating as receiving the review, however; it is still important to make attempts to have the review removed, even though there is no guarantee that Google will take it down. STEPS TO TAKE IN ORDER TO HAVE FAKE REVIEW REMOVED AT GOOGLE #1- Respond to the Review from your Google My Business account While you may not be able to have the review removed, you do have the ability to respond. Yes, if the review is indeed fake you will not be able to actually resolve the problem for this person, however; you can make it clear to other customers and prospective customers that you are aware of the review, you take what reviewers say seriously, and that as a business you are dedicated to remedying situations “like this.” Just as there are guidelines for leaving a review, Google has some tips for responding. Your response should not be defensive, keep it brief, and do your best to respond as you would for a negative review. #2 – Flag the Review You can notify the team at Google regarding a violation of their review policy by flagging the specific review. 1. Hover over the review in question and a flag icon will appear. 2. Click the Flag icon and you will be taken to the Report a policy violation page. 3.  Enter your company E-mail address and select the Violation Type Then you’re done. You will only hear from a team member if they require additional details from you or if they have information to share with you. When flagging a review: A) If you can, have several people flag the review in question. There is power in numbers and it’s possible it may help increase awareness and ideally action. B) Once a review is flagged try to wait a couple of days for a response or ideally for it to be removed, however; if the review is loaded with hate-speech, profanity, and/or has highly sensitive content, I would say escalate it immediately. Flag and report, then immediately contact a Google support team member. #3- Report the Review to Google Small Business Support If the fake review has not been removed using the flagging method, get in touch with a support associate. You can do this through: 1. The Google My Business Dashboard Log into your GMB page. Go to the Reviews section. Click on the home menu and select Support. Choose a method of Contact – Phone or Email. Fill in the necessary contact parameters, Add a screenshot of the review in question, and wait patiently (you should hear back within 24-48 Hours). #4 – Tweet the Small Business Support Team via Twitter The small business team is knowledgeable and also takes around 24 – 48 hours to get in touch with you (no guarantee though). Sign in to Twitter. Send a Tweet from your company account to the Google Small Biz team. Once you hear back from someone, explain the situation and go from there. ** Make Your Case Okay, so you have finally got in touch with a Google associate from the small business support team, now what? Well, you have to make a case and do your best to show why the review is false, how it violates their policies, why it should be removed, any images, links, or other details that backup your claim. After you report it to a support associate and make your case, they will advise you of whether or not they will escalate the review(s) to a “specialist,” this specialist makes the determines the outcome. Once a decision has been made you will receive a phone call or email confirmation from the small business support associate who was helping you. REPUTATION MANAGEMENT FOR LAWYERS Do you need help with getting more Google reviews?  Do

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Google Local SEO For Attorneys

Google Local SEO for Lawyers Local SEO for law firms is a different animal than organic SEO, it’s more about how your legal site comes up in the local search results. Usually it’s a reference to the Google Local Business directory listings that come up when a user does a search of a local area or zipcode. The Google Map comes up along with 3 listings, otherwise known as the Google “3 Pack”, this has changed over the years and keeps going down. You want your law firm to be in these listings for your local city and zipcode.    Visitors from your own city deliver high-quality traffic and leads to your law firm.  So you want to make sure for starters that your Google My Business is setup, verified and optimized.   Then there are a whole bunch of different business directories that you want to make sure your legal site is setup at.  Some are obvious like Yelp and AVVO, but there are 100’s of different possible sites that your site might already be setup at. YET the key with Local SEO is consistency and you want to make sure that your law firms NAP (Name, Address and Phone #) are all coming up the same at the different directories. This means the exact same spelling, same phone #’s and everything else. If you have older office locations still coming up, then you might have a more difficult time with Local SEO. You want to get “Citations” of your firms contact info.  Citations are mentions of your law firm with your contact info at different sites and directories.  The more citations you have at high quality sites, the better your Local SEO results will be.   Getting citations from local area businesses can make a big difference in your Lawyer Local SEO campaign. FREE ATTORNEY LOCAL SEO ESTIMATE Call us today at 630-393-0460 or fill out the form below regarding what kind of wordress service you need for your law firm.

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Getting Ranked in Google My Business 3 Pack

Lawyer Google Local SEO Marketing Is your law firm site listed on the Google maps when you do a search at Google for your location and practice area? You want to be found in the Google 3 Pack for local searches.   Google will show the map on MOST search keywords but not all.  So sometimes the map results will come up for one keyword but not another.  You want to make sure your firm is well ranked for as many keywords as possible.    Getting well listed at Google Maps is like getting ranked well at the organic listings, not easy! You have to take a number of steps in order to have your site come up in the local 3 pack including…. #1- Claim & Optimize your Google My Business Listing The foundation of a great local SEO campaign is an optimized Google listing.We have perfected the creation, verification, and optimization process for our clients. When it comes to local business advertising, an accurate and informative listing on Google is as valuable as having an ad in the yellow pages 20 years ago. SO here you must claim and verify your listing, then optimize it for starters.  You want to make sure you add as much information on your firm as you can, then also choose the right category and then add a lot of images to your listing.  Images of the firm, the office, the location your in and any images related to your practice areas.  #2-Claim & Setup other Business Listings at top Directories You want to make sure your law firm has verified listings at other top directories on the Internet.  YELP is obvious, Facebook business page is a must and the list goes on.   You want to not only claim and verify these listings, but you want to optimize them.  These listings are considered “Citations” which are simply mentions of your firms Name, Address and Phone #, AKA NAP.    If Google sees you have all these other listings setup and verified, #3- Do On Site Optimization with focus on Local You want to make sure that you optimize your site for Local by optimizing the Titles and Descriptions on certain pages for your Local area. You want to have a different pages for different locations including zip codes.  If your #4- CITATION WORK – Find existing citations, fix citations and get new citations #5- REVIEWS – We can help you get new reviews and help improve your local online reputation —-> Why getting Google Reviews for your Firm is Key —-> SPECIAL – Lawyer Google Review Campaign Signup —-> Getting 5 Star Reviews for your Law Firm Process [divider height=”30″ style=”default” line=”default” themecolor=”1″]  

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Google Removes Right Hand Sidebar Ads

GOOGLE NEWS FOR LAWYERS – PPC MARKETING Starting on February 19th, Google began phasing out sidebar ads from their search engine results pages. They will now show one to four ads before the organic search results, and the rest will be pushed to the bottom of the page. SO This only effects Pay Per Click advertisers, because now there is less ad space. No more ads on the right side seems like a waste of space, so who knows what Google is doing here, yet you can bet it has something to do with MOBILE. Google is all Mobile, all the time. The update – which is described as “global and permanent” will only apply to desktop searches, which may affect the traffic you see from desktop devices. According to Search Engine Journal: “High volume and general search terms have been most severely affected by the update so far. Long-tail and niche terms will begin to see their right hand ads disappear in the coming weeks.” This change hasn’t yet rolled out to mobile, so it remains to be seen if/when that will happen and what the results will be… Search Engine Journal

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