Law Firm SEO and Testimonials

I usually suggest that our clients consider using customer testimonials on their website. Business people across all industries agree that a word-of-mouth recommendation is the best business builder. People like doing business with companies that their friends recommend or colleagues. You trust your friends to know your tastes and preferences and to not lead you astray.

There are several ways you can take advantage of the tried and true customer testimonial by incorporating them  into your website, social media postings and even YouTube videos.

• Of course the easiest way to get testimonials are the ones which are given freely by clients via an email or hand-written card. However, it is very acceptable nowadays to solicit a testimonial from a satisfied client. 
• Consider as a part of your trial completion process building in a Customer Satisfaction Survey which includes a space for comments. These comments often form great testimonials.
• Let clients know you are comfortable with them giving you a testimonial from social media networks such as LinkedIn, or even FaceBook and Twitter. Ask that they include a link to your website.
• With the advent of the affordable Flip Video Camcorder,  or Sony Bloggie, it's easy for anyone to capture client testimonials. Client video testimonials have proven to work very well for me, and the authenticity of the message is undeniable. These videos can be uploaded to your site or YouTube. But as always, lawyers must approach this with caution and use only when appropriate.
•  Always be sure to tell clients how the testimonial will be used. I usually show clients the proposed usage of any testimonial before I publish it (especially if you've revised any misspellings or grammatical errors). Ask their permission if you'd like to use their name.

Testimonials can be as powerful as an advertising campaign and certainly should be included in your arsenal of online marketing strategies.

For further information on Law Firm SEO please visit AJIS.com or call us at 623.328.8906.

Google Makes Official Meta Tag Statement

It's official -- Matt Cutts (Head of the webspam team at Google) recently blogged and posted a video snipet that Google does NOT consider 'Keyword MetaTags' when ranking sites. That said ..... before you go deleting all of your keyword Metas or mistakenly believe that they are no longer needed in SEO, HOLD YOUR HORSES! Yes, Matt clearly states they do not use the 'keyword metas'; however he also clearly states they DO use 'description metas', and for some reason, does not address the 'title tag'. How should we react to this startling revelation? By NOT reacting at all. Consider the following.

1. Most all of my SEO clients have great Google search engine positions for their focus of law.

2. We pay great attention to all of our (your) Meta Tags -- Title, Description & Keyword.

So what gives? I've said it a million times, but at the risk of repeating myself I'll say it again :) A solid SEO strategy like ours does not rely on one component, but a compilation of components that we've proven have successful results. By eliminating your keyword meta tag, you will eliminate a major component of your total strategy and probably do major damage to your rankings at other engines such as MSN/Yahoo/Bing. Who's to say that in a year or 2 (which is the estimated time that this merger is expected to be in full swing) Bing won't be the new Google? Then you'll be sunk! At AJIS we will continue using our proven multi-faceted SEO method that has sent our clients to the TOP of the engines.

Here's a perfect model case to prove my point. I just checked my Traffic Analyzer for New Jersey LawSite. Google has sent me (you) close to 1,000 visitors so far today making them my top search engine in sending me (you) visitors. No surprise there -- we're always in the Top 5. The next highest engine that sent us traffic was -- you guessed it -- Bing. So on down the line as follows: Yahoo, AOL, Search, Ask. So without the 'Keyword MetaTag' at New Jersey LawSite, we may have robbed ourselves of at least another 500 or so visitors sent from those combined engines. Pretty significant, wouldn't you say?

So in closing -- a simple plea from little ole me. PLEASE do not mess with anything at your site that may affect the success you are now enjoying at ALL of the engines, including Google. Your success is ours!

These SEO Tips are a service to New Jersey Lawyers at New Jersey LawSite

Don't Forget -- Basic SEO is ALWAYS First

OK, so lately I've been spending a lot of time getting everyone on board with social media. Its an important strategy that needs to be added to your SEO plan. But just in case I haven't made this perfectly clear, let me say it again, Basic SEO should ALWAYS come first.

The whole point of social media as part of SEO is to please the search engines by directing lots of fresh links to your site. BUT, if the search engines don't like your site in the first place, using social media alone will be a real uphill battle -- one that will often be lost. See our past post on Basic SEO 101 to make sure you've got the essentials down. Once your site is established and the search engines are paying attention to it, social media will only enhance that relationship. Think of it as eHarmony for your site and the search engines :)

Need help with your online SEO and social media marketing? Just drop us an email -- its what we've successfully been doing since 1996!

These SEO Tips are a service to New Jersey Lawyers at New Jersey LawSite