Marketing “experts” and self-proclaimed “gurus” all claim to have the secret to search engine success. To make it easy to understand, we have outlined some key points on what it means to optimize a law firm's presence on the web… not just their website.

The Website

Your website should be built with conversion and user experience in mind. Is the website easy to navigate? Can search engines and human visitors easily access all pertinent information? Is it easy for visitors to contact your firm? Optimization of a website is not just about keyword placement; it’s about optimizing the user experience.

Inbound Links

Google has finally cracked down on where your links originate. Link exchanges, paid links and website directories that accept links from anybody about anything are now getting blocked by Google. While they may not directly punish your website, they are discrediting those links, making them valueless to your website's ranking.

Real links come from real valuable sources. Your link building strategy should consist of local directories like Angie's List, Yelp and Yahoo Local. These are places that will help with your Google Local ranking. You can also get links from website directories that are highly respected such as Yahoo Directory, Dmoz, Joeaunt.com and other human edited directories.

Relevant directories are also acceptable. Using lawyer directories or legal resource guides can help drive quality links that will give value to your site because the directories are highly relevant to the content of your law firm's website.

Content driven links are also very valuable. News releases, blogs and articles published with niche communities provide high quality links with long term benefits.

Social Networking

Your law firm's online world must be connected. Your blogs, news articles and activity should be synced with your Facebook page, Twitter profile and LinkedIn profile and get constant updates. Manually updating your Google Plus page is also important. By connecting your blog to these social networks, your website’s activity will power your social activity. An active lawyer website looks good to search engines and to potential social followers.

Beyond Search

An optimized presence means exposure and branding. Sometimes, exposure comes from a practice that offers no value to your search engine ranking.

Email newsletters are great for getting referrals from past clients. A monthly newsletter to past clients and colleagues keeps your firm in front of an audience of potential lead sources. Email newsletters can even be generated by your law firm's blog feed to automate the process. Keeping the blog active will keep fresh content going out to subscribers.

An email newsletter will not do anything for your ranking, but it’s a useful component to achieving the optimized online presence.