For the first time, Google has released the full version of its Quality Raters Guidelines and Handbook. Google provides the 160 page .pdf to its human testers, who perform searches and rate the results based on these guidelines. Google then uses this rating information to enhance its algorithm in an attempt to continuously improve results for searchers.
Raters assign a Page Quality rating based on a sliding rating scale. The scale contains five primary rating options: Lowest, Low,...
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Adviatech was founded in 2005 and shortly thereafter we found our niche: helping law firms grow. We promoted our lawyer-focused products under Adviatech Legal Marketing until 2007 when we created the SEO | Law Firm brand and seolawfirm.com. We are very proud of what we accomplished under SEO | Law Firm. It’s the brand that put us on the map, helped us thrive during the recession, and was the spring board for Custom Legal Marketing.
The name SEO |...
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Google recently removed a search feature that was a favorite among SEO professionals, but an alternative remains available.
Until recently, Google search users could set a location and view search results as if the user were in that location. This was provided alongside other filters such as date range, which are accessible by clicking on “Search tools” at the top of a results page. SEO professionals used this to understand how results differed for users in various locations. Travelers could...
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Storytelling is integral to branding, marketing and design. Stories are compelling, and they move people to act in a way that raw data cannot.
The psychology of stories
Marketers have long made the claim that every brand needs a good story. And a growing body of scientific evidence now supports this assertion. According to psychologists Melanie Green and Tim Brock, reading fictional stories changes the way humans process information. The more absorbed people are in a story, the...
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Last week Google revealed it has been using RankBrain, a machine learning process, to help return results for a large number of search queries. Google began a slow, quiet rollout of the update in early 2015, and RankBrain has been completely live and in use for searches globally for the past several months.
With the addition of RankBrain to its algorithm, Google is attempting to better predict what information people are searching for by using past queries to learn...
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One piece of advice included in almost all articles about branding and design is this: simplify everything. Reduce noise and clutter in your design, distill content down to is essence and stop trying to shout louder than everyone else to be heard.
Marketers give this advice because it works. Having too many choices prevents consumers from making a purchasing decision. Being confronted with too much visual noise prevents visitors from being able to effectively navigate a website. Simplicity is...
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The idea of publishing long articles seems to fly in the face of conventional marketing wisdom. People, we are told, have short attention spans. Content should be bite-sized and concise. Otherwise, you will lose your audience; they simply don't have the patience to read long articles.
Data tells a different story. Long-form content ranks well, gets readers and keeps them engaged. Having long-form content available on your site also helps your firm establish its authority — both with search engines...
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The qualities of a good attorney website have changed considerably over the past several years. Infrequently updated, brochure style websites no longer meet the needs of firms that wish to pursue an integrated on- and offline marketing strategy. Websites must be designed to keep visitors interested. They should contain current, relevant content and give users plenty of opportunity to take actions that generate leads for the firm.
Having a website is the bare minimum. A thoughtfully developed website that...
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You could read 50 articles about modern SEO tactics and probably discover 50 different theories. But our friends at the Custom Legal Marketing Lab are less interested in theories and more interested in science. Recently, they conducted hundreds of searches in all practice areas and many major cities in the United States. Then, they conducted a link analysis on the top 2 ranking law firms in each of these markets.
The result? The No. 1 website does not have...
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Errors and content inaccuracies are the top reasons people list as causes to mistrust a website. According to a report from Neustar and the Ponemon Institute, 91 percent of consumers claim they do not trust a website that contains mistakes.
Respondents cited frequent downtime as their second biggest concern, with 88 percent saying that they do not trust a website that is unavailable. Load time can also be a negative trust factor, with 67 percent of respondents saying...
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