YouTube rolled out its new One Channel platform over the spring and early summer. By now, whether you have set up your channel or not, any YouTube accounts you have should have long been converted to the new design. With the changes, Google is attempting to make the site more of a subscription based destination, rather than a video hosting site. As the name implies, all users now have a channel...
Aug 30
How to use negative space to enhance user experience
One of the challenges of website design is combining many disparate items like text, pictures, links and illustrations into a harmonious page. If a layout is not well thought out, even the most beautiful design elements will suffer from poor display.
Some websites succumb to the misconception that visitors must be given as much information as possible as soon as they land on a page, which leads to an attempt to...
Read MoreAug 23
Nine types of blog entries to help generate good topic ideas
Marketers have been telling attorneys to blog for years, since it became obvious that content would rule the online marketing world. Scheduled blogging makes your website relevant to visitors, gives people a reason to trust your expertise and provides a consistent stream of content that is helpful when building organic links to your site.
Good blog entries take time. If you are blogging on a regular schedule, it can seem...
Read MoreAug 21
Branding is more than a buzzword, it could influence your search ranking
Google has had an active summer, much to the chagrin of many, from a high-profile Penguin update to changes to its link scheme guidelines. But, as Eric Enge pointed out in an article about Google's quality control process, the search giant doesn't really care whether it ranks your site accurately. Google is interested in increasing overall search quality, not in small, individual cases. The best way to...
Aug 14
Four Ways Gmail Inbox Tabs Could Be a Positive Development for Email Marketing
Those who use Gmail have, by this point, probably started to see their inboxes organized into tabs. Google began rolling out the new tabbed layout on May 29, and users have, over the past several months, been logging in to find the new filtering system in place for them.
Gmail now divides emails into three categories: Primary, Social and Promotions. Two additional tabs, Updates and Forums, can be added using...
Read MoreAug 5
Associating your law firms name with a good crowd
The July issue of Bigger Law Firm magazine features a column by Ryan Conley, Into The Future of SEO.
In it, Conley made a case for citations becoming as important as inbound links. Your law firm should embrace this concept with open arms.
Here is how it works:
1) Smith & Smith, LLP setup their Google+ Local page, connecting the profile to their website, lawexample.com.
2) In their profile,...
Read MoreAug 2
How to Write Content that Captures Your Readers’ Attention, Part 3: Compelling Copy
This is part 3 in a series of posts about how to write content that people actually want to read and share. Part 1, which you can read here, focused on legal marketing article titles. Part 2 focused on email subject lines and can be found here.
Capturing readers' attention and delivering content that ranks well in search results are quickly becoming the same thing. Search engines...
Read MoreJul 29
Does Active Blogging Pay off for Law Firms?
We recently conducted a study to see if blogging really impacted search engine rankings. We searched for highly-competitive terms in some of the America's largest cities and reviewed the top three natural rankings. Aside from blog activity, we also looked at the overall number of pages on the sites and social activity.
The results were mixed, but we found some interesting similarities. We looked at five key practice areas in...
Read MoreJul 26
How to Write Content that Captures Your Readers’ Attention, Part 2: Email
This is part 2 in a series of posts about how to write content that people actually want to read and share. Part 1, which you can read here, focused on legal marketing article titles.
Marketers have been trying to invent new ways to get people's attention since the invention of the profession. This is particularly true online, where visitors' already short attention spans are even shorter. Email marketing is...
Jul 24
7 Ways to Enhance Your Local Search Marketing Efforts
With the release of Penguin 2.0 in May, Google made it apparent that, among other things, a business's location would play a little more heavily in search results. You may have noticed over the last few months that businesses near you are getting preferential placement in results for non-geo-specific terms like “sushi” or “veterinarian.” Your firm can take advantage of this development by adding a targeted local strategy to your...