SEMPO Blog | Top of Search = Top of Mind ®

Top 6 SEO Tips for Law Firms

October 11, 2017 • SEO 101, SEO Advanced Practices • 102

There are some industries that are notoriously difficult to rank in the SERPs: law is one of them. This highly competitive field has left many search marketers scratching their heads in confusion, unable to acquire links using traditional forms of outreach, and unwilling to go the extra mile to develop pillar content that strikes a chord.

Working with a law firm can be discouraging. After all, in modern times pretty much every company within the legal sector is investing heavily in SEO—many will have budgets that put yours to shame! However, with the right strategy, a tailored approach, and a pricing model that reflects the extra effort, getting top rankings need not be difficult.

If you’re having trouble ranking websites in the legal sector, the following 6 tips will help.

1. Lose the Legal Jargon

The language of law may seem simple after seven years of training, but it’s important to remember that the average Joe won’t know the difference between a subpoena and summons—even I had to Google the answer at the time of writing! Don’t take your own knowledge for granted. Legal jargon will do nothing but alienate visitors.

2. Focus on Premium Content

We’ve all heard the buzzword “content is king” before. While we’re all pretty damn tired of hearing it, the message is as relevant as ever. Roughly 96 percent of people seeking legal advice will begin their search online. They won’t immediately start contacting law firms, but they will research how they can approach solving their issues. Therefore, to get people onto your website you need to make your blog a valuable resource.

3. Do Your Homework

You don’t have to spend seven years at Harvard to gain a basic understanding of law, particularly if the firm you’re working with specializes in a sub niche. Taking the time to learn the lingo is recommended, not only for content development, but also to gain a deeper understanding of your client’s needs. If it’s simply guest posts you’re after, consider hiring a legal writer instead of using SEO writers.

4. Optimize for Local Search

Local search results play a huge role in the SEO landscape. You’ll never compete with the big players on a national or international level; however, you can certainly become a market leader in your target town/city. If you haven’t already, set up and verify your Google+ Business page and input all of your company details, including a description of your services and contact details.

5. Conduct Reputation Management

A good law firm understands the importance of reputation management. Even in the digital sphere word-of-mouth advertising is your most powerful asset. Get people talking—in a positive light of course! Review websites will help you gain stars in the SERPs and testimonials will add legitimacy. Remember to use social media for public communication. If you ever find yourself on damage control, transparency and understanding—not anger—is the only way to effectively combat the problem.

6. Target Info/Purchase Intent Keywords

Google’s primary goal is to rank websites based on their relevancy to the search term. That’s why keywords will always be a major part of the SEO process. Make sure you have a good balance—50/50—of information related content/keywords and promotional content/keywords; the former to attract links and casual web browsers and the latter to convert those already nearing the end of the sales funnel into qualified leads.

When it comes to search engine optimization there is no “one size fits all” package. Every niche requires a different approach, as does every sub-niche. Law is a tricky beast with a lot of competition. However, it’s important to remember that most law firms outsource to SEO firms who themselves know little about the business. Tackle it right and you’ll automatically be ahead of 90 percent of the competition.
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The Relationship Between Website Design and SEO

October 9, 2017 • SEO 101 • 125

For years search marketers have placed far more emphasis on off-page SEO than quality design. Refining the look and feel of a website often tends to take the back seat, being treated as a luxury rather than a necessity. However, changes to Google’s algorithm – particularly 2017’s Fred update – have completely shifted the paradigm.

Mobile Compatibility is No Longer Optional

Last year a major internet milestone was hit: more searches were conducted on smartphones than desktop computers. For years search marketers have been told to place more emphasis on mobile functionality; however, many have ignored the warnings. Since a January 2017 update, Google started penalizing websites that aren’t optimized for mobile. If you’re yet to roll with these changes, get started as soon as possible.

Interactive Visual Content Ranks Higher

Throughout the last decade search marketers have tried to quantify the word count sweet spot for blog posts. Ten years ago it was 250 words, five years ago it was 500 words, and HubSpot have recently reported that articles between 2,250 and 2,500 words tend to perform the best. That said, as high search rankings are now strongly linked to time spent browsing, the numbers game means little without quality. Visual (pictures and videos) and interactive (clickable assets) content keep people on the page, and therefore, should always be factored into the “design” of an article.

Parallax Design Has Gone From Bad to Worse

Single page websites that seem to scroll on forever (parallax websites ) remove the traditional website structure that Google use to crawl. This will raise alarm bells. For example, instead of hosting a page like “.com/about”, a parallax URL will use “.com#about”, which isn’t listed in search engines. Therefore, instead of having multiple pages appear on Google, only one page will appear. Additionally, it means that you need to focus all your chosen keywords on one page, which can affect readability. While there are some good parallax websites on the web – they can be effective landing pages – they’re just not worth designing.

Digital Analytics Have Gained More Weight

The most effective way of assessing website performance is through digital analytics. Visitors, time spent browsing, pages per session and bounce rate are now all variables factored into Google’s ranking criteria. As a result, many affiliate marketers hosting shallow websites containing an abundance of sales links experienced an overnight traffic drop of between 50 and 90 percent in March 2017. Fundamentally, Google wants to send people to pages that are compelling. If you need to refresh your website’s look, check out Design Bundles.

Navigation Bars Are Grossly Understated

User experience should always take equal or more precedence than search engine optimization. After all, SEO means little if you can’t keep your visitors engaged and drive them further down the sales funnel. A good navigation structure that’s intuitive and familiar will not only help people find what they’re looking for quickly, but will provide an internal link to and from every page. This will make the entire site easier to crawl. Always plan your navigation page hierarchy chain – this is especially important if you use a drop-down menu.

Website Speed Still Matters

In the modern world speed is everything. People expect instant access to information on-the-fly and will not tolerate slow loading times. Even though broadband and fibre optic are the universal norm, poorly designed websites with messy code can still be slow – at least by today’s standards. Expect to lose two percent of conversions with every one second of loading time.

Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure. Perform an audit at least once every quarter to ensure all of the aforementioned elements are present on your website. Delving off course, even for a short period of time, could cause serious damage to your rankings.
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5 Merit-Worthy Standards a Good Search Engine Optimization Agency Follows

September 27, 2017 • Featured • 192
The rise of digital technology has changed the game for businesses of any size. The inability to adapt to changing times will leave you far behind, while your tech-savvy competitors steam ahead. A good search engine optimisation agency follows certain merit-worthy standards to ensure that you are not penalised in your endeavour to improve your rankings.

1. Plans Ethical White Hat Strategies to Minimize Possibility of Search Engine Penalties

Entering the online world isn’t easy with plenty of strategic considerations needed to get you to the top without following black-hat practices that could result in website penalties. SEO is immensely popular with most businesses today. Black-hat practices can get you to the top quickly, but they will ultimately lead to your downfall. Some of these practices include:
- - Link buying from unknown websites
  - Spamming
  - Doorway pages
  - Invisible texts
If you are caught following these practices, your rankings will drop dramatically. A good SEO company plans ethical white-hat strategies to minimise the possibility of search engine penalties for your long-term business gain. Always make sure the agency is upfront about their techniques when working with clients.

2. Offers No Hidden Costs

Without prior experience in the digital world, it’s hard to imagine what a good SEO strategy will cost you. Some unscrupulous SEO companies will offer a fixed price at the start, but may include some clauses that result in hidden costs expensed to your business. To prevent this from happening, here’s what you should do:
- Check the contract thoroughly to ensure no hidden costs other than the fee you’re paying
- Be wary of rates that seem too good to be true
- Don’t always go for the lowest priced competitor – you may not be getting your money’s worth
- Compare prices between different SEO companies so you’re aware of a ballpark figure
- Understand the services being offered against the cost segmentation
Honesty is an important quality for any business you work with, so make sure you choose someone who is trustworthy and dependable to minimise the possibility of paying for hidden costs in the future.

3. Brings a Wealth of Experience

Experience is a valuable asset for any business, and if you’re doing this for the first time, you’ll want an SEO agency that knows exactly what it is doing. Here’s what to look for when it comes to experience:
- Showcases a portfolio of clients with valuable results achieved
- History of success for clients in industries similar to or the same as yours
- Client references of past work
Results are important when choosing an SEO agency, so make sure anyone you work with is able to provide you with details of past work. This way you know you’re working with the right company for your business website SEO needs.

4. Flexibility to Fit Into Your Work Schedule

A good SEO company understands that you are busy running your business, and will adjust their services to resonate with your specific needs – rather than expecting you to accommodate them according to their schedules. Here’s how:
- Delivers reports based on your requisite timelines.
- Offers analytical support and research to resonate with your website performance.
- Pays strict attention to deadlines.
- Understands your unique requirements and offers a tailored strategy for your business.
Some agencies tend to work according to their own schedules, which can be frustrating for you as a business owner with minimal extra time. A good SEO agency will consider your working schedule, and will tailor a plan to suit your specific needs.

5. Sets Realistic Expectations

Unscrupulous agencies can make hefty promises about getting you to the first page on Google, but this is often just a fabrication in order to win your business. A good SEO agency is honest from the start. Here’s what you can expect:
- Provides an honest assessment of where you are currently and how far you can go based on your budget
- Suggests a realistic timeline about how long it will take to improve your rankings
- Offers in-depth detail on what you need to do to boost your SEO rankings
If you’re promised top search engine results from the word go, be very wary of the agency. While the ultimate goal is to get you the best possible ranking, unrealistic #1 promises don’t happen overnight or may not happen at all based on the type of industry you’re in. Ultimately, you want to rank your best, and a good agency helps set realistic expectations for your business.

A good search engine optimisation agency uses these principles to help your business, so look out for them when making your choice.
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Upgrading Your Mobile PPC Marketing

September 22, 2017 • Featured, Mobile, PPC 101 • 251

Make Sure Your Site is Mobile Optimized

The first step towards getting the most out of your mobile traffic is to let it in. Remember, it is always a frustration to users who try to visit a site only to be shut out simply because they have the wrong device. In addition, it may cost you a valuable visitor or two apart from the losses in time and resources.

Consider the Number of Leads You Wish to Generate

If by using mobile PPC you intend to generate as many leads as possible, leave out the many text boxes in which users are required to fill with text. Few users are likely to endure the whole process while they can get whatever they want from somewhere else without so much hustle. In the end, you lose a potential customer (who is not likely to return) to your competitor.

Remember that there are long and short pages. It is, therefore, important to consider the types of lead you wish to generate. While the leads generated by long pages are fewer, they are usually higher quality. On the other hand, you stand to reap huge volumes of leads generated from short pages but their quality may be lower.

Make Use of Ad Extensions

If you are really interested in improving the prominence of your ads, you cannot afford to leave out extensions. Some of the most fruitful extensions include Call out and SiteLink. They will not only help increase the size of your ads but also improve their credibility, with the result of making CTR better.
The user just needs to press the call out extension on the screen in order to instantly get in touch with you. The message extension, on the other hand, allows the users to contact you in cases where they want more privacy or simply because their location does not allow them to call you. The call and message extensions are not only simple and easy to use, but are also ideal for ensuring that you get in touch with potential clients and enhancing conversions in the end.

Plan Your Mobile Ads Wisely

The success of your ads will be determined by the time they run at, and mobile ads are no different. Most mobile searches are conducted in the early morning, at around mid-day, and in the evenings. Nonetheless, the desktop is the top choice for searches carried out throughout a typical working day.
Keep in mind that CPA drops as the day progresses because most users have already conducted their searches since morning. However, most conversions happen in the evening. This means that while your budget should enable you to run ads in the morning as well as throughout the day, you should also be sure to budget for evening ads since that is when most of the conversions happen.

Know When to Adjust Your Bids

It is important to keep track of your performance both on the desktop and the mobile. This helps you know the device that works best for you. If according to your data, the traffic on mobile is resulting to a satisfactory number of conversions and leads, it is time to intensify your bidding efforts since you now know that you are in the right track.
However, if your performance on the desktop outshines that on the mobile by far, it is time to think of such alternatives as cutting down on the amount you spend on the latter. Nevertheless, finding out which device delivers better performance is sometimes a tricky affair. For instance, some users may initially access your site on mobile only to convert through the desktop.

Bottom-Line

One fact about Mobile PPC is that there is no dominant strategy. The above tips will help you in your efforts to put it in correct use and maximise your gains. Remember to keep track of your progress from the moment you begin your campaign and to always keep your eyes open.

For many years, the desktop has remained the dominant device in accessing the Internet. However, it is fast losing its glory. Less than a year ago, it was finally overtaken by the mobile and the gap is quickly widening as more and more business fields adopt it as one of the main devices through which they run their affairs. Apart from the obvious portability, most of the reason for the rising popularity of the mobile involves increased speed with less usage of data. It is, therefore, a golden opportunity for digital marketers to upgrade their mobile PPC strategies for maximum gains.

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Backlinking Tips for Newbies

September 21, 2017 • SEO 101 • 224

As marketers we are constantly being told to focus on content production and social media. While these two aspects of the digital world are hugely important, backlinking still holds the top spot for being the most effective ranking technique. So if you’re new to search engine optimization and want to refine your strategy, make sure you take the following on board.

Mix It Up With Some Nofollow Links

If you’ve worked in the SEO business you’ve probably heard the phrase “diverse link profile” before. Contrary to popular belief, this doesn’t translate to mix up the anchor text. What most marketers tend to forget is that a “nofollow” tag means that Google can choose to ignore the link juice, not that it will.

Of course, nofollow links aren’t as powerful as dofollow links; however, they will make your link profile look far less spammy and may still provide a little juice – we’ll get into that debate another time! As a general rule of thumb, try to get one nofollow link for every two or three dofollow links to ensure everything looks above board to the bots.

Target Highly Authoritative Publications

There are some websites that, relevancy aside, are always worth targeting: Huffington Post, Forbes, The New York Times, Entrepreneur, etc. Not only will these websites provide an extremely authoritative backlink, they are also highly likely to generate a large amount of referral traffic, which is often a massively understated aspect of the business. In addition, you will earn the privilege of being able to say “As featured on …” on your website, which will automatically boost its authority.

While you shouldn’t waste all of your time trying to acquire mentions and features on authority websites, if the opportunity to get coverage does arise, make sure you embrace it – HARO can be a great place to start. Although it’s impossible to quantify how effective authority placements may be, marketers often report huge rankings boosts and influxes of traffic from them.

Stop Focusing On Irrelevant Websites

Google’s number one priority is to rank websites based on their relevancy to keywords. Keep this in mind whenever you’re on the prowl for new websites to target. Finding a blog that’ll link to your company is easy, but unless that website is somehow related to your target page, its value will be questionable, even if it has a high domain authority and trust flow.

Sometimes websites with low metrics are just as effective as websites with high metrics. If the topic and keywords on the page providing the backlink are the same or similar to what’s on your page, Google will look at it in a more favorable light.

Refine Your Anchor Text

Anchor text is probably the most misunderstood element of the backlinking process. Even today, years after Google publicly stated that websites with keyword-heavy links will be punished, people still do it. You must follow the rules. While a few keyword anchors are okay, keep 90 percent of your efforts natural.

By natural that means a mixture of: keyword links, brand links, URL links, relevant phrases, relevant words. Ensure the majority (some state up to 50 percent) use the brand name. For example, when ranking a website like salesandmarketingexperts.com.au, you could use the anchor text: www.salesandmarketingexperts.com.au (URL), Sales and Marketing Experts (brand), B2B Marketing Consultant (keyword), or even a call-to-action, such as “Click Here.” Additionally, you should also try to get a healthy mixture of index page links and deep links, again at a ratio of 50/50.

Produce Content That’s Actually Linkable

This is the most important point of all. Your outreach efforts will always be in vein unless you have a page on your website that’s actually worth linking to. If all you’re trying to do is sell, then forget about authority sites and natural linking altogether. When you’re overtly promotional all you’ll acquire are links from untrustworthy domains that’ll hurt your rankings. So if you’re yet to take this step, postpone your backlinking efforts altogether and read this guide.

It’s truly surprising how many well known SEO companies are still using outdated practices on their clients’ websites. If you’re new to backlinking or simply want to know more about what your chosen SEO firm is doing behind the scenes, use analytics to devise a report and start making your own assessment. Even if just one aspect of your strategy is wrong, it’s better that you find out before the Google bot does!
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