Great New Website for Pasadena Family Law Attorney Jesse Verdin

Saturday, May 31st, 2008 | Lawyer Marketing | No Comments

We launched a new custom designed website for Jesse Verdin on Thursday. Previously Jesse had a template site, and while that site provide him with his main source of firm marketing for years, I expect this new site will do much better.

Jesse’s site includes 14 pages of custom written content on such topics as:
Divorce
Child Custody & Visitation
Child Support
Spousal Support & Alimony
Community Property Division
Post Judgement Modifications
Paternity Suits
Domestic Violence & Restraining Orders
Prenuptial Agreements

With the release of his new site, I think Jesse can once again claim to have the best Pasadena Family Law Attorney site.

Good Advice From Google On What To Do When You Change Your Domain

Saturday, May 31st, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Changing your URL can have disastrous affects on your Search Engine Rankings. I’ve just recently had to help one of my Los Angeles Divorce Attorney clients go through this, and I can tell you that it is never pleasant.

You spend so much time and money building your online brand & your standing with the search engines, only to have it ripped away by changing your domain. Attorneys and law firms are especially susceptible to this since they so often change their names with the coming-and-goings of partners to the firm. This is one reason I so often tell my clients to go with generic, keyword loaded URLs such as these:

Los Angeles Child Custody and Support Lawyer
Los Angeles Landlord Tenant Attorneys
Pasadena Personal Injury Attorney

Another option is to just commit to keeping the URL of the original partners, regardless of who comes or goes.

All that being said, sometimes it just cannot be avoided. If you do need to change your URL, I certainly recommend consulting with someone like me who can walk you through the process. To get an idea of what I or another Internet Consultant might recommend, you should have a look at the following article from Google’s Webmaster Central Blog. If you must try to do this on your own, I highly recommend following their advise as closely as possible.

Article: BEST PRACTICES WHEN MOVING YOUR SITE from Google’s Webmaster Central Blog

Proof That Google Doesn’t Play Favorites

Saturday, May 31st, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

When I meet with my clients & other attorneys, I often get told of how they are called on by salesmen trying to get them to buy a new website. While I’m all for improving on one’s web presence, what I do not approve of is some of the tactics these salesmen employ.

One of the most common things I hear is that these salesmen will say things like “our company has a deal with Google to list our sites first.” That is an outright lie.

Google (and most search engines) should be looked at like a reference librarian for this incredibly vast library we call the Internet. We use the search engines because we trust that they will give us the best results. We recognize what the Pay-Per-Click Ads are, and how they are different from the organic “library” results.

When I explain this I think that most everyone understands it, but I also like to have them do a Google search to prove my point. I ask them to do a Google search for the term “news”. Have a look for yourself:

Google Search for “News”

Clearly, if Google played favorites with anyone, it would be with Google.  And Google News is one of their big properties.  But where is Google News showing up?   It shows up in the 5th spot, behind CNN, ABCNEWS, FoxNews, and even Google’s rival, Yahoo!. 

So if Google won’t help themselves, why should anyone think they would help another company?  Of course, they don’t.

So the bottom line is this. Getting good search results is a multi-faceted process. There is no scheme to vault you to the top that will keep you there. You need to work with consultants and companies with proven track records.

For more information on my services, click here: Los Angeles Lawyer Marketing Site

*Addendum:  I’ve also been told of companies claiming to have a relationship with Google Local.   It is true that Google Local does scan some directory and Yellow Page types sites to glean information, but this is hardly something worth paying for.   Google DOES NOT give that information any advantage over information they get from other sources, it is simply a way for them to get information that the companies themselves have not supplied.  And the truth is, every business that wants to be on Google Local should take control of their own profile on Google Local to be certain that it is listed exactly as they see fit.   It’s free to do, and really easy.   Don’t get suckered into paying for something that is free – you can find the Google Local business center here:

www.google.com/local/add