Better Google Rankings for Your Legal Website  -  Two Important Factors

By Bob Schwartz, CRS, GRI ©2006 Promotions Unlimited all rights reserved.

This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorized use, copying or mirroring is prohibited

A major factor in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is how your website employs keywords. First your website must have useful, unique and informative content that is well-written. Now, your main task is to screen your content the same way that Google’s algorithm would. If you have a website about “San Diego bankruptcy lawyers” for instance, is your written content full of keywords related to that topic?

If your content is written with the concept of keywords in mind, then it will have a better chance of ranking well in Google. Again, these keywords naturally occur if articles are well-written and focused.

A good rule to go by is to adjust your content so that your keyword phrase has a density of 1 to 3% for your page’s content. If you go over the 3% upper limit, your content could be considered spam and banned or severely penalized in the rankings.

Here’s another very important rule the Google algorithm pays attention to: external links to your site. This aspect of Google SEO is also within your control if you take the time to set up a “link exchange” system. The fact is Google favors sites that have more external links pointing to them. A link exchange is the way to build reciprocal links and keep your website from being an island in the Internet universe.

Many of the legal websites we have reviewed are among the poorest in number of incoming links. Without strong incoming links, your website will be at a major disadvantage that will keep it out of the top Google standings.

Keep in mind, legal keyword phrases are among the most competitive on the Internet. To get a top position for your firm, basic SEO techniques must be followed. Though Google has recently devalued certain incoming links, they still remain a key element in all SEO.

How many incoming links does it take to rank well? Well, here are some of the incoming link counts for a few of our legal websites:

www.sandiegolawyerforyou.com                                                                 -  3,074

www.la-orange-county-lawyers-attorney-directory.com                               -     2,123

www.san-francisco-oakland-bay-area-lawyers-attorneys-directory.com        -     1,883

http://www.california-attorneys-lawyers-dui-legal-advice-directory.us            -     1,741

www.san-jose-ca-lawyers-attorneys-directory.com                                      -    1,266

If you want to be on page one of the organic listings of Google, you must strive for a lot of good incoming links. The best way to set up your linking program is through software designed to automate the entire process. From finding suitable linking partners, contacting them, creating your linking pages and maintaining and insuring your linking partners do not remove your link, can all be done easily. If you’re interested in a linking software recommendation, just email me.

Also, we have developed a reciprocal linking program for all our fifteen legal sites. Because of our high ranking, we have some basic rules for joining our free program. If you want to follow our lead, review our program’s details (http://www.sandiegolawyerforyou.com/partner-signup.htm ) and if you qualify, join this program. If accepted, your firm will have fifteen high traffic and high ranking legal incoming links pointing to your site.

There are no quick fixes. However, your time will be well rewarded with higher standings, if you play by the rules. The higher your keyword phrase ranks, directly translates into more targeted visitors. Such highly focused visitors have a high conversion into new clients.

Copyright 2006 Promotions Unlimited. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Schwartz runs 15 legal directory sites, a few of which are:  Houston lawyers, Dallas lawyers, Riverside lawyers,  Sacramento lawyers,  Fresno lawyers  Promotions Unlimited started out as a general search engine optimization firm but has morphed into a specialized search engine optimization service. Our attorney client’s results through our directories have proven to be far more cost effective compared to Yellow Pages advertising. What is surprising to us is the amount of skepticism still prevalent among legal practitioners about the effectiveness of the Internet to generate new business. Some times old habits die hard!