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Inbound links are critical to your site's performance. Monitoring them, adding to them asking your bar or alumni association all takes work. However once you get them they are an investment that keeps growing.

If you do not understand or want to perform inbound linking, you are not alone. Search engine Land has highlighted that if you do not want to do inbound link you are no alone They also make a great point, that if you do not understand it, I need to show you how. Would it be a class, would it be a powerpoint, or a step by step guide? Any ideas on how you learn? Any ideas on what would help you as attorneys to do more inbound linking? Please comment with any ideas you have on help with inbound linking. I know you are busy but these links are as essential as making sure the front light is on.

Recent CNN link to FindLaw.com

CNN refers to FindLaw.com as a trusted legal source, pointing the ever important inbound link to the FindLaw portal. The obvious benefit here is once again millions of people see the FindLaw site and go to it to read about the law. CNN’s value as a news source reinforces FindLaw’s value as a legal resource. Many people that may have never used FindLaw will go there and discover all it has to offer, including information about your firm.
There is also a greater benefit. That inbound link from such a highly regarded, often visited vast site such as CNN.com pushes up FindLaw’s importance in the eyes of the search engines. Once again, your sites link to FindLaw becomes more valuable. Not only is there now a better chance to be found on FindLaw.com, your site has an even better chance of being found on its own.

Add Content to keep your site charged!

Adding Content

The content on your website is truly the engine. It drives sites like Google and Yahoo to rank your page higher. Well written, niched, keyword rich content helps the pages show up for more searches. It matches you with potential clients to answer their questions. It not only provides information to them but also helps convince them you are experts.

New content makes your site seem live to search engines such as Google. When they go to index your site and new content is found, your rank can increase. Since the programs that read websites, called spiders or crawlers, only register the “Freshness” of the content on your site by when it was added to your site.

Generally the more often a site is updated, the more often it is indexed. Although by no means scientific method, I watch several sites as well as search results and then do Google searches to track indexing.

Logically, it makes sense for a search engine to rank newer information higher. If you search the web for specs on the new Apple computer or news about a plane crash, you do not want even the best article from 1994 or even 2004. You want the best article from today.

What does this mean for an attorney’s website? Add content and do it often. Very rarely, especially if you do it on a new page, will content dilute your site. I will make sure to tell if it does not fit. By doing this your site will actually be fresh and often ranked higher. Optimized content on a variety of subjects within your practice area will make your site and therefore your firm, seem more like the expert.

The more specific problems you address, the better the chance of speaking to a specific search. If you are found for a precise type of event, a specific type of cancer misdiagnosis, a certain type of lease or a complex estate situation, and have content directly relating to that, think what that means to the person reading it. “This lawyer really knows what I am going through”

How do you add more content? What should I add?

Add a page that lets you address hot topics. Greenblatt and Agulnick are addressing the issues of the real estate financing and foreclosure crisis and helping homeowners save their homes by adding new content on mortgage modifications. This fits perfectly within their niche as Real Estate and Insurance Attorneys.

Add Cases of Interest. I know if you have ever spoken to me as a client, potential client or a passer by I have spoken to you about cases of interest. These not only do all of the above mentioned benefits. These show your firms experience as well, in a tangible way. Do not feel like you have to have a large list or big numbers. Just have specific events that really stand out. Large numbers are eyecatching, but the intelligent client is more likely going to hire someone with specific experience. David Pollack, just updated his medical malpractice cases of interest, to give you an example of a great way to do it.

Add Articles you authored Once again, David Pollack is a great example. He added an article of how he uses technology to win trials. This adds a lot of content, increases his position as and expert, increases his value as a client and also personalizes David’s practice.

Subdivide your practice areas The more specific the better. By doing this you are carving out the niche for your firm. Think of all of the type of product liability, all of the individual types of medical malpractice, all of the aspects of criminal law. Each one of these can be a page. Grunwald and Seman did this to get in depth with the many aspects of DWI cases on Long Island

Add A Blog Like this you are reading now, a web log (blog or blawg) is an easy way to comment on current events while adding content and a personal touch. Paul Cutrone’s Medical Malpractice Blog shows how it’s done properly. It does take discipline to fully utilize it, but it can be a worthwhile habit. Feel free to ask me more about it.

Keep thinking of what makes you special, the types of client’s you want and the cases that should be filling your time. Translate this into content on your site as soon as possible to make your goals reality.