If you've been paying attention to recent Google updates, you'll know that link building strategies have changed for good.  Now that Google bases much of its weighting for inbound links on whether those links are from good quality web pages, you may be considering your options.  Whether it's hiring an effective link building service or doing it yourself, 2012 and 2013 offer a huge range of choices for law firms that want to engage in quality link building.  Keep reading to learn more about those choices and whether your firm is link building aggressively enough for the current market.

Why Links Aren't All the Same

Not so long ago—in fact, as recently as the beginning of 2011—Google didn't take quality into account when looking at your backlinks.  The more backlinks you had, the better your search engine results would be, even if those backlinks were from very low-quality websites.  

The problem with indexing search results in this way is that the system was rewarding people for making the web look and work worse.  Any marketing company could become an effective link building service at that time, because it didn't take much: all you needed was to spam copies of articles and links on as many pages as possible.  It wasn't quality link building, but it did the job.

Why Google Penguin and Panda are Good For Lawyers

If your marketing practices are ethical, there's no reason that you should be afraid of the new Google updates, Penguin and Panda, that changed how links are weighted.  Instead, law firms ought to generally be pleased with how these updates have worked.  They mean that if one of your competitors is spamming instead of using quality link building, they won't appear near the top of search engine results.

While some link building services with low quality links are still hanging around, it's now much easier to find an effective link building service that is focused more on helping you with directory listings, networking with peers, and getting your voice heard by social bookmarking sites.  All of these things are possible to do with quality link building, and none of them require any kind of spam methods to make them work.

Are Paid or Reciprocal Links Quality Link Building?

Google's webmaster guidelines, which govern all websites indexed by Google, explicitly prohibit webmasters from paying for links.  Paid linking is actually a reportable offense, and if someone (like one of your competitors) figures out you're doing it, you could be busted and see your pages de-indexed.  

Excess reciprocal links are also frowned upon by Google's search engine robots.  Why?  Because it's simply too easy to do this kind of quid pro quo with another person online, all without even really knowing (or caring) what the content actually looks like.  

While it's certainly fine to link to some websites that also link you back, this should generally be limited.  You should only engage in reciprocal linking when your firm has a genuine connection with another person or company's website, not just because they said they'd give you a link back in exchange.

Signs That Your Existing Links Are Low Quality

Unfortunately, if you hired what you thought was an effective link building service even just last year, you may have found your SERPs dropping precipitously after Penguin or Panda came out.  If this happened to you, that's one of the best signs that you've done low quality link building.  An effective link building service can help you turn this problem around, even if your pages have plummeted in the search results.

Another indication that you may have low quality link building is if your links were very, very easy to come by.  Quality link building takes time and consideration—you simply can't do it effectively when you're trying to build hundreds or thousands of links in just a few weeks.

Quality Link Building: Easier Than You Think

The fact that no effective link building service can do your link building overnight may seem like a disappointment.  However, even if you're working on getting backlink traffic without any help from a service, it's possible to do quality link building.

Some of the easiest link building you can do that is still considered legitimate involves directory listings.  While some directories (typically those that accept literally any website) are considered low quality link building, many are high-quality websites in their own right.  For example, you should try to be listed on DMOZ, as well as avvo.com and your state bar association's website (if it offers backlinks to firm websites).

If you already spend time on social bookmarking websites and already know the lay of the land on one or more of these sites, you can do quality link building there.  Similarly, even if you don't already have a blog, you may want to ask someone who runs a popular blog whether you can do a Q&A session or a guest blog entry.  If you're lucky (and good), these kinds of posts can even end up shared repeatedly in social media feeds all over the web.

Hiring an Effective Link Building Service

Today, finding the right link building service can be tricky.  Because the recent Google updates are so new, many of these services are scrambling to find new strategies that work.  Usually, the most effective link building service will be one that didn't have to scramble, because it was already dedicated to building quality, reputation-enhancing links rather than creating spam.

An effective link building service can help you to get the best inbound links possible by looking at who you're connected to and how.  What's more, because there are so many different kinds of link building activity to engage in, you can augment these efforts with your blogging or social media updates without overlapping.  An effective link building service will look at what you're already doing well and where you could stand to gain the most with the least additional work.
 

Law firm SEO has been changing as rapidly as the rest of the web in recent years.  Today, with about 85 percent of legal clients doing research online before they decide on an attorney to hire, SEO for lawyers has become more than just a cool tech tool.  Today, lawyer SEO is a necessity for any attorney who wants to stay economically viable.  Keep reading this guide to find out the newest and best techniques for law firm SEO that can help you stay on top of the latest technological developments for attorney websites.

What's Hot: Social Networking SEO For Lawyers

If you think that LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are just something people use to waste time, you need to change the way you think about social networking websites.  Far from just being entertainment, these websites present some of the best opportunities for law firm SEO.

First of all, you should make sure that your law firm has a LinkedIn profile, a Facebook profile, and a Twitter account to make it easier to set up SEO for lawyers on the sites.  Then, you should complete your profiles on these websites including some keywords that might be used to find you.

This isn't the only time that you can use lawyer SEO on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.  You can regularly link back to pages on your website with posts on any social networking site.  These posts are also easy to share, garnering you more inbound links (another critical aspect of law firm SEO).

What's Not: Lawyer SEO That Looks Like Spam

Just because you're using SEO for lawyers doesn't mean that you should spam your Facebook and Twitter followers.  If you use too much law firm SEO copy in your profile, or especially in your posts and status updates, you'll turn potential clients off in a hurry.

Make sure that your lawyer SEO links to genuinely informative articles and interesting content, and doesn't just link to your front page.  If you keep linking repeatedly to your front page as part of your law firm SEO strategy, you'll soon find yourself losing most of the people you've worked so hard to bring to your Facebook or Twitter pages.

If you're ever in doubt as to whether something is lawyer SEO spam or whether it's genuinely good content, ask someone you trust.  Remember that people don't usually like to read advertisements, and that your SEO for lawyers should be a lot more creative than just some basic ads.

What's Hot: Mobile Law Firm SEO

No, not a mobile law firm—mobile SEO, which optimizes your website for people who are accessing it through a browser on their iOS, Android, or other smartphone operating system.  Mobile SEO for lawyers adds new layers of difficulty.  Mobile visitors won't be able to scroll around as easily, or click as easily on small text.  It also means that they won't be able to read small text without zooming.

Getting onboard with the new mobile lawyer SEO trend is a great idea no matter what kind of law firm you have.  Studies show that by the end of 2014, most web traffic in the United States is likely to come from mobile devices, rather than desktop computers.  If you're not using mobile law firm SEO, you'll actually be losing out on most of your potential internet traffic.

What's Not: “Article Marketing” Services

Don't believe anyone who tells you that article marketing is still a good idea for lawyer SEO.  This was a method commonly used for SEO for lawyers in the 2000s, but in 2012, it won't work.  Google's search indexing algorithms have become too sophisticated for these services, which worked by copying the same article onto hundreds of web pages.

Article marketing today won't just make you look bad if someone realizes you're doing it as part of your law firm SEO.  If Google notices that this is the technique you're using for lawyer SEO, it can actually stop listing your websites.

All paid article links, as well as reciprocal link directories, are also likely to end up reducing your rankings.  Avoid these forms of SEO for lawyers at all costs, even if a “behind the times” service tells you that they're still good law firm SEO methods.

What's Hot: Latent Semantic Indexing SEO For Lawyers

One of the newest methods of lawyer SEO is using many different keyword variations in the same page instead of a repeated keyword.  This is called latent semantic indexing, and this is a strategy that should be learned by anyone who uses SEO for lawyers.  While this may sound like a very technical concept, it's actually much easier to learn than you might think, and is at the very forefront of law firm SEO today.

Latent semantic indexing works for lawyer SEO because most search engines have become smart about looking not only for the exact word that you're searching for, but also that word's synonyms and variants.  You can use this SEO for lawyers tactic whenever you want to make your copy sound more natural.  The lack of repeated keywords makes it much easier to read, and you'll have better conversion rates from this type of lawyer SEO.

What's Not: Law Firm SEO With Keyword Stuffing

When you do any kind of lawyer SEO, you need to avoid stuffing the same keywords over and over into your copy.  Google and other search engines will notice if your keyword density looks too high.  While this has been the case for some time, recent changes to Google make it even harder to get the keyword density right when writing copy for SEO for lawyers.

That's because now, Google may even consider relatively low keyword densities spam, if you're not being careful to use different keyword terms for your links.  If you use one keyword term repeatedly, linking it over and over, you'll be punished in search results even if the overall density of the keyword being used would normally be within acceptable parameters.

If you've been reviewing your options for link building solutions, you have probably found many different outsourcing companies.  But can you really outsource link building successfully?  Recent changes to Google called Penguin and Panda have changed the way that link building works for most websites, including law firm sites.  Over a million websites saw their rankings decline and six million requests for link removal resulted.  How does this impact the viability of your link building solutions?  Keep reading to find out.

How Have Penguin and Panda Changed Google?

What do Penguin and Panda have in common?  It's not just that they're both black and white.  They're also the names of two new Google initiatives that have been launched in just the last year.  The reason that Google began to work on these initiatives was that many companies were using unethical link building solutions.  While some companies would outsource link building to reputable agencies, others used techniques that involved spamming and paid links.

When the Panda and Penguin rollouts took place, websites were no longer just ranked based on the number of inbound links they had.  The quality of the links started mattering, too.  This removed a lot of the incentive to use unethical link building solutions.  Today, companies that want to outsource link building need to keep Panda and Penguin in mind.

What Are the Advantages of Outsourcing Link Building Solutions?

Obviously, the biggest advantage if you outsource link building will be that you just don't have to do it yourself.   In a post-Penguin world, you may want to avoid working on the kinds of difficult and time consuming link building solutions that are still useful in improving search rankings.  When you outsource link building, you'll be able to devote more time to what matters: doing legal work for your law firm.

Another advantage of using outside link building solutions is that if you find a good link building company, they'll stay on top of new developments to search engine optimization strategies.  You have enough on your plate without trying to keep up with SEO technology and new link building tools.  When you outsource link building, you can go hands-off and let the link building company figure out your next strategy.

Are There Disadvantages to Outsourcing Link Building Solutions?

Absolutely.  While it may seem like it's a great idea to outsource link building, you should also consider that not every link building service is ethical.  If you hire someone to provide your link building solutions, there is always a chance that they'll do it in a way that reflects negatively on your law firm.  Make sure that you have seen samples of past link building solutions for law firms in your outsourcing provider's portfolio.

You also lose some of your flexibility when you outsource link building.  If you had created your own link building solutions, you'll be able to change and adapt them as needed.  Not every outsourcing provider keeps abreast of new developments to search engine technology.  If you feel more comfortable keeping up with the state of tech than letting someone else do it, you may want to provide your own link building solutions instead of hiring someone else.

Preparing to Outsource Link Building

If you do choose to outsource your link building, you'll need to take some steps in preparation.  Your website needs to be attractive and designed to be conversion ready if you're outsourcing link building solutions.  Remember, no matter how much your search engine results are improved, that won't help if your traffic all bounces out due to a poorly designed website.

Speed matters too.  Google now bases part of its search engine rankings on how long your website's pages take to load.  For slow websites, this creates a double whammy: searchers are less likely to stay on your website already, and now Google also negatively impacts your rank.  Before you outsource link building, verify that your website is fast and that all pages are downloading correctly.

What Kinds of Link Building Look Good to Google?

Generally speaking, Google wants to reward “difficult” link building to authority sites, not easy link building to spam sites.  For example, let's say that through your public relations efforts, you landed an interview with a national magazine and they included a link to your firm in their online edition.  These link building solutions are some of the best ways that you can get links from authority websites.

Another kind of linking that will look good to Google is when you insert your law firm's profile into a directory, whether a local directory of businesses or a ratings directory specifically for lawyers.  The more of these directory links that you have up to date and with accurate profile information, the more likely it is that your website will appear higher in search and local search results.

You can also build links by asking people on Facebook or LinkedIn to share your content with others.  This is a great way to have your links shared not only by the people you know, but also by the people they know.  If you have some content that “goes viral” by being spread through word of mouth, you'll soon see your reputation and rankings rise up.

What Kinds of Link Building Look Bad to Google?

Usually, if you try to cheat, Google will notice.  If you outsource link building and your link building company primarily works by putting links to your site on spam websites, your reputation will suffer and odds are that Google will drop your search result rankings.

You're also going to have a bad time with most types of link building solutions that involve automated press release companies.  While press releases are certainly a valid link building strategy, these kinds of automated services are not able to really provide you the kind of readership that a real public relations service could.  These websites are not really a substitute for professional press releases or media relations.

As the year begins to draw toward a close, niche marketing strategies have begun to change to reflect recent changes to the online legal marketplace.  With over 80 percent of consumers now researching attorneys online—mostly with search engines—before deciding on who to call for a consultation, you need a great niche marketing strategy more than ever as 2013 gets nearer.  Keep reading to find out how you can take action now to make sure that your niche marketing strategies are still working well into the future.

Niche Marketing Strategy Guide Tip #1: Get Social Today

One of the best niche marketing strategies of right now is to integrate the rest of your search engine optimization with your social marketing campaigns.  If you're not already using social media, you should start as soon as possible.  In addition to improving your niche marketing strategies and SEO results, becoming active on social media websites can steadily improve your online reputation.

Depending on what your niche involves, you may decide to use different social media websites to prop up your social media strategy.  For instance, if you're primarily marketing to other businesses, you may want to start building your network on LinkedIn and discussing your niche using LinkedIn groups.  If you've got a more consumer-oriented practice, Facebook is probably a better place to focus your social media niche marketing strategies.

Niche Marketing Strategy Guide Tip #2: Update Your Website

Niche marketing strategies involve giving some things up in order to focus on your niches.  You can't really implement a niche marketing strategy properly if you're maintaining a website that barely acknowledges your new niches except for on their landing pages.

Decide on your niche marketing strategies for 2013, then get a website update ready starting now for the best possible implementation.  You'll attract a lot more clients for your niches if you look like you're actually dedicated, not just trawling for traffic.

When you update your website, you should also implement any mobile niche marketing strategies and have a mobile friendly version of your entire website.  This niche marketing strategy can help you to get a big chunk of the market that a lot of other attorneys are ignoring.

Niche Marketing Strategy Guide Tip #3: Go Local

Think about your local area when you're developing your law firm's niche marketing strategies.  You'll do much better when you're trying to decide between competing niche marketing strategies if you already know what the local market wants.

Consider the ways in which your area is changing in terms of demographics, and how those demographic changes might change what people want in an attorney.  Trying to provide a solution to these problems is a great way to build your niche marketing strategies in a way that no one else can match.

Niche Marketing Strategy Guide Tip #4: Unique Niches

If you're stuck trying to develop new niche marketing strategies, maybe you just need some better niches to market to.  Consider just tinkering with Google Instant to find out what kinds of attorneys people are looking for in your area.  You may find that when people search for a criminal defense lawyer in your town, there's a niche that isn't being well covered by the existing options.

Niche market finder programs can automate a lot of this tinkering, and if you're serious about developing niche marketing strategies, you might want to download one.  However, not all niche market finders are great for developing a niche marketing strategy for law firms specifically.  You may want to ask the developers of the software whether law firms have had good results, and ask for reviews from law firms that have previously used their software.

Niche Marketing Strategy Guide Tip #5: Types of Niches

The type of niches that can create successful niche marketing strategies are very diverse.  You might want to think about talents you have in areas other than law when trying to develop a new niche marketing strategy, especially if you're developing niche markets as a new attorney or one who has recently hung a shingle.

For example, if you speak a language other than English, you may want to make that other language part of the focus of your practice and cater to other people who speak it.  You can also build a niche based on what you did before you were an attorney.  For instance, a special education teacher who used to teach autistic children could become an impressive attorney in a firm specializing in the legal challenges of autistic education.

Niche Marketing Strategy Guide Tip #6: Look to the Future

When you're planning long term niche marketing strategies, you should be thinking about the already observable demographic trends in your community.  If, for example, your community seems to be filling with retirees, for the next 20 years a practice that works mostly on estates and wills will probably be successful.

If it seems like everyone is leaving the town where you're living in, it may be time to pack up and move with them.  Law is a service industry, and no niche marketing strategies will help you be successful if there aren't enough clients living within reasonable driving distance of your office—or if too many other attorneys are between you and those clients.

Niche Marketing Strategy Guide Tip #7: Beware of Scams

When you're trying to develop niche marketing strategies, make sure that you're not falling prey to any scams to try to enhance your niche SEO results.  “Article spinning” services, for example, may tell you that they'll repost your article in a wide range of places, thus improving your search engine results.

The problem?  Google cracked down on these services last year, by creating a search algorithm that disregards article spinners.  This means that if you're trying these article marketing techniques now as part of your niche marketing strategies, you're probably wasting your money and time.  It's very unlikely that indiscriminate repackaging of your article will actually lead to more clients in the long term, and it could do a lot to hurt your online reputation.