How Do I Increase My Web Site's Ranking In Search Engines?
Search
Engine Rankings
Studies have proven that web users do not look past three pages
of results when trying to find a relevant site. If your web site is
not within the top 30 results, your firm will not be found. This article
details how to improve your web site's rankings through four basic
techniques: having reciprocal links, adding relevant content, editing your
meta tags, and registering your web site with search engines.
1. Reciprocal
Links
As stated by Google, which provides over 80%
of search results, the best way to ensure a top listing is for your web
site to be linked to a lot of other web sites. This is known as
link popularity. Google's automated search robots jump from page to page on
the Internet via hyperlinks. The more sites that link to your firm,
the more likely it is that Google will list the firm's web site.
To raise your web site's link popularity, your firm needs to contact
other legal web sites, search engines, and web portals and ask for
reciprocal links. With each new relevant link, your web site increases
its rank.
2. Relevant
Content
Most potential clients will not
search for your firm
by name. Rather, potential clients will search for a law firm by
typing in "attorney florida workers' compensation" or "how
do I implement a labor law plan?" Search engines rank
web sites higher if they offer relevant content that contains such words
or subjects. For your law firm to be found, your site needs to
offer authoritative information on your practice areas through
articles, newsletters, bulletin alerts, links, statistics, and more.
By offering this information, the search engines will associate your
web site with key words that will allow potential clients to
find your site.
3. Edit
your Meta Tags
Meta tags are HTML-coded information that search engines look
at when crawling on your web site for information. In the simplest
form, meta tags consist of a title, a description, and relevant
key words.
To optimize the web site, your firm should decide on the
most important words to place in title, keyword, and description
meta tags. In addition, your firm should create different meta tags
for each page of the web site. This will allow each page to be
indexed differently by the search engine, thus creating several mini-web
sites.
4. Register
your Web Site
To capitalize on your firm's link
popularity, meta tags, and content, your web site needs be registered with
the top search engines and as many other web sites as
possible. Your firm's web site registration process should include:
- Submission to free search engines, including Google, Open Directory Project,
other major search engines/portals, and other community and local
search engines
- Submission to paid search engine, including Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves,
Inktomi, FAST, Overture, Looksmart, Google AdWords
- Registration at Findlaw.com, Law.com, Martindale.com, and other legal sites.
- Exchanging reciprocal links with professional organizations, clients,
trade groups, consultants, publishers, educational institutions,
and other relevant organizations.
About The Author
Peter Boyd, Esq. at PaperStreet Web Design. Located in Miami, Fl, PaperStreet Web Design has extensive experience developing, redesigning and optimizing law-related web sites. Our expertise can save you
time and money while increasing your firm's business
traffic. Why have a web site if no one can
find it?
If you have any questions about search engine placement or need your
web site optimized for search engines, feel free to contact Peter
Boyd at PaperStreet Web Design, peteboyd@paperst.com
or 305.804.2218.
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ILW.COM.
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