Google Ads and Visibility
First things first, visibility is when a person can see something. When someone looks for a lawyer and they search on Google, Bing or another major search engine, the ads that come up are visible to them. When people connect to Wi-Fi at an airport, hotel or coffee shop, their smart phones become visible to other devices in the area.
While this may seem obvious, it is important to understand the meaning of visibility because as a lawyer or law firm you probably want your business to be visible. For example, if someone in Indiana searches for “personal injury lawyers” on Google and the search results show a local ad from one of your competitors above yours, they will see their ad. You might think that this person will eventually click on your ad, but they may not. The same goes for a potential client who is also shopping around for lawyers and wants to speak with you or one of your competitors’ lawyers as soon as possible.
The good news—there are a number of ways you can improve how visible your law firm is. We’ll go over some of them below. Here is an exhaustive list we have accumulated over the last 10 years.
Advertise on Google, Bing and Other Major Search Engines
If people can’t find your law firm when they search for specific keywords related to legal issues, you will not get calls or emails from potential clients asking for your services. This is why it’s important to advertise on search engines and why it helps to have a higher ad rank. Increasing your law firm’s visibility on search engines is the single best way to attract more clients and generate more revenue for your legal practice.
In this article we will explain how you can make sure people see your ads when they are looking for a lawyer or legal advice online.
We will show you how to increase your law firm’s visibility by bidding for the top ad position on major search engines. We’ll also discuss when it makes sense to try and obtain the top ad spot, as well as some of the other factors that influence your rankings.
How do attorneys or law firms choose which keywords they want their ads to appear next to? The most important factor is how often people search for those keywords. If many people search for a particular term, it’s a good idea to bid on that keyword because your ad will appear alongside the results when someone searches for it.
There are, however, other factors that determine where you rank and whether or not you get impressions (the number of times your ad is displayed). For example, you always want to make sure the keywords you are bidding on are relevant to your law firm. If someone searches for “personal injury attorney Indianapolis” but you show up whenever people search for “beach houses in Florida,” it won’t do much good (people don’t really look at ads for things that have nothing to do with their searches).
It also matters what other advertisers are bidding for a keyword and how much they’re willing to spend. If you bid the same amount as your competitors, it’s possible you will show up at the top of the results only half of the time when someone searches for a term, while they may show up 100% of the time.
As an example, let’s say you are a personal injury attorney and you advertise on Google or Bing by paying for keyword terms like “personal injury lawyer,” “personal injury attorneys” and “injury claims.” You may find yourself in second place or lower because there are other lawyers also bidding on these keywords, or advertisers who have more money to spend.
When someone searches for “personal injury lawyer” and sees your ad, they will then click on it to learn more about you. You can even prompt them by including a call-to-action button like “Call now”! if you want clients to contact you immediately.
The higher up your ad appears on the search engine results page, the more likely you are to get clicks. It’s even possible for your ad to show up above the sponsored links and display at the top of the page (alongside organic search results). If you’ve never seen an ad like this, it’s called a “Top Ad.” The Top Ads are displayed 100% of the time and all you have to do is pay a little more money for your keywords.
In this article we will also explain what factors determine where your ad appears in relation to other ads, and how you can improve your chances of getting the top spot. The good news is that it’s not exactly rocket science—there are only a few factors that can affect your ad rank, and you can do something about all of them.
The first thing you need to know is how much someone else will have to pay for the same keywords as you in order for them to outrank you. This number is called Ad Rank and it’s used by both Google & Bing’s search engines to determine where ads will appear in relation to the organic search results.
Google and Bing keep a secret formula that determines Ad Rank, but there are ways for you to figure it out on your own. You can try googling “ad rank calculation,” but we’ll show you how to do it here:
To calculate your ad rank, first add up the bid you’re willing to pay for a keyword multiplied by the Quality Score of each keyword. For example, if someone is bidding $1 and getting a quality score of 10, that’s $10:
$2 x 8 = 16
Then multiply Ad Rank (AR) (or your actual ad rank from above) by this amount. To get your actual ad rank, input the number you got from Step 2 into this equation:
$2 x 10 = 20
The result is that if someone else bids $6 to show up for the same term as you, they will outrank you—since their bid amount ($6) multiplied by Quality Score (10) equals a total of 60. Your ad rank equals the amount you’re willing to pay multiplied by Quality Score (20), which is higher than their bid ($6).
You’ll also want to consider your daily budget as part of this equation, because if you set a daily budget of $30 and someone else outbids you for a certain keyword, you won’t spend as much money on that term as they would have had you been able to keep your ad rank.
If someone outbids you, simply increase your bid amount so that it equals or is higher than whatever their Quality Score multiplied by their bid comes out to. If this happens, try to maintain this new amount for at least a week so you can see if your ads get clicked on more.
#1 Factors that Determine Where Your Ad Shows Up
In most cases, someone else’s ad may show up above yours for a few reasons:
- They have higher Quality Scores or conversion rates with their ads than you do with your own, which is why their bid amount multiplied by Quality Score is higher than yours.
Google and Bing both calculate a Quality Score based on historical performance for each ad you create. An ad’s overall score is the average of how your ads have performed for a certain keyword over time. They can also be adjusted to account for seasonal variations or changes in user behavior, so the scores are dynamic and ever-changing.
It’s possible for your Quality Score to be lower than someone else’s, even if you’re bidding more money for that keyword. The simplest way to increase your own Quality Score is to make sure that you have an awesome landing page with relevant content and a strong call-to-action (CTA).
You’ll also want to make sure that your ad text isn’t too similar to another advertiser who has already shown up for the same keyword(s), as this can cause ads to be less relevant or even get them banned. Try testing out new ads and see how they perform before and after you make changes compared with your existing ad copy.
#2 How to Increase Your Ad Rank If You’re Not Showing Up
In other cases, you might be advertising for a certain keyword but someone else may currently outrank you. In this case, you need to take care of these factors:
- They have a higher Quality Score or conversion rate with their ads than you do with your own.
If you’re spending a lot of money per day on ads but they’re not getting many clicks, or the click-through rate is very low compared to what others are getting, it’s likely because your Quality Score is lower than their own. Try improving the quality and relevance of your landing pages as well as the relevance of your ad text, and see how it affects the outcome.
#3 How to Increase Your Ad Rank Above Someone Else’s
It’s not impossible to outrank others without a higher Quality Score, but since they already have a high one (or their conversion rate is high) you’ll need to have a higher bid than them.
If you have the budget, and even if your Quality Score isn’t as high as theirs, it might be a good idea to increase your bid slightly. You should also try increasing it gradually over time so that Google can’t see that you’re trying to artificially boost your ad rank above someone else’s.
#4 Avoid Getting Your Ad Banned
There are a few things that could get your ad banned:
- You have a higher CPC than Google likes. They say they don’t want to show ads with high bids unless you have an extremely low cost per conversion (in other words, it’s very likely the user will convert and make it worth their while).
#5 How to Fix An Ad Banned Issue
If your ad gets banned, you’ll need to figure out why it happened and how you can prevent it from happening again. If Google doesn’t tell you why they’ve banned your ad after the fact, try checking the sites where people are clicking (or not) on your ads so that you can figure out what’s going on.
#6 Increase Your Impressions for a Lower CPC
If you leave your daily budget the same and want to have more impressions, then be prepared to pay more per click. If you want people to see your ads without having to increase your bid amount, try increasing your impression share instead. This is generally where you change the maximum amount that you’re willing to pay per click for a specific keyword.
#7 Increase Your Impressions with No CPC Increase
If you want more impressions without increasing your CPC, go ahead and increase your daily budget instead. Most advertisers have a minimum threshold they won’t fall below (you might be required to spend $5 or more per day) so that could be a consideration.
#8 Get a New Keyword to Increase Impressions
If your ad is already running and you want to add new keywords, the easiest way would be just to create a new campaign for them. You can connect it to one of your existing keywords, but if they have the same match type and campaign settings, you might want to create separate campaigns for them so that you can bid differently on them.
#9 Increase Quality Score with a Lower Cost Per Click
Your overall quality score is calculated using several factors but your clickthrough rate (CTR) is one of the most important ones. If people are clicking on your ads, then it means they’re interested and relevant.
#10 Stop Spending Money And Get More Clicks Instead
This is certainly not a method you’d want to use if you have other options available, but if you’ve already sent out as many ads as possible, are advertising for very specific keywords that might be difficult to rank for, and/or are paying a lot per click for your ads to show at all, you might want to stop spending money entirely.
#11 Stop Spending Money And Get More Impressions Instead
This is also not one of the more common methods either (it’s almost always better to pay less per click than higher), but if you’re getting a lot of impressions and still haven’t had any conversions, you might want to stop increasing your bids.
#12 Finding Related Keywords
Find out which keywords that have high search volume but low competition are related to your primary keyword. If they have a good CTR compared to the rest of your campaign, add them in as broad match keywords instead.
#13 Bid More Per Click on Low Competition Keywords
Although Google doesn’t want you to spend more than $2 per click for any keyword (to keep the results relevant), if you have some keywords with a very low competition but high search volume, they might make an exception. If your ad has a good CTR and cost per conversion is low, then you should definitely try raising your bid for those keywords.
#14 Get a Free Quality Score Report
There are lots of ways to get valuable information from free Google tools. You can check out specific do’s and don’ts on the AdWords website but one of the most useful reports that they have is their quality score report. It will show you how your score breaks down across several factors and provide guidance on how to improve it.
#15 Get Your Quality Score Report for an Additional Cost
If you know that the information in the quality score report will be worth its weight in gold for your business, then definitely consider buying one of the paid reports Google has available. It could help you get your ads in front of the right people without having to spend more on keywords that aren’t converting, and save money in the process.
#16 Getting More Clicks Based On Your Quality Score
If you’re getting good scores but aren’t making any conversions (cost per conversion is low) then it might be a good idea to check out the performance of your ads. Rather than just looking at clickthrough rate, you might want to see what percentage of people are clicking on it based on position and # of impressions.
#17 Some Other Factors That Affect Quality Score
There are a few other factors that affect whether your quality score is high or low. Since they’re not as important, I’m just going to mention them briefly and point you towards Google’s official guidelines. The number of times an ad has been clicked doesn’t come into play (so you can run the same ad over and over again), and landing page quality is measured based on whether or not it’s relevant, formatted correctly, etc.
#18 General Tips For Improving Quality Score
There are several things you can do to improve your quality score in general but some of them defy logic. I’m going to mention a few here that might make sense but I wouldn’t rely too much on them.
#19 Monitoring Your Quality Score Across Campaigns and Keywords
The better you know your quality score, the better you can work to improve it. As a result of that logic, I would highly recommend keeping track of your quality score for every keyword in your campaign (even if you only have one campaign).
#20 Use the View Ads Feature
The view ads feature in AdWords gives you a lot of information about your own ads that you wouldn’t normally be able to see. You can check an ad’s CTR, average position, new vs returning visitors, and which landing pages people are seeing the most (among other things), and can use that information to improve your ad.
#21 Using Smart Lists
If you know something about someone, you’ll be able to target them more efficiently (and get a higher CTR and better conversion rate). On the other hand if you don’t, you might want to reconsider putting them into your campaigns. If you want to target only people from a specific zip code, for example, then you’ll want to use the smart lists feature.
#22 Using the “Override bid” Feature
If you think an ad will perform well to those who would otherwise be unresponsive (based on their other search queries), then you can tweak it and place it in a higher position than you normally would.
#23 Using ad extensions
Ad extensions (aka: Google snippets) are the little tidbits of information that show in addition to regular text ads and allow you to provide more details about your business. They are a great way to capture people who might be on the fence about clicking through because they don’t trust your landing page.
#24 Using Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)
If you’re taking advantage of remarketing, then RLSA is a must-try feature that will let you target people who have recently visited your site but haven’t converted yet.
#25 Use Negative Keywords To Save Money On Unnecessary Traffic And Improve Your Quality Score
If you think someone isn’t a good fit for your business (for whatever reason) then using negative keywords will keep them out of your campaign, reducing the cost per conversion. You want to be sure that there are no broad matches involved with the negative keyword since it’s more likely to generate impressions than conversions, but you can also use “broad match modified” to get more specific.
#26 Using the Search Query Report To Set Up Google Alerts
The search query report will list out all of different queries related to your keywords and the impressions, clicks, CTR, cost-per-click etc associated with them. You can use that information to set up alerts either through Google or another service.
#27 Using the “View Similar Ad” Feature
Using this feature will give you a better idea of how your ad is showing up and what people are responding to. It’s something like running split experiments except that they’re side-by-side (and only in AdWords) so you can make a decision based on what gets the best result.
#28 Using Google’s Suggested Bid Tool
The bid tool isn’t perfect but if you follow its recommendations and then tweak them as necessary, it can be a helpful method for bidding your ads higher or lower depending on how well they perform (based on your keywords).
#29 Pay Attention To Your Landing Pages
You can have the best performing ad in the world but if your landing page stinks, you’ll never get a conversion. Optimize it to match whatever products/services were advertised and include any information or details that might be relevant to the person who clicked on your ad. Also consider what you offer for free (or at no cost) to give people something to “stick around” for, which will increase your conversion rate.
#30 Using Ad Groups Within Campaigns
Organizing your various campaigns into more specific ad groups can help you get a better idea of how well each campaign is performing and how they are related. It also helps narrow down the data so that you can make changes to each particular group separately.
#31 Using Negative Keywords In Ad Groups
As stated in #25, there are probably certain keywords that you’re not interested in paying for impressions or clicks on. The problem is that they’ll still show up as part of your campaigns and cost you money if you don’t put them into an ad group of their own so that they aren’t included in your ad group or keyword bids.
#32 Using Jump URLs For Your Ads
Jump URLs let you link to a different page than the one that’s listed within your campaign settings. This can be useful if you’re running an offer for free information and want people to download something (like a whitepaper) directly from your ad instead of having to go to another site.
#33 Setting Up Event Tracking With Your Google Analytics Account
If you’re a data junky, then setting up event tracking with Google Analytics will tell you which keywords and search phrases have gotten the most impressions/clicks for your ads. It’s similar to using the search query report but in this case, it’s on a keyword-by-keyword basis instead of for an entire campaign.
#34 Using Ad Extensions
Extensions will give you more space to work with when writing your ads so that you can include more information and/or targeting details (including location). Although they only show up for certain searchers, you can use them to get people’s attention without increasing your bid.
#35 Creating a Negative Keyword List for Each Location in Your Google Ads Account
It seems simple enough but there are two reasons why this is so important: 1) because it’ll allow you to keep things organized and 2) because it will help prevent you from paying for impressions and clicks on keywords that you don’t want (like nearby competitors).
#36 Experimenting With Different Ad Styles/Types
There are different styles available for your ads which can change the look and feel of them as well as what information is included. The more you experiment with various styles, the more you’ll be able to choose exactly what works best for your brand.
#37 Using Remarketing With Google Ads (or Not)
Remarketing is a way to let people see your ads again once they’ve visited your website or gotten in touch with one of your team members. The thing about remarketing is that it’s not mandatory and can be a bit expensive if you’re not doing it correctly. You can read more about how to do it properly here…
#38 Using Exact Match Keywords (But Not For Everything)
If your brand is well-known, then exact match keywords will make sure that you are the only one who shows up when people search for your company name. However, if you’re a newer brand then you don’t necessarily want to use them for everything because they’ll be too specific and other companies will show up in the “sponsored” section of search results instead.
#39 Using Negative Keywords (But Not For Everything)
Just like exact match keywords, negative keywords can help prevent your ads from showing up for unrelated search phrases. However, they can also be used to keep other companies from showing up in the “sponsored” section of search results instead of your ads.
#40 Using Mobile-Friendly Landing Pages (If Not Already)
Pages that are mobile friendly will display more easily on a mobile device which means that users won’t have to pinch and zoom to read them. If you haven’t updated your landing pages for mobile or created new ones, then do so now because many people are using their phones more often than their desktops.
#41 Using Google Webmaster Tools Account (If Not Already)
Google Webmaster Tools is an important account to have if you want to see your ranking on Google (or any other search engine for that matter) and find out if there are any issues with the way that you have your website set up. The more info/warnings you get, the better!
#42 Creating a Call-to-Action That Makes People Want to Act
Your CTAs should be enticing in order to get people to click through and make a purchase. “Click here” or “learn more” are missing one key component which is why they don’t work as well…
#43 Using Google Analytics More Effectively
Google Analytics tracks what’s happening on your website so that you can find out how many visitors you’re getting each month, where they’re coming from, and what pages they’re spending the most time on. If you haven’t used it in a while or haven’t started using it at all then take some more time to check things out.
#44 Building Links Naturally
It’s easier than ever to build natural links because all that you need is a blog with some good content on it. However, if you want to get the most out of your blog then try using a service like Yoast which will help you make sure that everything is well optimized for search engines.
#45 Using Comment-Marking/Scrapping Services (If Not Already)
There are services out there that let you check the reputation of a person or brand through their comments. This means that you can see if they have complaints about them and that you can leave negative reviews yourself to warn other people.
#46 Using PPC Management Tools (If Not Already)
A paid search management tool will help keep track of all your different AdWords campaigns as well as the competition that they’re getting. In other words, you’ll know if you need to tweak your ads or bids for any reason.
#47 Using An AdWords Management Tool (If Not Already)
AdWords is an incredibly powerful platform when used correctly but it can be very challenging to manage if you’re doing it yourself. A tool like AdWords Editor can help you with things like keyword research, ad copy creation, and making changes to existing campaigns.
#48 Using a Website Audit Tool (If Not Already)
A website audit tool will tell you what’s wrong or missing from your site so that you can get it updated immediately. These tools will point out broken links, 404 pages, duplicate content, and more.
#49 Using a Google Penalty Checker (If Not Already)
A Google penalty checker will help to see if your website has been penalized by Google (for low-quality or spammy links for example). When this happens you may not be able to rank well in search results which means that you’re losing money.
#50 Looking for Misspellings on Your Domain (If Not Already)
People will frequently misspell your domain which means that you can rank better in search results when someone searches for a variation of your domain name (e.g., lawyerbostonmass instead of lawyerbostonma). This is easily done using Google Webmaster tools.
#51 Getting Rid of Duplicate Content (If Not Already)
Search engines hate duplicate content because it means that there’s less uniqueness and more opportunity for spamming. As a result, the search engines will punish you for having too much of this by not showing your pages in their results as often–or at all.
#52 Getting Rid of Low-Quality Content (If Not Already)
Some SEOs try to keep low-quality content on their site because it makes them look like an authority. However, Google penalizes you for having too much of this and the people who arrive at your site may not even want to stay there.
#53 Be Mindful of the Length of Your Content
The common recommendations are that you should have around 200-500 words per page which is a good amount of content to look natural. If your pages are too short or too long then it doesn’t look natural and people will think that you’re trying to cheat them in some way.
#54 Be Mindful of the Length of Your Content
This one might be a little odd, but just like it’s important to have enough content on your page then it’s also important not to have too much. Stuffing a million keywords into every single sentence or paragraph can hurt you too–literally by bogging down your computer and from a search engine perspective by looking like spam.
#55 Getting Rid of Outdated Content (If Not Already)
You may have some pages on your website that are just old and out of date which means that they shouldn’t be ranking at all. If you want to keep up with your competition then you need to remove or update these pages so that they’re not getting traffic anymore.
#56 Doing Keyword Research on Your Own (If Not Already)
There are more than a few keyword research tools available and they can all be used to give you tons of information about your niche. However, you should also do some keyword research directly by searching for related terms in Google as well as on long-tail forums for your niche.
#57 Conducting A Keyword Analysis (If Not Already)
Keyword analysis can help you to find out what people are searching for and how many times they search for it each month so that you know which terms have the most competition or demand.
#58 Doing a Competitor Analysis on Your Own (If Not Already)
Just like you need to do keyword research on your own then you also need to do competitor analysis–especially when it comes to their backlink profile. However, this doesn’t just mean counting the number of links that they have; there’s more to it than that.
#59 Doing an On-Page Competitor Analysis (If Not Already)
Once you’ve linked to one of your competitor’s pages then this is the best time to use a tool like Moz Outreach which will help you find any other people linking to that page. Find the pages linking to it and reach out to them if they have contact information on their site or blog.
#60 Doing an Off-Page Competitor Analysis (If Not Already)
Once you’ve linked to one of your competitor’s pages then this is the best time to use a tool like Majestic SEO which will help you find any other people linking to that page. Find those linking sites and reach out to them if they have contact information on their site or blog.
#61 Using Keyword Density Checkers to Improve Your On-Page SEO
Even if you’re not into the whole keyword stuffing thing then there’s no harm in using a few keyword density checkers to make sure that you aren’t missing any opportunities. Just remember that it’s about quality and content over quantity when it comes to this strategy.
#62 Using On-Page SEO Structures That Ensure People Get What They Want
If someone lands on your website then they should be able to find what they’re looking for immediately without having to click around a bunch of times. This means that you need to include ways for them to specify exactly what it is that they want.
#63 Using the Keywords in Your Title Tag
If your title tag is set up right then it should have the target keyword included multiple times. However, if you go overboard then it will hurt you as a result since Google knows how to spot people trying to win at search engine optimization.
#64 Not Neglecting Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are those that include 3+ words and they usually have a lower level of competition. Since they don’t get as many searches each month then you need to work harder to rank for them but it’s worth it since they’re much easier to convert traffic into leads or sales.
#65 Writing Out Your Content in a Word Document First
You should have a basic idea of what you want to say before you start writing your content, otherwise it will come out all over the place. Also, don’t forget to include any keywords that are relevant in your document so that you can use them when it comes time for publishing.
#66 Not Using WDF*IDF
Google uses WDF*IDF to determine whether or not the content on a site has anything relevant to say about the search term that was typed in. So, you should make sure that it’s used as part of your SEO strategy if you don’t want Google to penalize you.
#67 Using Special Characters and Words in Your Content
Google will try to match the words in your content with the search term that was typed in and special characters like hyphens, brackets, question marks, etc. can be used to find synonyms or alternative spellings for a keyword phrase. Usually they’ll only show up once but it’s worth including them in your content anyway; just don’t overdo it.
#68 Using the Complete Keyword Phrase in Your Content
There are some people who believe that you should never include the keyword phrase more than once in your content but that’s not true. You’ll get better results if you always have it appear throughout all of your content since Google will be able to match up every word with the search term that was typed in.
#69 Using Synonyms Rather Than Alternative Spellings
You should use synonyms of your keyword when writing content so that the match is closer and it’ll give you a better chance at ranking for it. It’s also worth noting that Google tends to rank pages higher if they’re written well and they use synonyms in their content since that shows that they know what they’re talking about.
#70 Not Using Content First Aid To Improves Your SEO
Content first aid is a tool created by On-Page.org which will allow you to see where your site is lacking and how to fix it. It’s an easy process since all you need to do is enter your domain into the box and it’ll display all of the SEO errors that were detected.
#71 Using Nofollow Links
Some links are very valuable while others aren’t, so you want to be careful which ones you choose to take advantage of. One way to tell if a site is worth linking to is by whether or not it’s relevant to yours. If it is then you should try to get a nofollow link from them, even if they’re low quality.
#72 Not Writing for Your Audience
When writing articles for your website you need to have your audience in mind. You need to include things that will be valuable and interesting to them otherwise you’re going to lose their attention. The best way to avoid this is by having at least one person on your site that knows what they’re talking about and can give insightful advice.
#73 Using a Blog That Isn’t Dedicated to Your Industry
Make sure that your blog has been created around your niche otherwise users won’t find it valuable. You’ll want to stick with a blog platform that lets you add things like a “contact us” page, navigation menu, and search function.
#74 Not Incorporating Social Media Into Your SEO Strategy
Nowadays you just can’t afford to ignore social media but especially if your business relies on converting visitors into paying customers then it’s worth making the time to use it. There are 2 things that you should do first. First, set up a Facebook page and then have someone on your team post regularly about new content or changes to your website. Second, make sure that you’re using social media buttons in all of your blog posts so that they can spread the word once they’ve finished reading it.
#75 Not Converting Site Visitors into Customers
The ultimate goal in SEO is to get people to visit your site and you may be doing everything that you possibly can but if you don’t know what to do with them once they come then they’ll never return. There are 2 factors that need to be taken into consideration so that you can get more visitors to convert into customers. First, you have to make your site very easy to navigate; otherwise people won’t want to stick around. Second, you need a call-to-action button on every page in order for them to take the next step towards becoming a customer.
#76 Not Using Aggressive Title Tags
The first thing that people see when they come to your site is the title tag so make sure that it’s filled with keywords since this will be the main factor in persuading them whether or not they should continue reading. The best way to do this is by using a tool like On-Page.org. It’ll show you which parts need to be rewritten or added so that your title is more effective
#77 Not Using Social Media Buttons
If someone shares your blog post after reading it then you’ll benefit from more social media links. This will drive traffic to certain pages and make them easier for people to find which will result in a higher click through rate and eventually more impressions. The best way to encourage sharing is by using social media buttons on your blog.
#78 Not Taking Advantage of Your Feeds
Your RSS feed is an excellent source of traffic if it’s used correctly. This can be done by making sure that the first thing people see when they visit your site is a call-to-action button such as a “subscribe to our feed” link. If you’re determined to succeed then you should also find out whether or not your competitors have an RSS feed so that you can contact them and ask them nicely if they’ll add one for you.
#79 Not Using Images Whenever Possible
Using images in your blog posts will increase the amount of pageviews instantly without having to do any more SEO work. This is because there’s an image on every page but most people won’t go out of their way to view it and some will even skip it entirely so you need to make sure that they can see the images either by making sure that they’re easily visible or by linking them on each post.
#80 Not Using Major Keywords in Your URL and Meta Description Tags
The main purpose of the meta description tag is to persuade a site visitor into clicking on your result so it’s important to make sure that you’re using as many keywords as possible. The best way to do this is to find out what people are searching for and then writing a tag that uses relevant keywords.
#81 Not Making Your Site Mobile-Friendly
More and more people are using mobile phones to browse the Internet so it’s important not only to make sure that your site looks great on small screens but also to make sure that you’re not missing out on any traffic by failing to include them in your SEO campaign. The best way to do this is by using a tool such as Google’s Mobile Friendly Test .
#82 Not Optimizing Your Site for Local Searches
If you’re running a law firm that specializes in a specific area then it’s important to make sure that your site ranks on the first page of Google when people search for local terms. This can be done by creating a Google Places account for your office and by making sure that there’s location information on each page of your site so people know where you’re located.
#83 Not Working Closely with Your Local Business Association(s)
If you want to rank high in local searches then it’s important not only to make sure that you’re following all the advice listed above but also to make use of local business associations since they’ll be able to get your site ranking higher than ever before. This is by creating a listing on their website and then updating it regularly with new posts so people will start linking back to them.
#84 Not Creating an Accurate Image of Your Law Firm
It’s important to make sure that you’re not only using keywords wherever possible but also to create an accurate image of your law firm. This is because Google will be able to tell whether or not your site actually matches up with what people think of when they search for certain terms so it’s important to show them by matching the page titles and the page descriptions with each individual post.
#85 Not Getting Advice from SEO Consultants or Experts
If you’re starting to get overwhelmed by all of the tips, tricks, and advice that’s currently available online then it can be tempting to just throw in the towel but this is actually one of your worst possible moves because if you fail to take action then the results you’ll get will be far worse than what’s being offered by so-called “experts”.
#86 Not Having a Plan of Action for When Things Go Wrong
One of the biggest reasons why law firms fail to see any results is because they don’t have a plan in place for when things go wrong. This is why it’s important to make sure that you’re using a method that has been proven by others and also to make sure that you have a way of knowing whether or not your site is being penalized.
#87 Not Hiring Other Professionals to Help You Rank Higher
If you’ve tried all of the tips, tricks, and advice that have been listed above and still aren’t getting ahead then it might be time to hire an expert so they can show you what’s being used by the top law firms in your area. This is because the reason for your lack of success is most likely due to not following the advice properly or perhaps even a penalty from Google.
#88 Only Posting in One Place
If you’re only posting on one specific site then it’s a waste of SEO efforts because no matter how good your content is it won’t be found by relevant users. This is why you need to make sure that your posts are being shared across many different sites so they attract as many people to find them as possible.
#89 Not Adding Images
If you want to improve your chances of getting more clicks through to your website then you need to make sure that your posts contain an image because this acts as a link and helps Google know that the post is worthy of being read. However, it’s important not only to use images but also unique images so that you don’t get penalized.
#90 Not Adding Links to Other Blog Posts or Sites
If you want to make sure that your site’s posts attract as many people as possible then it’s important not only to offer compelling content but also to promote other sites within your post so they have more inbound links and improve their ranking on Google.
#91 Not Having a Unique Posting Schedule
If you want to make sure that your site is found by as many potential clients then it’s important not only to keep track of which days and times are the most effective but also to have a scheduled posting schedule with lots of variety so you attract the maximum amount of people. This is because the more people that visit your site, the greater chance you have of converting them into a client.
#92 Not Using Social Media to Promote and Share Posts
One of the best ways to increase traffic is by using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter but if not used properly then it can become a waste of time and effort. This is why it’s important to make sure that you have a plan of action for when you should be posting and also keep track of the times when your posts get shared the most so you know which ones work best for future efforts.
#93 Not Using Other Methods as Well
While the tips, tricks, and advice in this article are great at helping you get more traffic, you should never be relying on only one method to drive impressions and clicks through to your website. This is why it’s important that you’re using several methods at the same time so they all work together in unison to help generate as many leads for your firm as possible.
#94 Not Having a Regular Check Up Period
One of the best ways to make sure that you’re using SEO in a way that’s beneficial is by having a regular check up period. This is why it’s important to invest in top quality search engine marketing software so you can monitor your site and see where you’re gaining impressions or if there are any penalties being applied to your website from Google.
#95 Not Using a Top Quality Back Link Analyzer
If you want to make sure that your SEO efforts are paying off than it’s important not only to have a schedule of when you should be posting but also to keep track of the specific posts and pages that are getting more inbound links. This is why it’s important to invest in a top quality back link analyzer so you can see if there are any issues with your website or it’s not being spread across the web correctly.
#96 Not Using Other Search Engine Marketing Tools
While posting and sharing on social media sites is an easy way to get some traffic, it’s important that you’re using as many SEO tools as possible so you can see how effective your efforts are and make changes as necessary. This is why it’s important to invest in top quality back link analysis software, site audits, visitor tracking reports, and content creation packages that will help maximize your exposure.
#97 Not Using an SEO Social Media Tool for Your Calendar
If you’re using a content creation tool, visitor tracking software, social media sites, and other methods then it’s important to use an SEO social media tool so you can ensure that your posts are scheduled at the best possible times. This is why it’s important to invest in a top quality scheduling calendar that will organize all of your upcoming posts in a simple yet effective way.
#98 Not Having a Dedicated Writer to Create Content
One of the most effective things that you can do when it comes to SEO is write original content. This means that instead of being lazy and simply copying old posts or re-writing Wikipedia articles, you should be putting in the time and effort to create new exciting material for your site so you can appear to the search engines like a new website and generate more leads.
#99 Not Updating Your Content as Necessary
One of the most important things that any business owner needs to do is stay on top of their content and make sure it’s being updated regularly. This is why it’s important to invest in a top quality content creation tool so you can ensure that your content is being written properly and gets updated regularly.
#100 Not Knowing What Visibility Means or How to Increase It
Visibility is one of the most important factors any business owner needs to focus on when they’re doing search engine marketing. This is why it’s important to invest in a top quality back link analysis tool so you can see if there are any issues with your website and make changes as necessary.
At Rocket Legal Marketing, we do all of the above and more to increase our clients visibility. Our main goal is 64% in SEMrush, sure, we fall short of that at times, but in general we rank higher because of all the work that goes into it. We are not another big box agency just wanting a steady flow of residual income. Our greatest success is our clients rank. If you would like to know more on how to increase your visibility, contact us or call +1 (877) 216-2035