4 Easy Tips for Top 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: creating inbound links, adding relevant content, editing your title tags / meta tags, and registering your web site with search engines.

1. Inbound Links

As stated by Google, which provides over 75% 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 get links on other web sites to your web site. Possible web links include other legal web sites, directories, legal portals, news sites, press release sites, and social networks. With each new relevant link, your web site increases its rank. You should avoid reciprocal links exchanges, although it never hurts to have a few from other professional organizations, clients, trade groups, consultants, publishers, educational institutions, and other relevant organizations.

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 Title Tag and 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. The most important tag is the Title tag. 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. Old Domain Name with Keyword Phrases

Google loves sites with keywords in their domains these days, so it is wise to use them. If possible, try to use a domain that contains relevant keyword phrases, such as www.elderabuselaw.com or www.florida-probate-lawyer.com. Moreover, if your domain was registered several years ago, then use that too. Better yet, use an old domain name that also contains keyword phrases. Don’t worry its fine to start with a new domain name, but it always helps to start with something that is older and contains keyword phrases. Of course, always pick one domain name and redirect all others into that domain with a permanent 301 redirect.