iPulling from that collective knowledge, our team wanted to share 13 of the most important techniques and facts we have observed about legal Web marketing in 2013.
SEO Data Analyst Breonna Lewis kicks off the list:
1) Infographics ruled in 2013!
Visual content is a great way to create more interesting pages and assets to get a message across.
Kevin Smith, our Director of Design Services, added these points:
2) Mobile traffic has continued to increase.
Looking ahead to 2014 your site should be optimized to download quickly on today’s mobile platforms, if it is not already.
3) Social proof, particularly in terms of reviews, is paramount to your design and SEO.
It was true in 2013 and is even truer at the beginning of 2014.
PPC/Focus Specialist Paul Julius notes various Google Adwords developments:
5) Ad extensions in Google Adwords now have a positive effect on Ad Rank.
Ad Rank is used to determine where your ad is shown on the search results page. Ad extensions are add-ons to your PPC ad space. In the example below, notice that Consultwebs client DivorceLawNC.com features links to their Google places page, practice areas and phone number in their ad space. By using extensions well, your ad has a higher chance of ranking above the competition.
6) Linking your G+ page and 3rd party reviews as site link extensions is now possible.
As hinted above, linking your G+ page and 3rd party reviews — not Yelp or Google+, but something like a Bar organization review — as site link extensions is now possible. Maximize your ad space to navigate users where they need to go, get a better quality score and enjoy the results! (Another benefit of extensions? They work well with mobile.)
7) Remarketing is an effective way to re-target non-converting website visitors for a relatively low cost on the Google Display network.
By showing relevant ads to people who have visited your site, you can take advantage of the benefits of display advertising without having to pay the higher price typically associated with a display network advertising campaign.
Grant Brott, Search Marketing Specialist, echoed the growth trends in mobile traffic. He says:
8) Mobile search and local search go hand-in-hand.
Optimize your business for both mobile and local search because both will continue to increase in importance in 2014 as mobile becomes the top search method. Most mobile searchers have local intent; 95% of mobile users access locally relevant information and 3 out of 4 mobile searches trigger follow up actions such as sharing information, visiting a business or making a purchase.
The Manager of our Content Services, Mike Dayton, JD simply reminds us that:
9) Quality content counts now more than ever.
Meg McLean, Account Manager, chimed in with ways we’ve learned you can stay meaningfully connected to your clients:
10) Think again about the significance social proof.
Quality social sharing is more important than ever! Produce content that people want to share: use visual elements, hone in on hot topics, present data in a fresh way.
11) Featuring live chat on your site is not a nuisance; it is a great conversion tool!
More Web users are comfortable with, and prefer, live chat.
12) Having professional photos and videos on your site encourages potential to clients to learn more about you, keeps visitors on your site longer and boosts SEO efforts.
In summary, Account Manager Michael Zellmer, MBA reminds us:
13) Fundamentals of legal Web marketing have not changed.
Though we have seen a lot of changes and new developments in Web marketing in 2013, the fundamentals remain the same. Provide excellent, unique and valuable content and a great user experience and you really can’t go wrong. With Hummingbird being the last of the major updates that we saw in 2013, and with the roll out of Panda and Penguin in previous years, sites that are doing it right don’t have near as much to worry about with past, present or future changes.
