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Recent Blog Posts
5 Tips for Creating an Effective SEO Strategy for Your Content
It’s no secret. People use Google and other search engines to find information, and the websites that are optimized to rank high in searches are the ones that are the most successful. However, developing a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy is no easy feat. Read below to learn how you can create an effective SEO strategy and develop content that is SEO-friendly:
- Plan your content around relevant keywords. Users look for content using keywords (the search terms they type into search engines), so the content you create should be determined by keyword research. Keywords should not be an afterthought. They should be used as a source to organize your content and inspire ideas.
- Research the best keywords using Google. Make a list of keywords by using Google’s search engine results and Google’s Keyword Planner. Search for different terms on Google and track the number of times the keywords showed up on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). Scroll toward the end of the SERP to view the list of “search related” terms for an idea of the kinds of keywords you can use. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner to measure the number of times a keyword or phrase is searched for and how competitive a keyword phrase is. Pro tip: Don’t use a keyword that is too high or low in competition. Aim for keywords that have medium competition and a healthy search volume.
5 Quick Ways to Boost Your Law Firm’s Twitter Following and Engagement
Social media can leave many attorneys baffled, but Twitter is one of the easiest social media platforms to use because of its informal and conversational nature. The social media platform is valuable, too. While it does not have as many users as Facebook, Twitter is unique in that it is generally easier for users to find the content they are looking for. This provides attorneys with a great opportunity to directly reach out to users looking for legal information and connect with potential clients.
You can increase your following on Twitter, and in turn, expand your client base by following these five tips:
1. It’s all about the visuals.
Research shows that tweets with images, videos, or GIFs are more likely to be retweeted than tweets with no visuals. Visual content is what grabs your followers’ attention, and when they retweet your content, more people are likely to see it and be led back to your Twitter page
OVC, Inc. Celebrates Business Milestone
Earlier this spring the online marketing firm, OVC, Inc., celebrated its ninth year of providing specialized products and services for attorneys and law firms in need of a powerful online presence. The company’s anniversary took place on May 28, 2017.
Over the years, OVC, Inc. developed a series of strategic relationships with both local and national organizations, including the DuPage County Bar Association and Kane County Bar Association. As these relationships grew, the company added services and products that enhanced Search Engine Optimization for clients including legal directory partnerships and blogs. Writers with legal industry experience and/or English backgrounds, marketers, SEO experts and social media gurus joined the team, allowing OVC, Inc. to provide complete marketing programs for law firms across Illinois and throughout the United States. The company currently serves clients in 14 states.
New Features and Updates for Google My Business and Image Search
This week, Google rolled out new updates and features regarding image search results and Google My Business. Google was testing the updates and features earlier this year and late last year, and has now decided to deploy them.
Google My Business Messaging Feature
A new messaging feature for Google My Business is now fully available on mobile phones throughout the U.S. The managers of Google My Business accounts can now directly chat with potential customers or clients through the Google local panel in mobile search.
So, when potential clients see your Google local panel when searching for your company in mobile search, a “Message” icon will appear next to the “Call,” “Directions,” and “Website” icons.
To activate this feature, go to your Google My Business account home page and click the “Turn on Messaging” button in the section titled “Message with Customers.” You will then be prompted to enter the mobile number of the phone you want to connect to your account (your phone must have a messaging app installed).
How to Increase the ROI of Your Law Firm’s Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is instrumental in the growth and maintenance of any business. However, many law firms are baffled by how to use social media to attract new clients. Even worse, a significant number of attorneys believe that social media marketing is inessential to the growth of their business. In a survey conducted by Attorney at Work, 54% of respondents said that social media marketing is “more hype than reality.”
The inclination to believe that social media is not an integral part of any effective marketing strategy can be detrimental to the health of your law firm or business. The propensity for many people to believe that social media is not necessary may stem in part from their ineffective use of social media. Many business owners spend an excess amount of time and money on social without receiving the return on investment (ROI) they should.
Content Marketing 101: A Quick History of Blogging
If you are active on social media or use the internet to search for any type of entertainment, pop culture, or sports information, you have probably come across at least a few blogs. In today’s world, blogs have become an extremely common and well respected form of journalism—albeit admittedly colored by the opinions and beliefs of the blog writer. But, how did we get this point? How did blogs evolve from personal webpages to tools that can be used to drive traffic and increase client conversions? The history of blogging is certainly an interesting story.
Humble Beginnings
Blogs trace their roots to the advent of written language when humans first started recording their thoughts, feelings, and experiences in diaries and journals. It seems that we have always been interested in documenting our lives and interests for future posterity—or whoever would happen to read what we had written.
Changes May Be Ahead for Google’s Featured Snippets
By now, you probably know that Google’s search engine processes billions of queries on any given day—the number is actually around 3.5 billion if you were curious. You also probably know that the results are ranked by the search engine’s algorithm as it attempts to determine which sites best suit the needs of the user conducting the search. Sites that are determined to be more relevant to a particular query rank higher, as you might expect. Depending on the search term, you may also see a text excerpt from one of the relevant results displayed above all of the other results. This eye-catching distinction on the search results page is known as a “featured snippet” and is highly coveted by web designers and marketing professionals. According to at least one source, however, Google may soon be making changes to its featured snippet program.
Illinois Supreme Court Amends Mandatory CLE Requirements for Attorneys
For motivated individuals, “good enough” is never enough; it is always possible to do more or to continue improving. This type of person is often a “lifelong learner,” as he or she constantly looks for new opportunities to hone a skill and increase his or her knowledge base. In certain professions, lifelong learning is not just expected; it is mandatory for maintaining certifications and licensing. In the state of Illinois, attorneys, along with teachers, doctors, and even cosmetologists and hairdressers are required by the state to complete a certain number of “continuing education” hours so that they can remain at the forefront of their respective fields.
Minimum CLE Requirements
In 2005, the Illinois Supreme Court created the Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Board to oversee continuing legal education (CLE) requirements for practicing attorneys in the state. While the rules are a little different for newly-licensed attorneys, lawyers who have been in the profession for more than two years must take a minimum of 30 CLE hours in each two-year reporting period. Six of those of hours must be in areas categorized as Professional Responsibility CLE, including professionalism, civility, ethics, diversity, mental illness, and addiction.
Google’s Android Surpasses Windows as Most-Used Operating System
In today’s technologically driven world, you essentially have two choices: get online or get left behind. An overwhelming majority of Americans—nearly 90 percent—use the internet to shop, connect with friends, search for information, or even conduct business. While the percentage of the population who use the internet in other regions around the world is not quite so high, data suggests that nearly half of the world’s citizens go online in some way.
Connecting to the internet once required a desktop or laptop computer and a telephone line. Today, of course, users are no longer tethered by a literal phone cord. People can now access the internet from nearly anywhere with devices that fit easily into a pocket or handbag. As more and more people rely on smartphones and other mobile devices to stay connected, the tech industry as a whole has continued to evolve around—led largely by advances by companies like Google. Last month, the most powerful brand on the internet claimed another victory, as Android, Google’s mobile operating system eclipsed Microsoft’s Windows as the most popular operating system in the world for internet usage.
Making Google Maps and the Local 3-Pack Work for Your Firm
When you conduct a Google search for a type of business, the search engine’s algorithm determines what pages are most likely to meet your needs and displays them as a list of search results. In many cases, there are infinitely more results that you will never need. For example, a quick search using the words “Chicago restaurants” returns more than 99 million results—in less than one second. Of course, each result does not necessarily correspond to an individual establishment—Chicago has lots of restaurants but not 99 million of them. Most such searches, however, return at least several bona fide options under an interactive map of the local region.
Over the last few years, this section of Google’s search results page has undergone a series of transformations beginning with a list of seven entries and a regional map. In its current iteration, the listing is referred to as a Local 3-Pack, and getting your firm listed as part of a Local 3-Pack can dramatically increase your online visibility.
