As a website owner, you know that making sure people can find you online is essential for driving traffic to your site, demonstrating the value you can provide for your clients, and encouraging people to reach out to you for help. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a crucial part of any digital marketing strategy, and because of this, you need to be aware of changes that may affect how your site will show up in search results on Google or other search engines. Recently, Google made a major update to its search algorithm that focuses on ensuring that sites provide helpful content for their users.

Issues Addressed by Google's Helpful Content Update

Your website's content is one of the primary factors that is used to determine your site's search engine rankings. To Google and other search engines, high-quality content is content that is informative, well-written, and relevant to the topic at hand. On the other hand, low-quality content is content that is poorly written, inaccurate, or irrelevant. 

While the internet provides anyone with the opportunity to create a website, publish content, provide helpful information, and connect with potential clients, actually getting people to visit a website is not always easy. While there are multiple ways to attract website visitors, one of the most important considerations for website owners is ensuring that their site will be found in online searches. By taking steps to improve how a site ranks in the results pages of search engines such as Google, a website owner can ensure that they will be visible to people who are looking for the information and services they provide. While there are multiple aspects of search engine optimization (SEO), some key issues to address include the speed of a site and the experience it provides to its users.

Page Speed and SEO

Google has stated that site speed is an important ranking factor, and this means that faster sites tend to rank higher in Google search results than slower ones. Site speed is important for two key reasons. First, fast loading times are essential for providing users with a good experience. No one wants to wait around for a slow website to load, and if a site takes too long, users are more likely to leave and look elsewhere for information, services, or products. Second, fast loading times can help improve a site’s conversion rate, as users are more likely to stay on the site and convert into customers if they do not have to deal with long load times while using the site.

Twice a year, OVC, INC. offers college students the opportunity to win a $1,000 scholarship that will help them pursue a law degree. Our “Market Yourself” Scholarship recognizes students who are considering the types of services they plan to provide for clients, the values they wish to promote, and the ways they hope to make their legal practice stand out from other attorneys. Each applicant is asked to submit an essay in which they imagine that they have founded their own law firm and detail how they plan to promote their legal practice and connect with potential clients.

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Fall 2022 “Market Yourself” Scholarship is Jacob Paul, a graduate student who is attending Villanova University. Jacob’s essay exhibited professionalism and creativity, detailing how his legal practice would provide services related to transactional matters, mergers, and taxation and serve a wide range of clients. He also detailed his commitment to providing pro bono services to religious organizations and other non-profits. Through this essay, it is clear that Jacob will put a great deal of thought into how he can help his clients while focusing on providing quality legal services to those who need them.

The Benefits of a Scholarship Program

In addition to offering scholarships to college students, OVC works with law firms to establish scholarship programs of their own. These programs can be a great way to give back to the community, support students who need assistance, and promote causes that a firm’s attorneys believe in. They can also be a powerful marketing tool that demonstrates a law firm’s values and shows that it is committed to building a positive future for the legal profession and the people in its community.

Digital technology has provided a multitude of benefits for people in modern society. The internet has become a constant presence in most people’s lives, providing immediate access to a wealth of information and the ability to connect with others at all times. Since much of the time people spend online involves using social media, this provides attorneys and law firms with the opportunity to connect directly with potential clients. By understanding the best ways to use social media, law firms can create a winning strategy that will help them succeed in the competitive online marketplace.

Building an Effective Social Media Strategy

When determining the right approach to take when using social media, a law firm will want to do the following:

• Determine the target audience - By understanding the types of clients a firm is looking to pursue, it can determine the best channels to use in its social media strategy. A firm that is looking for clients who are older may want to make regular posts on Facebook, or younger audiences may be targeted by using apps such as Instagram or TikTok. 

Since so many people use Google to search for information online, pay-per-click advertising can be an effective method of ensuring that a website can be found by people who are performing certain types of searches or who are in a specific area. However, when creating these types of ad campaigns, it is important to monitor them closely to ensure that they are reaching the right people. It is also important to make sure ads follow the policies put in place by Google, since violations may result in ads not being displayed correctly, and in some cases, an advertiser’s account may be suspended, preventing them from running ads altogether. Recently, Google announced that it will be using a strike-based system to enforce certain policies related to ads, and advertisers will need to be aware of the issues that they could face if they commit violations.

Three Strikes for Google Ad Policy Enforcement

For certain types of violations of ad policies, Google uses a “three strikes” system of enforcement. The first violation will result in a warning. A subsequent violation will result in a first strike, after which Google will place an account on hold for three days. A second strike within 90 days will result in a seven-day hold, and a third strike within 90 days of the second strike will result in the suspension of the account. After receiving a strike, an account holder will need to submit an acknowledgment form stating that they understand the policy violations, and they will be required to correct the issue. An account holder can also appeal a strike if they believe that they did not commit a violation.

Currently, Google uses the three-strikes system for policies related to guns, explosives, other types of weapons, tobacco, unapproved substances such as drugs or pharmaceutical products, and products or services that enable dishonest behavior. However, starting in June of 2022, Google will begin using the strike-based system for several other policies, including: