Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

The number of "inbound links" is a very important factor for Google and other search engine to decide how high your law firm website should rank, according to the Law Firm And Attorney SEO and Internet Marketing blog.

What we're talking about is links FROM other websites TO your law firm website.  The more the better, as far as search engines are concerned.  This is also referred to as "link popularity."

Here are a few great techniques to use:

1. Blog Commenting

Blog comments can be good for building "link juice" and traffic, but it also helps you expand your social network. If you’re a motorcycle attorney in New England and you come across a blog post or article that you think is relevant or interesting by a motorcycle attorney in California somewhere, comment on it! Not only will you be getting a link back to your site, but you’ll also be expanding your online social network.

Tip: Exercise good taste when using this link building method. Don’t put your practice area as your name and don’t shamelessly self-promote. READ THE BLOG POST and then comment, and add something that is relevant to the discussion and topic. Nobody likes a spammer. Use some of the resources I mentioned in my Ways to Market your Attorney Blog post like Google Blogsearch and Google Alerts to find posts relevant to your practice area(s).

2. Forum and Answer Services Participation

You, as an attorney, offer valuable information that can be relevant to everyone. And this information is trusted. You didn’t spend all of those years in law school and making a name for yourself over the years for nothing, people know that the knowledge you possess is trusted and accurate. So share it!

You might be saying to yourself, why offer advice and information for free? I’m here to get leads and clients, not trade industry secrets.

The Web 2.0 mentality is all about transparency. People (and search engine spiders) notice you taking time out of your busy day to contribute to legal forums and other informative websites. Including a link back to your site in the signature of these sites can’t hurt either. Registering and using answer sites like Yahoo! Answers, Fluther, and others can't hurt.

TIP: Again, be tasteful. Don’t use wording like “for a free consultation, visit http://www.spammylawyer.com”. And again, the forum and answer service links don’t carry a LOT of "link juice," so don’t focus too much time on these thinking it will help you reach #1 next week. The main goal of this is that search engines see you contributing to relevant conversation. Also, deep-linking (linking back to a blog post or library page) is much better than linking back to your home page when using this method.

3. Article Submission

Creating articles and submitting them to article publication sites is a common link building technique. However, two things to keep in mind:

1) Duplicate Content

You can either (a) write an article specifically to submit to these sites, and don’t publish the article on your blog or website or (b) revise the way the article is worded if you decide to include it.

2) Trusted Article Sites

Google has made it known that there are articles sites out there that are not trusted. Stick to sites like JDSupra, EzineArticles, GoArticles, and iSnare.

TIP: If you have a website as well as a blog, you can link back to each through this method. And if you don’t…

4. Get a BLOG!

Many debate whether it is better to have a blog on your website or published separately (off-site). Off-site is better for link building and networking purposes.

Bloggers don’t mind linking to other blogs; in fact, they are way more likely to link to another blog than they are to your website. You can also use an off-site blog to drop links to your site pages from time to time. Take the time to build the authority of the off-site blog by

1. Linking to useful pages and resources
2. Submitting your blog to the resources I mentioned in Ways to Market your Attorney Blog
3. You can even install a footer on your off-site blog that links every page to your web site. This is good, because most blogs are multiple pages, resulting in more links to your website. But, content is key, and building the blog’s authority not only improves the link juice coming to your site, but it also gives you another site that has a chance to rank well.
4. Promoting your blog as actively as you promote your website, and take the time to come up with useful and informative content.
5. Get a domain name that is relevant to your practice area. Google seems to be putting more and more emphasis on ranking sites with good domain names higher, so see what is available other than your or your law firm’s name.

5. Niche Directory Sites

Relevant niche (law-related) directory sites are still good to list in, if they are trusted and have a decent authority built. Look for directory sites that include content and a few articles, and not one that just links in and out.

TIP: Set up a “links page” for niche directory sites that require reciprocal linking.