This document provides an overview of smart SEO strategies for lawyers. It discusses optimizing content, authority/links, and technology to improve search engine rankings. Specific tips include benchmarking rankings, focusing keywords, removing generic titles, adding phone/address to directories, and checking for redirects. Free tools like Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools are recommended to audit SEO performance. Outsourcing to reputable SEO consultants is also suggested.

1. Smart SEO for Lawyers
Everything You Need to Know in 60 Minutes

2. Avvo
About Avvo Conrad Saam
• Largest Legal directory (and now conrad@avvo.com
doctors)
• 2.5 million monthly visits Twitter.com/conradsaam
• 170,000 contacts/month to
lawyers
• 10% of practicing lawyers have Facebook.com/avvo
claimed their profile
LinkedIn: Avvo Lawyers
Twitter.com/avvo

3. Outline
• The Search Stool
– Content
– Authority
• Links
• The New Authority
– Technology
• Local Search
• Avoid
• Free Tools
• 11 10 Things you can do in 10 minutes

4. Introduction

5. Content and Competition
• Understand how
competitive your space is
– Name
– Practice area
– Geography
• In competitive markets,
verbal nuance is
important
– Lawyer vs. Attorney
– Name and Attorney
– Name nuance
– Geography nuance
– Practice area nuance

6. The Search Stool
Content Technology
Authority (Links & more)

7. Leg 1: Content
What is a webpage about?
Key Factors Title
Tag
• Keyword density
• Important Indicators
– Title Tag
– URL
– H1 Tag
– Meta description
• Uniqueness and freshness of content

8. Content: Anatomy of a Webpage
Title
Tag
URL
H1

9. Common Mistake #1:
A page about nothing

10. Common Mistake #2:
A page about everything

11. Common Mistake #3:
Copying content
Inlinks: 121 Inlinks: 68

12. Common Mistake #4:
Firm name as the title tag on every page

13. Leg 2: Links

14. Leg 2: Links
How important is a website?
Key Factors
• Anchor Text
– Click here
– Avvo
– Rate your Lawyer
• Number of links
• Quality of links (Authority and Relevance of linking site)
• Homepage links
• Internal links
• Attracting Links

15. Common mistake #5:
Not optimizing anchor text

16. Common mistake #6:
Static Sites aren’t Linkworthy

17. Common mistake #7:
Hosting your blog on a different domain
Inlinks: 5,072 Inlinks: 151,158

18. Counting Your Links
• www.blekko.com
• Open Site Explorer
• Majestic SEO
• Google Webmaster Tools
• Links that Don’t Count:
– No Follow Links
• Monitor w/(Quirk SearchStatus download)
– Firewalled Links

19. The New Authority: Social

20. The New Authority:
Social Graph

21. The New Authority:
Personalized Search

22. Leg 3: Technology
Can the search engines find and read the webpage?
Key Factors
• Simple URL’s in plain English According to Google, these are different pages:
• 1 Page : 1 URL
http://avvo.com
• Standard links
– Avoid: http://www.avvo.com
• Flash http://www.avvo.com?pageid=458
• Java
• Images http://www.avvo.com&reference=msn
• How to surf like a spider
– Turn off images
– Turn off javascript
– Turn off flash

23. Counting your Indexed pages

24. Common Mistake #8:
Google can’t navigate a site

25. Common Mistake #9:
using a Page ID in the URL

26. Common Mistake #10:
http://website.com vs. http://www.website.com

27. Local Search

28. Ranking Report Rant:
Local and other Stuff

29. Ranking Report Rant:
Query Variations
DUI Attorney in Seattle
Seattle DUI Lawyer DUI Lawyer, Seattle WA
Drunk driving lawyer in King County
Under the influence driving Seattle attorney
Seattle DUI Attorney
DUI Laywer Seattle
DUI Lawyers in Seattle
Top Seattle lawyer for DUI
Drunk driving attorney
Best drunk driving lawyers in Seattle
Seattle Lawyers overturn dui verdict
Seattle OUI Lawyers
Lawyer to expunge DUI from record in Seattle
North Seattle DUI Lawyer
Avoiding DUI in Seattle
Seattle lawyers to beat drunk driving
Multiple offense DUI lawyer
Driving under the influence lawyer
DUI Lawyer
Best seattle DUI attorneys
Pro bono Seattle DUI lawyer
Need a DUI attorney in seattle
Best seattle DUI lawyers
DUI law firms in WA
Attorney in Seattle for DUI
Seattle’s best DUI attorney
Seattle Drunk Driving Lawyers
Need attorney in Seattle to get me off DUI arrest

30. Ranking Report Rant:
The Long Tail

31. Ranking Report:
The Long Tail

32. “Tattoo Story” SEO Keywords
tattoo action tattoo
craig's tattoo tattoo chinese symbols
tattoo picture life sentence tattoo
craigs tattoo tattoo designs
tattoo pictures loudspeaker tattoo
divorce tattoo tattoo for life
picture tattoo
тату hardcore tattoo tattoo fotos
speaker tattoos
tatoo horor tatto tattoo horror stories
storyline tattoos
horror story tattoo image
game of life tatoos
horror tattoo tattoo of life
unity tattoo tattoo choose life
horror tattoos tattoos for strength and
speaker tattoo tattoo photo
image tattoo courage
tattoo pic
tattoo photos images of tattoos tattto
tattox
courage tattoo lawyers with tattoo tatttoo
unity tattoos
life tattoos the game tatoos
courage tattoos anchor tattoo
native indian tattoos the game tattoos
game of life tattoo courage tatto
photos of tattoo unity tattoo designs
tattoos game tattos
pic of tattoos tattoo libel
life game
game tattoo pic tattoo tattoo#i=2
lifer tattoo
gambar tattoo pictures of tattoo tattoos pics
name tattos
pictures tattoo video game tattoo
tattoo images native tattoo
pictures tattoos
craig tattoo native tattoos
pix of tattoos
question mark tattoos
the tattoo sentence tattoo -tattoo
strength courage tattoo
tatto streangth tattoos ^tattoo
strength tattoos
tattoo pics strength
strength tattos
strength and courage
tattoos photos tatto speker
tattoo
pics of tattoos chinese characters tattoo
strength courage tattoos
pictures of tattoos chinese symbols tattoo
strength tattoo
courage and strength
question mark tattoo strenth tatoos
tattoos
video game tattoos tato horror
strength and courage
tatoo horor
chinese character tattoo tattoos
tatooo
tattoo#i=51 lawyer tattoo
tattoo about life
tattoos pictures
tattoo action

33. 11 Things you can do
in 10 Minutes
Competition
1. Benchmark where you rank on Google for:
• Your name
• Your geo/specialty
2. Understand your website’s authority
• PageRank
• # of inlinks
Content
3. Ensure your geo/specialty is the focus of your homepage.
• URL
• H1 Tag
• Title Tag
• Content
4. Optimize your bio page for your name.
• URL (www.website.com/bill-smith)
• H1 Tag
• Title Tag
• Content
5. Remove your firm name from every title tag and rewrite them to focus on the
specific page’s content.
6. Add you phone number and address to local directories like Avvo

34. 11 Things you can do
in 10 Minutes
Linkbuilding
7. Add your website to Avvo.
8. Make sure the links on your website are descriptive.
Technology
9. Are all of your pages indexed?
10. Type in yourwebsite.com into the browser toolbar.
Does it automatically redirect to
http://www.yourwebsite.com?
11. Review all of your URLs for a ?, #, =, %. If you find
any, they can probably be optimized.

35. Beginner’s Toolkit (free)
• Page Rank
• Google Analytics
• Counting Links: Google Webmaster Tools (your own
site only) www.blekko.com; www.majesticseo.com;
www.opensiteexplorer.com;
• Google to check indexed page count
(site:www.website.com)
• Google Adwords Keyword Tool for keyword research
• Right click any webpage, view source, search for “meta”
or “H1”
• Webmaster Tools
– Google
– MSN
– Yahoo

36. SEO Consultants
I Personally Endorse
• Dale Tinsher – ConsultWebs, legal focused, great websites built on
a solid SEO platform. www.consultwebs.com
• Ian Lurie - Well regarded, do a paid, high quality audit.
http://www.portentinteractive.com/landers/get-10-things-to-improve-
your.htm ian@portent.com
• Will Scott, Search Influence (Drop my name for this guy).
wscott@searchinfluence.com
• Will Critchlow – Distilled Media (Will knows me. UK based, but I
think they have a seattle office now.)
http://www.distilled.co.uk/company/media.html
• Mike Belasco – Search Overflow – I know these guys only very
loosely, but they are well regarded mike@seoverflow.com

37. Thank You
Avvocating Conference Conrad Saam
• Advanced Online conrad@avvo.com
Marketing Training for Twitter.com/conradsaam
Lawyers
• May 19-20
• In Orlando Facebook.com/avvo
• $100 Discount Code: LinkedIn: Avvo Lawyers
PILMMA Twitter.com/avvo