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Nov 22

Insights from BrightLocal's 2016 Local Consumer Review Survey

Insights from BrightLocal’s 2016 Local Consumer Review Survey

For six years, BrightLocal has been surveying consumers to better understand how they evaluate local businesses and make purchasing decisions. This year's survey assesses how consumers interpret and use online reviews to come to conclusions about businesses. Key findings show that people form opinions very quickly and that online reviews play an important role in developing these views.

Why are reviews important?

Online reviews are a form of social proof. A consumer searching for a service can...

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Sep 7

Google's Labor Day Weekend Update is a Big Win for Keyword Stuffers

Google’s Labor Day Weekend Update is a Big Win for Keyword Stuffers

While the number of algorithm changes so far in 2016 has been lower than average, several no-name updates have stormed through Google's search results, disrupting top-page standard bearers.

In May, Google started issuing outbound link penalties and devaluing media sites. This caused a big shakeup as the ripple affect dethroned many highly-ranked page one listings and introduced some new websites to the top.

On Friday, September 2nd, Search Engine Roundtable reported that search engine marketers and tracking...

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Aug 5

How to clean up your local citations (and why it matters for law firms)

How to clean up your local citations (and why it matters for law firms)

Local citations tend to proliferate regardless of whether you are paying attention. Even if you have done very little active citation building, your firm's local information is likely listed tens if not hundreds of places across the web. If you are working actively on local SEO, you will likely find thousands of sites on which a you can build a listing for your firm.

Ensuring the accuracy of your local citations is critical to your firm's SEO efforts. Search engines...

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May 31

Law firm advertising in a mobile-first world

Law firm advertising in a mobile-first world

Google announced several changes to AdWords last week, targeted for mobile campaigns. The updates further demonstrate Google's position that we live in a mobile-first world, and website owners must adapt. Here is a brief overview, along with some steps your firm can take to plan a mobile advertising strategy that fits your goals and reaches your prospective clients successfully.

Expanded text ads
Expanded text ads will allow businesses to reveal more information about what is being advertised before users ...

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Feb 9

How to convince clients to write reviews for your law firm

How to convince clients to write reviews for your law firm

Many attorneys are uncomfortable soliciting referrals from clients — and downright adverse to the idea of asking for testimonials. Firms can easily hide behind ethical concerns and bar regulations when cataloguing reasons not to ask for testimonials. And attorneys must, of course, take care to adhere to state bar guidelines regarding client feedback. But your firm can request testimonials ethically and within the purview of bar guidelines. Not only is this possible, it is a necessary element of doing...

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Aug 14

Local firms more likely to earn organic page one placement with long-tail keywords

Local firms more likely to earn organic page one placement with long-tail keywords

Google has changed the local search equation once again with a big update to its local listing pack. Last Thursday, Google began switching out its local 7-pack for a redesigned 3-pack, or Snack Pack. For all queries that produce a local pack, Google is now showing only three results instead of seven.

The new design eliminates some familiar data. Listings no longer include full addresses or phone numbers. Searchers can see the street name but must click through to the...

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Jul 13

How firms with multiple locations can improve local rankings

How firms with multiple locations can improve local rankings

Law firms with multiple locations may find it more difficult to rank well in local search results than those with only a single location. Size, which can be advantageous when building authority, does not necessarily translate into better local visibility. Each office has unique business data associated with it, and citations corresponding to each location can easily proliferate to unhealthy levels without consistent oversight.

Law firms of all sizes benefit from good local search visibility. Most legal issues are handled...

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Apr 10

How to use geotargeting to get your message to the right people

How to use geotargeting to get your message to the right people

Nationwide marketing campaigns are neither attainable nor necessary for most firms. The cost is high, and the ads will reach relatively few people who can actually take advantage of the firm's services. Instead, only people in specific areas and jurisdictions need to be exposed to marketing messages. With geotargeting, it is possible to reach very precise groups of people based on location.

Geotargeting is the practice of using information about an individual's location to deliver relevant content,...

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Mar 14

Google adds mobile-friendly usability factors to its mobile search algorithm

Google adds mobile-friendly usability factors to its mobile search algorithm

Google has announced that mobile-friendliness will be a ranking factor for all mobile searches starting April 21. Pages that are mobile-friendly according to Google's usability tests will receive a boost in results for searches performed on a mobile device.

According to Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes, the update will run page-by-page. There is no site-wide penalty. If your site were to have 20 mobile-friendly pages and 10 pages Google does not deem to be mobile-friendly, the 20...

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Aug 15

What Google's Pigeon update means for law firm local results

What Google’s Pigeon update means for law firm local results

At the end of July, Google quietly rolled out a change to its local ranking algorithm. In the absence of an official title for the update, Search Engine Land (SEL) dubbed it Pigeon, and the name has stuck. Some industries, particularly food, beverage and hospitality, have noticed dramatic changes in the way results are displayed for local search queries. Law firms should be aware of the changes associated with Pigeon and be prepared for a shake-up in local results...

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