On some sites I work on, I see the coders have used CSS to format the site’s H1 tags to not show the text but, instead, display an image in the text’s place. This is commonly called the “display:none” trick. The advantage is that it allows you to use an image as a header while, at the same time, keeping the text “version” behind the scenes. Spiders see the text, end-users see the image. Matt Cutts makes it clear Google is watching this “trick”… the biggest thing they’re watching is keyword spamming and multiple instances of the trick.

I’ve recommended a few sites use the trick when a client insists on a crazy font for their content headers but always use real, CSS formatted text in the H1 tag when you can. If you do have to use the display:none trick, make sure what’s inside the H1 tag is pretty well 1 phrase… 3-4 words at most… and reflects the content of the page. No matter what, be careful!

[tags]SEO tricks, h1 tag, CSS[/tags]

Back from a brief hiatus, today I’d like to start a discussion of some of the legal issues that should be considered i) when directing the construction of a law firm’s website; and/or ii) when initiating a search marketing campaign for a firm. Although there are a number grey areas between what’s already covered by each state’s [tag]Rules of Professional Conduct [/tag] and new topics opened up by the Internet, there are a few guidelines that I advise lawyers pay attention to just to be safe.

An immediate recommendation: visit LegalEthics.com for a more extensive presentation of relevant case law or, better yet, consult your specific state’s Rules of Professional Conduct directly.

State Disclaimers: One of the most important things in posting any sort of [tag]legal advertisement[/tag] is making sure you get your general state [tag]advertising disclaimer[/tag] right. Yes, these rules apply to the web as well as billboards and TV ads. A good place to start is http://www.visibility.org/disclaimer.html. Here, you can find a quick listing of most state advertising disclaimers. How extensively you have to brand your website varies, but you’ll want to (at minimum) include the appropriate disclaimer on your homepage if one is required. (I believe most lawyers have this one covered in the print advertising context, if not a web context as well.)

Other Disclaimers: An offshoot of this, you’ll also want to look into

1. your state’s rules on disclaiming links pointed to other websites;
2. your state’s rules regarding proper contact form disclaimers attesting that no attorney/client relationship has been established. These things are being ruled upon daily, so again I advise checking your state’s regulations.
3. your state’s rules on publication of your firm’s physical address. Some states require it on your homepage.
4. your state’s rules on disclaiming images of people on your website. If your site uses stock photos of professional looking people on it, you may want to consider adding “actor portrayals” or something similar.

Language (aka “The Hard Sell”): The law seems to be very picky when it comes to what you can say about your firm, adjectives you cannot use and how exactly you can urge people to consider your services. There are hundreds of specific examples that can be found but some things you need to investigate before you use:

1. be very careful about using phrases establishing experience like “…specializes in…” or “…a certified xyz lawyer…“. For phrases such as these, there are specific explanitory statements required in some states that must be printed.
2. be very careful about using words like best, great, super and other comparitive terms. Many states don’t want these in ad copy, domain names or email addresses. An extension of this, you’ll even want to be mindful of using phrases like “largest jury verdict”, “attorneys who get results” and “40 years of combined experience”
3. be careful about representing the scope of your practice in both word and image. In other words, don’t say your firm is national in focus if it isn’t. Don’t put a big map of the United States on your homepage if you only handle cases in Peoria.

[tag]Website Filing Requirements[/tag]: law firms should check with their state regulations on advertisement filing requirements. There are rules in Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina and elsewhere that firms keep a copy of their advertisements (websites?) on file for a few years either in-house or actually with the state.

You Are the Expert?!: I am not a lawyer! I can’t speak for every state’s rules and certainly won’t ensure that the items I’ve discussed above are everything you need to think about when undertaking a search engine marketing campaign. In other words, this article is a good starting point for your own investigations. Ultimately, each law firm is responsible for the contents of their site, not CaseDetails.com! Regrettably, this leaves firms in the position of either having to hire state-specific, Internet legal specialists to assure them their site complies with local regulations or, themselves, becoming “experts” on their state’s rules. Neither of these is an enviable position – that’s why I’m laying out what I’ve found and you can take it from there![tags]legal website development,legal SEO[/tags]

I thought I’d step into the real world today, take a few [tag]lawyer websites[/tag] and outline what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong in their [tag]online marketing campaign[/tag]s. As I do so, I hope readers will pick up some tips for use on their own sites.

The first case study is www.peekcobb.com (Peek, Cobb & Edwards, P.A.) – a Jacksonville FL personal injury, medical malpractice and nursing home neglect firm. What can we learn from their site? First, a screenshot:

One of the first things I notice is the firm’s location and primary areas of practice are immediately presented. Good. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run across sites that give absolutely NO information about the law firm other than “Welcome, we’re glad you’re here.” In terms of SEO, one of the more important features is that these areas of practices are cited within text linked to relevant pages deeper within the site. It’s good to have your keywords on the page, but it’s better to (sensibly) include those [tag]keywords within link text[/tag].

Looking at the [tag]site navigation[/tag] along the left hand side of the page… I have an immediate aversion from using images of text for the site’s main navigation. [tag]Search engine spiders[/tag] cannot “read” [tag]text rendered as images[/tag] and, quite often, images of text are usually very hard to read for human vistors as well. This is a negative one-two punch alienating both the search engine spiders and site visitors. If using images of text is unavoidable in your site navigation scheme, do as this firm has done – repeat those navigation links in real text somewhere on the page (most likely the site footer). This makes sure the links are spidered AND it ensures the spiders make note of the [tag]anchor text[/tag] associated with that link.

One more thing we can learn from the PeekCobb.com site: the worth and worthlessness of Flash on [tag]legal websites[/tag] is something I often see discussed. The downside: copy and [tag]links within Flash[/tag] aren’t spidered by most search engines. The upside: nearly limitless animation and design possibilities. This firm has made a fairly good compromise in that their site header, coded in Flash, takes advantage of the animation and font choices available but that’s it… no content is delivered within the Flash and navigation is definitely not rendered via Flash. All in all, we learn from this that Flash is not a categorical “no-no” in SEO circles but using it to deliver your site content or navigation is not a good choice.

A second site I’d like to look at today is www.robbrobb.com – Robb and Robb from Kansas City Missouri. Like others, this site does make the “mistake” of rendering their navigation structure as images. This is something they should either convert to real text or at least repeat those links somewhere on their pages. But I digress… I’ve called this site to attention because of a very simple feature: their address information in the footer.

I mentioned this in a previous post, but firms should make sure they list their physical address somewhere on every page of their website PLUS list their local telephone number. Robb & Robb have done a good job of doing this, better establishing themselves as legal authorities in the Kansas City MO area. Search engines take note of this (along with your content, of course) and index you accordingly.

A third site I’d like to look at for slightly different reasons: www.thekahnlawfirm.com. The Kahn Law Firm are attorneys serving the greater Houston area in personal injury, wrongful death and auto accident litigation. Their site does make the cardinal mistake of rendering far too much text as images, but let’s look at what was done right…

The thing that I’d like readers to notice about this site is the extensive use of “[tag]conversion mechanisms[/tag]“… friendly ways of drawing the site visitor in and engaging them in what you hope will be an ongoing discussion of their case. This site effectively captures visitors’ attention with the red light at the top right, urging “Don’t sign anything, Don’t say anything.” As a reader, I’m definitely listening. As the reader’s eye moves down the page, they’re continually engaged with advice and statements of the firm’s philosophy. Familiar faces like that of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are presented, with appeals to common human emotions with statements like “Don’t pay for someone else’s mistake”. This firm is really reaching out to the reader, consoling them but, at the same time, urging them to act under their expert guidance.

Summary Ideas:

• make sure your firm’s location and area(s) of practice are clearly stated on the homepage
• if your navigation is composed of images, Flash or Javascript, make sure you put text link versions of those in your site footer
• feature your primary office location’s address in real text somewhere on the homepage or, better yet, on every page
• include “conversion mechanisms” within your site and, particularly, on your homepage. These include i) calls to action like “Call Now!”, ii) attention-getting visual metaphors, iii) appealing philosophy statement(s) and iv) taglines focused on common hopes and fears.

Take care of these basics and you’ll be in a better position to benefit from blogging, [tag]content development[/tag] and link building.
[tags]seo for law firms,seo case studies,lawyer seo,attorney seo[/tags]