After sitting there for a year without much use, Google Profiles are today getting a push from Google, according to TechCrunch.com and a number of other sources. Beginning today, all Google search queries for a person’s name will now feature a section on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) dedicated to Google Profile results at the bottom of every page. These profiles allow people to fill out their basic information, like current employer and links to various web presences, without having to maintain a personal website. Google is allocating four thumbnail spots to these profiles at the bottom of search engine results page – anyone who doesn’t appear in those four spots can be found by clicking a link to show more results. Getting one of these four thumbnail spots is going to very desirable to some people. According to Google, the four top spots will be chosen by an algorithm that favors “complete” profiles, but Google wasn’t very specific about how the algorithm will work.
The folks at Google say, “[a] Google profile is simply how you present yourself on Google products to other Google users. It allows you to control how you appear on Google and tell others a bit more about who you are. With a Google profile, you can easily share your web content on one central location. You can include, for example, links to your blog, online photos, and other profiles such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. You have control over what others see. Your profile won’t display any private information unless you’ve explicitly added it.”
You can go to the Google Profile Creation Page to create your profile.
Tagged as:
Google,
Google Profiles
The Wisconsin Bar recently published an interesting article with 10 Internet marketing tips for new, small law firms. While the article is sometimes short on specifics about implementing its suggestions, it is a very good beginning point for lawyers without experience in online legal marketing. I’m just going to list the 10 headings here without the full text of the article; you can read the full article here. I’m going to add some explanations/suggestions based on my own experience.
- Advertise Online.
- Invest in a professionally designed and developed web site.
- “Consumerize” your web site.
- Incorporate video on your site. [The articles suggests that you "Develop an introductory video of the managing partner that showcases personality as well as expertise. Post the video on the web (and YouTube) and even consider a TV spot down the road." My caveat, if the managing partner doesn't come across well on video, do not use the managing partner. Use the lawyer who looks best and comes across as most genuine on video. If you have to, and your bar regs permit it, hire a professional before you put up a video with a white-faced, stuttering managing partner. Also, if you can afford it, spend the money to shoot a professional video. You don't have to spend a fortune to hire a pro, and the results will be worth the money. For ideas about using video that aren't limited to interviews with your managing partner, see my post "Use online video to do things you can't do on TV."]
[click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Attorney advertising,
Google AdWords,
Internet for lawyers,
Law firm websites,
Online Legal Marketing,
Search Engine Optimization (SEO),
SEO
The Official Google blog today reports two new services you may want to try. One is the “Similar Images” search which allows you to find images that are, well, similar to another image. Another toy that may prove more useful to some of us is the “Google News Timeline.” According to Google’s blog, “Google News Timeline organizes information chronologically by presenting results from Google News and other data sources on a zoomable, graphical timeline. You can navigate through time by dragging the timeline, setting the time scale to days, weeks, months, years, or decades, or just including a time period in your query (i.e., “1977″). To see this in action, check out the results viewed by month in the summer of 2006.”
As someone who has created a number of websites dealing with recalled products, I’ve found that most clients appreciated a timeline explaining the history of the product, from the time it was introduced until the time it was recalled. To the extent that Google News Timeline can help with that, it could be very useful to people building sites devoted to particular defective products. I tested it with a search for “Yamaha Rhino.” I currently represent clients injured on Rhinos, and operate a Yamaha Rhino recall site and an ATV and Yamaha Rhino lawsuit site.) Unfortunately, Google News Timeline was not as helpful as I hoped. It failed to turn up several relevant news articles. For example, it failed to list a single article from January 1, 2009 through March 31, 2009, although there were very relevant news articles about Yamaha Rhinos, including the establishment of an MDL and consolidation of all federal lawsuits involving Yamaha Rhinos.
I’m going to put Google News Timeline down as an item to check back on in a month or two. It’s too early to tell how helpful it may be.
Tagged as:
Google,
Google News
A site named ask in wiki claims to have a list of the top 777 paying keywords from 2008. I don’t know if it’s accurate, but if it is, it’s interesting to see how many of the top keywords are related to personal-injury litigation. Mesothelioma lawsuits are especially sought-after, with bids starting at more than $85.00. [click to continue…]
Tagged as:
keywords,
Mesothelioma,
Pay-Per-Click,
PPC
by Michael J. Evans on March 10, 2009
in Google
I recently bought a book entitled “What Would Google Do?” It’s written by Jeff Jarvis, who blogs at buzzmachine.com. In addition to the intriguing title, my attention was captured by raving reviews on the cover by Chris Anderson (author of The Long Tail), Craig Newmark (founder of craigslist.com) and other Web 2.0 gurus. With these guys all describing how revolutionary the book is, how could I go wrong by devoting a few hours to reading it? [click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Google
I just saw an interesting article at Law.com asking whether pay-per-click advertising is worth it for small law firms. The article interviewed Miles Cooper, Managing Attorney of the Veen Firm in San Francisco. He said their firm had always relied on a steady diet of attorney referrals and what Cooper refers to as “cold calls.” I suppose Cooper was referring to potential clients calling the firm, even though I always thought of (and Wikipedia defines) cold calling as the process of approaching prospective customers or clients. Anyway, about a year ago the firm noticed a drop-off in “cold calls,” leading the firm to begin a pay-per-click ad campaign this January. “It was a philosophical jump for us,” Cooper said. “We thought of ourselves as one of the more prominent firms in the city, not a 1-800 ambulance firm. … But we need to make sure that our names are out there.” [click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Ads,
Pay-Per-Click,
PPC,
Search Engine Optimization (SEO),
SEO
In an interview yesterday with CNBC’s Bill Griffeth and New York Times reporter Andrew Ross, Google’s CEO said he’s bullish on mobile advertising–suggesting the medium can target consumers more easily. That’s really not surprising, considering Google’s December 8, 2008 announcement of a new option that allows AdWords advertisers to show desktop text and image ads on the iPhone, the T-Mobile G1, and other mobile devices with full (HTML) Internet browsers. With more powerful browsers on mobile devices such as iPhones and Blackberrys, people are using cell phones for more than voice communication and email these days, and the trend is certain to grow.
In the interview yesterday, Google’s CEO said of mobile ads, “They should be worth more, advertisers should be willing to pay more, and there should be greater conversions, which is ultimately what advertising is about,” he said.
I agree. That’s what led me some time ago to stock up on a variety of legal-related .mobi (for “mobile”) domain names. All of my .mobi names are suitable for mobile websites, but a few are perfect for development as iPhone apps. Google announced in December 2008 that users had already downloaded 3 million iPhone apps, and that number continues to grow.
If you’re a lawyer, legal marketer or iPhone application developer interested in developing iPhone apps or mobile sites targeted at lawyer advertising, feel free to contact me to discuss development and/or advertising possibilities.
Tagged as:
iPhone apps,
legal marketing,
mobile ads
According to a February 16, 2009 LawyersUSAonline.com article, almost two-thirds of potential clients begin their search for a lawyer online. The article doesn’t cite the source for that statistic, but even without a source, I’m convinced that many (if not most) clients begin their search for a lawyer online. One subscription service that provides keyword information (and which shall remain nameless here) says that the top 300 searches for the terms “lawyer” or “attorney” generate over 46,000 searches per day. I’m convinced the number would be even higher if you could capture all attorney/lawyer searches (the subscription service I used stopped at 300 searches for “lawyer” and 300 searches for “attorney”). The point of all this is that lawyers, even sole practitioners, need websites. [click to continue…]
Tagged as:
attorneys,
lawyers,
legal marketing,
Search Engine Optimization (SEO),
SEO,
websites
Google’s latest quarterly report reinforces the notion that an Internet marketer ignores Google at its peril. While many advertisers reported fewer ads in the 4th quarter, Google’s aggregate paid clicks rose 18% over the fourth quarter of 2007. Google remained the No. 1 search provider in December 2008, with an estimated 5.4 billion search queries, representing 62.9% of all searches during the month.
Google-owned YouTube was the number one Web brand when ranked by total streams in December 2008, with 5.6 billion total streams and 84.6 million unique viewers. The YouTube numbers show the increasing popularity of online video, something Internet marketers need to consider when creating a marketing campaign.
