There was a lot going on this month in the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media marketing. Google announced the most recent Panda Update, and the rollout (which has already started) will be unfolding over the next week. According to Google, the newest iteration will continue to penalize weak content, but with the additional benefit of allowing more high quality small and mid-sized sites to rank better. This could be great news for law firms with strong blog content, resources, or academic articles.
Additionally, there were numerous other articles you might have missed over the course of the past month. And, once again, the best of the bunch have been assembled in this roundup post. Here are some of the highlights from the past month:
It appears Google authorship may not be dead after all. According to an article on Real Lawyers Have Blogs, the recent announcement from Google that authorship would no longer be displayed in search results may have been misinterpreted as meaning it was no longer important. That might not actually be the case, as an author’s influence and connections will continue to play a role in Google’s search results.
With online marketing constantly evolving, Moz has assembled a list of Outdated SEO Concepts People Still Think are Reality. For anyone who doesn’t have time to stay on top of trends, this list offers a nice way to play catch up and ensure that even if you’re not ahead of the game, you’re at least not falling too far behind.
On the content side of things, Moz offered up a list of 5 Hacks for Creating and Promoting the Right Content. Some of these tips might be overkill for small and midsized firms, but there’s still plenty to be gained from following much of the article’s advice.
It can be hard to narrow down which social media outlets will offer the best return on your time; fortunately, Quicksprout has put together a handy guide to figuring out Which Social Media Platforms are Best Suited for Your Business.
In light of the Google Pigeon update, Search Engine Land has put together a quick guide on How To Optimize For Internet Yellow Pages and Directories. With an increasing number of these sites ranking reasonably well over the past couple months, leveraging your listings to generate leads is definitely a smart move.
Lastly, on the link building front, Search Engine Watch published a couple of articles with strategies most law firms could utilize in their marketing efforts. First, they pointed out that For Every Link You Earn There Are Five More Worth Building. Then, they offered businesses 6 Crucial Link Building Strategies to Drive Quality Traffic. Both articles feature some solid advice for firms looking to claw their way up the search results rankings.
That’s it for this month’s roundup. If I missed anything of note please feel free to let me know in the comments below. It’s always nice adding new resources to the feedreader, so if your favorite SEO or Search Engine Marketing (SEM) blog has been habitually omitted from these monthly recaps, chime in and I’ll make sure to remedy that in next month’s edition.
About the Author: Jason Arango is the Director of Marketing for GJEL Accident Attorneys. He’s been involved in online marketing since 2007, and has worked with companies such as Village Voice Media and Clear Channel Communications.