2016 was an eventful year in online marketing, and 2017 promises to introduce even more changes. From real-time Google filter updates to how search engines handled the indexing of fake news sites, we take a look back at the landscape of SEO last year and offer thoughts on what to expect in 2017.
Search engines have long tried to extrapolate meaning from the content of your web pages. While they have gotten pretty good at it, it is easier for them if you can be explicit in the meaning of your content. The best way to do that is by using structured data. In this post we explain what Structured Data is, and how you can implement it in your content.
The State Bar of California Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct recently reaffirmed its position on attorneys' duty of confidentiality toward their clients. In an advisory opinion, the Committee reiterated that lawyers may not disclose information, especially embarrassing information, acquired during the course of representing a client, even if that information is otherwise publicly available.
Today, Google introduced Google Assistant, a voice-activated personal assistant, joining Apple (Siri), Microsoft (Cortana), and Amazon (Alexa) in the battle for the best digital assistant. At first glance, Google Assistant boasts some advantages and a few possible disadvantages with respect to its competitors. Learn how to access Google Assistant now, and discover how this newest digital assistant might affect your SEO in ways that others haven't done.
The American Bar Association periodically publishes a document that describes legal marketing rules for every state, detailing how they deviate from the corresponding ABA Model Rule. This document covers everything from restrictions on client testimonials to required language related to certain fees. Some of these rules may be particularly relevant in the realm of Internet legal marketing, so we highlight a few of these for you.
Justia Premium Members can now see how often visitors have viewed their profile and listings on the Justia and Legal Information Institute lawyer directories and legal portals. This new web traffic report tracks the number of profile impressions and page views that lawyers receive across the Justia and LII properties.
The Florida Bar Board of Governors has issued an opinion that attorneys contacting prospective clients by text must follow the same rules that apply to other written communications in this context. While most states have not yet addressed this question of attorney advertising by text message, lawyers who do wish to use this marketing method should exercise caution when doing so, as other states may follow Florida's lead. The information in this blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice.
Most states regulate attorneys' use of the words "expert," "specialist," and other terms that could be misleading or suggest a guaranteed outcome in their clients' cases. Although it is a relatively new area of regulation, many states agree that such restrictions apply also to the domain names for lawyers' websites. For example, both Ohio and Kentucky prohibit lawyers from using domain names with deceptive, fraudulent, exaggerated, or false information. While in some states, some attorney advertising restrictions have been struck down as violating the First Amendment, the unsettled nature of the law in this area suggests that attorneys exercise caution when choosing a domain name that may contain certain terms. The information in this blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice.
With the advent of online review websites, many lawyers are finding that they benefit from having positive client reviews on each site where their name appears (and suffer from having negative reviews). Lawyers should be aware of the rules of ethics and professional responsibility that might apply to the solicitation of client reviews. In a recent opinion, the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Professional Ethics held that lawyers may offer a discount on legal fees to clients who write an online review, provided that the discount is not contingent upon the content of the review, the client is not coerced to provide the review, and the review is written by the client and not the lawyer. Other states may have different rules or interpret similar rules differently, so all lawyers are advised to seek counsel if they are unsure about the way they are soliciting client reviews. The information in this blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice.
Whether a lawyer or law firm may ethically bid on other attorneys' or law firms' names among the keywords in their pay-per-click campaign depends on the state(s) in which they practice. Although the practice, also known as competitive keyword advertising, is commonplace in many other industries, several recent opinions issued by bodies charged with regulating the legal profession have cast doubt on the viability of the practice by lawyers under current ethics rules. The information in this blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice.
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