Marc Saltzman from Newtalk 1010 and sync-blog.com did a great review of RIM’s new Blackberry Torch in this blog.  This new Blackberry has both a 3.2-inch touchscreen and a slide out QWERTY keyboard.  Super cool (although it’s not considered to be an i-phone killer).  I was wondering, and hoping, that someone would give me one of these cool new devices to test out and write a review on.  People are always giving Marc cool new stuff to review, so why not me?  I’ve owned a Bold 9000 since it first came out.  In fact, I had to fight off a school chum for mine.   Anywho, going back to the Torch, I read in Marc’s review that, while it has a new and improved camera, more memory (8GB), the real story is in the operating system and web-browsing capabilities.  It’s smarter than ever, with cool and practical shortcuts.  Here’s a youtube video that reviews the various functions of the Torch:

It seems like it will go for $199 with a 3 year plan or $1,000 (at future shop) as a stand alone.

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So I never realized that talking about my experiences with paid vs. organic search would be such a hit.  Since there seems to be a lot of demand for this kind of stuff, I thought I’d talk about 5 tips and tricks that I use (among many, many others) to help people find my website.  FYI, if you’re a lawyer or law firm and you’re looking for some consulting advice, drop me a line.  So without further adieu, here are my 5 tips to help your website rank higher in search engines:

1. Write regularly
When I first got a quote from an SEO company (a few years back) about helping me to reach page 1 on Google for my keywords, I was told that I would need to product 15 new articles every month.  5 new blogs posts.  5 pdf documents.  And 5 word documents.  Today, looking back, I realize that if I had hired that company, I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today in search engine rankings.  Why?  Because you need to empty your brain on your blog as frequently as possible.  Why?  Because if you don’t do it, someone else will.  Try aiming for 5 new posts, articles, etc. every WEEK. That may sound like a lot, but you’ll soon get used to writing quickly about topics that interest you.  Your writing skills and your writing VOICE will improve.

2. Write Well
Writing a lot isn’t the solution if you’re not writing unique and interesting stuff.  Near the beginning of my SEO days, I hired an article writing company.  I paid them about $9 per 500 word article.  I just wanted to try them out.  They could save me a lot of money in the long run if I wasn’t sitting in front of my computer writing all this stuff.  I told them to give me a blog about Canadian criminal law.  I told them the topics I wanted covered and some examples from various websites.  What I got back – 2 days later – was a piece of crap.  It’s like they paraphrased what was already written on the web.  The writing style was that of a 17 year old.  I couldn’t possibly use it.  And that was the end of that experiment.  Another SEO company gave me a quote and wanted to write legal-related stuff for $100 per article.  I figured that they would outsource it and pay $9 and keep $91 for themselves.  What would I get in return?  Likely: crap.  Why?  Because no one can write about legal stuff unless they know it.  You can’t pretend.  You either know it or you don’t.  You either have the skills and knowledge and know-how or you don’t.  You either went to university and became a lawyer and articled or you didn’t.  Don’t try to pretend to be a lawyer: you can’t find yourself in hot water when things go wrong.  So, at the end of the day, the only good quality content which I put on the web comes from me, an Ontario lawyer who thinks he knows what he’s talking about.

3.  Write With Your Audience In Mind
Look, you can’t just write whatever you want.  You need a purpose.   A strategy, if you will. Your purpose may be: I need to get prospective clients to find me on the internet.   Or your purpose may be: I need to show my existing clients that I have a web presence.  Or your purpose may be: I need to do something fun and show the world a little bit more about me by talking about humerous or interesting things in the news.   Whatever your purpose is, just be clear about it from the get go.  Trying to do too much with your writing can confuse the end-user.  Make it simple, and constantly hammer the same message.

4.  Organize What You Write
Yes, you need to write for your audience, but you also need to write with search engines in mind.  Search engines like Google, Yahoo, Ask, Bing, etc. look for certain things to help them decide how to rank your content.  Is your content original?  Is it regularly updated?  Are you targeting certain keywords in your text?  Are the keywords in your URL and headings? Are your image files named with your keywords?  Are you using a low keyword density?  You need to think about these things, but don’t overdo it!  Search engines know when you’re trying to trick them and will punish you (by sending your website to the sandbox – i.e. making it hidden – for months at a time).  If you think about your audience and understand a bit about SEO, then you’ll be fine.  Just don’t try to trick anyone or your website will suffer.

5. Write Interesting Stuff
If you’re passionate about what you write, then it will show.  If you’re just talking about boring legalese which only other lawyers and judges will read, what’s the point (unless that’s your target audience)?   If you love what you’re talking about and have strong views about it, then it will show.  People love to read examples.  They want to see a little bit of theory and a lot of application.  So entertain them, if you can.  I realize that the law can be a bit (or very) dry sometimes, so try to jazz it up.  A lot of lawyers are afraid about what to write, so I generally ask them: what interests you?  You can only write about “Toronto personal injury lawyers” so many times before no one cares.  But if you talk about crazy cases you were involved in or read about, then that’s a good start.  If you talk about solutions to people’s problems, then that’s good too.  If you talk about your personal experiences, it shows your audience that you’re human too.  So what are you waiting for?  Try it out!

These 5 tips will help increase your traffic: you’ll develop better writing skills, more interest in your writing from your target audience, and higher rankings from search engines and other websites that want to link back to your website.  Best of luck and if you need any help, give me a shout!

written by admin \\ tags: blog, law firm, law firm search engine optimization, law firm seo, lawyers blog, search engine optimization

Search Engine Marketing | SEO | Optimization – 647-680-9530

Having done my own SEO for the past little while and having tried so many different techniques, I can honestly say that organic growth is the best way to get traffic, while paid search has a lot of problems.  Here are my thoughts…

Yes, I’ve written 2 FREE eBooks about law firm search engine optimization (which you can find here) which detail a lot of different techniques I employ or have used in the past.  One thing I wasn’t really doing was paying for searches on Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.  I figured that paying for those things was kind of like renting an apartment: sunk costs month after month without seeing tangible results.  If you need traffic to be on your website to encourage people to buy your legal services, then paid ads should send tons of people your way (assuming the ads are set up correctly).  What I found, after experimenting for a few months and spending a lot of money, was that my organic results fared better and were much cheaper.  When you’re paying $5 or $10 per click on your add, it can ADD up quickly. But I was finding that I was getting TONS and TONS of impressions, but not many click-throughs. I tried to change up my ads.  I included pricing to entice my customers.  But nothing seemed to change the fact: I was wasting my time and money on paid advertising.

So that’s why I came back (quite quickly) to building my organic search results.   I want to build an asset, not waste money every month renting an apartment.  Granted, I’m sure there’s a place in every marketing strategy for paid advertising – particularly when you don’t rank high on those keywords that you must absolutely have.  But in the long run, I prefer a niche strategy (a la Michael Porter).  Pick those keywords that are in high demand but which you can target relatively easily.  Focus, focus, focus.  Simplify as much as humanely possible.  Once you’ve dominated “one beach” (a la Geoffrey Moore), move on to the next one!

So what are the key aspects of law firm SEO?  Well, it’s the same with other industries: you need content and links.  But you need them to be high quality.  You should also avoid quick-fixes by hiring people or using software that employ black-hat or unethical practices.  Search engines like Google are constantly finding and punishing websites who use these techniques.  One technique, for example, involves using automated software that spiders or crawls blogs looking for high ranking blog posts where you can leave meaningless comments (like “Great Blog!”) and the ability to create links back to your own website.  Today, most serious bloggers wouldn’t allow such comments to appear without first moderating them.  Or they have installed plugins like Akismet or Spam Karma to kill them on site.  Finally, building links too quickly could land you in Google’s SANDBOX.  So beware of drinking the Kool Aid that some people try to sell you!

Finally, you need to think of the end-user or consumer of legal services: are they more likely to contact you if you have a one-sided and meaningless ad located on a website?  Or are they hungry for meaningful knowledge and want to ask a few questions (perhaps in a forum or on Dynamic Lawyers) before engaging your services?  Me thinks that prospective clients are smart and want to read as much about you and their legal issue before making a decision to contact someone.  That’s why you need to be ‘up there’ on Google, Yahoo and Bing with respect to the keywords that they will be entering.  Make it fresh and interesting and you’ll get your rankings in a short period of time.  You also need to be patient.  Search Engines don’t trust new websites and won’t rank them as high as older ones.  So be patient.

Remember: if you’re a lawyer or law firm and want to grow your online presence organically, give me a shout at 647-680-9530 (I always strive to be on the cutting edge of law firm SEO and can help you achieve your goals).  I share a lot of information FREELY, but I’ve still got a lot hidden up my sleeve!

written by admin \\ tags: law firm, law firm search engine optimization, law firm seo, optimization, organic growth, pay, pay per click, search engine, seo

Todd Harrison of Precedent Magazine has written an online article about my upcoming pitch (Legal Forms + Video Guides) to CBC’s Dragon’s Den.  In the article, he mentions the Lawyers Weekly article about the same topic:

written by admin \\ tags: law and style, legal forms video guides, precedent magazine

Here comes Legal Form + Video Guide #19:

Employment Agreement (Client) – Indefinite Term

This Ontario Agreement can be used by an Employer who wants to hire an Employee.  The “indefinite term” part means that the Agreement starts on a date provided for in the Agreement and then comes to an end only when the Employee resigns or is terminated by the Employer (by giving notice, payment in lieu of notice, or for Just Cause).  Here’s the sample Video Guide that comes with this Employment Agreement – Indefinite Term:

This information and this sample video guide is NOT legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only. If you need an Ontario lawyer, go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post.

written by admin \\ tags: canada legal form, employment agreement, employment contract, employment letter, indefinite term employment agreement, legal form + video guide, legal forms, ontario employment agreement

Here comes Legal Form + Video Guide #18:

Independent Contractor Agreement (Client) – With Statement of Work

This Agreement can be used by a Client who wants to engage the services of an Independent Contractor (e.g. a consultant, a professional, a general worker, etc.) without creating an employment relationship. The “Client” means that this Independent Contractor Agreement favours the Client – for example, through notice, termination, standards of care, and restrictive covenants, etc. The “Statement of Work” means that there is a schedule in this particular Independent Contractor Agreement to describe the services (instead of writing everything out in the actual agreement, it’s included in a Schedule).  We also have an Independent Contractor Agreement without a Statement of Work. Here’s the sample Video Guide that comes with this Independent Contractor Agreement (Client) – With Statement of Work:

This information and this sample video guide is NOT legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only. If you need an Ontario lawyer, go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post.

written by admin \\ tags: consulting agreement, contractor agreement, independent contractor agreement, ontario consulting agreement, ontario contractor agreement

The Lawyers Weekly has written an article about my upcoming pitch to CBC’s Dragon’s Den:

It was a great article, done on very short notice.  My thanks go out to the Lawyers Weekly…stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed…  To check out all the media attention we’ve received since starting Dynamic Lawyers, go here.

written by admin \\ tags: cbc dragon's den, Dynamic Lawyers, legal forms, video guides

As a follow up to my popular eBook entitled “4 Steps to Online Legal Marketing“, today I am releasing an eBook entitled “20 FREE Tips to Boost Traffic to Your Legal Website“.  In this eBook, I briefly discuss some basic tips and tricks you NEED TO KNOW in order to build traffic to your website.  These 20 FREE tips all centre around around generating high quality content and disseminating that content to build backlinks to your website.  Enjoy!

written by admin \\ tags: 20 free tips to boost traffic to your legal website, 4 steps to online legal marketing, online legal services

Thanks go out to David Bilinsky (lawyer with the B.C. Law Society) for featuring Dynamic Lawyers’ Legal Forms + Video Guides in the Canadian Bar Association’s Practice Talk, Tech Tips, and now on his very popular Thoughtful Legal Management Blog.

Here’s what David wrote:

As of March 4, 2010 (the day of originally writing this column for the Canadian Bar Association) the Canadian legal competitive battlefield changed. Dynamic LawyersTM, led by Michael Carabash, B.A., LL.B., J.D., M.B.A., Founder/President, formally launched their website: www.dynamiclawyers.com.

Have a look – Carabash, a Toronto business lawyer, is one of a growing list of new entrants into the area of online legal services. What makes his web services a bit different is the use of online video guides that aid purchasers to complete the legal forms that he has made available. He also has a blog and an “online legal health checkup”.

Dynamic LawyersTM joins other online legal service providers such as LegalZoom that are seeking to tap the “do it yourself” legal consumer market.

Wow, David!  Thanks for comparing us to LegalZoom.  We just came out a month ago and we’ve already been featured in Newstalk 1010, Goldhawk Live, the National Post’s blog, Lawyers Weekly, and now David’s blog!  It’s keeping me motivated to keep adding…

written by admin \\ tags: david bilinsky, Dynamic Lawyers, guides, legal forms, legal forms video guides, thoughtful legal management blog, video tutorials

So today I appeared as a guest on Newstalk 1010 radio with Marc Saltzman of Tech Talk.  Marc and I talked about the history of Dynamic Lawyers, the new Legal Forms + Video Guides initiative, and took some calls from interested listeners.  Here’s the show in part 1 and part 2:

FYI, this was my second appearance on Newstalk 1010 radio with Marc Saltzman.  Here’s the first interview:

(Just scroll down)

FYI, Marc is a great guy who really knows his technology

Here’s his bio:

Marc Saltzman is one of North America’s leading consumer technology columnists, who contributes to nearly 50 high-profile publications in Canada and the U.S. (including USA Today, Toronto Star, CanWest, CNN, Sympatico.ca, MSN.ca, Yahoo!, Costco, Movie Entertainment, AARP, Playboy and many Rogers Publishing magazines). Marc, who has authored 14 books, also hosts “Gear Guide,” a video segment that airs before the film begins at Cineplex and IMAX theatres, along with TV spots (on CTV News Channel) and radio shows (NewsTalk 1010, in Toronto). In 2008, Marc’s technology blog, Sync (www.sync-blog.com), was rated Best Technology Blog in Canada by an independent panel of experts.

written by admin \\ tags: Dynamic Lawyers, how dynamic lawyers works, legal forms video guides, Michael Carabash