Ask SLS: How Can Lawyers Increase Their Avvo Rating?
We introduced “Ask SLS” last year, a new blog series that goes over common questions we get from our current clients, lawyers just looking for some quick advice, and former clients who still reach out to us for help from time to time. Each of our departments – Design, SEO, Social, Writing, and Video – will be scouring their email archives to bring you those questions and the answers we give.
Today, we’re tackling Avvo, arguably the most popular lawyer-ranking site out there. Unlike some other rating sites, Avvo does not allow a lawyer to “review” his or her way to the top, and the grading is more complex for a “superb” or perfect 10 ranking. Now, the advice we’re giving you today does not cover all situations, and we have to remember that Avvo is constantly fine-tuning or updating its formula to deliver better results to potential clients. But the name of the game is “comprehensive”…so, here’s our general advice for upping your Avvo rating the organic way.
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Marketing Lessons from Book Club: The Hitchhiker’s Guide
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and How NOT to Market
The book club at SLS Consulting brings together diverse tastes that have one thing in common – a love for the written word. Given the range of interests and preferences, it comes as no surprise that the reading selections show incredible variety and include a wide range of subjects, genres, and styles.
Having read The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll the month before, picking up The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams right after was the kind of shift in tone that might give a reader whiplash! Where The Basketball Diaries was a dark and self-reflective memoir, firmly based in a brutal reality, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a chaotic and humorous space adventure whose author seemed to be on a mission to subvert every expectation and literary convention – reality was not a factor in this story.
What kind of marketing lessons could possibly be gleaned from such an absurd book?
We’re so glad you asked… Read the rest »
MozCast Google Algorithm Review – May 2018
It’s time for the MozCast wrap-up for May! Last month, we predicted that Google might “cool off” after the flurry of updates we saw at the beginning of 2018. Did we indeed see calmer weather throughout this merry month?
Our friends over at MozCast put together 1,000 keywords that help track when Google tweaks its algorithm, Hummingbird. Every day on Twitter, Moz reports the temperature and outlook based on how well these keywords perform…or drop. The higher the temperature, the more likely it is that changes are taking place at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California. The cooler it is, the better!
How “hot” was it in May 2018, according to MozCast?
The average temperature for May was a balmy 85.52°—nearly 7 degrees cooler than April’s 92.2°! Looking at the MozCast, it seems that Google is letting its algorithmic updates sink in for a few days before tinkering with anything else: Read the rest »
Operation Cookie 2018 – a Big Success!
Intel was gathered and analyzed; reconnaissance carried out; personnel briefed…and the crack squad of elite operatives at The Woman’s Club of South Pasadena pulled off a successful “Operation Cookie 2018!” Our team at SLS Consulting was glad to be of help to these ladies (and gentlemen) in their noble mission.
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Marketing Lessons from Book Club: The Basketball Diaries
The Basketball Diaries and Finding Your Voice
Most of us in the SLS Consulting office are avid readers. So in July 2017, we started an office book club. Each book club member (going alphabetically by first name) had to suggest a book we would all read…or at least, chat about. Books had to be about 300 pages or under, and we would meet once a month to discuss them. So far, the genres we’ve read have included gritty realism, social commentary, comic science fiction, British “whodunit,” 1960s dystopian fiction, and magical realism. This is the first of a series of SLS blogs in which we take what we learned from a book club book and apply it to marketing.
The first book we read was The Basketball Diaries by lauded punk poet and singer-songwriter Jim Carroll. The book is made up of actual diary entries the author made from ages 12 to 15, a period spanning, roughly, 1963 to 1966. These entries chronicle the adventures and misadventures of a basketball prodigy coming of age on the mean streets of New York City during a very turbulent time. The book portrays the young athlete’s descent into drug addiction, while also finding his voice as a writer. It is not for the squeamish, and might be described as “postcards from A Season in Hell,” in reference to the original punk poet, Arthur Rimbaud.
What could we learn about marketing from such a non-marketing book? Read the rest »
MozCast Google Algorithm Review – April 2018
Last month, we warned you that Google was cooking up some changes in its algorithm. Now that we have the April wrap-up, will our predictions be confirmed? Are your rankings going to sway under the “stormy” algorithmic weather promised by an inclement (yet stifling) March?
Let’s check out the data that our friends over at MozCast compiled for April! Every 24 hours, they track a hand-picked selection of 1,000 keywords and snapshot the top ten Google organic results. Then, they compare those ten results to the previous day’s results and determine how much Google is tweaking its search engine formula. It’s a little more complicated than that (which you can read about here), but we find that it’s a good gauge to explain why our clients’ websites might be traveling up and down in the SERPs (search engine results pages) a little more than usual.
According to Moz, 70° is a normal day, where your website ranking should stay put. The higher the temperature and the stormier the outlook, the more likely your website will be moving as Google fixes and arranges things “just so.” Read the rest »
You Program Your Smartphone – Have You Programmed Your Staff?
If you want something done right…
“Showing them will take too long – I’ll just do it myself.”
If you’ve ever thought or said something similar, you’re not alone. As an attorney, you know how every piece of the puzzle works and how they all fit together. Being the expert, it often feels like you are the only person qualified to make every single decision, from the trivial to the critical. But, when your case load is so overwhelming that it’s too much for one person to handle, what can you do?
Little things can take up a huge part of your day, so having someone else take care of them is a great solution. After all, paralegals and support staff are there to help you, and assistants are meant to do just that – assist. All you need to do is hire someone qualified, with experience in your practice area, and all your problems will be solved. Right?
Wrong.
Odds are, you rely on a smartphone – and probably a few other gadgets – on a daily basis. But no device arrives from the manufacturer pre-programmed. Read the rest »
MozCast Google Algorithm Review – March 2018
What is MozCast, and why do we at SLS Consulting write a new blog installment on it almost every month? Well, it has to do with search engine rankings. One day, your website might be on page one of Google, and you’re feeling just fine. The next, you’ve dropped down to spot 20—what’s going on?
The answer is usually that Google is tweaking its search engine algorithm…and that’s why we go to our friends over at MozCast, who put together a set of 1,000 hand-picked keywords that helps track when Google makes changes. Moz then assigns a temperature to reflect how much fluctuation is taking place in Google’s search results, and we bring that forecast straight to you!
The higher the temperature, the more likely that changes are taking place behind the scenes of Hummingbird (that’s the name of Google’s algorithm as of 2013). For example, 70° is a fair day, where your website ranking should stay put. The hotter the temperature, the more likely your website may move up or down. So. Let’s get to it… Read the rest »
MozCast Google Algorithm Review – February 2018
“What IS MozCast?” you might be asking yourself. Well, it’s a handy metric put together by our friends over at Moz. Every 24 hours, a set of hand-picked keywords are tracked and notated to determine how volatile Google search results are from one day to the next. Moz then assigns a “temperature” to reflect how much fluctuation is taking place within Google search results.
How “hot” was it in February 2018, according to MozCast?
Perhaps Google’s algorithm took a cue from the real world’s weather, and chilled out the month of February. Things seem to finally be cooling off a little…for now. The average for the month was 87.85°, which is by no means “cool” in terms of temperature, but it was a noticeable difference from January’s RankBrain heat wave of 93.89°. There were only five days above 90°, and the only drastic spike was seen on February 20th at 113° (which is a definite signal of a possible update). However, even though the heat died down slightly, the climate was still an indication of changes. Read the rest »
True Exclusivity in SEO Marketing
In the age of the internet, a robust web presence is essential for business. Building and maintaining a healthy presence requires a strong search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to drive potential customers to your website, and help convert them into paying clients.
In a little over a quarter century, SEO marketing has evolved at a breakneck pace. Gone are the Wild West days of keyword stuffing, excess tagging, spamming, and other black-hat SEO tactics. Today’s search engines use sophisticated algorithms that favor quality content and penalize unethical SEO techniques.
And because SEO is so important for business, SEO marketing companies have been popping up all over the place in the last few decades. But are all SEO marketing companies the same? Why would you choose one over another? Read the rest »
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