5 Steps to Upcycling Old Content

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5 Steps to Upcycling Old Content

  1. SEO
  2. Keywords
  3. Plug-Ins
  4. Avoid Duplicate Pages
  5. Push the Pages

 

If your website has been around for a while, chances are it’s full of some pretty old content. Websites are like houses in that way: the longer you’re there, the more likely you are to have a pile of strange boxes in the back of a closet somewhere. Luckily, it’s easier to clean up your website than it is to sort through the boxes you never really unpacked after moving in. 

 

The first step to cleaning up your website is to create a spreadsheet so that you know which pages are salvageable. Some won’t be, and that’s fine. Delete those pages, kill your darlings. For the ones that can still be used as a resource, you need to determine what needs to be done to retrofit them for today’s internet. Let’s get started on that.

 

1. SEO

The easiest way to instantly improve your website is to optimize it. Read through the entire page and catch any wordy sentences or places where paragraphs can be split up. Put in headers and bulleted lists where you can. Make it as easy to read as possible.

 

2. Keywords

Language shifts, so make sure your keywords have adapted. This is as easy as reading through and making sure that no part of your piece sounds like it was written by someone who has memories of the Truman administration. 

 

3. Plug-ins

Make sure they’re all up to date. That’s it.

 

4. Avoid Duplicate Pages

When you’re updating old pages you can either update the original page or upload a new page and pause or delete the old one. Just make sure you don’t end up with duplicate pages. This damages your domain authority.

 

5. Push the Pages

There’s no point in dealing with content if you aren’t advertising it. Let people know about your work. Post your updated pages to your social media feeds and let your clients know about what you’re doing and what resources you offer. 

 

Making sure your website is up to date and providing only the best information in the resources you provide will help you build domain authority and a strong client base. It will also help you to maintain your content production without constantly producing new content.

 

If you would like help creating a content production plan, contact Mockingbird. 

The Future of Search Ads

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A recent report from eMarketer about the future of search ads has provided some interesting predictions. The report looks into the coming ad revenues by company in the US market as well as total upcoming ad spend compared to percentage digital ad spend. 

 

Companies with the Highest Shares of Search Ads

Unsurprisingly, Google tops this list. In 2018, it held 73.4 percent of the Search Ad market, a number which eMarketer expects to drop to 70.5 percent by 2021. Other companies that appear on the list include Amazon, Microsoft, and Verizon Media Group. Amazon is the only company on the chart Marketer expects to grow over the coming years.

Chart showing ad revenue predictions for various advertising companies

 

Increase in Ad Spending

The report predicts that the US will spend more and more money on search ads in the next few years. Spending will jump from $55.17 billion in 2019 to a staggering $86.08 billion in 2023. Meanwhile, eMarketer expects the percentage of total digital ad spending devoted to search ads to remain at around 43 percent. The rate of growth is expected to slow over the years, and search ads are expected to grow at the same rate.

Chart showing expected total ad spend in the coming years

What Does This Mean?

This report means that the search ad market is going to get bigger, as is the digital advertising world as a whole. It also means that the ad world is getting more varied, even if by a small margin. With Google holding slightly less of the search ad market share, there might be room for competitors to rise up. This is why diversifying your advertising investments is always a good idea.

Why Microsoft/Bing Advertising is Worth It

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Microsoft Advertising, which is largely Bing Search Ads, is an opportunity that law firms shouldn’t sleep on. Keywords for lawyers are some of the most competitive on Google, where the user bases of both consumers and advertisers are vast and saturated. Bing doesn’t have that same market, which means less competition and a better cost per acquisition (CPA) in many campaigns.

 

Demographics

By demographics I’m not referring to audience factors when designing an ad campaign, I’m talking about the general demographics of the users of the platform. Bing tends to be more popular among less tech-savvy individuals, as those who use it tend not to care too much about their search engine. Its users tend to be a bit more blue-collar and older than the average Google user, which can be used to your advantage.

Bing is the default search engine on a wide array of devices on the market, and anyone who isn’t a die-hard Google loyalist won’t care if the internet on their computer leads them straight to Bing; as long as it gives them an answer to their search query they’ll be happy. 

 

Utilizing Bing

The benefit of Bing is that its audience isn’t very tech-savvy. Where Google users might be aware and wary of search ads, Bing users might not even notice that they’re ads in the first place. They’re just looking for an answer to their search, and if your ad looks like it’ll provide that, they’ll click on it. 

By only using Google Ads, you are excluding a significant share of your target market. The share you are excluding could even be more representative of your target audience than who is currently seeing your ads. 

The other benefit of Bing is that it’s ad costs tend to be cheaper than Google’s, meaning you can use more targeted keywords without paying Google prices.

We encourage our clients to think of Microsoft/Bing advertising as something to invest in alongside Google, especially for firms with lower budgets. The two platforms are not mutually exclusive, and neglecting one in favor of the other is simply bad business.

If you need help setting up your Microsoft Ads account, contact Mockingbird. We’ll help you get your business off the ground.

Yes, You Need Call Tracking

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So your ad campaign has been working and you’re getting almost more calls than you can handle. How do you handle it? Do you write down names and numbers on a notepad next to your phone?

If you are still using the pen and paper method for tracking essential information you can give it up. It’s simply not scalable. This is why Mockingbird encourages all of our clients to get call tracking software.

Why Should I Invest? My Method Works

Your method works…for now. Maybe it isn’t even working that well now. How many potential clients have been lost because of a misplaced note or messy handwriting? How many calls have you missed and never thought about again? This is why you need call tracking.

Our Method Works Better

Call tracking will give you a database of everyone who calls you, their phone numbers, and how many times they have called your firm. This can give you solid information about business growth, inquiry trends, and the type of clients you are attracting. It will also give you solid trends regarding the times of day with the most calls, helping you prepared for high volumes instead of always being overwhelmed and surprised. 

Our Selfish Reasons

We’d be lying if we didn’t say that we prefer call tracking because it makes our job easier because it does. It helps us know which of our ad campaigns are working, where to target call-only ads, and which clients are more receptive to your ads. This helps us be better marketers, thereby improving business for you. Our selfish reasons always benefit you, which is part of our business model. We don’t ever encourage our clients to invest in things that don’t actively improve their business, but sometimes we get to benefit too. 

There are multiple forms of call tracking software that can help your business, and we can help you choose the right one for your firm. Call Mockingbird today to learn how to handle your phone!

Creating a Content Development Plan

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A good website is like a good sandwich: it can look amazing from the outside, but if it doesn’t taste good then it’s a bad sandwich. The best way to make sure you have a good sandwich is to make sure you have the right ingredients and organize them in the right way. 

 

In case my metaphor is too wandering, content is to a website as ingredients are to a sandwich. While you can accidentally throw together an amazing sandwich, your best bet is to plan ahead.

 

Auditing The Content You Have

Every law practice has a set of required pages for its site to be an adequate resource for potential clients. These include:

 

  • A homepage
  • A contact page
  • An about page
  • Individual practice area pages
  • A resource page, whether it’s FAQ or a blog

 

Before you even consider adding extra content you need to audit your current pages. Are they optimized and well written? Do you have the basics? If you don’t, fill out your pages with the barebones.

 

On the other side of things, some websites have way too much content. You might need to prune some of it back. If there’s duplicate content or orphan pages your site could suffer. You don’t want a sandwich full of iceberg lettuce. No one likes that.

 

Adding The Content You Need

Once you have figured out what your site is missing, you can get to work adding it. This is a great opportunity to optimize your site! If your existing pages haven’t been updated since 2009, update them now! You’ll be amazed at all the plug-ins available (also, no one uses Flash anymore; get rid of any plug-ins that require Flash ASAP).  You need to make sure you have the fillings of your sandwich before you even think about condiments. 

 

Adding Extra Content

Extras normally include pages like regular blog postings, successful case results, and in-depth resources. To make sure your pages are getting you the traffic and clients you want, you need to ask yourself a few questions before beginning work:

 

  1. What types of cases do I want? You can control what type of audience visits your website through the content you produce. If you have resources in greater depth on a specific issue than any other website, people looking into that issue will find their way to your page. It might not get high traffic, but it will get the right traffic.
  2. What type of expertise are my clients looking for? You’re a lawyer, so you’re in competition with every lawyer in your practice in your area. You need to show that you can not only stand toe-to-toe with any of them, but you are also more knowledgeable than them. Write about the specifics of your practice areas, things that might not show up on the practice area page. Prove you’re an expert.
  3. What is my voice? Your voice is a vital part of your brand. Some firms put more personality in their blogs, some keep it strictly academic. You need to decide what voice you’re putting into the world and keep it consistent.

 

Once you have answered these questions about yourself, you’re ready to start writing. 

 

Consider SEO

SEO is often considered something that can be accounted for later but is really much easier to just account for now. There are ways to optimize a page that barely even impacts writing. Four things you can do to improve SEO without even trying are:

 

  1. Organizing H1s, H2s, and H3s. By setting up your headers that accurately summarize and organize your page you are letting search engines know the content and composition of the page. 
  2. Adding bullet-pointed or numbered lists. Just like with headers, lists help search engines know how you’re organizing your page. A header with a well-designed list can even create a nice featured snippet if you’re lucky.
  3. Internal linking. Linking to other pages on your site not only improves the user experience by helping them visit the rest of your website but it also really helps with SEO.
  4. Add relevant images. Images help to make your page look nicer, and relevant images with accurate alt-text are particularly appreciated by search engines.

 

If you’ve noticed that pretty much all of that advice has been used in this post, good job! Sandwich for you!

 

Getting Help

Not every law firm has the time or writing expertise to do in-house content audits or plan development. This is understandable since the law is a complicated subject with a lot riding on it. You can’t be expected to spend all your time brainstorming your next FAQ. 

Mockingbird is here to help. We are proud of content audits and development plans and will help with link building and PR campaigns to improve your website’s rankings and increase your organic traffic. If you feel like your website could be performing better, don’t hesitate to call us! Helping lawyers is what we do.

FACEBOOK’s New Safety Guidelines

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Facebook Ads, run by FACEBOOK for Business and appearing on Facebook and Instagram, recently announced new safety controls for their advertisers, meant to “maintain a high-quality ecosystem of content, publishers, and ads.” These new features largely build on existing features but focus more on efficiency and advertiser security.

 

Ad Manager

Facebook ads used to have layers you had to get through to edit each individual campaign. They have now set up a new “one-stop place.” This will allow advertisers to set account-wide filters.

 

The platform is also improving its advertiser-creator relationships with more comprehensive publisher white lists and block lists so that advertisers always know where their ads are being shown.

 

Advertiser Safety Partners

Facebook is also introducing a partnership with Zefr, a targeted advertising company. Zefr will be working alongside DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science, and OpenSlate to maintain protections for advertisers.

 

Community Standards

Facebook has updated its community guidelines! But not very much. It is unlikely to affect legal marketing.

 

If You Need Legal Marketing Help

If you have found yourself in a situation where you want Facebook and Instagram ads for your law firm but are unsure how to set them up, give Mockingbird a call. We make it our specialty to run marketing campaigns on multiple platforms, including FACEBOOK.

The 4 Best Ways to Optimize for Local

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The importance of local SEO has seemingly been emphasized to death, but I think you’ll find that we’ve barely scratched the surface of the importance of the practice. Consumers consistently choose local businesses over larger businesses, and will often make that decision early in their search journey. 

 

1. Google My Business

By setting up your Google My Business you are giving yourself a local physical presence. You will now show up when someone searches for “law firms near me” and will appear on Google Maps. By having an up to date and consistent Google My Business Profile you are preparing for customers to find you. 

 

2. Local Landing Pages

What are consumers seeing when they first land on your website? Is it relevant to where they are? It should be. Local landing pages are only really for firms that have unique services depending on locality. If your firm has multiple offices or attorneys with different practice areas in different cities, then local landing pages would be ideal for you. You can talk about cases you won in those areas and your best settlement amounts, all of which help to advertise your work.

 

3. Local Reviews

Reviews can be made through Google My Business, Yelp, or simply by the local paper. Reviews by locals are ideal, as it makes your business appear more trustworthy (we know it’s already trustworthy, but we need it to appear that way too). Local newspapers are especially useful as they provide opportunities for link building, PR, and reviews by trusted members of the community.

 

4. Provide Community-Centered Resources

What issues are unique to your community, or are at least prevalent? Is there already local information about it online? Can you be a better resource? Having quality, helpful links that people in your area can click on is incredibly vital for a local law firm and shouldn’t be neglected. Any time you see an opportunity to write about the legal implications of a local issue, you should be planning your next blog post. Being a resource is the best way to raise brand awareness.

Knowing how to build your local presence should go hand in hand with building your brand. Your firm should be a part of the community, just as any other local business would be. If you would like help planning your local strategy and investing in local marketing, contact Mockingbird.

Your Clients are Your Best Advertisers

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For both local and multi-office firms, client reviews are some of the most important aspects of a revenue-generating online presence. Surveys show that most consumers read reviews prior to committing to a purchase and that most online businesses now have at least one online review. This trend isn’t new, and it isn’t going anywhere, so hop on this bandwagon and let’s go on a ride.

 

Utilizing Client Feedback

Getting feedback from your clients is always important; how else are you going to know how to improve? 

Beyond constructive advice, client feedback is often good (or at least it should be). When you get good feedback you need to know how to get your clients to post it online in their spare time. If you don’t think they will, you can ask if you can keep their comments on file and post them to your website under testimonials.

 

Testimonials vs Reviews

If you’re wondering what the difference is between testimonials and reviews, you’re probably not alone. Think of a testimonial as to the type of thing you would ask someone to say about you in a reference letter. A review is what someone would say about you before you arrive at a party. In an ideal world, the two won’t be too different. 

Your testimonials should go on your website. They are cultivated pieces of client feedback that make you sound great. The problem with only relying on the testimonials you choose as the client feedback potential clients might see is that they might not feel as real. Of course, you’re going to cherry-pick the best ones and not post the bad reviews.

Your reviews should come straight from your clients and should be posted from their personal computer (Google tends to flag reviews posted directly from the business being reviewed). They go on Google My Business, Yelp, and anywhere else people are able to leave reviews. Consumers tend to trust them more, as they come directly from the clients. 

 

When a Review Goes Bad

The risk you take with relying on the reviews is that some are going to be bad. Not everyone is going to be happy, and that’s ok. You just need to know how to handle a negative review. 

Chances are, you will know the situation the reviewer is having a grievance with. If you don’t, find out. As the business owner, you are responsible for responding to the reviews, which you can do either publicly or privately, depending on the situation. In some cases, you’ll want to privately message the client to clear up the situation. In other cases, your best course of action will be to publicly respond. Knowing which situation calls for what is a matter of personal preference and over time you will learn what is best for you and your business.

If you would like to learn more about how to handle reviews or increase client feedback, contact Mockingbird.

3 Ways a Scholarship Can Help Your Firm (And How to Organize One)

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Law firms are a part of the community just like any other local businesses, but that position has to be upheld. One easy and fun way to participate in your local community while showing your firm’s benevolent nature is by organizing a scholarship program for local students.

 

The Benefits of a Scholarship

 

1. Increased Publicity

There’s nothing local news likes better than feel-good stories, and nothing is more feel-good than a young student working hard and being recognized for it. When you set up a scholarship, you are a good force that is recognizing the student’s hard work. 

Getting the publicity requires work beyond setting up the scholarship, which is important to keep in mind. Use your connections at the local papers. Don’t have any connections? It’s time to start making them.

 

2. Improved Public Image

Law firms can sometimes appear intimidating and focused on their business above all else. By giving money to hardworking students or youths out of nothing but the goodness of your heart, you are proving this wrong. 

If a potential client is researching local law firms, they may feel more connected to the law firm that has been proving that it has interests in their community. By displaying the scholarship prominently on your website, your values are front and center. 

 

3. The Publicity is Cyclical

There are multiple news cycles that can be squeezed out of a single scholarship and more for different types of awards. There are separate stories that a reporter can write about the announcement of the scholarship, the announcement of the winner(s), the profile of the winner(s), and the announcement of the next scholarship.

Different types of competitions can have different cycles. A talent/performance-based award can have a story based around the various performances, a writing competition could feature the writings, and a research award can highlight the research and findings done. Think of what best fits with your firm and how you can make it last.

 

How to Organize a Scholarship Contest

Deciding on a competition

To organize a scholarship contest you need to first think of a competition. This can either relate to your practice areas (for example design a street that would keep drivers, pedestrians, and bikers safe while maintaining accessibility for all, if you are a personal injury firm) or simply recognizing talent (youth leader awards, personal essays, talent shows, etc.). Choose a competition that you wouldn’t mind having someone sort through large amounts of submissions.

 

Setting the award

What are these kids even winning? If it’s a scholarship, it should be a set amount of money to go to their education. If it’s an award for a charity, it should be a set amount of money to go to a charity of the winner’s choosing. If it’s a cash prize, just give the kid their check. Whatever the award is, make sure that it’s clearly outlined in the announcement.

 

The contest announcement

When announcing the contest, make the contest rules and guidelines very clear. If there’s an age or GPA limit, make that clear. Also make sure the deadlines for submission are clear, as well as the date the winners will be announced by. You don’t want anyone to feel like they’re wasting your time.

Remember the contacts you made in the local newspapers? Use them to get the announcement out. Students are often thrilled at any chance they might get to add something to their resume, but they won’t know about it unless it’s made public. 

 

The winners’ announcement

So the contest has run its course, you got the submissions, you chose the right one(s) to be the winner(s), and now you’re ready to tell the world. It’s time to call up your reporter friends again. Writing blog posts for your website are great, but they’ll only really reach the people on your website. By having a story in the paper more people will see both the contest winner(s) as well as your law firm. If people want to learn more, they can visit your website. 

 

Starting the next competition

The winner(s) announcement is a great opportunity to also announce your next competition. Keep the cycle going. For this to work, you need to figure out the optimal time period for each competition and start the process all over.