SEO News

SEO News

Expertise.com Gets Crushed By Google Algorithm in 2023

It appears that Expertise.com suffered a significant loss of rankings and traffic around December 19, 2022 and again in 2023 when Google rolled out an algorithm change. Today, while I was examining before and after screenshots of Google’s search engine results (SERPs) for my article which analyzes the latest Google Link Spam Algorithm Update and it’s impact on law firms,

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Did the 2023 Google Link Spam Algorithm Update Affect Law Firm Websites?

On December 14, 2022, Google dropped the news of their “December 2022 Link Spam Update”. It was a historic moment, and one I’ve been anticipating since I began building links decades ago. Why? Google’s announcement said “Today, we’re leveraging the power of SpamBrain to neutralize the impact of unnatural links on search results”. SpamBrain is AI powered. More on that

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How To Find a Local SEO Agency for your Law Firm

Running a local brick and mortar business from 2001 – 2012 gave me a whole new level of appreciation for local business owners, and I’m able to connect with them instantly. There are rewarding days, like when “Kim the Cookie Lady” stops by to tell you what a wonderful job you’re doing, and there are upsetting days, like when you

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Legal “Services” Now Displaying on Attorney’s Google Business Profiles

Throughout December 2022 we have been noticing Google testing out a new feature where “services” are showing on the profile of Law Firm’s Google Business Pages. As noted on Search Engine Roundtable this week, this change has now officially rolled out on desktop and affects all business types (not just attorneys). Here’s a screenshot of what the new services section

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Can Attorneys Get a Google Guaranteed Badge?

No. Attorneys can not get a Google Guaranteed badge. They can, however, get a Google Screened check mark alongside their Local Services Ads. Google Guaranteed and Google Screened are two separate things. What is Google Guaranteed? Google Guaranteed is for home service providers. Google provides a guarantee and refunds people up to $2000 if something goes wrong with a Google

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How To get Attorney Thumbnails in Google Search Results

Image thumbnails significantly improve Click Through Rate (CTR). Often, a crisp, square image on the page in question helps get attorney’s thumbnails in Google search results. But, it’s complicated. A Very Brief History: Over the years, Google has tested all sorts of various thumbnails in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). The biggest rollout in my memory was the short

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Google Reviews Missing for Attorneys October 2022

Throughout the month of October 2022, reviews have gone missing for several law firms, at least in the United States. On October 17, 2022, a client pointed out that a personal injury law firm in Los Angeles had gone from around 100 reviews down to 39. In several cases that we looked at, the review profiles lost around 60 –

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Choosing a Location for your Law Firm for Google Local Rankings

The best location for your law firm depends on a variety of factors, but often includes discovering a location near as many people as possible and also as far away from competing law firms as possible. Here’s how we pick locations (successfully). A quick note: While showing up in Google is great, I am also a big fan of a

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What Lawyers Need to Know about Google’s Helpful Content Update

Google’s new Helpful Content Update will be impacting search results as of August 2022, however, it is unlikely to impact most law firms who create quality content. What is the Helpful Content Update? A few hours ago, Google announced the Helpful Content Update. This update will negatively impact the performance of websites which produce garbage content. We’ve all seen garbage

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Do Press Releases for Law Firms Help or Hurt SEO?

Generally speaking, backlinks from press releases have no SEO value and do not help law firms. However, if there is actual newsworthy content in the press release which generates real media coverage, press releases are effective for both reputation building and SEO. When Press Releases are Not a Linkbuilding Strategy: Some SEO agencies issue press releases as a way to

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