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A LAWYER'S GUIDE TO MAKING YOUR CORPORATE WEBSITE PROFITABLE

This is the text of a three-part article published in the UK Legal Journal New Law Journal on February 1st, 8th and 15th 2002 written by Philip Gegan. The main principles apply to any kind of business website.

We're getting a little more technical now, as we talk about "Meta tags". These are a couple of lines of code in the HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) that enables the visitor's browser to display your page. Some search engines ignore them while others place a lot of emphasis on them. So it's as well to have them covered.

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer you can check the code on your page by right clicking on a blank area (not on a graphic) and left clicking on "view source". The code will be displayed in Notepad. The Meta tags will probably be found immediately after the "title" tag, though sometimes they are further down if the code incorporates JavaScript.

Tags and Keywords

Traditionally the first Meta tag is the "description" tag. This description should be the same as the title of the page and the first few words of text on the page (see last week's article). This reinforces the keywords used and boosts the page higher up in the rankings of most of the search engines. Too long a title or description dilutes the effect of the keywords. Stay focused. Use no more than 25 - 30 words.

The second Meta tag is the "keywords" tag. Here you can list all the keywords you think search engine users are likely to key in when looking for the information you have on your site. Opinion differs as to whether it's best to have hundreds of key words, or just a few focused words. If you put in too many words, or repeat the same word too many times, or put in words that are not relevant to your site, you may be penalised by the search engines and they may refuse to list your site. You'll want to avoid that at all costs.

My advice is to put in those words that are relevant and included in your description and page title, along with other relevant words that are likely to appear in your text (or "body"). So in last week's example of accidental death and fatal injury lawyers, the key words, could be "accidental death, accidents, fatal injuries, fatal injury lawyers, solicitors, lawyers, insurance claims, disputes, litigation, insurance companies, damages, compensation". You could also include the name of your town or city as well. Some would argue for putting in dozens of words here, for example, "accidents, accidental death, accident claims, accident compensation, accident insurance, accident damages, accident disputes, accident litigation, . . ." and so on. You can end up with dozens, if not hundreds, of words. But I'd tread carefully here. If the body of your text contains such terms then it's probably acceptable. Otherwise, stick to those terms actually used. Ensure the keywords are all on one line of text in your code - some Search Engines only read the first line of this Meta tag.

The power of co-ordinating your keywords with actual words and phrases in your page text is considerable. Try to place as many keywords as you can in the early parts of the text of each page without making the flow sound too artificial.

Now for comment tags. These are seldom used, even by successful sites. The truth is that few people know that such things are allowed or even what they are. In the above example, a comment tag would look like this:

"!---Comment: Accidental death and fatal injury lawyers who specialise in disputed insurance claims ---"

Further down, perhaps before a particularly important and informative paragraph, you could have the following tag:

"!--- Start of Accidental death and fatal injury lawyers who specialise in disputed insurance claims Section ---"

That's perhaps a little cheeky, but it's legitimate and it can often help increase further your relevant keywords and phrases and get your site another notch or two further up in the search engines.

Another place to put keywords and phrases is in the "alt" tab that all images carry. This tab is displayed on all browsers that don't display images (some people search the web with their browsers disabled from showing images to make pages download more quickly). Most search engines pick up this "alt" tab and any text in it, so instead of having your "alt" tab read "logo1.gif", for example, amend it to "Industrial tribunal and employment law specialists on the Law Society's employment law panel", if the page promotes your employment law department. Keep to the same wording as your Meta and Comment tags and first few words of text to reinforce the page's relevancy for these terms.

When you come to re-register your site with the search engines, or instruct your webmaster to do this, make sure the same keywords and phrases are used on the form provided by each search engine. Some simply require your website name and title, but many also request your keywords.

"Pay Per Click"

Before leaving the subject of search engines I have to cover a comparatively new development (aren't all developments new on the Internet?). That is what is called "Pay per click" search engines The most well known is Overture (formerly called GoTo.com), but there are others, such as HootingOwl.com and Kanoodle.com. You simply pay so much for every click through to your site. You bid for a search word or term, and if you bid the most then your site is number one. Most bids on Overture start at $0.01, but you might have to bid as high as fifty cents for a top placing with some words. Find out at www.overture.com.

However, you don't need the number one position. Number 4 or 5 is probably very nearly as good, and can be considerably cheaper.

Using the "pay-per-clicks" is a highly cost-effective way of attracting traffic to your site, as all visitors are "pre-qualified", i.e. they only click through to your site if they think the description suits what they are looking for. However, be sure to include in your site description that you are a UK firm, to avoid paying for click throughs from, e.g., the United States, who are not part of your target market. Even better is to name your town or city, so you only get realistic prospective clients from your own area.

The search engine Overture.com has a useful facility which enables the popularity of keywords to be checked. By finding out how many times a particular keyword has been searched against you can more easily decide if it is right for your site to include.

Finally, on the subject of search engines, it has been said that a listing in Yahoo, the famous directory of the Internet, guarantees a steady stream of visitors to your web site. But how to get a listing in Yahoo, when an overwhelming majority of applicants are rejected? The secret is to make sure your site is absolutely perfect, with a good domain name, preferably containing at least one key word relevant to your site, and to have good, relevant content that will be of value to most visitors. Your HTML code, including Meta tags, should be faultless, and you should have as many links to your site from other, relevant, sites as possible. This hardly needs to be said with legal sites, but make sure there are no silly typos, spelling mistakes, etc, on your site.

Then pay $299.00 to Yahoo to have your site listed. This does not guarantee that it will be listed on Yahoo. But it does guarantee that it will be reviewed by a human within seven days. If he likes it then your site will be listed on Yahoo, and your site traffic will increase considerably. Again, this will be money very well spent. If your site is not listed after that time then it's possible to contact Yahoo to enquire the reason. Probably you'll be told why, and then you can make any amendments and re-submit (and pay another fee, I'm afraid).

Other Methods of Promotion

I've laid a lot of emphasis on the importance of the search engines, and in adapting your HTML code to rank highly in them. But search engines are not the only way to attract new clients through your web site. You can announce your new, improved web site on the News Groups, such as alt.lawyers, alt.uk.law, misc.legal and others that are law-related. Make it someone's job to monitor each relevant News Group and look out for new Groups being formed. Follow the threads and contribute where you can, always putting your website address at the foot of messages. When you place your local press advertisements invite readers to visit your "new" website.

You do have your website address on all headed notepaper, don't you? And on compliment slips and business cards, invoices and brochures? You do have it prominently displayed on your premises, and on all staff cars, don't you? More and more businesses have their website address displayed on their vehicles these days, why not solicitors?

With a memorable domain name, a high ranking in most search engines and directories, and by giving the prospective client what he or she is desperately seeking, your web site will be a tireless source of new clients and extra profits, and the envy of other firms who did not take the trouble to make their corporate site profitable.

Click here for Part 1 - Why Isn't Your Website Getting You Any Business? or here for Part 2 - Getting Down to Online Business

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Copyright © 2002-2008 Philip Gegan, Leicester, England.