Website Design, SEO, Social Media Marketing for Attorneys

Even the Pope Recognizes the Importance of Social Media!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)26406 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

Pope Benedict XVI has urged priests to spread their messages through cutting edge technologies, such as blogs, Web videos, images and websites. In a recent message, the pope has encouraged priests to use all multimedia available to preach and engage with others.

Here is what Pope Benedict had to say:

“The spread of multimedia communications and its rich “menu of options” might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web, or to see it only as a space to be filled. Yet priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities, which increasingly express themselves with the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace.”

It’s no secret that the 265th Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church is a big proponent of social media. In fact, he has a channel on YouTube and has created an app for Facebook and iPhone. Even though he’s not on Twitter yet, he definitely has recognized the tremendous benefits of social media!

If you are not blogging or using Web video or social networking to promote your law practice or business, you are missing out on a great opportunity.

Download our free reports, Twitter for Attorneys and 5 Reasons Why You Should Have A Blog BY NOW for information on how you can get started.

Study Finds that 66% of Marketing Professionals Will Be Investing in Social Media Marketing

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)26118 — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

How big is social media when it comes to marketing? According to a new study by Alterian, an integrated marketing services provider, social media marketing has become huge.

Researchers surveyed 1,068 marketing professionals across the globe, with the majority residing in North America. They found that 66 percent of survey respondents plan on investing in social media marketing this year. Among this group of respondents, 40 percent said they plan on allocating more than 20 percent of their traditional direct marketing budget towards social media.

According to the Alterian survey, which was the seventh annual survey on social media marketing adoption, over a third of respondents are already spending on analysis tools and social media monitoring. On the other hand, less than half of the respondents said that they do not implement click-stream and web analytics data into their database.

This survey only confirms what we already believe at Foster Web Marketing – social marketing is gaining in popularity and has become an effective Internet marketing tool. If you are not taking advantage of the power of social networking to grow your business, then you need to take action. Contact us today at 888.886.0939 for more information.

Be sure to download our free report, Twitter for Attorneys.

The Number One Keyword Used to Find Your Law Firm

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)25635 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

The number one keyword drawing people to your website is your name. When a past client or friend sends you a referral, there is a pretty good chance that this person will search for you online before calling your office. You need to be in control of the information he or she will find.

When it comes to the Internet, you have some form of control in regards to what people will learn about you. For example, blogs and social media websites give you the opportunity to let other people get to know you. A blog is a great way to not only show that you are an expert in your field, but to give your prospects the chance to learn more about you as a person.

People often do searches on social media websites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. You need to make sure that you have profiles set up, so that your potential clients can find you. Include information that will help you stand out. If you are a motorcycle accident attorney who rides a Harley, include a picture with your bike in your profile.

For more information, read the article titled, What’s In a Name. Also, be sure to download the free report, 5 Reasons Why You Should Have A Blog BY NOW!

Use Your Blog to Generate Traffic to Your Attorney Website

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)25351 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

When it comes to ranking high in search engine results, the more content you have the better. A blog is an easy and effective way to add content to your attorney website, which will in turn, generate more traffic. If you do not have a blog, you are missing out.

A blog is essentially a mini website where you can add content. It gives you the opportunity to seamlessly create new content related to your practice areas. Blog posts do not take much time, but the benefits are huge.

Blogs incorporate all of the necessary components to attract more visitors to your website. At Foster Web Marketing, we have a blog software program that makes it easy to structure your content, include URL’s and encourage feedback. These elements will help increase your website traffic.

Most blogs give you the opportunity to allow readers’ comments. These comments provide additional content and the great thing is that you don’t have to write it! Essentially, other people are writing keyword-rich content for you.

If a blog is done correctly, you will see the benefits much faster than what a website has to offer. When you are blogging, you need to pay close attention to the factors involved in search engine optimization, such as anchor texts and keywords.

For more information, order the free report, 5 Reasons Why You Should Have A Blog By Now.

Do You Want a 50 Times Better Chance of Appearing on Page One of Google?

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)25343 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Who wouldn’t want to significantly increase the probability of appearing on page one of Google for important keywords? According to Nate Elliot, a principal analyst with Forrester Research, “on the keywords for which Google offers video results, any given video in the index stands about a 50 times better chance of appearing on the first page of results than any given text page in the index.” Those are amazing odds.

When it comes to web video, YouTube is the site to consider. There are well over one hundred million YouTube users and the number keeps growing. Not only is YouTube the default for online video, it is also the default for web video on the television and telephone. In addition, YouTube provides free HD streaming.

Web video is the next big thing when it comes to attorney Internet marketing. Do a Google search and you will most likely see videos included on the search results page.

Your videos can be optimized to include the keywords and phrases that your prospects are using to find your services. Forrester estimates that less than 20 percent of Internet marketers incorporate keywords into the filenames of online videos and that even less include keyword-rich captions. If you are not optimizing your lawyer web videos, you need to start.

For more information on how you can take advantage of attorney web video as an incredible SEO tool, contact Foster Web Marketing at 888.886.0939.

Google's Chrome is Now Ranked Third Most Popular Web Browser

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)24608 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

The race continues for the top Internet browser positions. While Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still ranks at the top with 62.69 percent of the market share, it no longer has the strong lead it once enjoyed. Web browsers, such as Mozilla’s Firefox, Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome, have become tough competitors. Within the last five years, Internet Explorer has lost almost a third of its market share.

Since its launch in 2009, Google’s Chrome has more than doubled its market share among Internet browsers, increasing its usage share last year more than any other Web browser. According to Net Applications, a California based Web metrics company, Chrome jumped from a market share of 1.54 percent in February 2009, to 4.63 percent in December 2009. The Web browser now ranks third, surpassing Apple’s Safari.

Vince Vizzaccaro, executive vice president of Net Applications, Google really amped up its marketing efforts at the end of 2009 and if it continues with its marketing efforts, it will probably take an even bigger share of the market in 2010. “Chrome showed up in ads on Google’s search page, which almost never happens. Google also announced the ongoing development of Chrome OS to up the battle with Microsoft and Apple.”

Based on Net Applications’ research into browser market share, the top five Internet browser positions in December 2009 were as follows:

Microsoft Internet Explorer - 62.69%
Firefox - 24.61%
Chrome - 4.63%
Safari - 4.46%
Opera - 2.40%

If you are an attorney looking to take advantage of Internet marketing, be sure to order the free report, The 5 Biggest Mistakes 99% of Lawyers Make With Their Websites.

LinkedIn Needs to Convince Users to Spend More Time on Its Site

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)24595 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

While LinkedIn reported that it had an impressive 53.6 million users at the end of November 2009, the number pales in comparison to Facebook, which has more than 350 million members.

LinkedIn is a social networking site that is geared toward professionals and is mostly used to post resumes and recruit talent. However, LinkedIn’s chief executive, Jeff Weiner, is looking for ways to get people to spend more time on the site. According to the research firm, comScore, users spent an average of 13 minutes on LinkedIn last October, while Facebook users logged approximately 213 minutes.

As a way to encourage LinkedIn users to visit the site more often, Weiner has opened up the site to third-party developers to design applications that will attract professional users when they aren’t necessarily looking for work. A stipulation of these apps is that they have to be professionally oriented. One software developer, SAP AG, has already jumped on this opportunity and has created an application that allows SAP developers to emphasize their credentials by adding a badge to their profiles on LinkedIn. A partnership has also been made with Twitter that will allow LinkedIn users to link their Twitter accounts to their LinkedIn profiles.

According to Mr. Weiner, “the more relevant those experiences the more likely our membership will be to engage those experiences.” He went on to say that LinkedIn has already had requests from 1,5000 developers.

For more information on social networking and how it can benefit your law firm, download our free report, Twitter for Attorneys.

Do's and Don'ts of SEO Content

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)24050 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

You have probably heard at this point that search engines pay careful attention to keywords and key phrases when it comes to ranking websites. So, it would seem logical to pack as many of these words and phrases into your content - after all, isn’t the goal to be on page one of Google? Wrong.

What You Shouldn’t Do
Do not go overboard with your key phrases and keywords. You do not want your content to become too repetitive or confusing. Content that is solely focused on search engine optimization will repel your potential clients.

Don’t create a lengthy headline that does little to attract your prospects’ attention. Your headline should be about 25 words or less and should offer a solution to your potential clients’ problems.

What You Should Do
While creating content that attracts search engines is crucial, you need to also concentrate on converting web visitors into clients. If you have content on your website that is hard for the human reader to understand, what good is being ranked high in search engine results?

You need to develop content that gives your prospects a reason to believe that you are the expert on the subject and that they should contact you. Your content needs to contain helpful information that answers your prospects’ questions. It should also be relevant to the type of keywords and phrases they are searching for.

When using key phrases in your content, place them strategically. Some of these areas include your headline, copy, anchor texts and call to action.

For more information on this topic, read the article, Four Tips for Creating SEO Content That Search Engines AND Prospects Love.

Foster Web Marketing specializes in website design for attorneys, content management, Internet marketing and web video. Call 888.886.0939 to learn more.

How Press Releases Can Increase Your Company's Exposure & Attract Clients

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)24048 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

You don’t need to hire an expensive public relations company to attract publicity and increase your company’s exposure. The good news is that you can create your own press releases that will accomplish two purposes – improve your search engine ranking and get more clients.

If you want a reporter or editor to pick up your press release, you need to make sure it is newsworthy. The fastest way to turn off reporters and editors is to draft a press release that is obviously a marketing piece. So, it is crucial that you write about a topic that would be of interest. At the end of the press release, you can include a paragraph with your name and your firm’s information. By including this paragraph, you will still be able to promote your firm and draw more people to your lawyer website, while at the same time, appeasing editors and reporters.

One of the goals with your press release is to drive more traffic to your attorney website. To accomplish this task, you need to develop content that will attract search engines. Focus on one or two key phrases that are relevant to your practice areas AND your story. You can include these key phrases in the headline and subheading. The key phrase can be mentioned twice in the first paragraph and one or two other times throughout the press release.

For more information on this topic, read the article, E-zine Articles & Press Releases Are Important Too.

Key Phrases Are Important to Search Engine Optimization

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)23889 — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

If you want your prospects to find you online, then your attorney website needs to show up on the first couple of pages in search engine results. To achieve a high ranking among the search engines, your content must be optimized using appropriate key phrases.

Key phrases are critical when it comes to search engine optimization. Examples of key phrases include, “Phoenix car accident lawyer” and “Long Island accident attorney.” Search engines use what are referred to as search engine spiders and robots to compact your content into these types of key phrases and words, which helps them identify what type of information is included on your lawyer website.

It is important to recognize that key phrases are not the same as keywords. Keywords are more generic, such as “malpractice” or “birth injuries.” These keywords, when used alone, will not produce highly targeted prospects, as they are too vague.

Choose your key phrases based upon the types of cases you want to get, but avoid using legal jargon that is not commonly used by non-lawyers. You may think that “product liability” would be great to include in your key phrase, but the truth of the matter is that most of your prospects will not be using these words in their searches online. Think about the language that your clients use when they describe your services. Those are the key phrases you need on your website.

For more information on this topic, read the article, Use Key Phrases to Draw More Prospects to Your Website. Also, be sure to order your copy of the report, The 5 Biggest Mistakes 99% of Lawyers Make With Their Websites.

Are Yellow Pages Ads Worth the Money?

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)23622 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

In the past, the Yellow Pages was THE resource for consumers who were looking for services in various industries, but things have changed. Less people are tearing open that big yellow book to find business professionals and the people who are actually still using it, are inundated with pages and pages of ads that say the same thing.

If you are an attorney, flip open the Yellow Pages to the legal section and count the number of pages of lawyer advertisements. Next, review what these ads say. Basically, each ad is practically identical – “FREE CONSULTATION” and “WE WILL FIGHT FOR YOU.” Some of the even less creative ads will say something like, “INJURED?” or “NEED A LAWYER?” How is someone looking for legal representation going to differentiate between all of these ads? It almost becomes mere chance if one of these ads generates a phone call from a potential client.

An increasing number of people are searching online not only for the information they need, but also for local services. As a lawyer, your marketing dollars are better spent on an advertising venue that can capture more of your target audience. You can create a website that is updated constantly with fresh content that answers your prospects’ questions, plus you can incorporate powerful web video that will make you an “authority” and “celebrity” among your potential clients.

Read the article, There is a More Effective Way to Market than in the Yellow Pages, for more information on this topic.

Be sure to order you free copy of the report, The 5 Biggest Mistakes 99% of Lawyers Make With Their Websites.

Use Web Video to Answer Your Prospect's Questions and Convert More Leads

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)23195 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

People are on the Internet looking for answers to their questions or solutions to their problems. Some of these Internet searchers will be scouring through pages of content trying to see if someone has the information they are looking for. Other people, actually, a significant number of people, will be using web video to obtain their answers. If you do not already have online video implemented into your site, you could be missing out on a large amount of potential cases.

Attorney web video is huge and continues to grow at an impressive rate. If you are skeptical, just go to YouTube and type in keywords pertaining to your practice areas. Did you see some of your competitors?

Web video is a powerful conversion tool that is one of the newest and most effective ways to market online. You can incorporate video into your website that showcases your expertise. For example, you can upload an online video that addresses the many questions that your clients ask you when they walk through your door. You can also use video to talk about a recent case and how you were able to help someone. The key to a successful lawyer video is to not talk about yourself. Instead, you need to focus on providing solutions.

If you don’t have video on your website, you need to contact Foster Web Marketing at 888.886.0939 to find out how you can start converting more prospects to clients.

For more information, read our article, Answer the Question, and order the free report, The 5 Biggest Mistakes 99% of Lawyers Make With Their Websites.

Why You Should Join Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Other Social Media Sites

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)22852 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Social media is a highly effective way to market yourself and your firm online. Social networking is changing the way that businesses, and law firms, are approaching marketing. What is so great about this marketing tool is that it doesn’t cost you a thing. The only investment you will make is your time.

Did you know that Facebook has about 300 million users around the world? If you haven’t already joined this website, you should strongly consider it. Not only does it provide a way to connect with family members, old friends, acquaintances and colleagues, it also offers the opportunity to get the word out about your areas of practice. Let people know what types of cases you take and when the time comes that one of your Facebook friends needs a lawyer, or knows someone who does, he or she will think of you first.

Twitter is another social media website worth joining. Most people are confused by Twitter and rightfully so. The thought of letting people know what you are doing at any given moment, which is essentially what this website does, seems like a waste of time. However, that mentality is far from the truth. Twitter allows you to build a base of followers in which you can send out messages informing them of the cases you just won or the types of new cases you are taking. It is great “word of mouth” advertising. Order the free report, Twitter for Attorneys, for more information about how you can use this website in your Internet marketing campaign.

Also, don’t ignore sites, such as LinkedIn, which is a giant business network. You can connect with other professionals and build your referral base.

For more information about using social media in your attorney marketing campaign, read the article, “What is the Difference Between Social Media Websites.”

Video Sites That You Can Use For SEO

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)22345 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

We just put together a list of video sites that allow you to include some dofollow backlinks along with the video submission that will help with your "link juice" and search engine rankings over at our blog.

Go check out the dofollow video list and be sure to get some quick and easy links back to your website!

Wow!! "Shift Happens" My New Book Has Become a Best-Seller

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)22326 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

I just received some very cool news! "Shift Happens", my new book which I co-authored with 20 leading experts and entrepreneurs, has quickly become a best-seller in three categories on Amazon.com, including #1 in the direct marketing category.

In the book we reveal the critical steps to generating more profit in your business, and just as importantly, we show you how to have fun while running your business.

See what all the fuss is about and discover why Shift Happens is topping the charts in categories usually dominated by authors like Seth Godin and Dan Kennedy.

The book is just $21.95 and can be found on Amazon.com

Free Books and Reports are Great Conversion Tools

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)22009 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Just about every law firm has a website these days, so you need to find a way to stand out and convert more prospects to clients. You can accomplish these goals by creating a free offer that will entice people to stay long enough on your website to read what you have to say.

Great examples of free offers include books and reports. Not only can you build instant creditability by saying that you are an author of a book that relates directly to your prospects, but you can also use your free offer to build your client base. You can offer your informative book or report for free, in exchange for the person’s information. This technique is effective in helping you build your herd. In fact, a free offer is believed to boost your client base by at least 60 percent.

If you are concerned that you do not have the time to devote to writing a book or report, we have the solution for you. We will write your book for you. Our ghostwriting service provides you with the opportunity to have your book written by a published author who knows how to write books for your target audience. For more information about our ghostwriting services, call us today at 888-886-0939 or fill out our contact form.

Also, read our article, Increase Your Client Base with a Free Offer, to learn more about how free offers can help grow your business.

Use Web Video & Free Offers to Build Your List

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)21747 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

You need to create your own group of raving fans who view you as a celebrity in your field and believe that you have something important to say. This group of people, including your past and present clients, friends, family members, vendors and personal contacts, will have you in mind when they need your services or know of someone who does. So, how do you create this valuable list? Attorney web video and free offers are great tools to build your fan base, also known as your herd.

Web video can be used to quickly establish authority. People will watch your videos if they believe that you have something valuable to tell them. Through online video, you are able to answer the questions that are on your prospects’ minds. They are able to see your mannerisms and confidence. You have instant credibility with web video.

Free offers are another great way to build your herd. You can create reports and books that are designed to meet the needs of your potential clients. These offers should be free, in exchange for the person’s contact information.

It is possible to develop your list through Internet marketing. By building and cultivating your list, you will be able to get more of the cases you want. For more information on this topic, read our article, Building Your “Herd” With Internet Marketing.

Consider Marketing Your Company on Websites that Review Local Businesses

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)21239 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Have you ever heard of Yelp (Yelp.com)? It is a website worth checking out, as it publishes millions of reviews about local businesses to help people find the services they need, including law firms. According to Yelp, the website “allows consumers to share the experiences they've had with local businesses and lets business owners share information about their business with their customers. Simply put, its word of mouth-- amplified.”

Yelp can be a powerful marketing tool. You can use Yelp and other similar websites, such as CityGuide (CityGuide.com), that review local businesses, as a way to “get the word out” about your company. Whenever you finish a case or consultation, ask your client to go to Yelp and write a review for your firm. If you are active in your community, that is a great way to encourage positive reviews.

Registering your business on Yelp is free. Once you have a registered account, you can answer questions about your firm, track how many Yelp users view your business page and add up-to-date information about your services. You can even include your website and profile picture. If you are curious as to whether your competitors are already using Yelp, visit the website and type in your area of specialty.

Using websites, such as Yelp, is just another great way to take advantage of Internet marketing to grow your business.

What Are People Saying About Your Law Firm?

mindywein@cox.net (Blog Author)20767 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

Whether you like it or not, people are going to talk about you and your law firm. Your hope would be that what they say is positive. Don’t be in the dark when it comes to these conversations. Social networks and Google Alerts are two great ways to discover what people are saying.

Social Networks
More and more people are using social networking websites, such as Facebook and Twitter to talk about their experiences. You can find out if anything is being said about your firm by conducting real-time searches on these websites. Last August, Facebook released its real-time search engine that allows you to search your company’s name to find out who is talking about you and what they are saying. This search box is located at the top right of the Facebook page. Soon Facebook updates will show up in Bing’s search results, as well.

You can find out if there are any conversations about your firm by also searching Twitter. If you are signed up for Twitter, you can even join in the discussion. Twitter updates are indexed by Bing and will eventually be available via Google’s Social Search.

Google Alerts
Google Alerts provide a free and simple way to get email updates about any topic you want to track. You can request to receive emails via Google Alerts any time someone posts something with your name or firm’s name. It is also an effective way to follow what is going on with your competitors.

By searching social networking websites and using Google Alerts, you can put yourself in a position to monitor online discussions and join in when appropriate.

How to Combat Low Quality Back Links

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)20294 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

The good folks over at the Google Webmaster Central Blog recently launched a post explaining how to identify low-quality links coming into your site and how you may be able to remove them.

In other words, a site that is either low authority or that has nothing to do with law or your geographic location links back to your website for whatever reason and you are sure that it's hurting your search engine rankings.

While Google downplays the importance of the authority of websites linking back to your website (or blog) which may not be 100% accurate, they are pretty correct in that all you can do in this case is e-mail the webmaster and ask them not to link back to your site.

This brings up an important point. A lot of times we'll have a client who had previously hired an SEO company or consultant to build back links to their website ask us to perform monthly link building services on their website. We'll go in and see what types of back links that the previous SEO'ers were able to obtain, and most of the time the results are astonishing.

We'll find links from sites offering anything from women's shoes to Viagra linking back to attorneys' websites, and the clients wonder why they're not ranking on page one and why their Google PageRank is so low.

If you hire an SEO company or consultant to perform search engine marketing, primarily link building, you need to know that they are using white-hat techniques and aren't going out and obtaining links from any website that they can find. Asking for a monthly report breaking down what links were obtained by the company or consultant usually helps you monitor the quality of their work, and always be sure to monitor your back links in Google Webmaster tools.

If you're performing link building on your own, always be sure to only obtain links that are relevant to your practice area or location.

It's very tempting to obtain "crap" links in order to boost your search engine rankings, especially if you see that your competition has done so and is now ranking better than you are, but in the long run quality over quantity will be the equation for your website's success on the search engines.

Facebook User Names and Why They're Important for SEO

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)18445 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

As you've probably heard by now, you can claim a username on Facebook. The username that you choose will be embedded in the URL of your Facebook profile, which has obvious SEO implications.

When someone does a search for "Jack Smith", your Facebook page with a claimed username of "Jack Smith" will have a better chance ranking for that search because the URL of that Facebook profile will be

http://www.facebook.com/jack.smith

But did you know that you can also claim user names for your business pages as well? This adds an unbelievable SEO benefit because you can claim a username that includes your firm name and/or any keywords that you'd like to rank for.

An example:

A client and good friends of ours, Brian Beckcom, has a Facebook page for his practice (a small Houston personal injury firm that specializes in maritime law).

The URL of Brian's business Facebook page would probably be something like

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Houston-TX/Vujasinovic-and-Beckcom/8484and-a-bunch-of-other-random-numbers

But Brian decided to claim his Facebook username, which is now a lot more SEO-friendly

http://www.facebook.com/houstonpersonalinjurylawyer

How does this help with the search-a-bility?

Brian's Facebook page is now more able to

Be found on Google, Bing, and other search engines for "Houston personal injury lawyer", "Houston personal injury", "Houston lawyer", etc., and
Be found on Facebook for these related searches as well. Yes, people are using Facebook as a search engine, and this is becoming the case more and more after Facebook launched their real-time search feature.

How do you claim the user name (and SEO-friendly URL) for your Facebook business page?

Go to http://www.facebook.com/username/
Click on "Set a username for your Pages"
Select the business page that you'd like to set the user name for
Make sure you page is eligible

Your page WILL NOT be able to claim a username unless it has at least 100 fans, so be sure to invite as many friends, family members, past and present clients, business associates, and whoever else you can think of to obtain as many fans as you can.

Of course, most attorneys use Microsoft Outlook as their e-mail program and this may be holding you up from importing your e-mail contacts to Facebook to see who you can friend and expand your network (and Facebook Page Fans).

For more information on how to import your contacts from Outlook and other e-mail programs so that you can get more Facebook friends (and fans of your business page), visit this Facebook help page.

Promoting Your Practice on Twitter

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)18389 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

Penn State recently conducted a study that shows one in five Tweets are actually promoting a business, either by promoting web content, specials, or any other type of advertising.

While there isn't a Twitter etiquette that specifies how many times you should be promoting your firm or practice vs. tweeting non-promotive information, the only rule of thumb is to try not to be OVERLY promotive because people will indeed unfollow you if you're not building value in your tweets.

Remember, you have to have something to bring to the table, and just following three thousand people and only tweeting your blog or website rss feed isn't going to keep them around for long.

Twitter is a free and easy way to spread the word about your business at the grassroots level, but don't expect an immediate ROI. Networking for referrals, promoting content that results in more website and blog visits, and finding other professionals that may benefit your practice (doctors, other attorneys, etc.) are all things that you can do on Twitter, but while they may not pay off on the bottom line, you will get out of Twitter what you put in and you'll almost certainly find something (or someone) that will help you professionally if you know how to use Twitter.

For more information on how to effectively Tweet, market your profile, gain invaluable conections, and more, download our Free Twitter report by clicking below.

Twitter for Attorneys

Compare Old Google vs New Google

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)18380 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

We've written recently that Google is launchign a new search engine algorithm, dubbed Google caffeine, as a search engine that indexes faster and displays results faster.

Of course, many have been wondering how their rankings on Google caffeine will stack up against their old rankings.

Well, if you want to see how your web site ranks for certain keywords or keyword phrases on Google's old search engine vs Google's new search engine, Google Caffeine, check out Compare Google to see how your rankings differ.

Simply put in the keyword or keyword phrase that you currently rank for, insert your website or blog's URL, and Compare Google will display your results.

Article on the 5 Quick Reasons Why Attorneys MUST have Video on The Web

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)17658 — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Check out the recent article I wrote on 5 reasons why attorneys MUST have web video.

Video Interview Tips for Attorneys and Other Professionals

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)17650 — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Wow...

I just spent a day with Jess Todtfeld, the President of Media Training Worldwide. He was training me (and my America's Premier Experts collegues) on how to be interviewed for TV interviews. Now, we have done over 1000 video interviews of attorneys myself, so some of what we learned only reinforced what we are already doing at FWM, but Jess really did a great job at explaining and presenting other important details.

Here's a few interview tips that attorneys can use:

Lean foward 15 degress toward the camera.
Look at the interviewer (not the camera).
Move your head.
Move your hands.
Move your body.
Wear solids (but not black, white, bright red).
Speak louder than normal.
Speak with more energy than normal.
Focus on just three message points per video.
Be conversational (don't try to memorize a script!)

Video Studio for Attorneys and Law Firms is booking up fast

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)17123 — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Book a "Day at the Fairfax Video Studio".

Complete the form below to schedule!

Web Video - You will lose the Internet Marketing Game without it - Guaranteed...

This month's webinar was all about web video. Web video is critical to a successful web marketing campaign on every level. Don't believe me - ok, but believe THIS:

62% of Americans are Viewing Videos Online
The industry credits broadband penetration as the key factor pushing online video viewing higher.
Among those ages 18-29 (your current and future client base):
89% say they watch online video
36% reported they watch Web video every day.
Mobile video viewing is also on the rise, with 14% reporting they have watched a video on their phone, up from 10% in 2007.
Uploads to YouTube grew 400% the day the new iPhone was released.

Don't you watch videos when you go to a website? Your existing and future clients DO, for sure.

Do it yourself or hire a pro, either way - just do something.

Dedicated to your success,

Tom Foster

Google Caffeine: Ground-breaking news or retaliation?

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)16767 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Google's new search engine version, Caffeine, was announced on the Google Webmaster Tools blog on Monday and has left a lot of SEO'ers and webmasters left scratching their heads.

In their explanation of the new Google Caffeine project, Google offered the following explanation:

"It's the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions."

So, it indexes faster (which is likely a response to Facebook's new real-time search feature, which was a response to Twitter's real-time search capabilities) and is more accurate, but how does this relate to the SEO world?

Mashable's Google Caffeine test drive produced the following prediction:

"SEO professionals, your job just got a lot harder. The algorithm’s definitely different. It has more reliance on keyword strings to produce better results."

A computerworld.com even went so far as to say that "Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialists are going to have to go on a whole new formula for getting their clients to the top...and who knows exactly how this new Google search algorithm works?"

As SEO professionals, we have seen "major changes" announced at Google before, but the overall algorithm always stayed predominately the same. As veterans in the industry, we are pretty certain that no matter what changes Google announces in response to major developments (like Microsoft taking over Yahoo!), they will still continue to rank sites with

Unique, relevant, and informative content
Optimized page titles, content, and other on-page attributes
Relevant and authority inbound links

higher than those without them.

So we have to ask ourselves: Is this actually a legitimate announcement, or is Google just making sure we don't forget about them?

To try out Google's new Caffeine search engine, visit their demo version here.

Search engine optimization for Bing

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)13517 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST

We recently did a blog post on our SEO for attorneys blog on how to optimize your website and rank better for Bing, Microsoft's new search engine.

The SEO for Bing blog post shows what Bing looks at when ranking websites, as well as why maintaining a professional link building campaign is key to ranking, not only for Bing, but for Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and other search engines as well.

Be sure to go check out how to rank well on Bing and, if you have any questions or are looking for some ideas on how your website can dominate the competition, feel free to contact us.

Twitter incentives for attorneys

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)13474 — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST

We just recently redesigned our Lawyer Internet marketing and attorney SEO blog and are celebrating by offering a retweet incentive: anyone in the legal community (lawyer, paralegal, law student, legal marketing professional, etc.) who retweets this blog post on Twitter will receive a free link back to their website or blog.

How can this help you? Well our blog has a Google Pagerank of 4/10, is relevant to the legal world, and can help you build your "link juice" which can dramatically help with the SEO efforts of your site.

We're also collecting ideas for a "Retweet incentive" for attorneys.

What can an attorney offer as a retweet incentive that would catch on in popularity and get people to retweet your blog post(s) or website page(s)?

A free case result? Enh, not all that creative. A free Blackberry? Ching Ching $$, not exactly a cheap giveaway.

Send us an idea on what an attorney could give away in order to launch a viral campaign on Twitter.

To submit your idea, follow us on Twitter and send us a direct message with what an attorney could offer/give away as a prize for retweets. The winning submission will be announced by a separate blog post which will include a short bio about the submitter, along with a link to his/her website, blog, and twitter profile.

Oh, and don't forget to check out our FREE REPORT

Twitter for Attorneys
by Tom Foster and George Murphy

Google Announces Google Wave 2009 Release

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)13355 — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST

Google announced a new release on May 29th at the Google I/O conference: Google Wave, an all-in-one communicator tool which merges e-mail, Instant Messaging, social networking, and more. It should be an excellent tool which will increase productivity and help save some time.

Check out a preview of Google Wave here

Professional Web Marketing and America's Premier Expert Tom Foster is Interviewed

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)11535 — Sun, 03 May 2009 08:00:00 EST

How cool is this? I was interviewed in Orlando, FL at the Hard Rock Hotel when I was down there for the first part of a press tour called "America's Premier Experts".

FWM clients Ben Glass of Great Legal Marketing and Jim Brown of Castle Law (the top Bankruptcy firm in St. Louis that has locations opening nationwide) were also interviewed. Our good buddy, Jim Parrish, a personal injury attorney in Virginia was also there.

Please let me know what you think of the interview. I look like a giant next to Tiffany Tift.

Announcing the Best Legal Marketing Seminar on the Planet!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)11280 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST

Great Legal Marketing SuperConference 2009!!

Here's some video of the last show!

When was the last time YOU had advance knowledge of a future event that could turn an ordinary law practice into your ideal one? No, I'm not talking about the usual State Bar-sponsored "Marketing for Lawyers" seminar. You know, the ones where they tell you the 132 things you can't do to build a profitable, income-producing, stress-reducing, law practice.

I'm talking about an event that has sold out the last two times it was presented...where lawyers learn not only how to rise above the endless noise of traditional lawyer advertising without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, but how to become heroes to their families and icons in their communities.

Interested in learning more about the Best Legal Marketing Seminar on the Planet?

More Video the show!

Twitter For Attorneys

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)11275 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST

After much demand, we have written a FREE downloadable report that answers many questions attorneys have about the online social phenomenon "Twitter." We purposefully kept the report simple, so it could be read quickly and the ideas contained therein executed immediately.

We answer these questions in the report:

“What is with this “Twitter” business and what in the world am I supposed to do with it?”
“I don’t even understand it and what I am supposed to do!”
“Something else I have to do now, I don’t even have time to keep up with my website!”

In today’s’ world of Internet Marketing, you can’t afford to sit back and see what happens with Twitter because it is a Super effective way to build your business and network!

In this FREE report, George and I explain:

what Twitter is
some common uses
we list several tools that can make your Twitter experience
much more!

Please download our FREE GUIDE: TWITTER FOR ATTORNEYS today!

Another Benefit of SEO

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)10423 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST

Two Foster Web Marketing clients, Bob Batle in Virginia and Chris Davis in Seattle, recently picked up some press coverage thanks to their high SE rankings and authority, particularly with Google.

Bob was featured this morning in the Baltimore Sun in an article that compared the fines for speeding tickets in Maryland to those in Virginia.

Chris was interviewed by CNN'S Anderson Cooper on Natasha Richardson's death.

How did the Baltimore Sun journalist and CNN producer track down our clients? A Google search, of course.

A lot of people are starting to think that SEO is on its way out and that social media the next big thing in Internet marketing.

I couldn't disagree more. Sure, Twitter is growing at amazing speed and, yes, more and more people are using Facebook, but will there ever be a site out there that replaces what seems to be the most popular phrase used by anyone with an internet connection when looking for the answer to something?:

"Google it"

Proably not, or at least not in the near future.

Spending time on social media and other web marketing methods is important, but if you're not spending time/money on building your website and making sure it's ranking well on search engines, remember this: search engine optimization is not only extremely effective, but when compared to other marketing techniques in a slow and struggling economy, it is also one of the most affordable.

OMG - You Must Read This if You Submit Videos to YouTube!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)10043 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST

OK, I knew something was up with those lawyer videos that were getting an unrealistic amount of visitors. Probably outsourced to some people factory overseas that just clicks on youtube buttons, or some some kind of sophisticated spider. I don't know and you know what? I don't care. Because you can just tell that it isn't natural and organic. Whenever I see that I smell a rat and I stay away. If I had time I would explore it further, but I think that Gerry nailed it better than I ever could on his blog.

So check this article out that was posted on my buddy Gerry Oginski's Lawyers' Video Studio blog because if Gerry got this email than you will probably get it too. Stay away from this stuff gang!

As always, Gerry Oginski pokes the bad guy in the eye with great wit and style. Gerry has several online/web presences and is one of the most prolific users of video. He has fast become a great resource for all attorneys wanting to do video on their own. I recommend reading his material thoroughly and can't endorse him more.

Thanks Gerry - keep them coming!!

Infusioncon Conference

george@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)9341 — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST

Be sure to come check out Foster Web Marketing's booth at Infusioncon in Scottsdale, Arizona on March 10th-12th. George Murphy, Foster Web Marketing's Internet marketing manager, will be offering a free site analysis for anyone in attendance and giving a few tips on how you can maximize your website's online exposure through search engine optimization and marketing, social media marketing, blogging, and more.

Here is the conference agenda.

Great and funny Video Marketing Articles for Lawyers by New York PI Attorney Gerry Oginski

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)8628 — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST

Gerry Oginski once again hits it on the head with lawyer videos. If you are doing you own videos, Gerry is a great resource and is very knowledgable. He has already made all the mistakes so you don't have to!! He puts out quality, informative videos that have produced many clients for his firm!

He is so good at it that he's been published on Law.com!

Video Marketing Tips for Lawyers: No. 1

Video Marketing Tips for Lawyers: No. 2

Video Marketing Tips for Lawyers: No. 3

Here's a good critique about what NOT to do when creating an attorney video

Have you ever heard of a Google Bomb?

asea@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)8400 — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST

Have you ever heard of a “Google Bomb?”

If you haven’t, pay close attention.

About two years ago, bloggers of the liberal persuasion all over the country made a concerted effort to link the term “miserable failure” with the White House presidential profile page of President Bush.

And it worked. Every time someone went to Google and typed the term “miserable failure” into the search bar, the number one rank on page one was that particular page.

This serves as an example as to how important online reputation management is. If there are enough people at work to harm your reputation on the internet, it takes an equally concerted effort to control the damage.

Follow this link to see how the George Bush Google Bomb even spread over to Barack Obama's White House.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/01/obama-failure.html

YouTube Search Engine Success

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)8399 — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST

Did you know that YouTube recently replaced Yahoo as the number two search engine?

That might not make sense to many of you, considering that the YouTube and Google seem like two different things altogether. But really, they aren’t that different.

Google looks for websites , text, news and video, while YouTube looks only for video.

But consider that the younger generation is viewing the internet in a completely different way than those of us who can remember what life was like without it. We can remember going to the library and looking through index cards. That seems hopelessly ancient to the people in their teens and twenties. In fact, to that same demographic, reading multiple lines of text seems somewhat of a chore. When it comes to their homework or projects or how they communicate with each other, video, graphics and short summaries are the standard.

What this means for you, your practice and your site is that another smart way to get a higher impact on the internet is to set up a video presentation. Contact us here at Foster Web Marketing to get started.

Obama Campaign Used Technology for Success

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)8277 — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST

One thing of importance to consider about the election of Barack Obama has nothing to do with his politics or personality, but rather the methods that he used to get there.

While the standard methods of signs, bumper stickers and television and radio ads were used to market both candidates, what made the Obama campaign remarkably different than any other in history was the way in which technology was used to mobilize volunteers and supporters.

The Obama campaign utilized MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, mass e-mails and even text messages delivered to phones.

You should also consider that more than ever before, the Obama campaign used the internet for fund raising and communications.

With technology as integrated into our society as it is, everyone has the opportunity to make the most of marketing their firms and businesses. You no longer have to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for radio or television ads. Existing technology makes it affordable and simple to expand your practice.

Feel free to contact us here at Foster Web Marketing for more ideas as to how to make technology work for you.

Are Cuts at Google Anything to Worry About?

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)8206 — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST

“Last week, Google announced that the company was unceremoniously discontinuing or at least ceasing development of a number of services it had launched or acquired in the past, including Google Video, Notebook, Catalog Search, Dodgeball and The Mashup Editor. The shutdown of the latter two was announced on the Google Code blog by VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra, along with some explanation regarding microblogging Jaiku, which many tech blogs and news outlets reported was merely being kept alive without further plans for the Twitteresque service.”

-Washington Post, 1/17/09

Ok, what does that mean for you? It’s easy to feel jittery these days, what with the economy being in its current untenable state. And the news lately has been loaded with concrete evidence that there aren’t many parts of the economy that aren’t connected with one another, so when one of the biggest technology based companies on earth starts cutting things out of the budget, you have to wonder if this will come back on you.

Will Google start charging people to get listed? Will this cost us money?

It is highly doubtful. In the first place, take a look at what Google is getting rid of. Google Video is redundant considering that they now own YouTube. And will not being able to use “The Mashup Editor” really affect the practice of your law firm? Probably not.

Google’s bread and butter is the search engine business, and all of these cuts are based on either eliminating redundancies or simply conceding the ground to technologies that are already dominating a particular niche.

There is certainly a great deal to worry about with the economy, but a few cuts at Google are certainly not something to concern yourself with.

What is Black Hat Exactly?

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)7751 — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST

If you spend any time in the web marketing world, one term that keeps popping up over and over again is “Black Hat.”

Broadly speaking, Black Hat means “engaging in ethically shady practices to gain an unwarranted advantage over your competitors on the internet.”

That’s the broad definition, and if you are interested in seeing some of the narrower aspects of Black Hat tactics, then a woman named Ann Smarty has put a pretty good glossary together.

According to the blog entry, there are lots of specific categories involved in cheating. You can engage in Black Hat tactics by focusing on cheating, by focusing on people, or by focusing on skirting search engine guidelines.

Take a look at the blog for more information.

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/what-is-blackhat-seo-5-definitions/8151/

Food For Thought on Web Privacy

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)7744 — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST

A recent article over at CNN brings up an interesting fact: Search engines like Google and Yahoo gather and hold onto your search history, and then tailor the sorts of advertisements and content that you end up with based on what your prior searches have been.

Knowing that everything you search for on Google or Yahoo will be collected definitely makes you think a little harder when you start to type in a search. There is something unsettling and Big Brother-esque about these companies knowing everything.

But the search engine folks don't collect this information to embarrass you or blackmail you. They hold onto it because all of this information allows them to improve their search engine and indexing formulas. If they didn’t have this data, search engines as we know them wouldn’t exist. Anyone who remembers what Yahoo and Google used to be like even a decade ago can tell you that there used to be thousands of pages that were essentially useless mixed in with the pages that were practical and important. So as long as these companies can keep this information as secure as possible, and as long as they are using it to improve the quality of their product, then there shouldn’t be a problem with them using the data.

Another thing to consider is that they only hold onto the information for a certain period of time. Yahoo holds on to information that can personally identify you for only 90 days. Google holds onto it for nine months, while Microsoft holds onto it for eighteen. So when you went to Amazon last July and ordered that KC and the Sunshine Band retrospective, nobody will be able to hold it against you after a year or so.

A Lesson Learned From Google Chrome

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)7439 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST

Not so long ago, Google released its Chrome internet browser, which was meant to rival Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Apple’s Safari or Mozilla’s Firefox.

Apparently it hasn’t done so well.

According to this article by Tim Daly, Chrome’s user numbers dropped off the face of the earth after an initial strong opening immediately after the high profile release.

According to Mr. Daly, the problems range from anything from browser crashing to laptops going into hibernation mode while using it. It is rare that Google rushes anything to market before ironing the bugs out (that’s more Microsoft’s angle,) but that seems to be the case here.

Another interesting aspect of the article is that among the various demographics that used Chrome and didn’t like it, a great many of them were people aged 45+ and people without college educations. That basically translates into “Chrome is difficult to use.”

Having groundbreaking software does no good whatsoever for a mass release if people can’t figure out how to use it. So here at Foster Web Marketing, we made it a point to make our DSS system ridiculously easy to operate. You don’t need training in HTML or web design to get your thoughts and case results up there.

Just contact us and we’ll give you a demonstration.

Anybody can be removed from Google

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)7084 — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST

One very nice aspect of Google is that all you have to do for your site to be successful is follow the rules. This applies to everyone, whether it is a multi-billion dollar organization or whether it is a mom and pop bakery.

If you break the rules, you get removed from the Google index. Again, this applies to everyone, whether it is a multi-billion dollar organization or whether it is a mom and pop bakery.

There isn't much else on earth like it. Think of the leeway that is given to the very rich and powerful on a daily basis in all other walks of life. Do you receive the same sort of treatment?

BMW was treated by Google in exactly the same way that they treated other groups, individuals or businesses that break the rules. They pulled a trick in which the algorithm thought it was looking at one thing but everyone who actually went to a site saw something else. This is a deliberate trick to get higher web exposure for themselves.

So, as you can tell by this blog post:

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ramping-up-on-international-webspam/

Google is serious about keeping black hat SEO tactics from influencing their rankings, even if it is a company the size of BMW.

Yahoo: Huge in Japan

asea@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)6839 — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST

Normally, "huge in Japan" is considered somewhat of a backhanded compliment. If you don't think so, try telling a successful artist, writer or musician that you have heard that he is very popular..in Japan.

"Popular in Japan" is a dubious distinction most of the time. It's like having the record for home runs in the minor leagues, or being the best and most popular basketball player in Turkey.

But according to this article on CNet, http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10108796-2.html, Japan is the only thing keeping Yahoo relevant. Believe it or not, Yahoo Japan is bigger than Yahoo in America. In practically every other country where Google and Yahoo do business, Yahoo seems to be holding a pretty steady lead on search engine usage over Google.

Rest assured, Google, like always, is making a comeback. But this serves as another example as to how you can't predict what people or demographics are going to do. Hedging your bets by having good placement on all the search engines is the best way to go about practical search engine optimization.

Google Widening Lead on Other Search Engines

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)6566 — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST

United States Internet users conducted 2 percent fewer searches in October 2008 than the year earlier, but used Google more often for those searches, according to data Nielsen Online released Tuesday. -Cnet, 11.25.08

This article simply underscores what is blatantly obvious to everyone paying attention. Google and MSN are slowly but surely losing more and more market share as the search engine of choice.

According to the same article, Yahoo's overall search numbers went down 12% and MSN's searches went down a whopping 19%.

While having your business prominently listed on Yahoo and MSN are still nothing to scoff at, the reality is that Google continues to be the gold standard for search engine results.

OneRiot Search Engine Does Popular Indexing

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)6260 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST

Google, MSN, Yahoo, Ask and other search engines all use their own indexing algorithms and formulae in order to determine which sites get high rankings and which don't.

But a new search engine has taken the guesswork out of site rankings, and bases their rankings purely on the popularity of the sites in question.

OneRiot actually determines its site rankings by finding what they call "the pulse," which means they find out which sites people are going to and which topics are being looked up the most.

This is an interesting spin on search engines, and we imagine that Google will probably come up with its own variation very soon.

Google and IPhone now have voice activated search command

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)6227 — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST

According to the story at this link:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,24662089-5014239,00.html

Google and Apple have teamed up to give iPhone users a new application that allows people to say what they are looking for instead of using their thumbs to type it in.

This leads us to an interesting question in regards to keywords and keyphrases. Do you write the way you speak? Most people don't.

It remains to be seen how this new technology will affect how people search, but we suspect that the search terms will be less specific, and will adjust our keywords and key phrases to encompass how people speak as well as how they type.

AIR Website Provides Good Blogging Ammunition

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)5849 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Believe it or not, one of the biggest problems with many of our clients websites is writers block.

A lot of our clients would like to take to blogging, but have a hard time coming up with things to actually blog about.

We highly recommend the website of Americans for Insurance Reform for good topics and news updates.

Considering that many of your clients are having problems with insurance companies to begin with, we imagine that there would be no shortage of topics on which you could blog about.

http://centerjd.org/air/index.html

Excerpts From Google Webmaster Chat

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)5726 — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Matt Cutts and a few other moderators from Google's webmaster central tools blog conducted their third online webmaster chat seminar on Wednesday, October 22nd. The seminar consisted of an open-forum setup where webmasters and SEO consultants from all over the world submitted SEO-related questions to the team, others would vote on the questions and whether it was worthy to be answered, and the team addressed the questions both online as well as during the audio session. George Murphy, SEO consultant for Foster Web Marketing, attended the session. Here are some questions and responses that were worth noting...

Google Webmaster Chat Seminar Excerpt

SEO Horror Story

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)5673 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

If you follow this link:

http://www.seoproblems.com/

you will go to a page set up by a guy who obviously had some problems with an SEO firm that he hired.

It sounds like this guy really didn't get what he paid for, and he gives you some smart tips on how to avoid SEO firms that are shady and don't really know what they are doing. To be fair, there are a few inaccurate statements on the webpage, but given the amount of money that he paid out for the amount of service that he got, it goes without saying that his anger is justified.

Here at Foster Web Marketing, we have a proven track record of good service and good work for our clients. If you are considering expanding the web presence or your injury law firm and want to make your website a vital part of your marketing strategy, contact Foster Web Marketing for a free consultation today.

Buying Keywords - Why This is a Big Mistake For Attorney Websites

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)5414 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Many attorneys buy keywords to market their websites from Google Adwords or other PPC (Pay Per Click) sites and think that is all they should do. It is no secret to PPC companies that attorneys bid high for keywords. After all, it is very easy and attorneys could see themselves on Page One very quickly under sponsored links.

Many attorney law firms are easily seduced by adword campaigns and will gobble up as many keywords as they can, more often then not, without tracking or budgeting. But, heck, they are on Page One!

Read this article on Why Buying Keywords is a Big Mistake for Attorneys.

The Top Twenty Percent Projects at Google

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)5319 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

At Google, a standing rule is that every programmer gets to spend one day a week working on a project of their own design. Although many of the projects are internal, many of them end up moving out for general use by the public.

If you follow the link below, you will find a list of the top 8 Google projects that have been put out for general use, and have been become almost ubiquitous in our every day lives. It gives you a brief idea of what an innovative and powerful company Google is, and also gives you an idea of how important good placement on their search engines can be to your business.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Top-20-Percent-Projects-at-Google/

Ask is Re-Thinking it's Design

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)5163 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Ask.com certainly has a philospohy of "never say die."

For the third time in three years, Ask is revamping their website and their algorithms in order to make the search engine more efficient and to try to get a bigger share of the market, which is currently dominated by Google and, to a lesser extent, Yahoo.

Ask is certainly on the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to search engines.

In a press release, the CEO of Ask stated:

"On average, it takes consumers three clicks to find what they are searching for online. Ask.com's goal is to reduce this to one click of the search box,"

Well, that's good news.

Even though Ask has a much smaller market share than the other search engines, keep in mind that when it comes to your website, traffic is traffic is traffic. If you have a high ranking on Ask, it isn't anything to sneeze at, especially if this new revamping works like they expect it to.

Local vs National Advertising Conundrum

asea@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4980 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

SEATTLE, Oct 01, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Among national advertisers there is significant interest in local online advertising, according to a new study conducted by Sterling Market Intelligence and commissioned by Marchex, Inc., a local search and advertising company. Nearly half of the national advertisers surveyed are currently pursuing local online advertising, and more than 40% are dedicating at least a quarter of their online marketing budget to local targeting. However, their utilization of local online advertising is impeded by confusion about the best tactics and traffic sources to use, and how to effectively measure the results and return on investment (ROI).

Check out this article, which gives you a pretty good analysis of the local vs. national conundrum that many advertisers are facing.

http://www.newsandtech.com/issues/2006/06-06/ot/06-06_saxo-onlineadseries-04.htm

Even National Advertisers Want to Go Local

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4979 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Pulling a Fast One on Google is Ill Advised

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4977 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Next on the list of "People who won't be on Google for Long" are these folks.

From the Wall Street Journal:

BOULDER, Colo., Oct 01, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Webroot, a leading provider of security solutions for the consumer, enterprise and SMB markets, today announced that it has detected a new technique being used by hackers to lure PC users to fake blog sites containing malware.

What this means is that they are going to Google Trends, taking a look at what people are looking up, and then creating links to fake blog sites that purport to be about the most popular searches. When users go to these sites, they get hit with malware, which could be viruses or spam.

Despite the legendary reputation of your aveage basement hacker, it always seems to be wise to bet on Google. It shouldn't be too long before they get proactive about things like this as opposed to reactive.

Google and Yahoo Teaming Up

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4963 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EST

California lawmakers expressed strong support of a controversial search marketing deal that would allow Yahoo to run ads supplied by Mountain View-based Google alongside its own search results and share in the profits.

Altogether, 11 members of the U.S. House of Representatives expressed support of the pending deal by denouncing a proposed block, the Wall Street Journal reported.

This is yet another sign that Yahoo will be going the way of the dodo bird pretty soon. Even though Yahoo still has a share of the market, the monolith that is Google is still dominating search engine traffic.

Great Article on SEO Minefields

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4436 — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EST

CNet has an outstanding article about the difference between "White Hat" seo techniques (playing within the rules,) and "Black Hat" seo techniques (gaming Google for articially high results.)

The article also gives an example of what happens when you use techniques that stray a little too far into the gray area to promote your site. A guy who ran a dating website used "widget bait," and got his site jettisoned from Google for his troubles.

All of this underscores the idea that you HAVE to play within the rules. Any technique that promises instant results is a guarantee that your site won't be listed on Google for much longer.

Be careful out there.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10034107-93.html

Google Launches Chrome Browser

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4340 — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EST

Google has finally decided to jump into the Microsoft dominated world of web browsers by launching their own browser. The new browser named "Chrome" is due out in Beta version (PC only, Mac and Linux versions are still under development) sometime late Tuesday. Google says that the new browser "is streamlined and simple." in keeping with the design of the google search page. The browser will have some familiar features including tabs and an address bar with auto completion but it is also supposed to include such improvements as tabs that run independently so that an error in one tab will not shut down the entire browser (good stuff!). It is also supposed to be more secure and stable. To get a look at Chrome here are some screenshots. It will be interesting to see what effect Chrome will have on the current internet landscape. Will it put a dent into the 70% market share that Microsoft IE currently has? How will it effect website development standards? SEO? This all remains to be seen. Google has not officially acknowledged the launch. It seems that copies of a comic book by Scott McCloud outlining the features of the new browser were sent to some journalists and developers ... an interesting choice. Stay tuned...We are sure there is a lot more to come.

Hannah Montana and SEO Work

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4306 — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST

It is important to remember that search engine pages are not like the Guiness Book of World Records. Staying on top is just as difficult as getting there.

You should think of search engines as being similar to the Billboard Pop Music top 100, and you should consider the algorithms that rank the pages as being similar to a twelve year old girl. Your average pre teen girl can probably tell you everything about Hannah Montana, from her favorite t.v. show to what kind of sweetener she likes on her corn flakes, but how do you think she will feel about her in eighteen months?

There are plenty of businesses that have gotten the rankings that they want in Google, and as soon as they get it they jettison every part of their business that has to do with the internet.

Big mistake.

Search Engine algorithms are tweaked constantly, and this is done so people don't take advantage of the system. SEO's are constantly keeping up with the changes, and the ethical ones are constantly coming up with ways to make gains within those parameters.

If you have made gains in the search engines and are seeing the inevitable results in contacts and clients, don't get complacent. Nothing is a bigger waste of money for a business than a website that sits idle.

Avoid These SEO Tactics Like the Plague

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4305 — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST

Everyone wants the web site to do well. That goes without saying. But trying to cheat Google, Yahoo or MSN is not worth whatever short term gains you might get.

They will find out. They are Google, after all.

Don't work with any SEO service who uses the following tactics:

Keyword Farms: Repeating Keywords over and over and over again. Google's algorithims keep a sharp eye out for pages that do that sort of thing.

Mirrors: One site for the regular surfers, and one for the search engine spiders. The one for the spiders has all the keyword cheats. Not a good move.

Camouflage: Putting thousands of keywords on your website and hiding them by making them the same color as the background of your site.

Inbred Linking: One guy sets up three websites. On each website there is a spot where it says "For more information, go to THIS completely unrelated site," which will send you to his other site, where there is a spot where it says 'For more information, go to THIS completely unrelated site.." and so on and so on.

Link Selling: If you have a high ranking site, you sell hard links on your site to other folks who could use a hand. Findlaw has been doing this lately.

There are tons of other sneaky little tricks of the trade, which will do nothing but hurt your site in the long run. Go organic and you have nothing to worry about.

A History of Search Engine Optimization

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4304 — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST

Search Engine Optimization might be a relatively new line of work, but the good thing about that is that it isn't hard to figure out when it started, how it developed and what has changed.

Follow the link below that gives you a good summary as to how SEO works.

http://www.corsavoo.com/seo/0,2577,414627,00.html

Findlaw Busted for Scamming Lawyers?

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)4028 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST

Whoa!! I just got this forwarded to me by a bunch of my Attorney Web clients. Looks like Findlaw was up to no good trying to circumvent the natural evolution of organic search. Honestly, I got confused reading what they were offering. I think Oilman did a great job of breaking it down, in a humorous way, exactly what Findlaw was doing for SEO (click to read)

Many of our clients are ex-Findlaw people and have other horror stories about their web design and search engine optimization practices.

Natural or organic search is exactly that. Whenever you "buy" links and try to incorporate that into the organic world, you will get in trouble by the Google police. If you want to buy links to your site, go for it! It's not illegal, nor is it frowned upon by Google - not at all!

It's just called ADWORDS.

What Findlaw Did Wrong

Findlaw is (or was) allegedly trying to sell links to upset the delicate balance of natural placement by PageRank.

PageRank is simply how popular your page is to other web pages. It is a critical element to the way Google measures sites naturally and FAIRLY against each other.

Here's another lawyer blog that provides another view of what happened to Findlaw.

Stick to adding relevant content to your website for the services you offer and you will be fine.

What About DSS?

DSS does not do anything tricky like that. At FWM, we make sure that we do not do anything, or advise our clients to do anything, that will hurt them on the search engines. DSS is designed to be an easy to use tool to update your website in the areas that matter most to Google while still paying careful attention and respect to the natural balance of organic search.

PageRank is a naturally occurring event in that other website will link to your page if it is relevant thereby increasing your PageRank status. DSS gives you easy and fast access to deploy your content and links to others. DSS promotes the social aspect of the web without trying trick the search engines.

Nothing Against Business Week, But...

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)3994 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST

If you follow the link below, you will find an article in Business Week, which is a publication that we all respect here at Foster Web Marketing.

But having said that, there is nothing in the article about the importance of good search engine placement. While the article is loaded with good tips on keeping customers and utilizing the communications aspect of the internet, none of these suggestions will do you any good if they don't know you are there.

Search engine placement will soon become THE standard for marketing.

Search Closing in on E-Mail as Most Popular Online Activity

asea@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)3854 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST

The Yellow Pages are going to go the way of the dodo bird and television antennas.

An article in the New York Times confirms what we have suspected for quite awhile now. 49% of internet users turn to search engines to get information. Recipes, addresses, directions, oriental rugs, or anything that you can imagine. And as we definitely know, they are using search engines to find legal help. They look for divorce attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, tax attorneys, and most certainly personal injury attorneys. And the lawyers who are smart about search engine optimization are the ones who will benefit.

As the population gets older and more computer-savvy, the number of people who use search engines on a daily basis isn't going to do anything but go up. There is no better time to position your website to take advantage of these rising numbers.

Contact Foster Web Marketing to see how your firm can benefit from attorney search engine optimization.

A Little too Expensive for This Kind of Error

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)3719 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

Apparently, Google AdWords weren't functioning properly last week. With the amount of money that it costs to run an AdWord on Google, even a half second where it isn't doing what it's supposed to is a horrible waste of money.

While AdWords might be the simple way to get prominently listed, the costs are more than your average PI law firm can bear. Working the search engines organically is a much more cost effective way of achieving good search engine placement, especially if there are the inevitable crashes and bugs in the AdWords system.

http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/017830.html

Newspapers are Going Local with Online Advertising Revenue

adam@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)3718 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

An article in The Wall Street Journal mentions that newspapers aren't even bothering to go after the out of town market for online ads. Most of the ad revenue for the online advertising is coming from local sales.

Just because someone from Peoria, Illinois CAN access the daily newspaper of Tallahassee, Florida whenever he wants doesn't mean that he WILL. This serves as an example as to why it's important to stick with the immediate geographical area of your firm. While you might get the odd case from the other side of the state, it's more practical to keep your nets closer to your own boat.

Focusing your keywords, content and news updates on your immediate geographical area will bring in much better results.

Google is still king of the search engines

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)3525 — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

An internet tracking group called comScore released it's June 2008 reports, and in case anyone would dare to think otherwise, Google is still on top of the search engine business.

According to the report, 61.5% of June searches happened through Google. It's nearest competitor is Yahoo, which only captured just over 20% of internet searches.

While doing well with Yahoo, MSN, Ask and all the rest is nothing to sneeze at, having a solid ranking on Google will do much more to improve the visibility of your site.

To see the story on this report, follow this link:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/technology/comscore-releases-june--search-engine-rankings/

Website Counters Might Not Be As Accurate As You Think

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)3337 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

A recent article at the BBC makes a very interesting point. The behavior of some web surfers might cause web-counters to overestimate the number of visitors that you are actually getting.

The article also gives some column inches to the importance of time spent on sites by individual users, which we have considered to be an important indicator for years.

To read the article, follow the link below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6564671.stm

Google Sees Opportunity in Social Websites like MySpace and Facebook

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)2683 — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:00:00 EST

Attorneys should pay attention to what Google is up to as this may impact how they interract with future clients on the web.

Here's an interesting article about another new service from them that competes directly with myspace.com and facebook.com.

You may not get this stuff, but your kids do - and those are your future clients!

Article About Duplicative Content on Attorney Web Sites

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)2606 — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:00:00 EST

I just posted an article that attorneys might find interesting about what exactly defines duplicative or shared web content.

You can read it here: http://www.fosterwebmarketing.com/library/what-is-duplicate-or.cfm

8 Reasons for Attorneys to Use Web Video - Now

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)2440 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST

You need to do video on your attorney website BEFORE your compitetion does. This will be prime real estate on the web and it is a virtual land grab right now!

Your future clients, who are today's teenagers, use youtube constantly to watch music videos, funny shorts, reruns and all kinds of other stuff that is constantly being uploaded for free.
All media and entertainment websites have video – these industries are always first to market. They were some of the first to generate websites. It's always good to watch what these guys do first and see what happens.
Attorneys can really be informative through the use of video clips.
Video Testimonials from clients are very powerful.
More and more attorneys are embracing video.
It is very easy to do yourself now without looking like an amateur.
The equipment you need to do it yourself is very inexpensive: camera, tripod, your computer.
Everyday you wait, you could miss out on a case.

If you want a professional version of video like you see on our website and our clients websites, please contact Ken Pearce to discuss it and when we have some openings in our schedule for it.

Lawyer Web Marketing Article: Top 7 Page Title Rules

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)2404 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST

Hands down, the page title tag continues to be the most important part of each page of your Lawyer website and organic search engine placement. Find out if you are doing this correctly. Read this article for the Top 7 things you need to know!

Google to Add Video to Adwords

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)2397 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST

More proof that you need to get online video done to stay competitive in on the Interet. FWM is here to help you creat your video, produce it, add it to your website and blast it to search engines and soo Adwords!

Read my Recent Article About Video in Google Adwords

I just setup Technorati Account - you should to!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)2395 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST

Wow, I just siged up on Technorati.com. Basically, this is a blog searching blog that alllows people to search blog posts!! Huh?

Just go to there and sign up and follow the directions. The bottom line, the more links to your website the better. The more more links to your blog the better. You blog about stuff you have added to your website.

Technorati Profile

WOW, talk about amazing SEO Results!!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)2015 — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST

These results, shared with me by our client Miscelle Davis of the Davis Law Law Firm (www.injurytriallawyer.com) demonstrate that you can indeed dominate the search engines by using new online video technology. It's easy to do and makes a huge impact.

How did she do it? She created a specific subject video about "mild brain injury" and of course related that to an attorney in Seattle. This, of course, being her firm. She has the phone number and web url on the video itself. This video was blasted to several video directories and video search engines. Which combine video SEO with tradtional web SEO.

This is the future, your future success depends on you doing online video.

Let us know if we can help you achieve this!

GET FOUND: Google Local

gretchen@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)1539 — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST

Have you added your firm to Google Local? You should! It's free and easy. When potential clients submit a search looking for your services, Google Local makes it easy for them to find you on Google search and on GoogleMaps. Sign up today!

Google Adwords and Lawyers

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)1394 — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST

Read this article in NY Times about Google Adwords and Lawyers

Just added an Article about Universal Search

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)1025 — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:00:00 EST

Google wants to return the most relevant information when someone types a search request into its box. Now, 'relevant' has gotten bigger, even 'universal.'

Google "Universal Search," which we are expecting to see in November, lists maps, news, images and books related to a search query. Right now, you can get these returns by clicking on different tabs on the Google search bar. In just a few months, they will be combined into one. Video will be next!

Check out the Universal Search Article

DSSv5 lets you edit your home page

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)903 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:00:00 EST

DSSv5 will let clients edit the most important aspects of their home page wihout having to know HTML code. This important update allows users to update import SEO aspects of their website like PAGE TITLE, KEYWORDS, DESCRIPTION, EASILY ADD CONTEXTUAL LINKS IN THE CONTENT.

All kinds of stuff!

More to come!

Is Google the BEST or NO?

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (Blog Author)893 — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 08:00:00 EST

OK, I already admitted to not reading the paper because I don't like being depressed, but I don't like not knowing what's going on either. So, my wife reads the paper and tells me all the happy things!

I just added to my library an interesting article about whether Google is all that it is cracked up to be. The gist is that there are always people smarter than you. Google is becoming so big and so dependent on Pay-Per-Click that other smaller search companies have an opportunity if they play their cards right.

Please read this article about Google Search that was in the Washington Post on August 9th, 2007 by Rob Pegoraro. Interesting!!

Google to Use "Answer Highlighting" in Search Results

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)12429 — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Google recently announced an improved approach to help searchers locate the answers they are looking for. Through its “answer highlighting,” Google will help people searching online get to their information quicker by bolding text that most likely contains the answer to the question posed in the search query.

According to a blog posted on Google’s site, Understanding the Web to Make Search More Relevant, “the feature is meant for searches with factual answers.” The Google blog went on to mention that, “if the pages returned for these queries contain a simple answer, the search snippet will more often include the relevant text and bold it for easy reference.”

This new feature is based on the technology of Google Squared, which was unveiled last year. Google Squared was Google’s approach to improving search results.

Answer highlighting is designed for only certain types of searches. It is intended to answer a specific question that can be explained simply. The blog post on Google gave an example of a question that would not fall into the parameters of answer highlighting, which was “history of France.” This type of question is too broad and would require a lengthy answer.

Now it is more important than ever to have relevant content on your website that answers your prospects’ questions. This information will help you get found in search engine results and will show your potential clients that you have the answers they are looking for.

Facebook Dominates the Social Media World When It Comes to Page Views

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)12184 — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

When it comes to monthly page views, Facebook dominates the social media realm. According to Pingdom, a traffic and uptime firm, Facebook had about 260 billion page views in one month, which is 11 times greater than MySpace. Facebook page views are also significantly higher than Twitter’s.

Facebook has grown exponentially over the last couple of years. Just two years ago, Facebook was behind MySpace both nationally and globally. Facebook used to be hard to search and a lot of information was carefully guarded. However, there have been many changes since then within Facebook.

One of the possible explanations of Facebook’s growth has to do with it letting users create fan pages and reserve unique URLs. Instead of using a string of numbers in the URL, the username appears. As a result, URLs have become more search engine friendly, as users are able to incorporate their keywords into the Web address.

Another reason that page views have jumped within Facebook has to do with the fact that more people are sharing information with the public. Social networkers have the option to make parts of their shared content public information. This change in privacy policies does have some Facebook users concerned, but it has played a major factor in page views.

EzineArticles.com Has Created a New Anchor Text Rule

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)11410 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

EzineArticles.com recently changed the standards regarding how many words can be included in an anchor text link. According to Chris Knight, the publisher behind the EzineArticles.com community & marketing system, expert authors have to now earn the right to link up 4-word and 5-word phrases by submitting high-quality articles that are at least 400 words.

An anchor text link is a word or phrase that links to another web page. In Knight’s blog post, “Anchor Text Rule Based on Word Count,” some authors “abuse this system by linking up extremely long key phrases – or worse yet, entire sentences.” Knight goes on to say that due to the large text links, articles end up looking similar to SPAM. The focus of these articles changes from providing helpful information to becoming a “vehicle for link space.”

Previously, there were only editorial guidelines when it came to anchor texts in articles submitted to EzineArticles.com, which suggested limiting anchor text links to only 3 words.

The new rule states that if the article is less than 400 words, each text link is only allowed to contain up to 3 words. If the article exceeds 400 words, each text link may have up to 5 words. Common words, such as is, to, in, it, on, of, and, by, at, a, an and others will not be included in the word count.

Tweets to Be Indexed in Real Time via Bing – Google to Follow

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)11198 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

On October 21, 2009, announcements were made by Google and Microsoft Bing that deals had been made to index Twitter messages. This information was publicized during the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, California.

The Bing Twitter site has already been launched by Microsoft, which now indexes tweets in real time. According to an October 21, 2009 post on Bing.com, “you can now search for what people are saying all over the web about breaking news topics, your favorite celebrity, hometown sports team, and anything else you use Twitter to stay on top of today.” It also mentions that Twitter is producing millions of tweets every minute on a range of topics.

Why did Microsoft decide to integrate Twitter into Bing’s search results? An article on eWEEK.com suggests that Microsoft is indexing tweets as one way to grow Bing’s market share. Industry experts have various opinions when it comes to whether or not more people will use Microsoft Bing for this reason. One expert mentioned that Twitter search will help add a small amount to Bing, but another industry specialist said that Twitter will help make Bing a better search engine. Only time will tell if Microsoft’s move will attract more people to Bing.

Google also has plans to incorporate Twitter content into search results within the next few months. It is even suspected that Yahoo! is developing a real time search with the startup, OneRiot.

Google Launches Google Social Search

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)11187 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Do you need yet another reason to get plugged into social media websites, such as Twitter? Google launched Google Social Search on October 26, 2009, which will make searches more personal. When people use Google Social Search, they will see content from their own contacts that will show up in the search results.

This service is experimental and if you want to use it, you have to visit Google Labs. You need to have a profile with Google and be logged into your account to utilize the feature. When you conduct a search, Google will connect what the company refers to as your “social circle.” Your social circle includes your Gmail contacts, chat friends and people you have connected with on social sites, such as Twitter, FriendFeed, Yelp and Google Picasa. Facebook currently is not part of this service.

When you use Google Social Search, Google will look for content written by your contacts, whether it is a tweet or status update, and will include it in a section on the search results page called, “Results from People in Your Social Circle.” You will also be able to view blog posts from websites that you have subscribed to.

Now is the time to start using Twitter and other social media websites to build your business. For more information, check out the free report, Twitter for Attorneys, by Tom Foster and George Murphy.

Google Asks Business Owners to Join Network Neutrality Campaign

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)11098 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

The search engine giant has requested the help of business owners in boosting its network neutrality campaign. Google has made its request via Twitter, the Small Business Toolkit and several other places.

Network neutrality refers to the concept that people who create new services and content should not have to ask for permission from carriers or pay fees to be seen on the Internet. Are you wondering how this issue affects you? Keep reading and you will find out.

The Internet provides opportunities for both big and small companies to attract new clients and grow their businesses. It is a level playing field for everyone and has been that way since the beginning. According to Google, “a free and open Internet gives small businesses the opportunity to find customers affordably and efficiently, whether it’s a local plumber reaching a new client down the block, or a niche antique dealer connecting with a collector overseas.”

Currently, 99 percent of people in the United States get their Internet service from a small number of broadband carriers that have a monopoly in the industry. These same carriers are looking into creating a new system where they can choose to degrade access to competitors’ websites and give favorable treatment to corporate partners. This system would allow carriers to choose what you get to see online, as well as what your potential clients are able to view.

There are two things you can do to help, according to Google. You can sign up to join Google’s campaign and/or contact Congress to argue the importance of network neutrality.

Forrester Research Report Shows That Mobile Social Networking is Exploding

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)11100 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

According to Forrester Research, the amount of people who are using their mobile phones to access social networks has doubled in the past six months. Recent announcements have also showed the explosion of mobile social networking. In September 2009, Facebook reported that it had surpassed the 65,000,000 mobile users’ monthly mobile audience mark, which accounts for more than 20 percent of its 300 million global users. Facebook has been able to continuously grow its mobile user base at an impressive rate.

Mobile phones offer more than just access to social networking websites. According to Forrester Research, the mobile phone holds the key to unlocking the full potential of social technologies and it has been suggested that it could become the hub of social computing activities. A blog on Forrester’s website goes as far as saying, “mobile phones will increasingly become the glue that holds the social graph together, offering creative tools and immediacy, presence, location, and context when interacting with the real world.”

Handsets that offer an “always on” connection provide more freedom with social networking than what is offered from the PC. That is why manufacturers of handsets are attempting to incorporate social experiences in their devices. Recently, Nokia made the announcement that there will be a deeper integration of Facebook in the N97, in addition to the Motoblur.

If you are not already using social networking to increase your business and attract new clients, now is the time!

Bing Gains 10% of Market Share and Experiences 22% Growth in August

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)10385 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

Microsoft search engine Bing has taken 10% of the US search engine market share and has experienced a 22% growth rate in the month fo August according to a report from Nielsen ratings (which was published by CNET).

The search engine is now the fourth most-used search engine, and is 600 million searches away from overtaking Yahoo! for third place.

Google continues it's search engine dominance with close to 7 billion searches in August, a 3% rise since July.

CNET also reported an independent study earlier this week that found Google to obtain the least amount of bugs. The study also concluded that Google search results were most relevant and accurate, and load fatster than any other search engine.

Facebook announces new real-time search feature

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)9955 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Facebook announced the launch of their new real-time search feature on their blog on Monday.

The new search feature allows users to search the status messages of all Facebook users (or just friends) for a certain keyword. No announcement has been made as to whether or not an alert (similar to Google alerts and Twitter alerts where a user is alerted by e-mail) is available for users when a certain keyword is posted.

Facebook Lite is Announced

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)9958 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Facebook has invited some of its users to try out it's new Facebook Lite application, a condensed version of the social networking site. Below are a few screenshots courtesy of Jason Baptiste

Google announces Caffeine, a new upgraded search engine

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)9953 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Google has announced that they are working on a new version of their search engine called "Caffeine". The search engine giant announced that the new upgrade will "push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions."

The announcement was posted on the Google Webmaster Central Blog on Monday, August 10th.

A developer version of the upgraded search engine can be found here

Microsoft takes over Yahoo!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)9954 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

The long-awaited deal between Yahoo! and Microsoft has finally been announced with Yahoo filing an agreement with the SEC last week. The major details are (as highlighted in a ZDNet blog post) :

For the first five years of the 10-year-agreement, Yahoo will be entitled to receive 88% of the net revenues generated from Microsoft’s services on Yahoo Properties - thereafter called its Revenue Share Rate.
Yahoo! will also be entitled to receive its share of the net revenues generated on Syndication Properties after the Syndication Partner’s share of net revenues is deducted.
After the fifth year, Microsoft will have the option to terminate Yahoo!’s sales exclusivity for premium search advertisers. If it does so, Yahoo’s Revenue Share Rate increases to 93% for remaining time. If Yahoo exercises its option to retain its sales exclusivity, the Revenue Share Rate drops to 83 percent for the rest of the term. If Microsoft does not exercise its option, the Revenue Share Rate will become 90% for the remainder of the Term.

Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz posted a "What our Microsoft Deal Means to You" entry on their blog on July 29th, giving a rundown of the new features and benefits of Yahoo! after the merge. "In short, everything’s just going to get a whole lot better for you."

Buster Tate Named Chief Operating Officer of Foster Web Marketing

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)7482 — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Buster Tate to the Foster Web Marketing Team as Chief Operating Officer.

Buster comes to FWM with over 30 years of experience with the Department of the Navy, and was recently awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, the highest award that can be presented to a civilian member of the Federal Government.

You can read more about Buster's appointment in the official Press Release.

Buster and Foster Web Marketing look forward to working together and to helping clients generate even more leads online through creative and aggressive Internet marketing.

Maryland Daily Record: Social media being used in law firms

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)7462 — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST

There was an interesting article this morning in the Maryland Daily Record, Popularity of social networking sites raises questions at law firms.

The best quote of the article:
“It’s going to happen (social media becoming a normal form on [online] marketing)and we at least, as a firm, would rather be on the front end of that,”

The number of law firms and attorneys on social media sites is rapidly growing, and rightfully so. The sites are FREE! There is no better way than to practice grassroots, personable marketing techniques than to set up and market a profile on these sites.

If you're not on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or all of the above.... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??

And if you need some help figuring out how to market your social media pages, contact us and we can help.

Blog Post on 10 Basic link building techniques

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)6716 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST

This was just posted on Tom Fosters blog. Great article about how to do effective link building by George Murphy

Get a Google Account for Google Analytics

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)3039 — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

Go here to create a google account. It's FREE! Then send us the email they give you when registering and we will add this email so you can see your web analytics!

Web Client Ben GLass quoted by ABC News: "Who's Legally Responsible? Lawsuits Are Certain but Liability Unclear"

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)2531 — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST

Who's Legally Responsible? Lawsuits Are Certain but Liability Unclear. Victims' Families Likely to Sue School or Clinics, but It's Hard to Say If They'll Succeed. ABC News Article by Marcus Baram

Lawyer Marketing Conference Announcement!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)2462 — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EST

This Will Not Be Your "Typical" State Bar Association Legal Marketing Seminar. This will be the most important legal marketing conference for solo and small office law firms in 2007.

Attendance will be limited. This is an ADVANCED legal marketing seminar. Please don't even put your name on this I want the information list unless you are a take action performer who believes in the principal of the slight edge. (And, if you judge a seminar by the slick brochure or the promise of CLE credits, then please find a generic marketing seminar closer to your home. This will have neither. But this seminar does comes with a MONEY BACK guarantee--ask your State CLE vendor to make that offer!).

Just Added Brent Adams & Associates

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)2420 — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EST

North Carolina Accident Attorney: Brent Adams & Associates serving Raleigh, Fayetteville, and all of NC.

Added a new article about not making the mistake that many do when making a website.

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)2158 — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 08:00:00 EST

Did Super Bowl Advertisers Score a Touchdown With Search Engine Marketing?

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)2159 — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 08:00:00 EST

A Post-Super Bowl Analysis Reveals the Winners and Losers of the Advertising Game

Austin Texas Personal Injury Attorney Website Published!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1955 — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 08:00:00 EST

Austin Texas Injury Attorney David Todd, who has been working with us since this summer, has just published his newly optimized website. He offers FREE books and reports for people seeking help from an Austin Texas accident attorney.

The Law Firm of Hajek, Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis and Appleton launches new website!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1818 — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 08:00:00 EST

Hajek, Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis and Appleton are an established and experienced personal injury firm that has a long history of obtaining results for injured clients not only in Virginia, but all over the country.

5 Ways to Improve Your Search Engine Page Rank Organically

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1819 — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 08:00:00 EST

Partnering with others is the only way to get things done when it comes to moving up the SERPs.

Google PageRank Explained!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1817 — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 08:00:00 EST

This wil be the first in a series of articles that will attempt to de-mystify "PageRank" and provide some real insight into how to get a solid rank on your most important pages.

Virginia Attorney Barbara S Williams, Esq. New Website is launched!

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1605 — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 08:00:00 EST

Barbara S. Williams is a Virginia personal injury attorney who is dedicated to protecting the rights of injury victims in Loudoun, Frederick, Clarke, Winchester and the surrounding counties of North and North Western Virginia. She has proudly represented Virginians who have been seriously hurt in car and motorcycle accidents, as well as victims of medical malpractice, victims of spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, and the families of victims of wrongful death.

Study: Web is the No. 1 Media

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1520 — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 08:00:00 EST

A research project, conducted by Ball State University's Center for Media Design, tracked the media use of 350 people every 15 seconds. The subjects represented each gender, about equally, across three age groups: 18 to 34, 35 to 49 and 50-plus. The people were monitored by another person for approximately 13 hours, or 80 percent of their waking day...

San Francisco Attorney Vaughan de Kirby Launches New Site

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1511 — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 08:00:00 EST

San Francisco attorney Vaughan de Kirby has joined the Foster Web Marketing attorney network. Vaughan practices personal injury and represents victims of car accidents and truck accidents in Northern California. Vaughan also offers immigration and employment law services to California residents.

Official Google Blog

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1507 — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 08:00:00 EST

Google's official weblog, with news of new products, events and glimpses of life inside the Googleplex.

Yahoo, eBay announce partnership

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1497 — Thu, 25 May 2006 08:00:00 EST

This article was posted on CNN. Google maybe top dog now, but who knows what the future holds!

Client is Googled by defense counsel

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1428 — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 08:00:00 EST

Our client, Gerry Oginski, located in New York, has an interesting story about what happened recently to his case and how his website has impacted it. For me, the best part is that he was so easily Googled all over the place and his information was found everywhere. Once again proving that "content is king" as far as Google is concerned. This write up was provided by Gerry. We will let you know what happens!

REPORT: Google Widens Search Share on Yahoo, MSN

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1364 — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 08:00:00 EST

3.28.06 - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. gained an additional 6 percentage points of the U.S. search market based on total queries, widening its lead last month against Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, according to data released on Tuesday. Google's share of the search market rose to 42.3 percent in February from 36.3 percent a year earlier, according to data provided by tracking firm ComScore. Searches on Yahoo Internet sites represented 27.6 percent of the market, down from 31.1 percent a year earlier, while queries on MSN fell to 13.5 percent from 16.3 percent.

'Jagger' Puts the Dagger in Shortcut SEO Practices

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)1002 — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:00:00 EST

In October, 2005, a major update to Google's page ranking formula – dubbed Jagger in the search engine consulting community – began changing the order of things for millions of pages on the web. Professional observers believe Jagger was a major effort to root out sites that still employed old methods of search engine manipulation – such as doorway pages, keyword spamming and invisible text. Google also went after sites that use artificial linking and rely on so-called link farms to boost their PageRank and subsequent standing in search returns. "Sites that have spent the past few years building content and developing an organic-looking link structure that included inbound links from authoritative sites are happy," according to the December 2005 newsletter of SearchEngineNews.com. "But sites that lost rankings were almost uniformly using strategies that were previously effective but disliked by Google. No surprise, Google just got better at identifying and filtering them out of the search engine results."

Spanish translation services for law firm, association and commercial web sites

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)928 — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:00:00 EST

In August, 2005, Texas became the fourth state in the U.S. to become "majority minority," as the combined number of Hispanics and other ethnic groups surpassed the Caucasian population in the Lone Star State. It's clear that Texas won't be the last state where this occurs. In nearly every state in the U.S., immigrants from South and Central America are joining American communities, obtaining jobs, and assimilating into our society more rapidly than any other ethnic group. As this population shift continues to change communities across America, attorneys should take the lead in creating bi-lingual sites that help Spanish-speaking Americans understand and protect their legal rights. In many cases, the concepts of "rights" and "entitlements" are completely alien to first generation, Spanish-speaking Americans, who come from nations where the rule of law works only for the privileged few. Through conscientious and affordable Spanish translation services, Foster Consulting helps our attorney clients help Spanish-speaking Americans understand their rights as residents and aspiring citizens of the United States. Our team of translators, all naturalized citizens who are natives of South and Central American nations, can work with the content you provide, or translate content that we can first create for you in English. Below are some translated sites for Foster Consulting attorney clients: Rappaport Glass Greene Levine - A New York Personal Injury Law Firm with offices in Manhattan & Long Island. Andalman & Flynn - A Maryland Law Firm assisting clients in family law, disability claims and personal injury. Foster Consulting can also provide Spanish translation services for websites belonging to associations and small to medium sized businesses in the DC Metro area. Click below to contact Foster Consulting for assistance with your Spanish translation needs today.

Foster Web Marketing publishes its first All-Spanish website for New York law firm

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)976 — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 08:00:00 EST

Foster Web Marketing created, translated and published the newly published website of spanish.rapplaw.com. With the population of non-English speaking Hispanic residents in New York growing faster than any other segment of the population, the new Spanish site will help our clients cross the language barrier to reach and help those who need their legal services. Please visit spanish.rapplaw.com to see the new site, and contact Foster Consulting to discuss how we can help you with your translation needs.

Warrenton, Virginia law firm joins Foster Web Marketing network

tom@fosterwebmarketing.com (News Author)975 — Thu, 19 May 2005 08:00:00 EST

The law firm of Dulaney, Lauer & Thomas, LLP, joined the Foster Web Marketing network of attorney sites in June. Their practice areas include traffic accident injuries, nursing home abuse, construction accidents, workers compensation and wrongful death.