Lawyer Branding Article in CBA National
My latest article on lawyer branding & search-based reputation management is now online in this month’s CBA National magazine!
The article, titled Who do you think you are?, focuses mainly on the issues surrounding individual lawyer brands and how the evolve. The other topic I tried to address was how lawyers can be proactive with their web reputation; and how an enhanced profile can not only dominate in a search for your name, but also insulate against negative profile events.
And while we’re on that subject, let me explain that last idea a bit further.
Search engines (read Google) will only list a maximum of two pages for any one website on the first page of results. That means, even if you’ve published hundreds of articles on your law firm website, only the best two (in google’s eyes, not yours) can be listed on the first page of search results. Those other eight spots are still up for grabs!
When a lawyer (or any individual, for that matter) has a strong web profile, there are a lot more positive items in play - more pages written about, or referencing - that individual. So much so, that the first page of search results will become protected against casual negative references. Direct attacks? that’s another story… But a casual mention in a newspaper, blog post, or online document, will probably never get close to page-one.
I wouldn’t describe online reputation management as a high-priority topic for most lawyers, but do think the day is coming. It’s important.
Readers may also be interested in my thought leadership article over at Slaw. It formed some of the basis for the National article.
Many thanks to Jordan Furlong for the opportunity, and also his guidance in the article’s construction. It was a lot of fun (more?) to banter the subject prior to doing the actual writing! :)
My name is 
Just had my article on lawyer branding & … « law.librarians said,
Wrote on March 10, 2008 @ 4:38 pm
[…] management published by the Canadian Bar Association’s National Magazine! yay!! related post over at my Stem blog. […]
Michael Webste said,
Wrote on March 10, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
That is a neat observation. I hadn’t thought of it - but it suggests that if you are a lawyer blogging, don’t expect google to be handing you search juice. Apparently, your ticket is punched after two winners.
Steve Matthews said,
Wrote on March 10, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
You still get the search juice, but need to pass it around. :) Some to your firm website, some to your blog, linkedin profile, twitter profile, other bloggers linking in - and so on.
It all adds up, and your blog becomes incredibly valuable for seeding the other elements.
Sterling Okura | bizlift blog said,
Wrote on March 18, 2008 @ 12:35 pm
@Steve - I also didn’t realize the 2 page max. Thanks for the info.
Good point on blog seeding other elements. My blog articles generate traffic on diverse keyphrases that my main site wouldn’t cover.
Also, my last article got picked up by Quickbook Online’s PR Team. They’re pitching the story to major legal publications.
You never know how your “search juice” will pay off.