As I have previously discussed, identifying law firm link targets should be a core component of your law firm web strategy. The next step is developing strategies to acquire links from those targets.
Some high-end link targets will provide easily identifiable opportunities for linking. These opportunities include sponsorships, advertisements, and other profile or banner-style linking. On the other hand, some of the link opportunities on these sites are not so easy to find. This is where developing an advanced link strategy comes into play. Here are some simple, yet effective, ideas for beginning the advanced link building process.
1. Plan Your Approach - Perhaps you performed a competitive analysis and found that your competition has a link on the target site. How did they get that link? Are they a member of the organization or an alumni of the law school?
2. Develop Your Plan of Action - Now that you have your target and your approach, how are you going to take action? Does a phone call make sense? Could an email to a site administrator work? Focus on the reasons for the link and not the link itself. For example, if you're seeking a link from a section or division leadership page, focus on your willingness to serve the organization in that capacity as opposed to focusing on the link itself.
3. Follow-Up - It probably won't come as a surprise, but oftentimes the people put in charge of updating an organization's website wear many other hats. Getting your link up on their site is probably not their top priority. That is why it is important to keep in touch with these individuals and follow-up. However, don't be pushy. These aren't your run-of-the-mill seo directories. While acquiring these top-level links takes some extra work, they're usually worth the wait.
4. Change Course - If at first you don't succeed, try a different approach. Oftentimes your first approach to acquiring a link from a particular source will fail miserably. More often than not, you will need to try several approaches to acquiring a link. Again, focus on the participation with the organization or school as opposed to a transparent pitch for a link.
Getting links from state bar associations, law schools, and local legal-related organization takes creativity, time, and patience. However, if you are able to successfully acquire links from these sources, you will see a great benefit in terms of your law firm's visibility within search engines.
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