A redirect sends incoming links to an outdated or incorrect URL to the correct URL. Redirection is commonly used by sites that have moved or that have registered similar domains. For example, a site might be listed as www.info.com, but by registering info.net and info.org and employing a redirect, users typing in the latter two addresses would be sent to info.com.

Law firms who have changed names and use their firm name as their URL sometimes set up redirects so their old URL automatically takes clients to their new URL instead of allowing them to stay on an outdated website. Other law firms use redirects to take clients to or from vanity domains based on their primary practice areas and geographic locations. For example, a Sarasota personal injury attorney might decide to buy http://www.sarasotapersonalinjurylawyer.com and redirect an older URL to this URL.

A word of caution: redirects are not always used for innocuous purposes like the above scenarios. Phishers employ the same tactics to trick users into clicking on a site that looks legitimate only to have it redirect to another website.

Google’s new Penguin update has reignited a firestorm of debate on SEO techniques and whether they can still be used to effectively make a website rank higher on Google. While it initially went by no name and has also been referred to as the WebSpam update, Penguin essentially and primarily penalizes search engine specialists who use questionable or black hat SEO. These tactics include spam, keyword stuffing, cloaking and link schemes. However, for those engaged in legitimate SEO tactics, the update simply reinforces some standby, tried-and-true rules. Focusing on quality content as well as unique content rather than directly targeting search engines is still considered the most desirable way to write for SEO. It also pays not to rely solely on Google for site success.

Those hit hard by the Google Penguin update may want to take an honest look at their site and decide if there is anything that could be done better. It is also possible to send a reconsideration request to Google for incorrect penalization.

The top question on the mind of the SEO community is how to recover from Penguin. There are a few different ways to do this, such as making a network of microsites focusing on particular practice areas that then link back to one larger, general website for your law firm. From an external perspective, take a look at the anchor text you have used to link back to your law firm website from other places. Do all of your anchors simply read “Clifton bankruptcy lawyer,” or does the language you use vary to include other keyword terms or your law firm’s name? Varying your backlink anchor text can help you avoid being penalized by Google’s Penguin update.

Other techniques you can explore using include blog networks, using legitimate links to play Google’s game and running niche sites as real businesses.

A blended result is a new type of search premiered by Google in late 2010. The new search was dubbed “Place Search.” It takes the place of what was previously known as a “pure” local result. For example, in the latter search, a query for car insurance in Fresno, CA would turn up purely local insurance agencies in the area. In a blended result, searching for car insurance in Fresno, CA turns up a combination of local addresses for insurance agencies as well as various applicable website results that may or may not be directly local to Fresno.

Google’s Venice update released earlier this year has resulted in an increased display of blended results. Try doing a search for Fresno car accident to see what comes up, and you’ll most likely see law firm websites, news reports regarding car accidents in Fresno or the nearby area, and maybe even a YouTube video or two.

In January 2012, Google introduced the Venice update, which involves a shift into more localized search engine results. Basically, this means that Google is putting more emphasis on the “citification” of search results where local businesses are given higher ranking than businesses on the nationwide or global level. For example, if you are searching for a legal practice and entered the keyword “lawyer,” the results would take your location into account and display law firm offices in your area even if you didn’t mention your specific location.

The reason behind the Venice update revolves around Google’s goal to improve localized search results and automatically display websites from businesses in an individual’s area. This likely stems from the fact that people search for local keywords without including a geographical location roughly three to four more times than they would with a specific geographical location. Essentially, this new algorithm change takes the work out of finding businesses in one’s specific area.

With that being said, the Venice update should be advantageous for local businesses and somewhat detrimental for nationwide businesses. For example, a law firm with a dozen locations across the country would most likely fall in search engine rankings and lose organic traffic. On the other hand, a law office based exclusively in West Palm Beach would likely see an increase in organic traffic if someone did a search for “West Palm Beach criminal lawyer” or even just “criminal lawyer.” So in a sense, Google is giving more preference to small businesses on the local level instead of large scale chains.

Consequently, it’s becoming increasingly important for businesses to optimize their website content so that it can rank for local queries. This is especially true for nationwide businesses and can usually be done by creating local landing pages for each individual store. This means that a url would need to be created for each location so that it could compete with local businesses.

For more information on these changes, check out Google’s Venice Update Makes Local SEO Even More Important.

In essence, social bookmarking is a way to help make sure your website is visible on the Internet. Sites such as Digg and StumbleUpon allow users to collect their favorite web content in one convenient place that can be accessed from anywhere and viewed by the followers or friends of each user. The official term for this is social bookmarking, and this practice can aid in SEO by bringing content to a wider audience.

So how can you maximize the benefits of social bookmarking? Using important keyword phrases in web page titles, blog posts and other content helps boost visibility when others create a bookmark, helping you be found for the phrases you wish to have associated with your law firm. If you are marketing yourself as a Phoenix divorce lawyer, stick to using phrases associated with that. Just make sure you do not get yourself into trouble and be penalized for over-optimization.

There is no arguing that SEO is vital for ensuring your business can be found online in a competitive market. Making sure clients and customers can find the services they need through Bing and Google is nothing to be ashamed of, but admittedly, SEO can sometimes go overboard. Google’s Matt Cutts made an announcement at SXSW in Austin, Texas in March saying that Google is planning on doing something about websites that try to game the system and over-optimize.

The definition of “over-optimization” is only now in the making, and the line between keyword rich content and spammy over-optimization can be a bit unclear at times. Even prior to Cutts’ announcement, websites that practice SEO overkill had been blacklisted from Google’s results list. With more “official” penalties now in the works, it essential to keep SEO clean and fair. Here are three basic things you should keep in mind when developing content to avoid potential penalties.

• The most common sign of an over-optimized website is keyword stuffing. You want your website to contain references to relevant keyword phrases, such as Lehigh Valley injury lawyers if that is your focus practice area and your geographic location, but you don’t want there to be too many references. The recommended rate of keyword occurrence is between three and seven percent. A density above 10 percent begins to look suspect, and anything over that is absolutely cause for alarm. There are many keyword density checkers online that can make sure a site isn’t overly rich with keywords.
• Hidden text should never be included in a website. Text that is made invisible to humans by rendering it the same color as the background is a cheap trick to fool search engines. If a page contains hidden text it is sure to be considered over-optimized.
• Duplicate content is content that is identical to other content on the Internet—whether it is another page on your own website or a page you copied information from. If there is content that has been copied and pasted on multiple pages to optimize page hits, chances are that site will be seen as spammy by Google’s new rules and you will be hit with a penalty.

There are plenty of tools out there to help keep sites clean and away from penalties. Be sure to use a keyword density checker or a keyword cloud to monitor how often a keyword appears. Tools like Yoast’s WordPress SEO Plugin can help increase sales while staying ethically optimized.