Fresno California lawyers - attorneys legal directory
Law Firms & Internet Scams
By Bob Schwartz, CRS, GRI ©2007 Promotions Unlimited All rights reserved.
This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorized use, copying or
mirroring is prohibited.
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Many still say the Internet is like the Wild West. When it comes to the
propagation of scams, this is certainly true! As webmaster for over two dozen
legal, real estate, and other business oriented websites, we receive a lot of
email and phone solicitations. Often our clients ask our opinion on an Internet
service or software product. We have researched and found the majority of offers
directed toward law firms are what I call the half-truth variety.
It is interesting that these offers directed at small to mid-size firms are like
live Internet viruses, they seem to change over time. The core remains, but, the
outer packaging (a.k.a. sales pitch) appears totally different.
One of the most great savings over the legitimate legal directories. The
perpetrators of such scams boast impressive ‘traffic’ figures, and in many
cases, even show that their directory is listed on the first page of a major
directory.
Looking at one scam in detail revealed the following facts:
A. Traffic amounts can be manipulated. For about $50, anyone can purchase
‘traffic’ directed to any site. The way this ‘traffic’ is generated is the
problem. The majority is machine generated overseas, or carried through MLM
/porn/music sites. In either case, your site will register visits but no
business will ever be generated.
B. For placements on the first page of top search engines, there are two highly
used methods. The first method, usually just makes the statement that the site
has page one placement. Look further and it is usually the name of the directory
that has page one placement. The directory name might be
www.lawyers-intercontinental-directory1.com and a search for lawyers
international directory could appear on page one of many search engines.
However, how many potential legal clients in Houston, Texas, will be likely to
type in this exact directory name into their search engine? What they may use
will be phrases like: Houston lawyers, Houston attorneys, Houston TX lawyers,
Houston Texas lawyers, etc. The other method used is bidding on popular legal
phrases on the major pay-for-click search engine programs. The problem here is
that these ‘sponsored’ ads have to be distinguished from the real or ‘organic’
results. Once spending limits on the bids are reached, or the bidding program is
terminated, the standing goes away. After all, these standings were only
achieved by cash payment, not a properly designed and optimized legal website.
Another factor to consider here is that current webmaster opinions suggest 50 to
70% of searchers look over such ‘sponsored’ listings in favor of the ‘organic’
listings.
Almost any high school student can create a ‘legal directory’ with an impressive
sounding name like www.professional-law-legal-advice-directory1.com, but do you
really want to be listed there? Believe it or not, many naive lawyers have
bought into it. I asked one such attorney what results his law firm had achieved
during almost a year with the listing. The reply was NO BUSINESS, and he
believed they never received any phone calls. I then asked why he chose to
advertise with this firm. The reply was because they only charged $99 for a full
page ad for one year.
The old phrase of “You get what you pay for” really pertains here. Be careful
out there, very careful!
Copyright 2007 Promotions Unlimited - search engine optimization - All rights
reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bob Schwartz, is the founder of Promotions Unlimited, an Internet legal
directory (CA, TX & Las Vegas) publisher and search engine placement technology
analyst. You can contact Bob via e-mail at seo711@gmail.com or visit his
San
Diego legal directory at: http://www.sandiegolawyerforyou.com/special.htm
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