Hi Markm62 ~
Submitting your site to Google is pretty easy and relatively painless.
Google's Add URL tool can be found here:
- ://www.google.com/addurl.html
I noticed, too, that your site is not listed with Yahoo's search
engine either, even though your website is hosted on Yahoo!. Google
recommends registering with both Yahoo! and DMOZ:
"... you may want to consider submitting your site to either or both
of these directories. You can submit to Yahoo! by visiting
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/. You can submit your site to
Netscape's Open Directory Project (DMOZ) by visiting www.dmoz.org.
Once your site is included in either of these directories, Google will
often index your site within six to eight weeks." (Google's "What else
can I do to get listed in Google?")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#B2
I noticed that other attorneys in Sacramento dealing with Juvenile Law
have a listing on DMOZ under "Society: Law: Services: Lawyers and Law
Firms: Criminal Defense: North America: United States: California"
which is where you may want to submit your own site.
- http://dmoz.org/Society/Law/Services/Lawyers_and_Law_Firms/Criminal_Defense/North_America/United_States/California/
Before You Submit Your Site
===========================
I direct your attention to Google's Information for Webmasters.
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
Google's Design and Content Guidelines:
"* Create a useful, information-rich site and write pages that
clearly and accurately describe your content.
* Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and
make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.
* Try to use text instead of images to display important names,
content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained
in images.
* Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive and
accurate."
And make sure you pay special attention to Google's adminitions under
Quality Guidelines - Basic principles about using unauthorized
computer programs to submit pages:
"* Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check
rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate
our terms of service. Google does not recommend the use of products
such as WebPosition Gold™ that send automatic or programmatic queries
to Google."
Design:
======
You will notice that Google suggests designing your site for your
visitor, and not for search engines. I think the design of your site
is good for an attorney. No one wants to see their lawyer's site
looking like an advertisement for ginsu knives.
On the other hand, visitors to your site will want to know more about
both the Sacramento Juvenile Law Center and the attorneys there. There
is no real mention of who you are, what your qualifications are,
whether or not you are a part of the juvenile court center (the name
can be misleading), and whether or not you are 'qualified' to handle
legal matters.
Try putting yourself in your visitor's place. Those who might be
looking for help because their particular juvenile needs your services
want to know if you really can help their son or daughter.
There isn't much about your qualifications or the firm itself to
instill that kind of confidence.
Take a look at other attorneys from Sacramento, and you'll see they
list enough information to establish credibility. You might want to
add that information to your own website.
There is an interesting survey done by Consumer Web Watch and Standord
University on visitor confidence you may want to take a look at:
- http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/news/report3_credibilityresearch/stanfordPTL_abstract.htm
It will help in deciding what you might want to add to your own site.
HTML:
====
I see your site is hosted on Yahoo! and you have done a credible job
of building your site using their somewhat limited tools. All the
content on your page is taken into consideration when Google crawls
your page. Some aspects count in your favor and some will count
against you. Proper HTML is important, as if a search engine's crawler
hits an error it can't decipher, it will stop at that point and move
on.
I noticed, for instance, that you have an entire line of invisible
.gifs, which are apparently a 'placeholder' to add a bit of space to
your page at the top. There are other ways which are easier on a
search engine crawling your site to accomplish the same thing, so you
might want to explore the possibility of a bit of a redesign to
optimize your page. It also reduces the size of your page, which
ultimately helps with download time. Every little bit helps.
After you're satisfied that the site is to your liking, then you can
submit it to Google, Yahoo! and DMOZ.
Search strategies:
- Sacramento attorneys
- credibility
I realize this is more information than you required. On the other
hand, it's easier on listing when you have everything done than after
you're already listed and then making changes.
Best wishes for good search engine listings,
Serenata |
