Every lawyer licensed to practice in the State of Florida is a member of the Florida Bar association. Here’s a link to Florida Bar members in Coral Gables, for example.
Each Florida Bar member has a specific “page” on the Florida Bar site with all their details listed. Also included is a field which includes the member’s website URL. However, this field does not include an active hyperlink, just text.
So why is it, on the member pages with website URLs, the URL is not hyperlinked to the member’s web site? What possible benefit could there be to NOT linking?
Remember, when determining which pages to show at the top of the search results, Google examines (as just one factor) how many sites hyperlink TO your site, and the “PageRank” of those sites. “PageRank” is Google’s way of measuring a site’s authority and importance. Every site has a PageRank assigned by Google. The Florida Bar site has a PageRank of 5 out of 10, that’s pretty good. The more incoming links you have from high-PR sites, the better your site can appear in the Google search results. Go ahead, check your own PR here, I bet you don’t have better than a 4/10.
So, a link from a high-PR site like www.FloridaBar.org to your site will help your site appear higher in search results. Maybe you’ll be able to get above those directory sites that are trying to sell you a listing for $299 per month. Maybe you, an actual practicing attorney, could get higher search results than lawyers.com or FindLaw or the Yellow Pages. It seems the Florida Bar should be doing everything it can to assist individual lawyers like you, and law firms, to appear higher in Google searches than do the directories and referral services.
Again, I can not see any benefit to anyone for the Florida Bar to not link to your site. Technically, it should be a trivial matter. Maybe I’m missing something. Or maybe it’s time for members of the Florida Bar to request a change.
photo credit: Matti Mattila via photopin cc
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