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How to Set Up Your YouTube Channel for Law Firms

How to create a YouTube channel

Did you know that YouTube reaches more people in the 18-49 demographic on mobile alone than any American cable TV network?

Setting up a YouTube channel for your law firm is easy and only takes a few minutes. In this article, we are going to walk you through 3 easy steps to set up your YouTube channel and explain how video marketing can benefit your law firm.

Set Up Your YouTube Channel In 3 Easy Steps

1. Sign in to YouTube

Go to YouTube.com and click the sign in button in the top right corner of the page. If you have an existing Google account, use that email and password to sign into YouTube.

Signing in to YouTube

If you do not already have a Google account, you can easily create a Google account directly from YouTube by clicking ‘create account’. 

How to create a Google Account

Keep in mind that a Google account and a YouTube account are not the same thing.  This is a common misconception.

Your Google account can be used to sign into YouTube to watch and like videos or subscribe to your favorite channels. When you are signed in, you will also get personalized recommendations based on your activity.

Now, having a YouTube channel allows you to upload your own videos for your firm to have a public presence on YouTube.

2. Create Your Channel

In the top right corner of the screen, you will see your profile icon.

Click on the circle icon and select “Create a Channel”.

How to create a YouTube channel

From here, you will be prompted to choose your channel name and profile picture

Choosing a YouTube channel name

3. Customize Your Channel

This step will help make your channel welcoming to visitors and help with your SEO.

First, visit the customization tab in YouTube studio.

Customize YouTube channel

Layout Tab

Under the “layout” tab, you can select and organize what users will see when visiting your channel. A video spotlight will be the main video that someone will see when visiting your channel. For those that aren’t subscribed to your channel, you can add a channel trailer. This is nothing but a quick video that highlights what you create and what people can expect from your channel.

You can also add featured sections that will allow you to organize your content in any way you’d like for viewers to see when they arrive at your channel homepage.

Branding Tab

branding your YouTube channel

Under the branding tab is where you can find the customizable elements such as your profile picture and banner image. 

Your profile picture is going to appear wherever your channel is represented on YouTube. Your profile picture must meet the following requirements:

  • JPG, GIF (not animated), BMP or PNG file
  • Recommended 800 X 800 px image
  • Square or round image that renders at 98 X 98 px

If you know what a Facebook cover photo is, a YouTube banner image is very similar. This is a banner that will appear at the top of the page when someone visits your YouTube channel. With this, you can show off your personality and a little more about yourself and your firm.

For the best results, your banner image must meet the following criteria:

  • Minimum dimensions of 2048 X 1152 px with an aspect ratio of 16:9
  • Safe area for text and logos at the minimum dimensions: 1235 X 338 px
  • File size: 6 MB or smaller

Basic Info Tab

customizing basic info on YouTube Channel

Under the basic info tab, you can make edits to your channel name & description, add translations in other languages, add links to sites that you want to share with your viewers (such as your firm’s website) and add contact information if you would like people to be able to email you with inquiries.  Make sure to link back to your firm.

After making changes to any of these tabs, always be sure to hit the “publish” button to make your edits live on your channel.

Now it’s time to create content for your YouTube channel!

Most people think that creating a video for their business is really time consuming or that you need expensive equipment to start – Not true! All you need is your smartphone and a location that is relatively quiet with good lighting.

Create and optimize your firm’s YouTube videos to get the most out of your YouTube channel. In this blog post, learn how to create your videos from choosing a location, to finding a topic and editing your video. (We even include a secret step that not many people know about.)

How Video Marketing Benefits Your Firm

Did you know that  72% of people say that they would rather learn about a new product/service by watching a video over reading text? 

Video marketing allows you to promote your firm on social channels that can increase overall engagement while educating your audience in a creative way.  In other words, it gets more eyeballs on information that you provide.

Developing a strong video marketing strategy for your firm can provide the following benefits:

1. Reach a wider audience

With a large percentage of people preferring to watch an informative video over reading text, you have an opportunity to reach even more of your target customers. Think about the benefit of someone being able to watch you explain the benefits of hiring an attorney to create a will or how a DUI firm helps people get their DUIS expunged from their records by following the proper sequence.

2. Increase revenue

Did you ever think that creating videos could put more money in the bank? Businesses that implement a video strategy increase their revenue 49% faster year-over-year than those that do not use video.  Many law firms are not yet utilizing these methods, so put yourself ahead of the competition and be a familiar face to your clients even before they meet you.

3. Increase number of shares

Social video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined. By creating quality video content, you have a better chance of passively raising more awareness for your firm. With YouTube users sharing 400 hours of new video every minute, your firm is set to establish a connection with users and therefore, drive leads.

4. ‘Humanize’ your firm

Let’s be real… Some of those who are looking for answers to frequently asked law questions may find it ‘boring’ or will most likely be unenthused as they search for answers that have to do with divorce or bankruptcy etc. With video marketing, you can answer these questions in a video format, letting a possible prospective client put a name to a face as you help answer their questions. This can ultimately instill a feeling of trust in that individual and you may have just scored yourself a new client!

These are just a few of the benefits of law firm video marketing.  It can’t be stressed enough that it is important for your firm to stay on top of evolving video marketing trends to remain relevant in the digital world as more and more people turn to online video for information and advice in addition to entertainment.

YouTube is not just for cat videos anymore!

Need help setting up your channel or getting started with video marketing?  Give IFTS a call at 412.715.6266 and set up a free one-hour video roadmap session.  We’ll look at what you have done so far in the video space and set up a roadmap for you to follow to get yourself in front of more clients fast!

How To Create and Optimize Your Company’s YouTube Video (With A Secret Step That Not Many People Know About)

Painting FAQ videos

Did you know that every day YouTube has over ONE BILLION hours of video watched, which results in billions of views?

Is your business taking advantage of having videos on YouTube?  If not, today is a great day to start!

Most people think that creating a video for their business is really time consuming or that you need expensive equipment to start – Not true! All you need is your smartphone and a location that is relatively quiet with good lighting.

Choose Your Video Location Carefully

Find a room where there is a window in front of you so the natural light illuminates your face. Make sure that there is no distracting clutter in the background.

Prop up your phone so that it is pointed at you and you are centered in the frame. Another option for this is to purchase an inexpensive stand that holds your phone. Most of these stands also come with a remote control so that you can press “record” more easily.

Choose An Outfit To Film In

When choosing an outfit to film in, pick something that represents your brand. If you’re in a professional field, you can never go wrong with a suit and tie. If you’re in a service business, a polo or T-shirt with your logo makes sense.

Make sure that there aren’t any distracting patterns on what you are wearing. Patterns can appear fuzzy or out of focus on camera. Noisy jewelry is also a negative. You want your microphone to pick up what you are saying rather than your bracelet clanging off of your watch. 

Following these guidelines will ensure the professionalism of your video, and it will make you look good. 

Choose Your Video Topic

A lot of businesses have videos all over their website about themselves…and this is where they go wrong.

Your clients don’t really care about you, they just want to know that you are the best company to solve their problems. So, prove it!

Choose 5-10 questions that you are asked regularly, then answer them on video.  Don’t use industry jargon, and speak as if you are talking to a potential client.  

On an aside – A lot of people wonder if they should write scripts when filming videos like this.  It really depends on you.  Write a script, create an outline or conduct a practice run; do whatever makes you feel most comfortable.  You want to do your best to sound natural and relaxed, so your expertise shines through.

Stumped for ideas?  Go to https://answerthepublic.com/ and enter your business type or a problem that you solve. This website will give you frequently asked questions about the topic.

Edit Your Video For YouTube

This is the part of the process that most people find difficult. There are multiple ways to edit your video easily that don’t require expensive video software, like Adobe Premier Pro. If you have a Mac, you can use iMovie. There are also many apps on your phone that will allow you to edit a video you have created.

Whatever software you decide to use, make sure your sound is clear. If it allows you to add background music, choose something that is unobtrusive and appropriate for your business.

Secret Step That Most People Don’t Know About – Do Keyword Research For Your Video

Once you have your video completed, you’ll want to do a little research on keywords that go with it. Keyword research helps tell you:

  • Most googled phrases about your topic
  • How many times per month something is searched
  • How difficult it is to rank for that keyword or phrase
  • And more!

Use a tool like SEMrush or Ubersuggest for your research. Both options have free account versions.

In this example, we will use SEMrush.

Let’s say that you are a painting company, and you created a video on how to prep a house to paint. 

Go to SEMrush and type in “how to prep a house for painting” to see the search statistics that go with that phrase:

Painting company SEO statistics

As you can see, this keyword phrase is googled 320 times per month.  That means it’s a great phrase to use in the title of my video. The keyword difficulty is 42%, so it tells me that we will need well-structured and unique content to rank, which is exactly what my video is for.

The keyword research also shows me: 

  • Variations on the keyword that I could use in my video description
  • Common questions that are googled about my keywords
  • Related keywords that can act as secondary keywords that can be used in my video description on YouTube (more about this later)

When choosing a title for your video, be sure to choose a keyword phrase that is googled at least 100 times per month (rule of thumb).  Be sure to also choose 1-3 other keywords or phrases that go with your video that are searched over 20 times per month.

Upload Your Video To YouTube

You’ve created your video and have your research, so you are ready to upload your video to YouTube and have clients find you!

Before you upload your video, change the name of your video file to be the title of your video, separated by hyphens.  

So, in this example, I would name my video “How-to-prep-a-house-for-painting.mp4”

Then, go to your YouTube channel and hit the “Create” button.  Once you upload your video, YouTube has multiple fields that you can fill in.  The most important field is the “Title” field.  This is where we would put “How To Prep A House For Painting In 2021”.  If possible, it’s a great idea to add the year in the title to let YouTube know that this is the most up to date information available on your subject.

The next most important field is the description, which can be 5000 characters.  This is where you will tell people about the video, and why they should watch it.  Remember the secondary keywords that you chose?  This is the place to use them.  

You can’t use the same keyword phrase over and over again.  This is called “Keyword Stuffing” and YouTube/Google don’t like to see it.  So, you use keywords and phrases that are similar to your primary keyword (your title).

Another good rule of thumb is to place a link to a page on your website within the description. It helps you build backlinks and send people to your website if they are interested in your product or service.

YouTube will also ask if the video is made for kids (to create an age restriction if needed) as well as a few other questions that you should be able to answer easily.

Once the video has processed, the last thing that you will want to do is set the thumbnail.  This is the image that YouTube will use to represent your video before it is played.  Typically, we recommend creating an image that is 1280x720px and following the YouTube tips on creating an effective thumbnail: https://creatoracademy.youtube.com/page/lesson/thumbnails

BONUS – What To Do After Your Optimized Video Is Live On YouTube

Once you have your optimized video live on YouTube, don’t stop there.  You took the time to create it, now promote it!

There are multiple ways to get your video out there:

  • Post a link to the video on your social media
  • Share the video on LinkedIn
  • Send the video to your clients
  • Send the video to your prospects
  • Share the video with partner companies that you have

In addition to promoting your video, you can also use the content again!  Upload your video to a tool like otter.ai to create a transcript of it. Use this transcript to create a blog entry on your website and link to the video. This allows you to give information about your business topics to multiple audiences, and it helps with your SEO (search engine optimization).

Start creating your content on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to see your traffic increase and your videos start to rank.

If all of this seems overwhelming and you’d like some help getting started, call IFTS today and ask about our “Beginner’s Video Package” at 412.715.6266.

Is Your Business Ready for 2021 – 8 Simple Steps to Take to Make 2021 Your Best Year Yet

Is Your Business Ready for 2021 - 8 Simple Steps to Take to Make 2021 Your Best Year Yet

Are you a small business owner ready to say “Bye Felicia” to 2020?

I think that we all are!

However, if there was one thing that 2020 taught us, it was that your online presence is now more important than ever…and this doesn’t just mean your website.  Your online presence consists of many pieces, like your website, your Google My Business Profile, your social media spaces and so much more.

Want 2021 to be your best year yet?  In this article, we are going to cover 8 simple steps that you can take in January (2 per week) to help your business get ahead of the game!

Week One will cover choosing the best keywords for your business and improving your onsite SEO.

Week Two will take you through everything that you need to do in order to improve your Google My Business profile and start getting leads through Google Local Search.

Week Three covers EVERYTHING that you need to do to create content for the whole year and how to save time and money while doing it.

Finally, Week Four forces you to up your video game and start using the second largest search engine in the world.

Are you ready?  Let’s get started!

Week One – Up Your Onsite SEO Game and Be Found More Easily In the Search Results

STEP 1 – Figure Out What Keywords Are Best For You

Is your website working for you as well as it should be?  Are people finding your business online?  If not, your search engine optimization, or SEO, may be to blame.

To improve your SEO, the first step is to create a list of popular keywords or phrases that you want to rank for.  To create this list, I recommend a combination of brainstorming, asking your current clients what they typed in to find you and an online keyword research tool called SEMrush.  You can use the free version to find the information that you need.

Take thirty minutes and brainstorm the keywords that you think your ideal clients would type into Google or Bing.  When this is done, send an email to a few of your best clients and ask what they would type in to find you.  It’s always great to get into their minds.

As an example, one of our clients is a personal injury firm in Greensburg, PA.  Their brainstorming list included the following:

  • Personal injury law firm in Greensburg PA
  • Personal injury attorneys Westmoreland County
  • Greensburg Personal Injury Attorneys
  • Personal Injury Attorneys

However, when they asked a few of their clients what they typed in Google to find them, they received a slightly different list:

  • Personal injury lawyer
  • Personal injury lawyer near me
  • Personal injury lawyer Greensburg
  • Greensburg lawyer personal injury

They found out that while they were calling themselves attorneys on their website, more of their clients were typing in lawyer!  They also discovered that none of their clients even thought to use the county that they were located in.

Want to know what keywords you are currently ranking for as well?  Be sure to add them to your list!  IFTS can send you a free report with that information.  Enter your information below.  You should receive your report within 10-15 minutes.

Once you have your list, you are ready to use SEMrush!  This tool will help you figure out what the most popular phrases are on your list.

First, sign up for your free account here: https://www.semrush.com/signup/?src=header

Then, after you have created your account and are signed in, you are ready to start using this tool.  Enter the first keyword phrase from your list into the search bar.

In this example, we will use the phrase “Personal injury lawyer Greensburg”.  The following results are returned to us:

This tells us that the number of times that this phrase is searched monthly on Google in the United States is 30 times (the VOLUME).  The keyword difficulty (or how hard it is to rank organically for this phrase) is 54%.  Anything under 60% is normally a great keyword to rank for quickly.

The other important results to look at are the “Keyword Variations” and the “Related Keywords”.  The keyword variations will show you common variations on your searched phrase.  The related keywords list shows you phrases similar to the one that you searched.  This is a great way to find phrases that you may not have thought about.

Repeat this process with all of your keywords from your list.  If the “Related Keywords” list has any good suggestions, add them to your list as well.  We recommend creating a spreadsheet that looks like the one below:

Once you have the data for your whole list, go through and highlight the keywords that are searched often and have a lower keyword difficulty.  These will be perfect keywords to target across your online presence.

Keep this list for the rest of the steps in this process.  It is the basis of everything else!

STEP 2 – Incorporate Popular Keywords and Locations into Your Page Titles and Headers

Now that you have your list of popular keyword phrases, you will need to use them in your website.  You will want to choose one or two keyword phrases to be the main focus for each page of your website.

The first important place to use keywords is your page title. The page title is the text in the browser tab.  It is also the text that shows as the title in the Google search results.

A good rule of thumb for a page title is to use the following convention:

“Keyword 1 – keyword 2 | Name_of_Company Location_of_Company”

So, for our example, a good homepage title for our law firm may be “Personal Injury Lawyers – Accident Attorneys | Law Firm Name Greensburg, PA”.  This lets Google know exactly what your page is about and who your company is.

Create new page titles for each page of your website.  In WordPress, you can do this using the Yoast plugin.  If your website is in SquareSpace, you can change this in the general page settings.  If you have a website developer, just let them know the text that you want to use.

After you have changed your page titles, you will want to be sure that each page of your website has one <h1> header on it and that it contains one of your important keywords in it.  This header is the most important and it is another sign to Google that tells them what your page is about.

 

Week Two – Quickly Improve Your Google Local Presence

STEP 3 – Perfect Your Google My Business Profile

If your business depends on people finding you locally, your Google My Business profile is a great advertisement.  If you have not claimed your business profile yet, go through that process described here by Google: https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

Once your profile is claimed, there are 11 things to complete to make sure that your profile is optimized.  We have listed them below in an easy to use checklist:

For more in depth information on filling out your profile, check out this article: https://blog.iftsdesign.com/introducing-google-my-business/

STEP 4 – Get More Reviews (and Answer Them)

When Google is deciding whose business to show in the Google Local area (also known as the map pack or 3 pack), they look at a multitude of factors.  One main factor is the proximity of the person to your business location.  Unfortunately, you can’t do anything to affect this.  Another factor that Google will look at is the number of reviews and your overall rating, which is where you can shine!

Google’s number one priority is to be helpful to their end user (the searcher).  So, they want to show people the best option for their query.  It is up to you to prove that you are that option!

Create a system for requesting reviews from your satisfied clients.  If you have one-time clients, ask them for a review via email or text at the end of their purchase cycle.  This also gives you an opportunity to have one last touch point.

If you have clients that have a renewal cycle, ask them for a review at the end of that process.  This is a nice way to end the renewal and get you credit for doing a great job!

A common objection that we hear is that people don’t know what to say.  Make it easy on your clients! Send them an email with a direct link to leave a review on Google as well as a suggested list of questions to answer for the review.  This also allows you to “sneak” keywords into your questions…and hopefully, they will repeat those keywords in their answers!

The most important thing to remember about reviews – when you receive a review, reply to it!

This works in a positive manner for your business in multiple ways.  First of all, the person that left the review feels appreciated because you took the time to thank them.  Prospects who are looking at your profile will see that you read/reply reviews and care about your clients.  Finally, it helps with your local SEO because you and your clients are using keywords and phrases in the review and reply.

Need help getting more reviews?  Check out our article on “10 Proven Ways to Get More Online Reviews for Your Business.”

Week Three – Make Posting to Social Media A Breeze

It’s hard to have a consistent social media presence without a plan and the right tools to do it!  Week 3 is where this is addressed.  You should be able to spend less than 4 hours per month to create and post all of your content!

STEP 5 – Sign up for a OneUpApp Account

There are multiple social media scheduling apps available.  The one that we recommend is OneUpApp.  One of the main reasons is because it connects and posts to LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and most importantly, Google My Business.

Google has said that starting in 2021, they will be looking to see who is utilizing their GMB profile updates.  These updates will start to be shown on Google Maps.  So, if you have recent, consistent updates, your profile is sure to stand out!

To sign up for an account, go here: https://www.oneupapp.io/register

There is a small cost associated with OneUpApp, but because it connects to all of the profiles that you need, it’s worth it!  Most free scheduling apps do not connect to Google My Business.

Take a few minutes and connect your social media profiles to finish the account set up. You will now be able to schedule posts to all of your social media accounts at one time!  This will save you a huge amount of time and make your business look professional while doing so.

STEP 6 – Create a Schedule for the First Half of the Year (and repeat for the second half) 

Now that your social media scheduler is set up, you need to create some content to post.  To create this content, start with another list.

Write down every question that you receive from your clients on a regular basis.  Most companies can come up with at least 10 or 20.  Make sure to include questions, even if you think that the answer is obvious because it may not be obvious to your client.

Aim for 24 questions, which allows you to address one question every week for 6 months.

Why questions, you may ask?  As we mentioned before, Google wants to be as helpful as possible for their end users.  They want to answer their questions, which is what your content will be doing.

Can’t think of 24 questions?  Again, we will turn to SEMrush and your keyword list!

Let’s use the term “Personal Injury Attorneys” as an example.  The results for the term are below:

Look at the section titled “Questions”.  This gives you frequently searched phrases that pertain to your keyword phrase.  So, one question that an attorney should put on their list is:

“Is it worth hiring a personal injury attorney?”

Once you have your list of 24 questions, put them in an order that makes sense.  Typically, I suggest putting them into main categories if possible and addressing one main category per month.

As an example, let’s say that the personal injury firm mainly handles cases that revolve around auto accidents, medical device defects, trucking accidents and workplace injuries.  These would be great main categories and each one could have 6 questions associated with it.

Assign a week to each question in your list.

There are 2 ways to create the actual content itself.  The one that you pick depends on your personality.

Option 1 – Write down the answer to the question.  Then, once you have your answer written, record yourself reading the answer as a video.

Option 2 – Record yourself answering the question in video format.  Try to keep your answers within 60 seconds.  Then, use a free transcription service like otter.ai to create the text.

Once you have the text, post it to your blog and schedule it to release the Monday of the week that it is assigned.  Make sure that the page title contains the main keyword in the question.  Be sure that your <h1> is the question itself.

Next, edit the video if you want.  There are multiple video editing software apps out there that make editing a breeze.  

Upload the finished product to YouTube and schedule it to release the Tuesday of the week that it is assigned.  Again, be sure to make the title of the video the question itself.  The description should have the question repeated in it plus a small summary of the answer.  Bonus points if you have incorporated keywords into your answer!

Now, here is a posting schedule to get a week’s worth of content from one question:

Monday: Post the link to your blog

Tuesday: Post the link to the YouTube video

Wednesday: Pull out one helpful sentence from the text and create a quick “quote” post.  This can be done using the free version of Canva in less than 2 minutes.

Thursday: Post an additional fact that goes along with the question.  You can do this with plain text or you can create another “quote” post. 

Friday: Post a link to the video from the week before with the label “In case you missed it” (Obviously, this cannot be done the first week, but it works for every other week)

You get bonus points for using hashtags!

Once you know what you want to post, sign into OneUpApp and schedule the posts.  To learn how to schedule posts, check out their video here: https://www.oneupapp.io

I’d recommend scheduling at least one month at a time.  This way, you can take a small amount of time from your day and get all of your social media for the month done in less than 2 hours!

Once you get through the first 6 months, you can just repeat your content. The average life of an online post is less than one month, so don’t worry about people seeing repeats.  I promise, they will not remember.

Week Four – Take Advantage of Offsite SEO Opportunities

 

STEP 7 – Optimize (and Create if Needed) Your YouTube Channel

If you don’t already have a YouTube channel, you are missing out on a traffic opportunity.  YouTube is the second most popular search engine and it’s owned by Google!

Create your YouTube channel for your business if it doesn’t exist already.  Need help with this task?  Follow these instructions from YouTube: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1646861?hl=en

Once you have signed in, you can start optimizing your company’s channel!  Try using the following tricks:

  1. If you can, use a keyword in your channel’s name.  This can help your channel show up for organic searches.  For example, an easy way to do this for a law firm would be to name the channel “[COMPANY NAME] – Your Personal Injury Law Firm in Greensburg, PA”.
  2. Make sure to completely fill out the “About Us” section.  Be sure to include relevant keywords.
  3. Include a link back to your website.  If people want to learn more about your company, make it easy for them to do so.  It also helps with your SEO rankings.
  4. Fill out your channel keyword tags.  This tells the search engines what your channel is about and who you are.
  5. Create a “trailer” video for your channel, if one does not already exist.  Typically, this should be a 30-60 video that introduces you, your business and lets people know what they should expect to learn about in your videos.  
  6. People typically decide whether to watch a video within the first 15 seconds, so make that time count!  Try to grab your audience’s attention with a big motion, a relevant prop or a question that makes them say “I want to learn more about that!”  Bonus points if you can include a major keyword phrase in this time as well.
  7. Do you have videos that would group well together?  Create a playlist with them and send your viewers on a journey through your material.  Try to create at least 2 playlists.

STEP 8 – Check Out Your Current Backlinks (and Create a Plan to Get More)

A backlink is a link from another website to your own site.  Most businesses will have backlinks from a multitude of places, such as:

  • Local chamber of commerce
  • BBB
  • Social Media Profiles
  • Local News Story
  • Company that you collaborated with
  • etc

One major factor that Google looks at when it comes to deciding who shows up first in search results is the number of backlinks that a page has.  Now, when the Google algorithm was first invented, it would only look at the volume of links.  This paved the way for link farms and other dishonest means of creating backlinks.  However, this is no longer the case.

Google now looks at the number of links that you have along with the authority score of those sites.  Authority score is basically a measure of trustworthiness.  So, more links is not necessarily a good thing.  They have to be links from a reputable source.

To see the backlinks that you currently have, go back to SEMrush.  Enter your domain name into the search.

The results will show you the number of backlinks that you have as well as the number of referring domains.  The referring domains are the websites that contain links to your website.

In the example below, you can see that there are 498 backlinks from 35 domains.

If you click on the backlink number, it will show you some of the links and referring domains.  With a paid plan, you can actually see all of the links and the referring domains.

Now that you have your baseline, you are ready to start building links.

One way to build links is to make sure that you are in all of the top local business directories.  IFTS offers a list of the top 25 places to get a free business citation here: https://blog.iftsdesign.com/local-citation-pdf/

Another way to build links is to look at your competitors.  Make a list of your top ten competitors and enter their domains into SEMrush.  How many backlinks do they have?  You should have a goal to have more backlinks than them.

You can also look to see who is linking to them by clicking on their backlink number.  Check out the referring domains.  Go down the list and look at each backlink.  Is it a niche directory that you hadn’t heard of?  Submit your listing there.  Is it a local business group?  Enter your name as well.  Is it an organization that accepts articles from people in your area?  Send them a link to yours!

Backlink building is tough and requires you to stay on top of the task.  Choose a ten minute time period each week and start working on this.  Aim to gain 1-3 new backlinks per month.

Congratulations!  You Made It Through All 8 Tasks!

This is just the beginning, but by jumpstarting January 2021, you’ll be setting yourself and your business up for success in the new year.

Have any questions or need help with any of the tasks listed above?  Send me (Stacey Ivol) an email at si@iftsdesign.com or give IFTS, Inc. a call 412.715.6266 for a FREE consultation.