A client recently reached out to our legal marketing team with a question. He received an email from the owner of a law firm in a different state, proposing a blog and link exchange. The owner, also an attorney, said the exchange would be mutually beneficial and is a practice his law firm has consistently used to generate leads online. Our client wondered if this strategy was worth pursuing.
Link Exchanges in Law Firm Link Building
Our response to the client’s inquiry? Reciprocal link exchanges are not a practice we recommend. They’re also expressly prohibited under Google’s content policies. Law firm link building is an essential part of optimizing a website to perform better in search engine rankings, but an arrangement like this can do more harm than help.
Keep reading to learn how links from other sources to your website can be beneficial, what link exchanges are, and why your law firm should build backlinks in a way that won’t potentially risk your marketing investments and professional reputation.
The Benefits of (White Hat) Law Firm Link Building
We know that Google uses links from one website to another to find new pages to crawl and better understand a web page’s content and context. So, links to your website from relevant, respected sources create value in terms of your website’s authority, visibility, and ability to rank in pertinent search results.
What Is a Link Exchange?
A link exchange is when two or more website operators agree to link to one another in an attempt to increase the online presence of both sites. This was once a common practice, but it has become an outdated search engine optimization (SEO) strategy as search engines have evolved.
Link schemes attempt to manipulate search rankings by creating unnatural and irrelevant links to and from web pages, and they are prohibited by Google. Law firms considering building links through a link exchange should proceed with caution, as the line between a link exchange and a link scheme is fine and fuzzy.
Black Hat vs. White Hat Law Firm Link Building
Lawyers are well aware that there are always people who will try to manipulate a system rather than work to reach their goals within the established parameters. In SEO, attempting to manipulate search engines to improve rankings is referred to as black hat SEO.
When Google (or another search engine) deems links “spammy,” this can negatively impact your website’s reputation and rankability. Google’s link spam policy cites “[e]xcessive link exchanges (‘Link to me and I’ll link to you’) or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking” as an example of link spam, which is prohibited by the search engine and can result in penalties.
White hat law firm link building, on the other hand, creates natural, relevant links between websites. These links send signals to search engines that help them determine what a website is about and if it is cited (and, therefore, probably respected) by other reputable websites and entities. Natural, relevant links can also increase referral traffic because they are positioned in places where the law firm’s target clients are likely to be searching for attorneys or legal information.
Concerns Related to Legal Professional Ethics
Law firm link exchanges may also run afoul of attorney ethical responsibilities. On the Internet, links serve as a sort of referral. In fact, in web analytics, website traffic that comes to a site via a link from another website is called referral traffic.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that the governing body in your legal jurisdiction would consider a link a client referral, but it could be construed that way. If so, Rule 7.2(b) of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, regarding referral agreements between lawyers and non-lawyers, may apply. This rule states that lawyers may participate in referral agreements, but these agreements cannot be exclusive, and the client must be informed of the arrangement.
However, some jurisdictions, like Ohio, prohibit referral agreements altogether under Rule 7.2. Others, like Illinois, have opined that referral arrangements may compromise a lawyer’s responsibilities related to professional judgment and advice under Rules 2.1 and 5.4(c).
The Rules of Professional Conduct related to technology and attorneys’ and law firms’ digital activity are likely to continue to evolve. With little to no benefit to be had from participating in a link exchange, we don’t believe this is a risk worth taking.
TOPDOG Can Help with Law Firm Link Building
The team at TOPDOG Legal Marketing is led by CEO Krista Duncan Black, a licensed attorney who speaks to bar associations and other groups about the intersection of legal marketing and attorney ethics. We take legal ethics seriously and don’t use or recommend marketing tactics that might compromise those responsibilities.
We’re also experienced digital marketing professionals who can help improve your law firm’s visibility on the web the right way.
Do you have questions about law firm link building, white hat SEO, or other digital marketing concerns? Contact TOPDOG Legal Marketing by calling (844) HEY-T-DOG (439-8364) or completing our online contact form.
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