As a rule, folks (and email providers) have gotten prrrreeeettty good at detecting spam. We won’t speak for you, but it’s been a while since we found any foreign princes in our inbox looking for account information, or received any emails from The Boss asking us to buy Google Play gift cards for him. Still, the occasional email worms its way in. They’re not spam, exactly, but you’re not quite sure they’re legit.
You know exactly what these emails are, too, probably because they’re the types of messages you forward to your marketing company with a line like “Can you use this?”
(In almost every instance, by the way, the answer is a resounding “no.”)
It has nothing to do with being able to spot a “fake” email, either, because what you’re seeing are real emails generated by real promotional or marketing companies looking for a real interaction. But the ultimate goal of that interaction is to benefit them, not you. So today, we thought we’d take a look at some of the more common strategies out there.
“I Thought Guest Posts Were Helpful!”
They can be – in fact, we implement guest posting all the time. Our clients know them as “contributor blogs.” We choose topics within the realm of our clients’ expertise, and then we post them on reputable sites with backlinks to our clients’ websites. There’s value to this type of work.
But as with all things, you need to consider the source. If the party in question is, well, questionable – i.e., the email is clearly a form letter filled with misspellings, the link goes to a brand new website, etc. – then you should feel free to hit “delete” and never think about it again.
A Quick Note About Reciprocal Blogs
If you’ve been in the website game a long time, you might remember reciprocal blogs: Attorney A writes a blog for Attorney B, who in turn writes a blog for Attorney A, and back and forth they go. Over the years, Google has come down pretty hard on this practice; they basically see it as spammy and manipulative. So, we don’t recommend reciprocal blogs.
However, you could:
- Start a separate blog with another attorney from another firm. Say you’re a plaintiffs’ injury lawyer, and your best friend from college started an insurance defense firm. Why not start your own version of Crossfire together, but with blogs? You both get a link, and folks get to see both sides of the argument. The drawback, of course, is that the domain authority of your new blog probably isn’t great right out of the gate, so choose this option as a labor of love.
- Get backlinks from local charities and organizations you help. If you routinely give to your food bank, ask them to put your logo on the site, and offer to link to their site, too. Google is fine with this type of reciprocity, and as an added bonus, you may get a reputation boost. Folks like to support local businesses, and they like to see their local businesses support the community.
- Start a referral network. Again, you should avoid reciprocal blogs, but you can name-drop the experts you use.
“This Person Emailed Me, So Maybe We Should Link to Them”
We asked our Legal Content Specialists, and this is one of their favorites. After all, why wouldn’t you remove your link to the CDC page on brain injuries and swap it out with the link from “Big Joe’s Vaccine & Garage Doors Emporium?”
Every email you get from a company that says, “We love your blog on XYZ! We wrote one on the same topic and we’d love for you to link to our blog, too,” is only trying to get a backlink from your site. And they’re doing that because your site has better domain authority, or because you’re a law firm and they’re a link-building agency. We’ve read enough of those companies’ blogs to know that some of them produce good content, but as a rule, we’re not looking for another marketing company’s content. 😉 We’re looking for reputable sources for our data collection so that our writers can create thoughtful, accurate pieces on topics that suit your firm best.
Figuring Out Who’s Asking for the Link
Most of the time, you can find out who’s asking for the link by looking at the email signature. If you don’t see the name of the company, check the domain – the stuff that comes after the “@” sign. If it’s a company that appears to have blogs for every possible industry and the name of that company isn’t “Forbes,” it’s probably safe to delete the email.
“Why Does the BBB Keep Telling Me My Website Sucks?”
One of the profiles we tell our clients to claim most often is their Better Business Bureau profile. We make this recommendation because the name still carries some cache, especially with local businesses. But the BBB isn’t, say, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It’s a ratings service, just like TripAdvisor and Yelp.
You know what else it isn’t? A web development company. We don’t know who’s emailing you about all those broken links, but it’s definitely not your local BBB.
Here’s the thing, though – that audit? It IS real. Whatever company is sending those audit emails is actually auditing your content. So if the email tells you “you have 10 broken links,” you should have your website company check, because there may be 10 broken links.
You can also find pages with “spelling errors” where the “error” is that the page is in a different language than English, or mentions a brand name. (This happens a lot with medical malpractice and dangerous drug content.)
Our point is, take these with a grain of salt – or ditch them entirely. We run site audits for our clients regularly, especially for broken links and redirected pages.
“Should I Buy This $1,200 Website Badge?”
Maybe. Depends on what it’s for and how much value it holds for you personally.
Website badges absolutely act as trust signals, but they can also be money traps. We’ve talked about the benefits and risks of lawyer ratings and rankings, so we’ll simply caution you to be careful about which awards to accept and which to avoid.
“I Don’t Have Time for TikTok, But This Influencer Emailed Me-”
Stop. Right. There. No. Just… no. And especially “NO” if they asked you to perform any legal work in exchange for them making and sharing a video with their followers.
We fully support lawyers posting on social media – it’s one of the services we offer – and we especially support lawyers doing their own personal posting in tandem with announcements about awards, cases, or other firm news. There’s a lot to be said for professionally produced videos that tell the story of your firm, introduce your clients or your team, or speak to reasons why someone might hire you.
But if you want to be on TikTok and you don’t have time, find someone in your firm who does and make those videos in-house. Not only will they be more authentic, but they probably have a better chance at garnering followers who want to hear what you have to say about legal issues.
When in Doubt, Let MeanPug Sort It Out
Not sure if you’re getting spammed? Can’t tell if a promotional email is legit? Don’t worry – we’re here to help.
You can always pass along any emails you get, and we can look into them for you. Who knows? You could find a diamond in that rough.
MeanPug Digital is a full-service digital marketing company dedicated to helping lawyers and law firms grow their businesses. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.
