In the business of marketing lawyers online, the “branded main site vs. multiple sites” battle is still being waged by our competitors. For us, though, it’s an open-and-shut case (pardon the pun): branding is where it’s at. Client after client, click after click, conversion after conversion, we’ve been proving for years that building a strong, memorable brand—rather than populating the ether with keyword-laden mini-you’s—is the way to go.

It all gets down to name recognition. Quick, say three company names out loud. What were they?  Come on, tell the truth. It was names like Apple, Target or Gap—not  cooltechtoysonline, buyeverythingstore or mycasualclothingsource—right?

There are a few core issues at play here. One is that we humans can only retain so much and, in the cluttered world of online, SEO-fueled marketing—where everyone and their uncle is spawning keyword-rich microsites like bunnies—distinct attorney firm names will lodge in prospective clients’ memory banks more than a long string of generic, run-of-the-mill words. In a sea of variations on “personalinjurylawyerinyourtown” sites, no prospective client is going to remember one over another. But your law firm’s name is unique and that’s your branding, right there.

Secondly, rankings show authoritative, branded sites rise to the top when they’re supported by—not diluted by—only a select few, carefully managed, keyword-rich sites. Lastly, Matt Cutts himself has said that Google is adjusting its algorithm so it won’t help much to have keywords in your domain name anyway.

Multiple, keyword-heavy sites might sound alluring but they’re dangerous. By amassing keyword-rich domain names, the only thing you can be sure of is that you’ll segment your traffic and fragment your conversion potential into a constellation of counter-productive, if not destructive, microsites (Google doesn’t suffer buried main sites gladly).

So yes, you can have a few additional domains but only if they support the mother-ship: your brand.

We know this is the opposite of what most of our competitors are saying but that’s why we’re the fastest growing online legal marketing company in the country.

We help our clients rise above the noise, but it’s not rarified air up here at the top and it’s not rocket science. It’s just smart. Come on up—the view’s awesome.

Check out Matt Cutts’ take on branded sites vs. keyword-heavy microsites.