I have a website for my business and it was created by Findlaw. I want to verify the site in Google so I can use their tools. Google gives me the HTML code (whatever you call it) and I'm told to upload it to my site. How do I do that?

I called Findlaw to have them do it and they say - well, you have to upgrade your site - (its too basic I guess). This really doesn't sound right to me. Can anyone give me some direction on this.

I don't trust my website hosting company - they are too tied into advertising and I think they don't really tell me everything. Shouldn't I have complete access somhow to manage the site?

Also, how can I tell if I own the Domain name - or do they own it? Thanks alot.

Sorry if I sound stupid - I'm just getting into this I really don't understand it all that well. I see everyone else talking about how they change their site, like the header tags etc . . . Shouldn't I be able to do that instead of having Findlaw do it? Thanks again.

Don't you have any webmaster or stuff? Don't you have access on FTP of your site?

Oh boy - I don't know. I didn't creat the site. I jsut paid and they had their crew put the site together with my input. What is FTP? How do I find out if I have this stuff? How can I get control of this website without looking to them? Please help me.

The normal procedure is to copy that HTML code and paste it into the head section of the HOME page of the site...then go to google webmaster tools and click on "verify"...and wait google's response...it should be simple

Originally Posted by Flasheroo

I have a website for my business and it was created by Findlaw. I want to verify the site in Google so I can use their tools. Google gives me the HTML code (whatever you call it) and I'm told to upload it to my site. How do I do that?

I called Findlaw to have them do it and they say - well, you have to upgrade your site - (its too basic I guess). This really doesn't sound right to me. Can anyone give me some direction on this.

I don't trust my website hosting company - they are too tied into advertising and I think they don't really tell me everything. Shouldn't I have complete access somhow to manage the site?

Also, how can I tell if I own the Domain name - or do they own it? Thanks alot.

Sorry if I sound stupid - I'm just getting into this I really don't understand it all that well. I see everyone else talking about how they change their site, like the header tags etc . . . Shouldn't I be able to do that instead of having Findlaw do it? Thanks again.

You don't need to upgrade your site. All they need to do is upload the file on the server.

Just copy the code given then paste it on index page of your site then upload it! then click the verify button and its done!

Ok, what part of he has NO CLUE what FTP or HTML are leads any of you to believe that he can do what needs to be done to verify with Google??

Flasheroo, do you have a contract with Findlaw for them to update your website for you as needed?? Or did they just build it and turn you loose to the wilds of the internet?? If yes, or even if no, then give them the verification code Google gave you when you signed up and have them update the site for you..

Most people would do this for you for free.. It takes less than a minute..

If they are providing no support then you need to either learn all of these things yourself or hire a developer to be on call as needed for little bits like this..

And for the record, this is common with them..

I am learning all of this and I really appreciate the help everyne has provided. I called FIndlaw and they gave me this B***sh*t line that they could not do a verification through google without purchasing a "Level II" website. They aslo told me that I need a tech to change my keywords and titles etc . . . Well - of course - that's enough to make anyone suspicious. I've been working on this pretty diligently and I find that I can actually do all of these things through the "firmsite publisher" - although, I have not got the verification to work just yet. I'm learning - thanks loads for your help. And thank to all the people who contacetd me privately - I really appreciate it. Its nice to know there are people who will help when you feel a bit stranded.

I have to agree with Feydakin. I am too well familliar with FindLaw and their "FirmSites". To verify with google takes, as Feydakin said, less than a single minute to FTP upload a file to the server. It would not put them out one whole minute, yet good luck, as they wll likely "require" you to pay them to spend even that single solitary minute.

Well - tell me what you think about this. I set up most of the content. They set up all of the keywords. I didn't know what those keywords were - util I found out that "view source" (duh) would show me all of this. So - I see the keywords they used and they have lots of them, including a whole series of mispelled keywords, like Attorne, Attrny, lawer etc . . . From what I'm reading this is not a good thing to do - right? Google is just going to see this as being inconsistent with my content. Everything I've read about "keywords" says don't do that kind of thing.

My traffic has really dropped lately - and I'm looking at the sites that are ranking ahead of me and those sites don't have any keyword mispellings and they are quite simple in their makeup. All of these sites are Findlaw sites and I can see from the Findlaw directory that they have paid more for their advertising.

Is it even possible that they would kind of sabbatoge a site to give their higher paying client's more traffic?

I just realized that I answered this question in your other thread..

I won't go in to intentional sabotage, but it certainly doesn't help you..

Some times there are advantages to working with companies that specialize in a specific vertical market.. Other times not so much.. Your keywords meta tag can never help you with Google, but there is a possibility it can be used to hurt you.. Think of it as a signal to Google that you are trying to do something you shouldn't..

(1) Google ignores your keywords meta tag. It's not sabotage, it's incompotence.
(2) If they're doing your SEO work (keywords et al) they're probably doing other no brainer things, that would explain your drop in rankings.
(3) You don't own your domain name, you lease it. Regardless of who you pay.
(4) It takes about a minute to change your site to verify with Google, maybe 2 at most. Either upload a file, or add a tag to the source of your home page. If you're not allowed to do that, it's time to change hosts. The cynic in me says they don't want to help you because that will help you realize what a bad job they're doing?
(5) Someone told me a long time ago that it's a lot easier to verify your site with Google by adding the meta tag, than dealing with FTP and sending up a new file. For what it's worth.
(6) People here will be happy to help you pick a new company to host your site with, and explain all the basics you need to know to both verify it, and to do the basics of picking and optimizing for your own keywords. Free of charge. That's how most of us learned this stuff. DYI takes a lot of time, and often doesn't give the best results, but it sounds like you're not getting the best of results anyway.

you can just simply follow google's guidelines.

My suggestion
You get better result for Google's guidelines.
It's very helpful to you.

I think you need to take control of your website and manage it by yourself. You may need to pay them to take the control of your site, if the site was hosted for you free. There is lot of tutorials on the net today on how you can manage your website.

you can use google webmaster tool,submit your site's site map. that tool really have lots of things that can help your site. feel free to use it.