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Jumat, 22 Januari 2010
Pay-Per-Click Advertising & Search Engine Optimization
There are pro's & con's to both Pay-Per-Click advertising and optimizing for natural search engine traffic.
PPC advertising has many great benefits. First of all, you get your traffic going quickly. I have used this advantage many times. I test new products and even new websites through PPC advertising before making a decision to promote or scrap my new website or product idea.
I am a firm believer in testing new products before throwing large amounts of money into advertising. PPC advertising is a great way to do this. For example, with Google's Adwords program, you can post your ad, pay a $5 sign-up fee and have highly targeted traffic to your website within an hour. How is that for efficiency?
Also, you can moniter your click charges and stop them before they get too expensive. By the time you have spent your budget on clicks, you should have a pretty good idea of how successful your product is going to be.
I think of PPC advertising as being the most useful when starting a new business or product. WIth PPC advertising, you can quickly and efficiently find out which keywords you need to target and which products are the most popular.
Once that testing period is over, however, it's time to look into Search Engine Optimization. PPC advertising can be very expensive, costing hundreds, even thousands a month in advertising costs. Once you know what keywords to target, it's time to put together a plan on how you are going to optimize your website. The drawbacks to search engine optimization is that it requires a lengthy amount of time to get your site to rank high with your keywords. That is why I suggest using this method after the testing period is over, when you already know your business will be profitable.
Search Engine Optimization is definately a slow way to get your website traffic if you plan on not using PPC traffic. It could be a long, expensive road before you even begin selling your product. Search engines can take months, even years to start pulling up high with the search engines. But, natural search engine traffic is definately the best long term way to get the majority of your traffic.
When getting your site to start pulling up in SE natural listings there are 2 main things that need to be done:
Search engine traffic requires you to submit your site to many different search engines and wait, maybe even months for them to spider your website.
I have had much better luck with another route. You can pay a fee to have your website listed in a very high ranking directory like www.dmoz.com (free), www.yahoo.com's directory ($299), sbd.bcentral.com (only $50), or another website where your link is on a page that has a page ranking of 4,5,6 or higher. The sites I mentioned above have rankings of 8 or 9. When you have your link on a site with that high of a ranking, the search engines are spidering those sites constantly and will find your website and spider it very quickly. Not only will they find it quickly but because you are linked to a high ranking site, you will also rank higher with the SE.
When looking for backlinks, focus on sites with content related to yours and high page rankings of 4 or higher.
As for content on your site, try to include about 200-500 words of content or text on most of the pages of your site. Text makes your site bulkier. Make sure to integrate all of the keywords you want to target within the content of your site. Don't worry about cramming the same keywords in over and over. Search engines may possibly even blacklist your site for keyword stuffing, if you try to do that.
There is a lot to know about Search Engine Optimization but, those are the 2 main factors when getting started.
In summary, when starting out, I suggest using PPC advertising for testing products and keywords. Spend time optimizing your site for search engine traffic after you have tested your products and keywords.
Carrie Reeder has been a web marketer for 3 years and has various websites where she sells a variety of products from software to clothing accessories.
PPC advertising has many great benefits. First of all, you get your traffic going quickly. I have used this advantage many times. I test new products and even new websites through PPC advertising before making a decision to promote or scrap my new website or product idea.
I am a firm believer in testing new products before throwing large amounts of money into advertising. PPC advertising is a great way to do this. For example, with Google's Adwords program, you can post your ad, pay a $5 sign-up fee and have highly targeted traffic to your website within an hour. How is that for efficiency?
Also, you can moniter your click charges and stop them before they get too expensive. By the time you have spent your budget on clicks, you should have a pretty good idea of how successful your product is going to be.
I think of PPC advertising as being the most useful when starting a new business or product. WIth PPC advertising, you can quickly and efficiently find out which keywords you need to target and which products are the most popular.
Once that testing period is over, however, it's time to look into Search Engine Optimization. PPC advertising can be very expensive, costing hundreds, even thousands a month in advertising costs. Once you know what keywords to target, it's time to put together a plan on how you are going to optimize your website. The drawbacks to search engine optimization is that it requires a lengthy amount of time to get your site to rank high with your keywords. That is why I suggest using this method after the testing period is over, when you already know your business will be profitable.
Search Engine Optimization is definately a slow way to get your website traffic if you plan on not using PPC traffic. It could be a long, expensive road before you even begin selling your product. Search engines can take months, even years to start pulling up high with the search engines. But, natural search engine traffic is definately the best long term way to get the majority of your traffic.
When getting your site to start pulling up in SE natural listings there are 2 main things that need to be done:
- Add Content
- Add Backlinks
Search engine traffic requires you to submit your site to many different search engines and wait, maybe even months for them to spider your website.
I have had much better luck with another route. You can pay a fee to have your website listed in a very high ranking directory like www.dmoz.com (free), www.yahoo.com's directory ($299), sbd.bcentral.com (only $50), or another website where your link is on a page that has a page ranking of 4,5,6 or higher. The sites I mentioned above have rankings of 8 or 9. When you have your link on a site with that high of a ranking, the search engines are spidering those sites constantly and will find your website and spider it very quickly. Not only will they find it quickly but because you are linked to a high ranking site, you will also rank higher with the SE.
When looking for backlinks, focus on sites with content related to yours and high page rankings of 4 or higher.
As for content on your site, try to include about 200-500 words of content or text on most of the pages of your site. Text makes your site bulkier. Make sure to integrate all of the keywords you want to target within the content of your site. Don't worry about cramming the same keywords in over and over. Search engines may possibly even blacklist your site for keyword stuffing, if you try to do that.
There is a lot to know about Search Engine Optimization but, those are the 2 main factors when getting started.
In summary, when starting out, I suggest using PPC advertising for testing products and keywords. Spend time optimizing your site for search engine traffic after you have tested your products and keywords.
Carrie Reeder has been a web marketer for 3 years and has various websites where she sells a variety of products from software to clothing accessories.
Online Advertising Traffic and the First Law of Web Surfing
Hint: don't send send your online advertising traffic to your homepage.
How do you convert online advertising traffic into customers? The key is a phenomenon of human behavior that only comes into play on the web.
You won't read about this phenomenon in books or articles on general principles of advertising or direct marketing. In fact, traditional advertising professionals and direct marketers often create only so-so online advertising campaigns simply because they've never heard of this phenomenon, even though it's essentially the first law of human web surfing behavior.
How to convert your online advertising traffic into customersReady to find out what that all-important first law of web surfing is? Prepare to be not very amazed. You see, everyone who surfs the web already knows about this phenomenon of human behavior because we all do it--even you.
So here it is, the first law of human web surfing behavior, which you absolutely must take into account when marketing your website: While surfing the web, almost everyone will hit the "back" button if they think there's a chance--even a small chance-- they've come to the wrong web page.
The corollary to this law of web surfing behavior: Anyone who clicks through to your site via an online advertising link needs to know they've arrived at the right place as soon as they get there.
Immediately. Within a second. From a click glance. Without having to read anything. The average human attention span on the web has been measured at eight seconds, and you'll have already lost a few seconds while the page downloaded.
The Key(word) to Converting Advertisement-Clickers into CustomersHow do you make absolutely sure visitors feel like they've arrived in the right place?
Make the title and first heading of your landing page (the page on which a visitor "lands" after clicking on an advertisement) the same as the headline of the advertisement that brought your visitor there. If the landing page links to a banner (image) advertisement, use the same pictures and color scheme as the advertisement.
The landing page absolutely must immediately remind the visitor of the advertisement.
The advertisements, in turn, must flow logically from the keywords they are targeting. Even if your advertisements are appearing on websites rather than search engine results, you need to be thinking in terms of the keywords people are using to search for your product in order to speak the language of your prospective customers.
That's why it is very important both your advertisement and landing page incorporate the target keyword prominently, in headings as well as the page body. That's also why it's so important you don't send your visitors from online advertising to your homepage--it's unlikely you could optimize your homepage for all your possible advertisements. Visitors who arrive via advertising need to land on a special "landing page," or they may crash and leave your site.
Conversions: your advertising campaign's goalBut what happens once visitors land on your site and decide to stay more than ten seconds? It's no use if they just hang around. They need to convert.
Important definition: In online advertising parlance, saying a website visitor "converts," means he or she has taken a desired action toward becoming a customer, either 1) buying something or 2) contacting you for more information, thereby becoming a lead.
The percentage of visitors who convert out of the total number of visitors who arrive at your page is the conversion rate. Your goal is to get this rate as high possible. You do that by finding the right message to display on your landing page, and also by targeting the advertising so you are getting visitors who are most likely to convert.
In order to get your visitors to convert once they arrive, you need to make sure they have a clear path to conversion from the landing page. The simpler the path, the better--a winding road might lose some potential customers. This conversion path could be as simple as a "buy now" button or a contact form, or as complex as a multi-step shopping cart with required registration with required email confirmation to scare away those who are not truly devoted buyers.
Targeting your trafficWhat you show visitors who arrive at your site is only half the equation. The visitors themselves are the other. As with everything in life, you can't convert a sow's ear into a silk purse. In this case, the sow's ear is paid traffic that is not targeted, or is coming from popunders or other forced viewing, or is just plain faked (there is software specifically designed to emulate human visitors so fraudsters can sell the "traffic").
Even in the best of cases, some traffic converts better than others. Generally speaking, visitors who are looking for you are the likeliest to convert, so conversion rates tend to be highest from advertising on search engines. Conversion rates tend to be lower from advertising on websites (so-called "content" or "contextual" advertising).
Conversion rates are lower still on advertising on website popups, and lowest of all on so-called adware (programs that display popups on a user's computer; the people who sell this advertising often label it "targeted traffic"). Sending emails that consist of nothing but your advertisement, even if you've skirted the legal definition of spam, is not worth the bad will and damage to your brand.
Preaching to non-converting online advertising trafficA significant percentage of visitors, maybe a majority, will never just click "buy now." How do you reach them?
Many people simply will never make a purchase without speaking to a salesperson first. For them, provide a convenient contact form, as well as a live chat option--if you can afford the time and expense--your email, and a telephone number. A telephone number is especially important since there are some visitors who will never convert without hearing the voice of someone on your end.
For visitors who are not ready to convert immediately, you should have informational articles, "about us" pages or FAQs ready to help them make up their minds.
For visitors who simply will not be ready to convert today, give a reason to bookmark your page. Good articles. A special offer. A newsletter to sign up for. Free advice.
Just make sure you don't place these alternative non-converting options in too prominent a position, or you'll risk distracting prospective customers. A few paragraphs up from the very bottom of the page is a good place to catch people who are interested in you enough to read the entire page, but still haven't converted. The very bottom of the page should be reserved for a conversion option for all the prospective customers accustomed to scrolling to the bottom of the page to get a quick overview.
After all, if you want your visitors from online advertising traffic to convert into customers, shouldn't you at least make it easy for them?
How do you convert online advertising traffic into customers? The key is a phenomenon of human behavior that only comes into play on the web.
You won't read about this phenomenon in books or articles on general principles of advertising or direct marketing. In fact, traditional advertising professionals and direct marketers often create only so-so online advertising campaigns simply because they've never heard of this phenomenon, even though it's essentially the first law of human web surfing behavior.
How to convert your online advertising traffic into customersReady to find out what that all-important first law of web surfing is? Prepare to be not very amazed. You see, everyone who surfs the web already knows about this phenomenon of human behavior because we all do it--even you.
So here it is, the first law of human web surfing behavior, which you absolutely must take into account when marketing your website: While surfing the web, almost everyone will hit the "back" button if they think there's a chance--even a small chance-- they've come to the wrong web page.
The corollary to this law of web surfing behavior: Anyone who clicks through to your site via an online advertising link needs to know they've arrived at the right place as soon as they get there.
Immediately. Within a second. From a click glance. Without having to read anything. The average human attention span on the web has been measured at eight seconds, and you'll have already lost a few seconds while the page downloaded.
The Key(word) to Converting Advertisement-Clickers into CustomersHow do you make absolutely sure visitors feel like they've arrived in the right place?
Make the title and first heading of your landing page (the page on which a visitor "lands" after clicking on an advertisement) the same as the headline of the advertisement that brought your visitor there. If the landing page links to a banner (image) advertisement, use the same pictures and color scheme as the advertisement.
The landing page absolutely must immediately remind the visitor of the advertisement.
The advertisements, in turn, must flow logically from the keywords they are targeting. Even if your advertisements are appearing on websites rather than search engine results, you need to be thinking in terms of the keywords people are using to search for your product in order to speak the language of your prospective customers.
That's why it is very important both your advertisement and landing page incorporate the target keyword prominently, in headings as well as the page body. That's also why it's so important you don't send your visitors from online advertising to your homepage--it's unlikely you could optimize your homepage for all your possible advertisements. Visitors who arrive via advertising need to land on a special "landing page," or they may crash and leave your site.
Conversions: your advertising campaign's goalBut what happens once visitors land on your site and decide to stay more than ten seconds? It's no use if they just hang around. They need to convert.
Important definition: In online advertising parlance, saying a website visitor "converts," means he or she has taken a desired action toward becoming a customer, either 1) buying something or 2) contacting you for more information, thereby becoming a lead.
The percentage of visitors who convert out of the total number of visitors who arrive at your page is the conversion rate. Your goal is to get this rate as high possible. You do that by finding the right message to display on your landing page, and also by targeting the advertising so you are getting visitors who are most likely to convert.
In order to get your visitors to convert once they arrive, you need to make sure they have a clear path to conversion from the landing page. The simpler the path, the better--a winding road might lose some potential customers. This conversion path could be as simple as a "buy now" button or a contact form, or as complex as a multi-step shopping cart with required registration with required email confirmation to scare away those who are not truly devoted buyers.
Targeting your trafficWhat you show visitors who arrive at your site is only half the equation. The visitors themselves are the other. As with everything in life, you can't convert a sow's ear into a silk purse. In this case, the sow's ear is paid traffic that is not targeted, or is coming from popunders or other forced viewing, or is just plain faked (there is software specifically designed to emulate human visitors so fraudsters can sell the "traffic").
Even in the best of cases, some traffic converts better than others. Generally speaking, visitors who are looking for you are the likeliest to convert, so conversion rates tend to be highest from advertising on search engines. Conversion rates tend to be lower from advertising on websites (so-called "content" or "contextual" advertising).
Conversion rates are lower still on advertising on website popups, and lowest of all on so-called adware (programs that display popups on a user's computer; the people who sell this advertising often label it "targeted traffic"). Sending emails that consist of nothing but your advertisement, even if you've skirted the legal definition of spam, is not worth the bad will and damage to your brand.
Preaching to non-converting online advertising trafficA significant percentage of visitors, maybe a majority, will never just click "buy now." How do you reach them?
Many people simply will never make a purchase without speaking to a salesperson first. For them, provide a convenient contact form, as well as a live chat option--if you can afford the time and expense--your email, and a telephone number. A telephone number is especially important since there are some visitors who will never convert without hearing the voice of someone on your end.
For visitors who are not ready to convert immediately, you should have informational articles, "about us" pages or FAQs ready to help them make up their minds.
For visitors who simply will not be ready to convert today, give a reason to bookmark your page. Good articles. A special offer. A newsletter to sign up for. Free advice.
Just make sure you don't place these alternative non-converting options in too prominent a position, or you'll risk distracting prospective customers. A few paragraphs up from the very bottom of the page is a good place to catch people who are interested in you enough to read the entire page, but still haven't converted. The very bottom of the page should be reserved for a conversion option for all the prospective customers accustomed to scrolling to the bottom of the page to get a quick overview.
After all, if you want your visitors from online advertising traffic to convert into customers, shouldn't you at least make it easy for them?
Kamis, 07 Januari 2010
Arizona Attorney Magazine Posthumously Publishes Article by Famous Lawyer and Author Peter Baird
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ (1888PressRelease) November 05, 2009 - Arizona Attorney magazine
has posthumously published an article written by Peter Baird, an attorney whose career spanned many noteworthy cases, including the Exxon Valdez litigation, religious groups that had been infiltrated by government agents, and a First Amendment case decided by the United States Supreme Court.
Baird, a partner with Lewis and Roca LLP, was a prolific and accomplished writer in addition to achieving national recognition for his legal acumen. He died on Aug. 27.
Baird had written numerous articles for Arizona Attorney through the years. His final work for the magazine, which he submitted about a month before he died, was about one of his favorite topics – writing.
In So You Want to Write a Book? Baird explains that he learned to write fiction through study, writing, submission and failure.
“Yet, the real reward has been finding answers, feelings and imaginings inside myself that I never knew existed and that were long overdue,” Baird wrote.
“Baird was many things,” said Tim Eigo, Arizona Attorney editor. “Lawyer, advocate, writer, editor, philanthropist. But as a friend to this magazine, he always will be remembered first as a writer, one who was driven to share his vision with his fellow attorneys.”
Baird wrote one novel, Beyond Peleliu. His collection of essays and stories, Protecting Moscow From the Soviets, won first place in the “Compilations/Anthologies” division of the 2009 San Francisco Book Festival. Baird also wrote for magazines and newspapers such as The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal.
Arizona Attorney magazine is published 11 times per year by the State Bar of Arizona. It provides articles on substantive legal issues, professional trends and feature profiles. Arizona Attorney magazine is available for free to anyone online by visiting the magazine's homepage at http://www.myazbar.org/azattorney/ and clicking on the magazine cover art.
About the State Bar
The State Bar of Arizona is a non-profit organization that operates under the supervision of the Arizona Supreme Court. The Bar includes approximately 16,000 active attorneys and provides education and development programs for the legal profession and the public. Since 1933 the Bar and its members have been committed to serving the public by making sure the voices of all people in Arizona are heard in our justice system.
Did You Know?
The State Bar of Arizona has a Speakers Bureau. To request a speaker for an event, visit:
http://www.azbar.org/LegalResources/speakers.cfm.
has posthumously published an article written by Peter Baird, an attorney whose career spanned many noteworthy cases, including the Exxon Valdez litigation, religious groups that had been infiltrated by government agents, and a First Amendment case decided by the United States Supreme Court.
Baird, a partner with Lewis and Roca LLP, was a prolific and accomplished writer in addition to achieving national recognition for his legal acumen. He died on Aug. 27.
Baird had written numerous articles for Arizona Attorney through the years. His final work for the magazine, which he submitted about a month before he died, was about one of his favorite topics – writing.
In So You Want to Write a Book? Baird explains that he learned to write fiction through study, writing, submission and failure.
“Yet, the real reward has been finding answers, feelings and imaginings inside myself that I never knew existed and that were long overdue,” Baird wrote.
“Baird was many things,” said Tim Eigo, Arizona Attorney editor. “Lawyer, advocate, writer, editor, philanthropist. But as a friend to this magazine, he always will be remembered first as a writer, one who was driven to share his vision with his fellow attorneys.”
Baird wrote one novel, Beyond Peleliu. His collection of essays and stories, Protecting Moscow From the Soviets, won first place in the “Compilations/Anthologies” division of the 2009 San Francisco Book Festival. Baird also wrote for magazines and newspapers such as The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal.
Arizona Attorney magazine is published 11 times per year by the State Bar of Arizona. It provides articles on substantive legal issues, professional trends and feature profiles. Arizona Attorney magazine is available for free to anyone online by visiting the magazine's homepage at http://www.myazbar.org/azattorney/ and clicking on the magazine cover art.
About the State Bar
The State Bar of Arizona is a non-profit organization that operates under the supervision of the Arizona Supreme Court. The Bar includes approximately 16,000 active attorneys and provides education and development programs for the legal profession and the public. Since 1933 the Bar and its members have been committed to serving the public by making sure the voices of all people in Arizona are heard in our justice system.
Did You Know?
The State Bar of Arizona has a Speakers Bureau. To request a speaker for an event, visit:
http://www.azbar.org/LegalResources/speakers.cfm.
Divorce For Dummies, 2nd Edition
An attorney can be involved in your divorce from start to finish, or work with you on a very limited basis. (Generally, if you and your spouse both feel confident about your ability to draft your own divorce agreement, you may be able to limit your use of an attorney to initial advice and information and final evaluation and feedback.)
When you do hire a divorce attorney, it's more than a matter of running your fingers through the lawyer ads in the yellow pages until you spot the word "divorce" or simply hiring the lawyer who helped you negotiate your office lease or draw up your will.
- You need to hire an attorney experienced in family law.
- In some states, attorneys can be board-certified in family law. These lawyers specialize in divorce cases and other kinds of family law issues. To be certified, they must have significant trial experience and pass a rigorous test. To maintain their certification, they must receive substantial continuing education in family law each year, generally twice the amount of required continuing education of non-board certified family law attorneys. This type of family law attorney tends to charge more and demand higher retainers to begin a family law case than those who are not board-certified, but they are usually more experienced.
- The attorney you hire should talk to you in plain English, not legalese.
- The attorney should be someone you trust and feel comfortable with, because you may have to reveal highly personal information about yourself and your marriage.
- If you have young children, look for an attorney who makes it clear that during your divorce you must put your children's needs first and that he or she will not pursue unreasonable demands for child support or help you pursue vindictive child custody and visitation arrangements.
- And last, but certainly not least, your lawyer should be affordable.
Avoid a Canine Custody Battle Phoenix AZ
In an effort to clinch the case for her client, Sandra Morris, a family law attorney representing Mrs. Perkins, decided to use a tactic that worked in several successful child custody cases. Morris shot a day-in-the-life video of Gigi, showing the adopted pooch going for walks, sleeping under the desk and playing on the beach. It worked. A superior court judge awarded Mrs. Perkins permanent canine custody.
Fighting for Fido
The fight over Gigi is just one of a growing number of pet custody cases around the country. Within the last five years, members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) report that pets are increasingly representing a new kind of battleground as couples attempt to work out divorce settlements.
Dogs are often the animals caught in the middle, but the organization’s attorneys say they’ve also handled custody disputes involving cats, horses and even boa constrictors. The spike in cases has to do, in part, with society’s changing attitude toward pets as family members, says Adam Karp, an attorney of animal law in Bellingham, Wash. “It’s become more legitimate to make a claim for sharing a life with a companion animal,” he says. “There’s nothing unreasonable about asserting a deep and profound emotional connection to another being if that being is not a human.”
Recognizing the importance pets play in people’s lives, and to address the increasing number of custody disputes, politicians in Michigan and Wisconsin recently introduced the first bills in the U.S. outlining how divorcing couples, or those legally separating, must handle the placement of animals.
Ownership Agreements
Most pet custody cases involve married couples or domestic partners, but another common situation is where roommates, who are agreeably co-owners, split up and need to figure out an arrangement. Karp says that often takes the form of establishing a visitation schedule or buying out the other person to become sole owner. Roommates and unmarried couples thinking about adopting or purchasing a purebred can avoid future heartache, though, by creating an ownership agreement outlining what happens to the animal if they part ways. You can do this with the help of an attorney or just on your own. If you do an Internet search for “dog ownership agreement,” you’ll find a few examples online. Books covering legal issues for dog owners, like Every Dog’s Legal Guide: A Must-have Book for Your Owner and other titles from Nolo Press, can also provide tips and guidelines for this sticky scenario.
Pets are Property
If you wind up in the middle of a canine custody dispute, you’ll need to prove you’re the legal owner -- not the better caregiver -- in order to win. That’s because pets are considered to be personal property, just like your T-shirt, toaster or television.
Proving legal ownership entails showing that your name is on some, or all, of the following paperwork:
Adoption application or sales contract If you didn’t save the paperwork, contact your breeder or the shelter for a copy. Also dig through your files for a canceled check or credit card statement showing you paid the adoption fee or purchase price.
Veterinary records Obtain medical records from your veterinarian’s office. Show that you’re financially responsible for your dog’s ongoing care by producing cash receipts, credit card statements and canceled checks.
City licensing forms Most cities and counties require that you license your dog annually. Ask for a copy from the department you went through to buy the license.
Microchip documents If your dog is implanted with an identification chip, call the manufacturer’s registry for the records.
In situations where ownership status is in question, Karp says it’s best to avoid going to court because a judge may not understand the strong connection you share with your pet. Instead, if both of you want the dog, try to compromise early on in the proceedings by having an attorney help you negotiate a private contract for co-ownership or possession. Then ask the court to enforce the agreement.
Emotional Distress
If you go through a divorce and wind up hammering out legal details, don’t forget about the emotional toll it may take on your dog. Nancy Williams, a certified applied animal behaviorist in Manchester, Md., has had many clients come to her and say, “I just got divorced and now my dog’s a mess.”
Rarely, though, are dogs actually upset because of a person disappearing from its life, she says. Instead, signs of stress -- such as pacing, restlessness and panting -- usually appear because of moving into a new home or losing a canine brother or sister to the estranged spouse.
To reduce your dog’s anxiety level -- as well as your own -- Williams suggests a combination of daily distractions and increased exercise. Three easy ways to reduce this stress include:
Go for more walks Take your dog for a stroll on a retractable leash for maximum freedom, making sure to provide ample time for sniffing.
Play hide-and-seek Instead of putting your dog’s meal in a bowl, hide small portions of dry food around the living room for him to find.
Enroll in a class Positive reward-based training classes are offered almost everywhere in the country and run the gamut from basic obedience to doggie sports.
Canine custody disputes take an emotional toll on both two- and four-legged family members. But, by working out a compromise before tempers flare and making sure you’re clearly listed as an owner on important records before a breakup occurs, you’ll avoid a lot of heartache -- not to mention hefty legal fees -- in the future.
About The Author
Maryann Mott is an Arizona-based pet journalist who has written for The New York Times, Dog Fancy magazine and National Geographic online.
Fighting for Fido
The fight over Gigi is just one of a growing number of pet custody cases around the country. Within the last five years, members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) report that pets are increasingly representing a new kind of battleground as couples attempt to work out divorce settlements.
Dogs are often the animals caught in the middle, but the organization’s attorneys say they’ve also handled custody disputes involving cats, horses and even boa constrictors. The spike in cases has to do, in part, with society’s changing attitude toward pets as family members, says Adam Karp, an attorney of animal law in Bellingham, Wash. “It’s become more legitimate to make a claim for sharing a life with a companion animal,” he says. “There’s nothing unreasonable about asserting a deep and profound emotional connection to another being if that being is not a human.”
Recognizing the importance pets play in people’s lives, and to address the increasing number of custody disputes, politicians in Michigan and Wisconsin recently introduced the first bills in the U.S. outlining how divorcing couples, or those legally separating, must handle the placement of animals.
Ownership Agreements
Most pet custody cases involve married couples or domestic partners, but another common situation is where roommates, who are agreeably co-owners, split up and need to figure out an arrangement. Karp says that often takes the form of establishing a visitation schedule or buying out the other person to become sole owner. Roommates and unmarried couples thinking about adopting or purchasing a purebred can avoid future heartache, though, by creating an ownership agreement outlining what happens to the animal if they part ways. You can do this with the help of an attorney or just on your own. If you do an Internet search for “dog ownership agreement,” you’ll find a few examples online. Books covering legal issues for dog owners, like Every Dog’s Legal Guide: A Must-have Book for Your Owner and other titles from Nolo Press, can also provide tips and guidelines for this sticky scenario.
Pets are Property
If you wind up in the middle of a canine custody dispute, you’ll need to prove you’re the legal owner -- not the better caregiver -- in order to win. That’s because pets are considered to be personal property, just like your T-shirt, toaster or television.
Proving legal ownership entails showing that your name is on some, or all, of the following paperwork:
In situations where ownership status is in question, Karp says it’s best to avoid going to court because a judge may not understand the strong connection you share with your pet. Instead, if both of you want the dog, try to compromise early on in the proceedings by having an attorney help you negotiate a private contract for co-ownership or possession. Then ask the court to enforce the agreement.
Emotional Distress
If you go through a divorce and wind up hammering out legal details, don’t forget about the emotional toll it may take on your dog. Nancy Williams, a certified applied animal behaviorist in Manchester, Md., has had many clients come to her and say, “I just got divorced and now my dog’s a mess.”
Rarely, though, are dogs actually upset because of a person disappearing from its life, she says. Instead, signs of stress -- such as pacing, restlessness and panting -- usually appear because of moving into a new home or losing a canine brother or sister to the estranged spouse.
To reduce your dog’s anxiety level -- as well as your own -- Williams suggests a combination of daily distractions and increased exercise. Three easy ways to reduce this stress include:
Canine custody disputes take an emotional toll on both two- and four-legged family members. But, by working out a compromise before tempers flare and making sure you’re clearly listed as an owner on important records before a breakup occurs, you’ll avoid a lot of heartache -- not to mention hefty legal fees -- in the future.
About The Author
Maryann Mott is an Arizona-based pet journalist who has written for The New York Times, Dog Fancy magazine and National Geographic online.
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