McNeely Web Design

09/10/2026

ATTORNEYS: When's the last time you actually searched your law firm on Google?

It'll take 2 seconds to look. Here's the 5-minute check I walk clients through when I audit Google Business Profiles. Hint: I see wayyyyy too many outdated profile pictures. 👇

https://www.mcneelywebdesign.com/post/google-business-profile-check-for-attorneys

09/09/2026

Looking forward to presenting at the 2026 Annual North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys Conference! ⚖️

On Tuesday September 29, join me for a virtual CLE and professional development session where we'll be conducting a live audit of your online presence looking at how clients, referral sources, and colleagues actually encounter attorneys online — and how to make sure that first impression is on brand.

🔗 Registration link: ncawa.org/event

08/24/2026

I still can't get over the fact that I got to sit in a room with North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls and record a conversation with her for the podcast.

As many of you now know, I produce Legal Magnolias, hosted by two of my web design clients, Maggie and Sonya, and this episode is one I'm especially proud of. Maybe because I spent so much time in DC where the ballot looks very different that it does for the states, but there's just so much that impacts our daily lives that has nothing to do with the federal elections.

Justice Earls walked us through why state supreme courts, not just federal ones, are deciding so much of what actually touches our daily lives right now: school funding, what we pay for electricity, how our voting districts get drawn. She explained all of it in plain English, no legalese required, which is exactly the kind of conversation this show exists to have. I learned so much and am eager for my opportunity to vote come this November.

If you live in NC and feel like you want to start paying more attention, give this episode a listen. I promise you'll learn something useful!

New episode is live now. Link in the comments.

08/18/2026

Three months ago, I was googling "where do the audio files save on my laptop?" It felt like scene out of Zoolander (IYKYK)

Fast forward to today and this is the same Legal Magnolias episode: raw recording vs. fully edited.

Reminder to because it's SHOCKING what you can do when you put your mind to it.

08/10/2026

One of my favorite quotes from producing this episode of Legal Magnolias:

"We are the community that is breaking the box of patriarchy. And what that means is that we're developing a new way of being that hasn't existed before, which is so much hard work, and it's a gift and it is a burden, and it is a burden that is uniquely borne by q***r people. Period. Other people get to step into it, but because we exist across every race, every nationality, every creed, we're globally moving the box. We're moving that patriarchal box, we're breaking it in every country."
— Milan Pham, Nicholsonpham Attorneys At Law (Episode 5)

New episode is live: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-5-the-law-love-and-lgbtq-families/id6789224727?i=1000780883731

08/10/2026

Chandra has spent 20 of her 25 years as a lawyer at the Southern Environmental Law Center, doing environmental justice work most of us never think about until it shows up in our own backyard. She talked with Maggie and Sonya about what's changed since the environmental justice movement started, what hasn't, and why proving discrimination in court often comes down to one word: resilience.

Aside from how much I get to learn myself, this is the part of producing this podcast I love most: getting to sit behind the mic and help someone's work reach people who otherwise might not hear about it.

New episode is live now! Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-4-environmental-justice-its-about-resiliance/id6789224727?i=1000779287080

07/27/2026

I'm learning SO much working on this podcast!

First off, Mavis shared that after both her parents died in a car accident, she realized that being a lawyer hadn't given her any power to stop her family from losing their childhood home. She's an attorney, and even she felt powerless against the fallout of losing her parents 😳 Okay, so it's not just me...

Then there's this: as a white woman who grew up in NC, I have to admit, I had no idea what happened to Black land ownership after slavery ended, or how many families are still land rich and cash poor because of it. Maybe at some point it was a history lesson I memorized for a test, or maybe it wasn't?

What struck me most was how much Mavis insisted that while this issue has disproportionately affected Black families, family-owned property is something we all benefit from. She said it plainly: what actually decides whether a family keeps their land is access; to legal help, to trust, and to knowledge. I felt motivated to make sure all my ducks are in a row.

I mean, I knew I'd be learning a lot of new technical skills, but turns out I'm learning some history AND getting some major life advice.

07/27/2026

Mavis Gragg is the CEO of HeirShares and works with families trying to hold onto land that's been passed down for generations, sometimes with a will, often without one, and almost always with a few relatives who don't agree on what happens next. It's called heirs property, and the more we talked, the less it sounded like a legal issue and the more it sounded like family history.

I'm a white woman who grew up in North Carolina and have to admit, I had no idea what happened to Black land ownership after slavery ended, or how many families are still land rich and cash poor because of it. But what struck me listening to Mavis is that she doesn't want this framed as only a Black issue, and she's right. She said it plainly: the history is real, and the impact has disproportionately fallen on Black families, but what actually decides whether a family keeps their land is access; to legal help, to trust, to knowledge most of us take for granted.

Mavis's great-grandmother, a Black domestic worker in western North Carolina, bought land in her own name in 1932 and built a house on it with her husband. Her father's great-aunt, also a domestic worker, later bought a home that stayed in her name alone. After Mavis's parents died in a car accident, she said being a lawyer hadn't given her any power to stop her family from losing their childhood home.

I love the direction podcast production has taken me; I thought I'd be learning about audio engineering, mixing, and mastering, but turns out I'm learning some history too! 🤓

07/21/2026

Quick question: if someone asked ChatGPT "who's a good [insert your industry] near me," would your business even come up?

That's not a hypothetical anymore — it's how a lot of people search now. I broke down what "AEO" actually means and 6 things you can do this month to show up in AI search results, not just Google's.

Google isn't the only place people search anymore — ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews are answering questions before anyone clicks a link. Here's what Answer Engine Optimization actually means, why it matters for small businesses, and the handful of practical things you can do this month to ma...

07/19/2026

Be honest: when's the last time you actually looked at your own website like a random stranger would?

I put together 9 signs it might be time for a redesign — mobile issues, slow load times, outdated design, and a few more you can check in under 5 minutes. (And a few signs it's actually NOT time for a full rebuild.)

https://www.mcneelywebdesign.com/post/9-signs-your-website-needs-a-redesign-in-2026

Your website looked great in 2019. It's 2026. A lot has changed — how people search, how they browse on their phones, what makes them trust a business enough to call. Here are nine honest signs it might be time for a redesign, and a few cases where it's really not.