Web Marketing for Lawyers

Brian Dinday, an attorney in San Francisco, writes about the challenges of keeping a professional image in the age of social networking.

Businesses everywhere are discovering the astounding exposure on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and others. Many are tempted to join and network themselves into a web of desired client referrals. Some are already on such sites, deeply involved in growing their networks. No doubt such practices can result in client development, but there may be a serious downside to the practice, especially for an attorney. Continue reading ‘Losing Face on Facebook’

Gary Weingarden, a lawyer in Michigan, writes about how he uses a digital voice recorder in his practice and the benefits of owning one.

My father used a Dictaphone to create his documents. He needed a secretary with special transcription equipment to get those documents onto paper. Once he got the draft back from his secretary, he’d mark it up and give it back to her with changes—because of both transcription errors and because things always look different written down. These days, I would not be without the modern equivalent of the Dictaphone—the digital audio recorder—which I find has multiple uses. Continue reading ‘Using a Digital Audio Recorder in Your Practice’

Developing strong client relationships is perhaps one of the most important things you can do to ensure a solid foundation for your firm. Your clients are your lifeblood. They will provide you with new business in the future and they will recruit their friends to become clients, if they like what you do. It always pays to make sure your existing client is happy with your services and that you are doing everything you can to help them run their business, get over their marriage breakdown, draw up their will, and so on. Continue reading ‘Developing Client Relationships’

Search marketing is a growing trend amongst businesses as more and more consumers are going to the web to find the goods and services they need. Purchasing a sponsored link using keywords is one way to get more people to come to your website.  Paying for keywords can be a valuable marketing tool if you know what you’re doing. The first thing to understand is that you aren’t paying for placement in the regular, or organic, search engine results. Instead, your listing will appear under “sponsored links” on the right hand side of the search results. Opinions differ as to whether or not it is better to spend money on a sponsored link or on a campaign to generate higher organic search engine placement. You will have to be the ultimate judge for your own marketing investment. Following is a primer on buying keywords using the Google Adwords program and tips to help you succeed. Continue reading ‘Web Advertising: Buying Keywords’

Email newsletters are an excellent way to keep in touch with clients, and unlike the paper kind, they don’t cost as much to produce and deliver. They also reach more people than you even realize. Good articles from email newsletters, for example, are forwarded on to other readers, which creates what’s called viral marketing for your firm. On the other hand, bad email newsletters go right into spam folders. So you must be sure that you are publishing material your clients are interested in, that the product is professional in content and appearance, and that you know what you want to achieve from mailing it. Continue reading ‘Staying In Touch With Clients: Email Newsletters’

Web 2.0, also known as social media, is not easy to define. What’s true, however, is that when you start harnessing the real power of networking on the Web, then you are using Web 2.0. It encompasses the idea of interconnectivity and interrelatedness, to the extent that people with common interests can share their knowledge and experience. It’s about creating networking communities whether those communities are gathering information on a medical problem, finding a street address, or discussing the merits of a particular law firm.

This article describes some of the ways Web 2.0 has found its way into the legal world. Continue reading ‘Web 2.0: What Is It?’

In 2007, companies spent $12.2 billion on search marketing in the United States, according to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). This expenditure is projected to increase beyond $25 billion in 2011, which means that dollars previously assigned to more traditional channels such as print advertising, direct mail marketing, and television are now being diverted to search engine marketing.

One of the ways companies spend money on search marketing is in improving their Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is the process of increasing both the volume and the quality of traffic to their websites. In other words, it’s a way of moving a website higher up on the list of matches when a search engine finds a site in response to a user’s search. It is estimated that 90% of all internet traffic is driven by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL. This means that most people are using their favorite search engine to find what they need, including legal services. This article explains how SEO works and how it can help you attract new clients.  Continue reading ‘Understanding Search Engine Optimization’

People like friendly faces and seeing who they are calling. In fact, lawyers listed in AttorneyPages who have uploaded a photo have a 28 percent better response rate to their listing than those who haven’t.

Here’s How To Do It 

1. Find a good digital photo of yourself, or have one taken. Make sure you are smiling and that your attire as well as the background is professional. You can use an image of your firm’s logo instead.

2. Log in. Do this by visiting the AttorneyPages Member Site at https://secure.attorneypages.com/controlpanel/

It’s a good idea to bookmark this URL, so you always have it handy. Enter your username and password. You’ll be greeted by the Member Control Panel.

3a. Platinum

If you have a Platinum listing, click on “Edit this Listing Information” on the left column followed by the tab labeled “More Information”. Click on the “Multimedia” tab. Click on the word “Edit” on the right, on the topmost line. Click “Browse” for an appropriate file. When done, click “Save”.

Or …

3b. Premier

If you have a Premier listing, click on “Edit or View Multimedia Files.” From there, you’ll be prompted to upload a photo from your computer.

If you encounter any problems, simply email the picture to support@attorneypages.com.

Google Alerts is a service from the search engine company, Google, which notifies its users by email that something new has happened in a topic they select. Apart from choosing the subject matter, the users decide how often the alerts should be delivered and from what sources they would like the information to come—the web, blogs, news, video groups, or all of the above The topic can be anything—such as a particular industry or company, a specific client, a law firm, a lawyer, a case, a judge, and more. Get updates once a week, once a day, or as soon as the information is found on the Internet.

How does it work? You specify the query or queries you’d like Google to monitor. As Google searches the Internet, if it finds a change that you’ve asked to be notified about — that is, one of your Alerts — you’ll get an email message. You won’t necessarily get a message every day or week. Google only sends email if there’s something new to report.

Suppose, for example, you specialize in medical malpractice cases. It hits the blogs before it hits the evening news that a local hospital in your area has just fired a half dozen nurses’ aids for failing to follow a certain medical protocol.  You want to know what that is about and if any patients were negatively affected.  If you had Google Alerts set up with the topics, “medical” or “hospitals” or “patients”, or the name of the hospital, you would likely get wind of this event and its details right away—possibly long before the other malpractice attorneys in your area, and way before it hits your local T.V. news. 

Google Alerts helps you:

* Monitor a developing news story
* Keep current on a competitor or industry
* Learn where you or your company or firm is cited or quoted
* Get the latest on an event, whether local, state, or national
* Discover new websites on certain topics
* And even keep tabs on your favorite sports teams (You know, all work and no play…)

all by checking your email. 

Try Google Alerts at www.google.com/alerts.  From there, it’s easy. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving both the volume and the quality of traffic to your website. In other words, it’s a way of moving your website up higher on the list of matches when a search engine finds your site in response to a user’s search.  Why do you care?  Because the higher up on the list your site is, the more likely the user will click on it and read about your firm.

How does SEO work?

SEO manipulates aspects of a website to improve its ranking in search engines.  It does this by strategically placing  keywords and phrases throughout your site, both in the html code and in the content.  But how do you know what words and phrases will get the results you are looking for?  There are SEO specialists you can hire to do the optimization for you at a price, or you can do it yourself.  In order to optimize your website, ask yourself three questions:

1. How are people searching for my products and/or services?
2. Which sites are winning for those searches and why?
3. Which searches can I win?

Beyond the basics, advanced search engine optimization may include significant research and planning into every element of page design, site structure, and off-the-page criteria. Before a website’s pages can be optimized, research must be done to determine which keywords to target. This involves finding the relevant keywords, determining their popularity, assessing the amount of competition, and deciding which of them can be best supported with quality content.
SEO can target different kinds of searches, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

Making SEO work for you

Unless your website appears on the first page of search engines’ listings, like Google, Yahoo and MSN, it will not be found by potential clients.  Your business, like many other law firms, may at the moment be primarily based on referrals. However, there are thousands of people each month who are looking to hire an attorney through the Internet. Just  a few years ago they would have been looking for you in Yellow Pages. What are these consumers typing in to Google, say, to find an estate planning attorney?  That is the single most important question for SEO specialists working with law firms.