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Giving your website a facelift part 2: Web redesign

March 7, 2014 by Jin Mee Leal

In my last post, I talked about the benefits of having new and updated content for your law firm’s website. For Part 2, I’m going to focus on how changing up your website’s overall design and aesthetic will help draw in visitors and potential clients. Web design is tricky – it’s not some “Weekend Warrior” project that you can get done in a few hours. All of the below suggestions require substantial skills and time. If you have any qualms about your web design abilities, you should definitely consider contacting a web designer (like us!). You’ll find that haphazardly putting together a web design will cost you more in the long run than investing in a solid web designer now.

New Web Design – Responsive, Current, and Snazzy

legalppc-old-website

Exhibit A

legalppc-new-website

Exhibit B

When redoing our old site (Exhibit A), we wanted to make sure that it accomplished both our functional and design needs. With a new responsive design and added personality, we were able to create an updated site that better reflects our design aesthetic and goals (Exhibit B).

  • Responsive Design: Let’s face it – we live in a society that’s constantly on the go. Ten years ago, it would seem like a no-brainer to design a website solely for a desktop computer, but times have changed. People are now accessing information on mobile devices like tablets and cellphones. By using a responsive design, your law firm’s website will be able to adapt to different mobile platforms, allowing visitors to easily view and engage with your website.
  • WordPress CMS (Content management system): WordPress websites are a good way to go because they are so user-friendly. That’s one of the reasons why LegalPPC, Inc. works with WordPress. If our clients want to take on the responsibility of maintaining their sites, the information is easy to transfer and understand. And, with the myriad of plug-in offerings, you can customize the WordPress website to fit your aesthetic and design needs.
  • Adding Personality: This is where you can really differentiate yourself from other law firms. What color schemes do you like? Are there any cool tricks that you saw on other websites that you want to emulate on yours? Consulting with a web designer for this step is useful because he/she may offer insight on how you can present your information in a different way.

Note: Checking out design blogs is a good way to get inspiration and insight for your website design. Our favorites are Smashing Magazine and Web Design Ledger.

Simplify – “Trim the fat and get to the steak”

Stuffing a website with a ton of pop-ups, links, and other hoopla is so 2004. And yet, there are a number of potentially good websites that suffer from this obsolete style. If prospective clients visit your website and are greeted with 1000 things being thrown in their faces, they’ll bounce the heck out of there.

A healthy dose of editing can go a long way. If you’re not sure if you want to completely redesign your website, try going through the pages and eliminate distracting images, links, etc.

Once you have the “bare bones” of your website, you can then make mindful decisions about the design improvements. In keeping with our steak metaphor, you want to make sure that the product you deliver is high-quality stuff (I would go into organic and grass-fed references, but that’s too much work).

  • Images: Updating the banner and background photo for your website is a good way to add personality and purpose for your law firm. For example, if your law firm is in a metropolis, emphasize this asset by putting in a photo of the cityscape. Or, you can highlight your practice areas by including relevant images for your practice areas pages (all with good taste, of course).
  • Typography: Not every website needs to be in Times New Roman or Arial.  Playing around with the typography gives added interest to your site and can make the content more inviting and interesting to read. You don’t need to go crazy and add Wingdings to the whole site, but don’t be afraid of mixing different typography for the titles, headings, and content.

Note: If you want to see how your content will look with different fonts, there are useful websites like Google Fonts that provide a large font collection and gives you a preview of what your writing will look like.

Don’t forget the little things

All of the above design elements are crucial in making your website stand out, but in addition to investing time into the design aesthetics, conducting routine maintenance ensures that your website is fully functioning. Do all of the links on your pages direct visitors to the appropriate pages? Are there broken links that need to be fixed? Does your inquiry form on your website work properly? Ultimately, it’s these little things that can make or break your visitors’ interaction with your website.

See, that wasn’t so painful ☺

Whether you’re adding new content or redesigning your website, making meaningful changes will pay off in the long run. Taking the time to do your website the right way shows visitors that you are mindful of how potential clients receive information and that you care about your business.

How to give your website a facelift part 1: Better content

February 12, 2014 by Jin Mee Leal

For us at LegalPPC, Inc., our New Year’s goal was to revamp our website into LegalPPC 2.0 (silver edition). Looks pretty snazzy, huh? Updating an entire website may seem like a daunting task, but adding that extra “oomph” to your website doesn’t have to be difficult and, in the end, the results are rewarding with a more inviting, fresh website that draws in visitors (and potential clients!).

In this two-part post, I’ll share some ideas on how you can spruce up your website for the New Year.

First off, let’s talk content. Whether you decide to completely gut your website’s content or make minor tweaks here and there, adding fresh content is the first step in engaging potential clients with you and your practice. If writing is not one of your strengths, any of the below suggestions can be conducted by a content marketing team. However, if you do choose to hire someone to write your copy, make sure that he/she is able to capture your goals and personality so that the content doesn’t read as something generic (otherwise you’d still be in the same predicament!).

Overhauling and starting anew

Do you use your content to lull yourself to sleep at night? Or, here’s a better question, when was the last time you even read your website’s content? If you have boring or outdated content, it may be time for a change. In any case, adding completely new content to your website is a sure way to give your website personality and keep yourself and your image current.

When rewriting the pages, consider the overall tone. Write as though you are talking to a client and not a search engine. While there are necessary components that need to be conveyed to the client, you don’t have to sound like a machine in order to deliver the message. Think informal, but informative. One approach would be to anticipate the questions that clients may bring up during a consultation:

  • How do you work and manage cases?
  • What do you have to offer your clients?
  • How do you want your expertise to come across?

For example, if you pride yourself on the fact that you return client inquiries within 24 hours, that should be emphasized in your content to show that you are responsive and are considerate about your clients’ time and concerns. Or, you could make your content more personable by sharing why you chose to become a lawyer and enter your specific practice area. Both of these things give potential clients a different perspective into your firm and provide a conversational tone to the website.

Updating and adding to what you have

Maybe you’re pretty satisfied with your current content or the thought of overhauling all of your hard work makes you break out in hives. Including updated information on your site is an easy way to build more content and it shows that you are still alive (both in your practice and physically). I remember looking at an attorney’s site that wasn’t updated since 2011 – I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to sell him our services or send a condolence card.

These updates don’t have to be complicated, but they should have some substance to them (no fluff!):

  • Does your law firm have recent winning results?
  • Have you spoken at a conference or event?
  • Have there been major changes to your law firm?

Another option for updating the website is by starting a legal blog for your site (helps you get in-tune with your creative side). This is a great way to provide useful information for your site’s visitors and show that you know a thing or two about your practice area.

Minimal changes – big results

There are three things that make my head explode: people cutting their nails on public transportation, excessively overcooked, mushy pasta, and typos on websites. You want people to understand your website’s content and not get tripped up by speeling erors spelling errors. Go through your website with a fine-toothed comb to see if there are typos, awkward phrasing, or anything else that looks out of place. Sometimes it helps to get another pair of eyes to read through the content to pick up things that you may have missed. Clean website copy only adds to your business’s credibility and demonstrates that you took the time to produce professional material.

Let’s get started!

Updating your website’s content is one of the easiest ways to improve your website, and your company will already be on a strong start for the new year. You don’t have to be a wordsmith to produce good content; just be open and honest about what you want your website to convey and the rest will follow. Stay tuned for the follow-up blog regarding updating your website’s overall design (this is where we get all tech-like).

Let’s Get Personal – Differentiating Your Website in a Meaningful Way

December 28, 2013 by Jin Mee Leal

With the abundance of lawyer websites in your specific legal practice and geographic location, you have to rely on potential clients to sift through countless lawyer websites and hope that yours stands out. But, let’s face it: not only do these competitors work in the same practice area and location as you, they also have outstanding credentials, winning results, and appealing websites that showcase their knowledge and experience.

How, then, are you supposed to stand out?

As consumers, whether we like it or not, many of us make our decisions based upon our emotions and connections with the company, product, or services. Therefore, it’s not enough for you to emphasize that you care about the client; the client needs to care about you as well. By establishing this connection, you have a better opportunity to appeal to clients and have them reach out to your law firm.

With the help of effective content and visuals, your website can elevate itself in a substantial way by differentiating yourself in a significant and meaningful manner.

You as a person – not a lawyer

You know you are more than just a lawyer – you are a human being. But, do your prospective clients know that? We can’t deny that there is a stigma imposed upon lawyers; however, you can help change this mindset by offering an approachable perspective in your law firm’s website.

In Ann Juergen’s article “Practicing what we teach: the importance of emotion and community connection in law work and law teaching,” she emphasizes the value in lawyers building and resonating emotional intelligence in their field. While she models her argument based on the law professor-student relationship, her views are still applicable to the lawyer-client relationship. In order for the client to trust the lawyer, the lawyer needs to display a level of vulnerability to reinstate the fact that the lawyer is, after all, a human being and therefore capable of feeling.

In your homepage or attorney profile, consider the following questions within your content:

  • Why did you decide to go into law?
  • How did you choose to practice in this law area?
  • How have you developed as a lawyer and person in your legal practice?

These may look like soul-searching questions – though a little soul-searching never hurt anyone – but offering a snippet into your motivation and journey as a lawyer humanizes your overall law practice and promotes that idea that prospective clients will contact and work with an attorney who is a caring individual.

You in the practice

Having winning cases in your website boosts your legal credibility, but it only offers one facet into your practice area experience. Expand your reach by offering a new lens into your personal involvement within your legal area.

For example, we hear a lot of stories about the winning cases, but we don’t get to hear much about the impact of these cases. Without compromising confidentiality, consider the cases that you worked on that had an influence on you and your work:

  • Which case was the most rewarding for you and why?
  • How have you gained insight from working on these cases?

Having these anecdotes in the practice area pages in the website add another layer to what would normally be textbook descriptions about your law firm’s practice.

You may also want to consider including your outreach causes related to your practice area. For example, if you focus on elder abuse, it would be worth noting that you volunteer to assist senior citizens in nursing homes. Establishing such connections reveal that you are invested in your practice area beyond legal bounds and that you can offer that same type of compassion when working with a client.

In sum – results do matter, but people matter more.

You in the community

Community outreach is a positive way to localize your law firm and get your name out to the public. In the about page or article section of your website, include information regarding how you have contributed to the community:

  • How do you relate to your geographic location?
  • What is meaningful to you about your law firm’s location?
  • Has your law firm supported community organizations or events?

Highlighting your engagement within the community gives your law firm’s website the ability to branch out with varied and meaningful content. Annie Lainer Marquit’s article “Public Counsel: Community Development Lawyers Building Foundations for Healthy Communities” shares the numerous ways Los Angeles lawyers are coming together to strengthen communities by providing their legal services to address issues in the community. The result a community of people from all walks of life coming together to build a positive environment. This “pay if forward” attitude again sets the foundation that people and the community are the forefront of your business objective.

Breaking legal barriers

Ultimately, the goal for your law firm’s website is to have more potential clients contact you and use your services. Whether you focus on personal injury, criminal defense, or family law, there is the underlying truth that lawyers are there to help alleviate clients’ suffering through legal means. Your law firm’s website can embody this message by emphasizing the humanistic side that comes with practicing law.

Sources

Juergens, Ann. 2005. “Practicing What We Teach: The Importance of Emotion and Community Connection in Law Work and Law Teaching.” Clinical Law Review 11, no. 2: 413-424.

Marquit, Annie Lainer. 2012. “Public Counsel: Community Development Lawyers Building Foundations for Healthy Communities.” Journal Of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law 21, no. 1: 9-16.

Google’s authorship data – LegalPPC’s recommendation

June 10, 2013 by legalppc

There are 2 ways to get authorship data connected to your personal Google+ page so as to get the author’s thumbnail photo next to content that Google displays in its search results:

(1) First method:

Verify the author’s email with Google (when matching the domain of the website) at https://plus.google.com/authorship and include a byline in each post or article (for practical reasons, the byline would only work for blog posts and articles on main website), NOT for content posted elsewhere on the web or for static content on the main site.

(2) Second method:
Include a link in the content specifically identifying the author of the content. This method is of course necessary for content published off of the main website.
Recommendation:
The second method should be used in ALL cases as a matter of course, with the first method also employed (in addition to, not instead of) for the limited purpose of blog posts on the author’s main website, including the correct byline (exactly as it appears in the author’s Google+ profile, for example, “By Ken Matejka” and not “By Kenneth Matejka”).

 

 

LegalPPC's Guide to Twitter's Promoted Tweets

May 15, 2013 by legalppc

This is a follow-up to my post about Twitter’s new keyword-targeted Promoted Tweets of May 1, 2013.

In April 2013, Twitter unveiled an enhanced version of it’s “Promoted Tweets” advertising to allow advertisers to target tweeters by keywords that the tweeters are putting into their Tweets.

LegalPPC believes that, since the advertising can be geographically targeted as well, this could be an excellent and affordable way to get your law firm’s message in front of a lot of local Twitter users (recognizing that it’s too new to know for sure but at least it won’t cost much).

This guide is to get you started, step-by-step, in case you want to give it a shot.

Download our free eBook, LegalPPC’s Guide to Twitter’s Promoted Tweets. We won’t even ask for your email address and phone.

Twitter keyword-targeted "Promoted Tweets"

May 11, 2013 by legalppc

There’s an exciting new advertising opportunity in Twitter that could be productive and cheap for lawyers. Keyword-targeted “Promoted Tweets”!

For maybe the last 6 months, Twitter has been allowing people with Twitter accounts to run “Promoted Tweets,” which allowed you to display one of your tweets to Twitter users based on their geographic location (and a few other demographics). Not very focused for a service provider as specific as a lawyer and probably more annoying than useful for a lot of Twitterers.

A few weeks ago (April 2013), Twitter announced an enhanced version of their advertising platform which allows for keyword targeting. This is pretty exciting and what it means is that you can display one of your specially composed Tweets when someone tweets a certain phrase, for example, “looking for a lawyer” even if that person is not a “Follower” of your account. And it’s geographically focused so only people in your community will see your Tweet when they type in one of your target phrases.

I’d encourage everyone who has a Twitter account to give it a try.

Google "Now" & Attorney Advertising

May 10, 2013 by legalppc

Google “Now” – Buy it before you know you need it?

“Google Now” is an App for your mobile device that allows Google to anticipate what you’re looking for before you start searching. It’s been around for about a year for Android but is now available for iPhones too.

Sounds pretty useful and streamlines the buying process for consumers who can have products and services pushed directly to you through your hand-held.

It aggregates information it has gathered about you to figure out what you need before you start looking for it. According to experts, here’s where the information comes from:

  • Your location
  • Your historical searches,
  • Your gmail, calendar and Google+
  • and Google Finance

Handy or creepy? Decide before you install the App, but keeping in mind that Google has this information about you whether you care to use “Now” or not, you may as well take it for a spin.

I'm Getting Calls from Clients Outside of my Geographic Area! Why Is Google Serving Up My Page or Ads to Them?

May 10, 2013 by legalppc

The phone’s ringing! But when you finally get down to brass tacks, you discover that your potential client turned out to be a potential road-trip if you actually took the case. Why was your firm on the person’s radar when they are nowhere near your geographic service area?

This question comes up a lot after an SEO or Google advertising campaign is in full swing.  A law firm’s phone will begin to ring and email submissions will begin to come in, but some will be from people outside the firm’s city or service area. Assuming that the website is very clear with where the practice is located, and that the Google Adwords campaign is tuned to the firm’s specific city (which are easy assumptions to make if we’ve built the website and the visibility campaigns), there are a few possibilities:

1) The Google searcher typed in a geographic qualifier that suggested to Google that they were looking for an attorney in your area (perhaps the state, county or a township near the city).

2) Google guessed wrong on location of user. Often Google will think your computer is wherever your Internet service provider hub is located.

3) Errors at Google related to the upgrade of all AdWords accounts to “Enhanced.” Because Google is attempting to integrate search results and ads between mobile and desktop devices, it might be using geo-data from where a searcher might have once been with their mobile device.

4) Google searcher is using proxy that confuses Google for local search.

5) Advanced search and search tools on Google allows a user to change their location manually. This can accidentally remain set to a different city after a previous search.

6) (Perhaps the most likely) Google enjoys taunting you with clients that you can’t help. See also: something happening in Google’s “searcher intent” that is not immediately clear.

There is an easy and effective way to find out why the inquirer reached out to your firm: ask them. It’s a question that can answer a lot of answers about the current state of your online visibility. There are plenty of ways to slip this question in before any initial questions you ask about their possible case. If someone who lives two-hundred miles away is reaching out to you, they either have a very good reason for choosing you, or the search engine had a (incorrect) reason for showing your website.  You’ll never truly know if you never clearly ask.

 

Google+

April 9, 2013 by legalppc

When Google first released details about their integration of Google+ into Google places, there was an initial hope that this would cut back on some of the inconsistencies, irregularities, and downright flaws of the largely automated Google maps/places platform. Though Google places was a unique concept upon conception, and still a centerpiece of anyone’s web presence, it has the potential to confuse as many users as it helps to make contact with you. The largest flaws or irregularities come in the form of duplicate listings and unconventional or fraudulent reviews.

At first, the issue of duplicate listings seems  like only a minor inconvenience. However, even before the transition to Google+ Local, the fact that Google takes data from all over the Internet to auto-generate listings opened up an irritating scenario where there are multiple duplicate (but unrefined, unedited, and sometimes incorrect) listings appearing alongside the correct one. This floods the user with (almost) identical options during a local search, potentially confusing them, and making them see your firm in a way that suggests a lack of organization and clarity. Some users may decide to use a competitor, because your business is (seemingly) spamming Google with listings, or otherwise, they see a crude duplicate as inferior to a standardized, sculpted listing of a competitor. This problem is only magnified with the Google+ integration, where duplicate listings become duplicate business pages, with incorrect pictures, wrong information, or missing reviews.

Many people had hoped, in vain, that the transition to Google+ Local would make each address (or at least each address+building/office number) have it’s own Google+ page, essentially eliminating the potential for duplicate listings. This is not the case, and instead of solving the problem, this has only made the issue more confusing and potentially damaging to a brand in the eyes of a prospective client.

While duplicate pages are still rampant, it remains unclear if the reporting system for duplicates has any more weight that it did previously. Though there is no visual evidence to support this hope (as the reporting system looks largely the same), it would help immensely with the issue, as over time businesses would weed out duplicates from existence.

Beyond the issue of duplicate listings, Google+ Local brings a new unwanted variable to the table. Google places has has done away with its “star” ranking system. It has replaced it with a Zagat style ranking, where 30 is the max ranking. While to casual users, a red “30” seems like a bad 30 out of 100, I can only assume users will rapidly realize the truth, that 30 is the highest result possible.

Does this mean you should not bother with Google+ Local? Absolutely Not! Google places, despite its flaws, is still one of the key pieces of managing an online presence. Considering that the platform is free to use, and very customizable and robust when things go well, it would be foolhardy to ignore its potential. Diligence is the key, and even though time is valuable, a good Google listing is more so. Continue to send error reports to report duplicates, build a good set of reviews and ratings, and your hard work will pay off.

That is, until Google decides to ‘innovate’ again…at that point, all bets are off.

11 Ways to Stay Productive with Under-Utilized Legal Staff

March 19, 2013 by legalppc

Does the following scenario sound familiar? The end of the week is approaching, and the office hasn’t had a phone call in hours. Your administrative and support staff have wrapped up projects and are running out of tasks that are time-intensive, if not entirely finished with all work.  While this scenario may seem blissful when busy or behind schedule, sooner or later you may find yourself ahead of the work week.

On one hand, you may consider sending hourly workers home, to save from paying them to grasp at straws for things to do (and that’s if they’re entirely diligent and not tempted by the millions of distractions possible at a workstation). On the other hand, prior experience may nag at you that the moment they step out of the door, a crisis requiring all hands on deck will inevitably arise. Therefore, the best solution would be to find productive assignments for them that will be worth them staying.

Well, have you claimed your Google place listing yet? Are you listed (correctly) in the yellow pages and other directories? Does your firm have a Facebook business page? When was the last time your website had some new content or an article posted, even if from a third party? This is hardly the end of the list of questions you can ask yourself and your staff, but these alone could easily fill up a slow afternoon.  You may wonder if these tasks are truly worth the time and labor hours, especially if your support staff are highly trained and educated in their fields.

The truth is, these assignments, and others involving your firm’s online presence, are extremely valuable to have completed. While some of them are important enough to address even when it’s not a slow business day, they are especially viable tasks when all of your more pressing matters of the week have been attended to. Many of them would only take an hour or less, making them even more ideal for the waning hours of a slow day.

Below are some examples of possible assignments, and why they’re so useful to have done between more obvious tasks:

1.  Google Places Listing: This is perhaps one of the most important assignments, and is also one of the easiest. When prospective clients want to investigate their choice of firms online, more than 95% of them use Google. If your business is not claimed on Google places, you will be at an immense disadvantage at being found amongst competitors who have been proactively managing their online presence. Because many searchers include geographic keywords with their query (“injury attorneys in Chicago”), having your business claimed with the correct address ensures that you appear on the map of business listings. Appearing on Google’s map (which is located near the very top of the search results) is a great way to get your company’s name in front of searcher’s eyes, especially if it would otherwise have been at the bottom of the page…or worse, on page 2.

Another reason it is so important to claim your Google place is so that your information can be updated. Having incorrect information on Google places (this can occur when Google automatically gleans the listing from other sources, such as YellowPages.com) is almost worse than having no listing at all. Whether the name was auto-filled wrong, or your contact information is outdated, that will be the last time a potential client considers you. In the mind of an unbiased searcher, you’ve wasted their time by having them call a disconnected number, and you’ll have become worse than unknown.

Your Competitor: taking away your business since you didn't bother with a Google listing.

Consider this: If it means that even one client finds you that wouldn’t have before, won’t it have been worth the twenty minutes needed to set it up? Get started at http://www.google.com/places/

2.  Bing, Yahoo, MapQuest Listings: While these search engines certainly aren’t the priority that Google is, they are the next logical step as far as search engine listings go. Google isn’t the only search engine that gleans information from other sites, and YellowPages.com is not Google’s only target, either. That is why it is important to ensure your listing is also updated and visible on search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and map directories like MapQuest.com. This way, no matter which search engine is copying the other’s index, your information will be up to date, and all the more likely to appear to a searcher.

3.  Online Directories: While search engines are definitely the most important place to ensure that your contact information is correctly listed, the sheer quantity of online directories makes them worthy of mention.  Directories like Yellowpages, Local, and Supermedia are just three of the hundred or so directory sites, or at least the ones that matter. They all have (nominal) weight in making your firm turn up in a search before the other guy. Make sure the information is consistent, though (I’d recommend copying the information from your Google Place, exactly as it appears); so that the indexing search engines immediately recognize all of your listings as one (proactive) entity.

4.  Website Content: Now that you have a better understanding of just how important it is to have Google and the other search engines on your side, here’s a tip on how to make them like your site more: Don’t be static. A website that adds new content (even quasi-regularly) will be much more appreciated by search engines. By adding new content, you are assuring that the search engines think that your site is relevant, up-to-date, dynamic, and more interesting to searchers than a site that was last updated in the nineties. If you don’t have a whole lot of updates to add about your own firm, add an ‘articles’ section to your website, and have it filled with relevant news stories, editorials, industry journals, or even comics! Even if you don’t want your support staff writing the content, set them to work finding these valuable content pieces, so your website can appear more active.

5.  Press Release: Press releases are valuable because they make (copious) mention of your firm and/or site on third party platforms. When you have any kind of relevant or interesting story to publish about your firm, compose an article about yourself and send it out to anyone who will take it. Even if The Wall Street Journal turns you down, there are free journal and article sites that you can send it to, or even allow you to post it yourself! Make sure to include many links to different parts of your website (though it’s best to avoid arbitrary over-use, some search engines can recognize this!) and of course mentions of your firm and/or its applicable employees. When the search engine sees your firm on resources other than your own site, it will assume you are much more relevant and worth showing up on a search.

6.  Facebook: Ever heard of it? It’s kind of popular. Facebook is the Google of social media, and as such, you need to have some sort of presence on it.  Even if your firm won’t ga
in as much from it as other industries do, there is a value to having your firm listed on this Internet powerhouse. You’ll want to make a business account and then make a business page. Assign a support staff member to regularly update the “wall” with company news, relevant industry articles, and anything else that will show viewers that you are active and socially-conscious. Encourage clients and partners to “friend” or “like” your page or profile, and do the same for their Facebook pages. It’s a quick and painless way to network, and can sometimes lead to a large return on (time) investment. To read more about the importance of social media in the context of your law firm, see our earlier article: Social Media Marketing for Lawyers

7.  Linked-In Business Profile: Creating a Linked-In business profile is also an important social media task, though for slightly different reasons as Facebook.  A Linked-In profile is an easy way to create a networking hub for your firm, where you can find and be found by likely cohorts and interested searchers. It also provides a social media outlet to send to those business partners who shy away from Facebook like it’s a plague designed by the current generation to make them feel technologically inadequate. Having a Linked-in profile is becoming more expected for business professionals, as well as companies. If you think of Facebook as a power-tie (standardized flair), then Linked-In is the suit jacket (practically mandatory in its professionalism).

8.  Start a Mailing List: Keep your employees, partners and affiliates informed! Create a mailing list (email would be the economic choice, but sending out a paper newsletter is almost less likely to be “trashed” before reading these days) to keep anyone who might take interest in the current events of the firm.

9.  E-mail Marketing: Have a new office? New employee? Different practice areas? Tell your clients! As long as it doesn’t go against your privacy policy (which it shouldn’t, since you are directly contacting them and not disclosing their email to anyone else), send everyone who’s ever been in business with you an update on your firm’s march to the top of the legal ladder. While it may be ignored by 99% of readers, if even one person is reminded of your services and calls or responds, won’t it be worth it? Be careful with this one, though: the last thing you want is to appear that you’ll be spamming their inboxes every other day. Make the emails respectful, professional, and only send with a legitimate update or offer.

10. Create a YouTube Video: If you perform a Google search for something general, you’ll notice that links to websites are not the only returned result. Near the top of the page, you will be given links to YouTube videos, where you can view videos instantly without needing to download neither files nor software. As it turns out, Google puts a huge emphasis on these videos (especially now that they own YouTube!), and they can be an enormous advantage in your favor over your competitors. Even if you were to only make a concise, moderately professional video, and upload it to YouTube with all the appropriate keywords and links to your website, you could easily overtake a competitor who was above you on Google’s search results (if they don’t have a video).

Searchers are much more likely to view a quick and effortless video about a firm, whether it’s a third-party review or company-made, before investigating the actual website further. If you make a snazzy company introduction or a virtual tour, you could also embed it into your company website, or send it to potential clients

A good video is pure marketing gold. A below-average video or worse will just make a viewer laugh and consider your firm unprofessional. Make sure you show the final product to an unbiased acquaintance that won’t be afraid to tell you it’s not ready to represent your firm. You could consider a professional video company for a truly effective video, though that may defeat the purpose of keeping your staff busy. With a few interviews, shots of the office or building, and a few edits from free software (to add names and titles below speakers, along with a few inter-scene effects), you should have at least a satisfactory video, with minimal investment.

11. Craigslist Classifieds: Anybody looking for anything will very likely give Craigslist a try…eventually. While you may not think legal services are as synonymous with Craigslist as say, selling a lawn mower, there is actually a section dedicated to it. By posting specific classifieds such as “Affordable New York Divorce / Family Law Attorney”, you can try and capture searchers who have a specific concern or legal matter. You can then create multiple different listings for different law areas, and maximize your reach. Thousands of other legal firms are posting classifieds on Craigslist to try and capture this niche of searchers, why aren’t you?

The waning days of the work week don’t seem nearly as quiet now, do they? There are online presences to be managed, content to be written, and clients to gain!

Admittedly, any or all of these steps might not be the specialty of your support staff. Otherwise, you may desperately want to take these steps, but are blessedly busy with other matters. For these and many other solutions for your law firm, contact LegalPPC to manage your Internet marketing, so you can get back to your practice!

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