So you are wondering why you need a good site design? This post on the importance of your law firm’s website design gives some good info on why site design is important to generating new business on the web.
There’s a new nationwide lawyer directory (still in beta stages) at www.ilawyersource.com . Still undergoing many changes but this will be a directory that already has many law firms listed and will allow free updating of your listing as well as free law firm profiles for attorneys that want to be listed. The site is still being tested and doesn’t allow submissions yet but I will keep you posted and provide more information soon.
A couple of directories currently offering free listings are Las Vegas Lawyers 360, which is currently offering free listings for Las Vegas area law firms. Don’t bother submitting if you’re not a Las Vegas area law firm. If you are, you’re in luck. Visit the free Las Vegas lawyer directory and submit away.
There is also the www.ilawyerdirectory, which is a directory of California attorneys. Actually Southern California attorneys. This is a great directory to list your firm in if you’re a law firm in Southern California. You can get free basic listings or premium listings (not free) to improve your visibility in the directory.
Also, for lawyers anywhere in the U.S. there is the free lawyer directory which allows free submissions for all law firms no matter where you practice. You can submit to all the categories that your law firm handles. Visit www.lawyersource360.com and submit your listing today.
If you’re not aware, links to your website can help improve your web popularity, or visibility on the Internet, by placing links to your site on other websites which also can help improve your rankings in the search engines.
List away!
A great site for information on employment law (and that’s part of what makes any site great…information) is ELINFONET. It’s also a good place to market your employment law practice because it’s highly visible in the search engines. Not anyone can qualify though. Visit the site and check it out. I think it’s $2,000 a year to join and be listed on their site. They have a blog that is always updated and always has recent employment law stories which is always a good thing to do (keep your blog updated as I haven’t been doing here!). I’m in no way affiliated with these guys but a good marketing opportunity for labor lawyers.
One of the ways to improve the visibility of your website is to list your site in lawyer directories or any other business directories (Superpages.com for example). Another way is to improve your rankings in the organic search results (non-paid) of search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. One of the ways to improve your rankings is to get links from other websites to your own site. The Lawyer Source 360 directory is a new directory and offering free listings to attorneys who want to list their firm. You can list your firm in as many practice areas as you wish for free! Visit the free lawyer directory and add your link(s) to your website.
Attorneys,
Are you looking to increase your visibility in the search engines? There are many ways of doing this, my personal favorite being hiring a company that specializes in SEO for lawyers. Keep in mind, there are many companies that offer SEO for law firms that do a horrible job of it. Many companies are too large and thus don’t give any kind of personal attention needed in order to optimize a site properly. These same companies also don’t care how many clients they take on in a given geographic market. The bottom line is that only 10 people can be on the 1st page of the results for any given search query. The reality is that unless you’re on the 1st page of the rankings for many targeted search terms, you won’t have great success. Most users just don’t go past the 1st page. Sometimes you can be found if you’re on the 2nd page, but not consistently. First page visibility is what you need. If you can’t afford to hire a good SEO company, you can always try blogging. Adding fresh content to any website (including blogs) gives you favor with the search engines. There are many free blog platforms available on the web, but I prefer free WordPress blogs. There are many plugin features to improve your blog performance. So how can you get a free blog? Easy. Go to http://wordpress.com and click on the “SIGN UP” link. Follow the instructions after that. That’s it! You have your own blog. Happy blogging.
Most website owners, of law firm sites or any other business, worry only about getting their website high up in the search engine rankings. What most people fail to recognize however is the importance of conversion. Just because someone visits your law firm’s website, that doesn’t mean they’re going to call you. How can you increase the chance that they will call?
1. Make sure your phone number is clearly displayed on all pages of your site.
2. Make sure you have a call to action next to your phone number. (ie. “Call now for a free consultation”)
3. Have a contact form on your site. Some people are too intimidated to call an attorney. Have a contact form that can be easily found throughout your site.
4. Don’t clutter your site. Make sure your main “selling points” stand out.
5. Make sure it’s easy for site visitors to find all important pages of your site.
6. Have a great looking web design (better than your competitors).
7. Explain why visitors should choose you to represent them and not someone else.
8. Make sure you have compelling content.
9. Offer a free consultation.
10. Provide any kind of helpful information for your visitors that your competitors don’t have.
Conversion is crucial to your success. Things like these will help you convert site visitors into prospective new clients. If you need help with law firm website design, find professionals who can help make your site look better then your competitors. That’s not going to happen if you use your niece to design your site.
What’s the best type of advertising to use if you’re a lawyer? You’re probably thinking I’m going to say the Internet right? Not exactly. The best type of advertising will be different in most situations. The most popular options are:
I think the best option depends on:
1. What area of law you’re advertising: If you’re a business attorney, do you really think that you’re potential clients (or better yet the clients you want) are using the Yellow Pages to find a lawyer? Absolutely not. Do you think people use the Internet to find a business attorney? 100% without a doubt, yes they do. Now are people using the Yellow Pages to find immigration lawyers, criminal lawyers and personal injury attorneys? Of course they are, but not like they did in the past. The Internet is now the # 1 resource that people use to find an attorney. Internet marketing for lawyers is good business practice if done the right way.
2. Where (geographically) you’re advertising
Where you’re advertising will also help determine what is the best solution. If you’re in a major city then people are online and the Internet is a great solution. If you’re in a small town where there isn’t even high speed Internet, stick with the yellow pages. But those areas are becoming rare with the spread of high speed Internet. A recent UCLA study I’d seen showed over 70% of Americans use the Internet. Yes, even the elderly use the Internet though of course not like the teens of today.
3. Cost and Return on Investment
Cost of course is what controls or limits the advertising law firms use. The bottom line is, with pretty much anything in life, you have to spend money to make money. Don’t expect to spend $300 a month advertising your law firm on the Internet and plan on getting 5 new cases a month. That’s not going to happen. The amount you have to spend also depends on what it is you’re trying to market. The most competitive? Personal Injury, Criminal Defense and Family Law. Not to say that other areas aren’t competitive, they are, but those are the most competitive. Bottom line is return on your investment. If you spend $1,000 a month and that returns $2,000 in fees is that a good investment? Not really. In my mind, at least a 3-1 return is good but 5-1 should be your target. If you’re spending $2,000 a month in advertising, $10,000 in fees is pretty good.
Yes, the Internet is a great source of business for attorneys who know how to market their practice online. But it’s not right for everyone. Now here’s why I say that: The Internet has become incredibly competitive, especially when it comes to attorneys. If you can’t invest any money in your Internet marketing, you can’t reasonably expect to get a good return back. I’ve also listened to lawyers complain that the Internet doesn’t work to bring in business. Those are the same attorneys who have a website that looks like it was build by their son or nephew (meaning it works but it’s not exactly very professional looking) and don’t spend any money with a company that provides search engine optimization for lawyers. You can have great success on the Internet, but just realize you have to spend money to make money.
I’ve noticed many attorneys still using free email addresses, such as Hotmail or Yahoo email accounts. I’ve even seen a number of law firm websites that use free hosting for their website, which was also free. Free hosting services allow you to create free web pages on their site in exchange for advertisements that appear on your site. Here’s a tip: DON’T USE THESE FREE SERVICES IF YOU WANT TO GENERATE BUSINESS. I personally would never use any law firm that uses a website that has advertisements on the site. If they can’t afford the cost of a website and hosting, I highly doubt they are a successful law firm. The great majority of consumers will also share that viewpoint. In regards to free email accounts, if you regularly use that email address and don’t want to change, than fine. But don’t list that email account on your website or even your print advertisements. Use an email address that is related to your domain name (ie. lawyer@lawfirmwebsite.com) . You can have emails sent to that address forwarded to your main email account if you prefer. C’mon people, it’s 2006. All successful businesses need to have a website. Not a free one. One that you’ve have put some effort into it. Or at least the people that built it for you. If your law firm has a cheap looking website, guess what: People will think you are a “cheap” law firm (and no I’m not talking about price). Your law firm’s website is like your office. When people walk in, do they see a mess? Is your law office located in a shady part of town? What’s the first impression people get when they walk in your office? It’s the same thing with your website. Make sure your site visitors get the right first impression of you and your law practice when they first come to your site.
Internet information provider comScore released data for August analyzing search engine market share for each of the players in the area of search.
The rest just don’t matter. You may have seen some of the ASK (formerly Ask Jeeves) commercials on TV but it hasn’t done much to improve their market share. Currently they provide around 5% of Internet traffic according to comScore but when I analyze traffic reports for law firm websites , I never even see ASK in the traffic reports. If you want to pick up new clients for your law firm through the web, you need to be found for targeted keyword phrases in Google, Yahoo and MSN. The legal marketplace on the web in incredibly competitive so if you’re looking to hire someone to handle your law firms Internet marketing, make sure they can show you results in these search engines. Especially Google. In a previous post, I talk about how to choose the right Internet marketing company . While many companies offer Internet marketing for lawyers, few are really good at what they do.
