Impirus Blog: Recent Posts

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The owners of local business review sites, like Yelp.com and CitySearch.com, aren’t happy with Google. They do not like the way data in “Google Places” is shown above their data in search returns. “Google Places” is Google’s equivalent of a local business directory.

Recently, Google made an adjustment to Google Places. Now it takes up more space than ever on a search engine results page. For example, a search in Google on the phrase “NYC criminal defense attorney” yields a page full of Google content. In the image below, the Google Places results are highlighted in yellow. They are surrounded on the top and side by Google paid ads.

Google stands to gain advertising dollars by featuring local businesses this way. Businesses can buy tags for $25/month in order to gain visibility in Google Places.

Google holds almost 70% of the search engine market. Many companies feel that Google abuses its dominant position in the search engine market. The European Union is currently conducting an antitrust investigation.

Regardless of the outcome, Google currently has a stronghold on local business results that lawyers can’t ignore.  Setting up a profile in Google Places is more important now, than ever.

Think back to when you opened your law office. How did you let people know that you were available? Chances are you had a ribbon cutting, wrote a press release, or distributed written announcements. Just as you promoted your new business, you need to promote your new website.

1. Announce your arrival to the search engines. Submit your URL (website address) to Google here: http://www.google.com/addurl
   
   Google admits that your website is likely to be noticed even faster, if it finds it on a routine crawl. How is this possible? If a website that has already been indexed by Google links to your new website, Google will find it.
   
   Submit your URL to Yahoo here: http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
   
2. Broadcast the “Grand Opening” of your website by email. Be sure to include a specific directive in the email. For instance, “Visit our new website to view all of our services,” or “Visit our new website to read the article about …..”
   
3. Be a guest blogger on a popular blog. Write a helpful article, and link back to your new website at the end of the article.
   
4. Create a profile of your law firm on Google Places, and include a link back to your website.
   
5. If you don’t want to wait months for organic (unpaid) website traffic, you can pay for traffic through Google AdWords.

Remember, you have to work to get your website noticed. There are over 234 million websites on the internet . Complete the 5 steps above, and you will be off to a good start.

Benjamin Franklin said, “A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.” If this is true, then Benjamin was as large as the British Empire because he understood that collective intelligence was greater than his own. He was a collaborator. He exchanged thousands of letters with intellectuals in Europe and the colonies. In fact his letters to Peter Collinson became the foundation for the publication of Experiments and Observations on Electricity in 1751. Although Benjamin is best known for his experimentation with electricity, he also collaborated with scientists on topics such as lead toxicity, meteorology, and oceanography.

Among Franklin’s inventions were the lightning rod, a musical instrument, swimming fins, bifocal glasses, the Franklin stove, an odometer, and even a flexible urinary catheter. He never patented his inventions. He said, “as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.”

Benjamin was a prolific writer. He published The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1729 and Poor Richard’s Almanac in 1733. He understood the power of the printed word, and began to use it to persuade the public. In one instance he sold the public on the idea of building a public hospital. Later he was able to convince the colonists that they should be free of British rule.

During the 1700s Benjamin had to rely on the slow delivery of letters and the limited distribution of content through newspapers. Although 10,000 copies of Poor Richard’s Almanac were sold per year, imagine the distribution of content he could have achieved with the internet.

If Franklin were alive today he would have a massive audience and a great reservoir of resources from which to draw. He would love Wikipedia, as he was the founder of the first public lending library.

He would undoubtedly have a blog, and would read and comment on other blogs. I am confident that he would publish controversial ideas, not just popular ideas. And while he would encourage everyone to have a voice, he would use his powers of persuasion to unite everyone for the common good.

Benjamin Franklin said, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” Franklin did both. It is through his extensive writings that we know so much about him. And even today he is worth writing about, not only for his inventions, but for his belief in the power of communities. He would have loved the internet as a platform for distributing his persuasive writing, and for learning from others.

There are many features which can be added to a law firm website in order to make it more of a communication device. Features include sharing documents online, receiving payments, and capturing electronic signatures. They deliver more value to clients, and allow for lawyers to justify charges. Other website functions, such as showing more than 1 language or blogging, serve to convert more web visitors into clients.

A poll was conducted by Impirus Legal Websites to determine the legal industry’s interest in website functionality. The poll was shown to Linkedin users in the United States who are in the legal industry. There were 51 respondents.

The question was asked, “In which law firm website functionality are you most interested?”

The answer choices were:

• Share documents with clients

• Capture electronic signatures

• Receive online payments

• Blog

• Show more than 1 language

The overall results show that 43% of respondents are most interested in sharing documents with clients through a law firm website. Next, 25% of respondents are most interested in having a blog as a part of a website. A similar number, 21% of respondents, are most interested in being able to receive payments through a law firm website. There was not as much interest in being able to capture electronic signatures (1%), or in showing more than 1 language (7%).

Interestingly enough, the results varied depending on the size of the company. Large companies favored having a blog and showing more than 1 language. Small and medium sized companies favored sharing documents with clients.

The overall results were most accurately reflected by the 25-34 year age group. All age groups were most interested in sharing documents with clients, except for the 35-54 year age group which slightly favored getting a blog.

In conclusion, law firm websites can have added functionality. Linkedin users in the legal industry were polled to determine the most appealing law firm website functionality. The overall results showed that the ability to share documents was the most appealing website feature. In the future the poll could be expanded to include more participants, and to limit each feature to a “yes or no” type question.

Everyday objects like laptops, cars, and pens can be used to direct potential clients to your law firm’s website. The objects can be engraved or emblazoned with your firm’s website address and primary practice area.

Carolyn Elefant recently blogged about an attorney, Cindi Matt, who has personalized her laptop with her firm’s website address. She uses her laptop at a local coffee shop and invariably draws attention to her legal services.

Attorney David Haenel advertises his firm’s web address with his car. The words “fightyourcase.com” surround his vehicle, and attract attention. The advertising is particularly effective when his car is parked in the jail parking lot, as Haenel is a DUI and traffic attorney.

As opposed to laptops and cars, pens can be left behind for others to pick up. They can be strategically placed at local cleaners, banks, bars, or libraries. They can also be handed out to referral sources. You can purchase customized pens from companies such as National and Myron.

An object can be decorated with a self explanatory web address, like planoduiattorney.com. Alternatively it can be marked with a web address and type of attorney, like “Chicago Divorce Attorney.”

In closing, tangible items can be used to draw attention to your law office website. They can be used to bring people online where they can discover more about you and your practice areas. Some of the objects can be temporarily “parked” for others to view, while inexpensive objects can be given as gifts. All of the objects serve to bring awareness to your services.

You can use client satisfaction surveys to improve your practice, and to collect testimonials. Negative responses to surveys can help you identify areas for improvement. Positive responses can be used as website testimonials with clients’ permission (if allowed in your state).

SurveyMonkey provides an easy way to create a survey. Here’s how:

1. Create an account with SurveyMonkey.
2. Choose the “look” for your survey.
3. Choose the format for the questions (multiple choice, open ended, rating scale, etc.)
4. Create the questions.
5. Click a button to create a link to your survey.
6. Share the link in email messages.
7. See the results of the survey.

Here is a one-question survey that I created through SurveyMonkey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D5WN33D

Here are some general tips for client satisfaction surveys.

• Keep the survey short. It should not take more than a couple of minutes to complete.
• Consider sending the survey immediately after services are rendered.
• If you would like to send the survey to former clients, send the link to the survey in a newsletter.

In summary, sending a survey to your clients can help you learn about your practice, and provide you with a source of testimonials for your website. SurveyMonkey allows for you to easily create and send a survey to your clients, and it is free at the basic level. Give it a try, and find out what your clients really think of you.

It is a good idea to include disclaimers on your legal website or blog in order to avoid confusion. A failure to include disclaimers can result in problems. See a list of problems below, the ABA’s opinions, and examples of disclaimers.

Case Studies

Problem: A web visitor may read case studies on your website, and expect the same results.

ABA Opinion: Information about current of former clients may be included on a website with the clients’ permission. The information must not be false or misleading. Include a disclaimer to prevent misunderstanding.

Example Disclaimer: “Prior Results Do Not Guarantee a Similar Outcome” Derived from Crotty Saland LLP

Legal Information

Problem: A web visitor may read general legal advice on your website or blog and may apply it to his personal legal situation.

ABA Opinion: Legal information, as given through blog posts or website articles, must be accurate and current. Include a disclaimer to the effect that the advice is general and “should not be understood as a substitute for personal legal advice.”

Example Disclaimer: “The information you obtain on this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.” Derived from Cowheylaw.com

Contact Form

Problem: A web visitor may view a reply to a contact box on your website as an action that creates a client-lawyer relationship.

ABA Opinion: If a lawyer’s contact box invites the web visitor to submit a message, and the web visitor complies, this creates bilateral communication (client-lawyer relationship). Include a disclaimer so as to avoid misunderstandings. The disclaimer must be clearly written and conspicuously placed.

Example Disclaimer: “We invite you to contact us and welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established.” Derived from Crain Lewis LLP

In conclusion, the ABA recommends adding disclaimers to your law firm website or blog. The disclaimers prevent a web visitor from expecting certain results, advise a visitor to get information about his individual matter, and warn a web visitor that a relationship is not established by merely filling out a website contact form. Adding disclaimers minimizes confusion and prevents problems.

Consider the search phrases that potential clients use in order to find lawyers.  One might search (in Google) on a phrase like “Dallas dui attorney.” In that case the geographic region is specified and many of the organic (unpaid) search engine results will be local.

But what if a person does not specify the geographic region? What if one wants a local attorney but simply searches on the words “dui attorney?”

Take a look at the results below for a search on the keywords “dui attorney.” Keep in mind that I searched on the keywords from my computer in Frisco, TX (a suburb of Dallas, TX).  The search would give different results in your geographic region.

Green highlights = paid results

Yellow highlights = directories

Orange highlights = Google local business results

Here’s the explanation for what is being returned.

• The paid listings (green) are appropriately targeting Frisco, TX even though a geographic region was not specified in the keywords. This is because when lawyers pay to advertise with Google AdWords they specify the geographic region in which the ads should be shown.
• The national directories (yellow) have a higher organic search ranking than any local law firm websites. The returns are not specific to Frisco, TX.
• The Google local business results (orange) are specific to someone searching in Frisco, TX for a local “dui attorney.”

Here are the options for lawyers who want to be found, even on nonspecific searches.

• You can pay for Google AdWords. You specify the keywords and the geographic region to which the ads should be shown. Keep in mind though that more people click on organic search results than on paid ads.
• Get listed in national directories. Google your practice area from your local computer to see which directories are predominant in your geographic region. Check out the cost of being listed in such directories.
• Set up a profile for your law office on Google Places (a.k.a. Google Local Business). It is free, and it puts you at the top of the Google search engine results pages.

The bottom line is that people are using the internet to search for local attorneys. They are typically using Google to search, as it holds about 70% of the search engine market. Although people are searching for local attorneys, they do not always specify their geographic region in the search terms. That is why it is important for an attorney who wants to be found on the web to create a Google Places profile, and to consider paying for national directory listings and/or Google AdWords.

In order for your law firm website to be found by potential clients it needs to be search engine optimized. In other words, it needs to be set up to properly communicate with Google, and other search engines. This four part series explains how a law office website can be search engine optimized.

Part 1 is about Title Tags, Part 2 is about URLs, and Part 3 is about Page Content. Those are all “on page factors” that affect search engine optimization. Today’s post is about inbound links, which are “off page factors” affecting search engine optimization. An inbound link, or backlink, is a link from another website to your law office website.

Out of all of the search engine optimization strategies, getting inbound links seems to be the most important. This is because search engines can get a good idea of the worth of your website by looking at the number and authority of sites that link to your website.

There are many ways to get backlinks. Most of the ways require time, and some of the ways involve money. Here are some things you can do to get inbound links without spending money.

• Set up a profile (complete with your web address) within Cornell University Law School’s Lawyer II Directory.
• Claim your profile on Avvo, and fill it out completely with your web address.
• Be a guest blogger on a site, like Lawyerist .com, and include a link to your website.
• If you have a Facebook profile, put your web address in your profile. Sometimes links from social media sites are “no follow” but on the current date a link from Facebook counts as a backlink.
• Publish great content on your own website. Be the first to write about new laws in your niche. Other sites will likely link to your valuable content.

You can also spend money to get backlinks.

• You can pay to publish press releases with links to your site, through sites such as PR Web.
• You can pay to be listed in directories, such as FindLaw and HG.org, but return on investment varies widely depending on your target market and geographic region.

If you’d like to track your success with getting backlinks, use LinkPopularity.com. Just go to the site, and enter your website address. It will tell you the number of backlinks you have, as viewed by each of the search engines.

You can also track the effect that getting inbound links is having on your website by looking at your PageRank. PageRank can be seen in a Google Toolbar. It ranges from 1-10 and shows Google’s estimate of your site’s importance. Wikipedia’s page rank is 9 out of 10. See the image below.

In conclusion getting inbound links is a great way to improve your search engine optimization. The more high authority sites that link to your website, the better. You can spend time nurturing inbound links by setting up free profiles and writing great content. You can also pay to receive inbound links. The success of your efforts can be monitored with the link popularity checker and with the Google Page Rank tool.  Of course the ultimate goal of getting inbound links is to get more (qualified) visitors to your website.

In order for your law firm website to be found by potential clients it needs to be search engine optimized. In other words, it needs to be set up to properly communicate with Google, and other search engines. Part 3 of this four part series is about Page Content.

Last week I explained how it is important to include keywords in the title tags and URLs for your web pages. The same holds true for page content. It sends a big message to the search engines when a keyword is contained in the title tag of the page, the URL for the page, the heading on the page, and paragraphs on the page. For example, take a look at Joel Larabee’s page on Discrimination. I have highlighted the word “discrimination” in the title, URL, Heading, and paragraphs.

It is best to limit page content to one practice area at a time so you can drive home the point with search engines and web visitors alike. In describing the practice area, use words that lay people might use in addition to legal terms. Use Google’s keyword tool to find what people are searching for.

When I use the keyword tool to search for “discrimination” I can see that there are 673,000 local monthly searches for the word “discrimination.” It is a great word to use in content because it is highly searched. Keywords with lower search volumes should not be ignored, however. For instance, the phrase “age discrimination in the workplace” has a local monthly search volume of 2,400. While it has a much lower search volume than “discrimination” it is a good phrase to use in content because there is less competition for the words. It is a long tail keyword.

If you have more than one heading on a page, include your most important keywords in the first heading (H1). There should only be one H1 per page.

In addition to including keywords in your page content, write for your audience and write a lot. The quality and the quantity of your website content matters. Look for a way to incrementally add content to your website, whether it is through a blog or by adding articles to your website. Generally the more content, the greater the opportunity to add keywords, and the higher the search engine ranking.

In review, add keywords to your page content. Include them in headings and in paragraphs. Make sure that they match the keywords in the title tag and URL for the page. Focus on a few keywords per page. Include frequently searched keywords and long tail keywords in your content. Above all else, write for your audience and write frequently.

In order for your law firm website to be found by potential clients it needs to be search engine optimized. In other words, it needs to be set up to properly communicate with Google, and other search engines. Part 2 of this four part series is about web page URLs.

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is an address of a web page. URLs are “read” by search engines. The URL for Joel Larabee’s home page is highlighted below.

Each page of your website should have a unique URL. The URL should contain keywords relevant to the content and the title tag of the page. For example, look at the page about wrongful termination in the website below. Notice that the highlighted URL contains the words “wrongful termination.”

Inserting keywords into URLs is an often neglected, but easy way to achieve search engine optimization.  Talk to your web developer about customizing your website URLs or get an Impirus website.  It is easy to customize the URL for each web page within an Impirus website.

In order for your law firm website to be found by potential clients it needs to be search engine optimized. In other words, it needs to be set up to properly communicate with Google, and other search engines. Part I of this four part series is about Title tags.

Title tags are “read” by search engines, such as Google. They are very important as they tell the search engines what your site is primarily about, and include keywords for which you want to be known. Here is how to view the title tag for your home page.

1. Go to the home page of your law firm website.

2. Look at the top of the window. In the example below, the title tag is “Law Office of Joel Larabee, Employment Lawyer, Wrongful Termination, Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, Wage and Hour, San Diego, Riverside, Orange County.”

If you would like to see the HTML code for your title tag, follow the instructions below.

1. Go to the home page of your law firm website.

2. Choose View from the Main Menu, and then choose Page Source. See the title tag highlighted below.

In the website shown above, the San Diego employment lawyer included his firm name, practice areas, and geographic service areas in the title tag of his home page. In other words the title tag contains keywords, like “employment lawyer,” for which the lawyer wants to be known. The title tag (along with other information) “tells” search engines  to return his website when someone searches for “employment lawyer San Diego.”

Only about 65 characters of a title tag appear in a search return.  Notice that the home page title tag is cut off after the words wrongful termination (in the image below).  So if there is a word that you really want web surfers to see in the search engine results pages, put it towards the beginning of the title tag.

Each page in your website should have its own title tag. The title tag should be specific to the content on the page. For example, a page about sexual harassment within attorney Larabee’s website is titled “Law Office of Joel Larabee – Sexual Harassment.”

Tip: Place your most important keywords towards the beginning of a title tag. Also, include keywords for which lay people are searching. You can use Google’s free keyword tool to find commonly searched words.

You might hear about other website tags, such as “description tags” and “keyword tags.” While these tags serve other functions, they do not help search engine ranking in Google.

If you need help with editing your title tags talk to your web developer, or get a website through Impirus.  It is easy to edit your own title tags and description tags when you own an Impirus website.

There’s no highfalutin talk coming from attorney Robert Kraft. He’s a self-proclaimed “slow talking, small town, country lawyer.” Although he practices in Dallas, which is not a small town, his mannerisms do resemble those of a country lawyers’. His use of truth in marketing has helped him to grow into a firm with 3 other attorneys and a total of 17 employees.

The tag line his firm has adopted, “You’ll find we’re easy to talk to” can be extended to include “easy to listen to.” Kraft’s articles are all geared towards his target market. One of his blogs, pissd.com, stands for Personal Injury, Social Security Disability. He says, “The title of this blog reflects my attitude toward those government agencies and insurance companies that routinely mistreat injured or disabled people.” In making such a statement, he positions himself as an advocate for the little people. An example of a post on pissd.com is Cell Phone Use in School Zones Still OK in One North Texas City. It talks about how cell phones in school zones have not yet been banned in Garland because of inaction on the part of the city government. The post is consistent with Kraft’s style which is to communicate clearly and to springboard off current events and news.

Prior to blogging Robert published articles and brochures on his website, kraftlaw.com. The articles include information about auto collisions, bankruptcy, and medical malpractice. It is Kraft’s intention to educate consumers through his content, which he disseminates through Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. He writes about things that are important to him, and views the resulting business as a bonus.

In addition to articles and brochures, Robert’s main website converts web visitors into clients with “trust factors.” One of his web pages features his employees, and the number of years they have been employed with him. One of his employees, Dot Gordon, has been working for him since 1971. What a statement! Other trust factors include a full web page of favorable client comments and a video in which Robert welcomes web visitors with a friendly Texas drawl.

The Kraft and Associates email newsletters, which are also cleverly positioned on kraftlaw.com, are effective for several reasons. First, they relate to current news within Kraft’s geographic service area. Furthermore, they offer free legal advice. Finally, they contain a “featured employee” which shows that the firm takes pride in its employees.

In summary, attorney Bob Kraft connects with his market through writing blog posts, articles, brochures, free booklets, and newsletters. He posts the content on multiple websites, and distributes it through email newsletters and social media. The reason for Kraft’s success is that he makes no pretenses. He writes for his audience in his own voice and on topics that he enjoys. His genuineness has paid off.

Today is the first day of fall; a season for burnt orange leaves, football games, and Thanksgiving turkey. Is fall the start of a slump in business, or are you ramping up for a boon in business? It probably depends on your practice area.

If you practice estate planning, criminal defense, or elder law you might find that business picks up towards the end of the year. But what if this is not the case for you? What if you experience a trough during the holiday season?

First of all, it is a good idea to note seasonal fluctuations. Identify highs and lows on your calendar. Use the low periods to ramp up your marketing efforts. Write blog posts, attend networking events, update your website content, and work on your internet presence.

You can also use the time to analyze your sales processes. Take a look at the Google analytics for your website. How successfully are you converting web visitors into clients? If your conversion rate needs improvement, consider revamping your sales process. What do you do when someone contacts you by email through your website? Do you follow up with a phone call? Reconsider the method, speed, or consistency in which you follow up with website leads.

Hopefully fall signals an uptick in business for your law firm. If it doesn’t, take note of it and use the time wisely. Using down time to market your law practice and to re-work your sales strategy will pay off in the long run.