Perfect scenario, you client comes to your website…. views all the great stuff you have to tell them and then they either email or call you for your services. Sounds like the perfect plan for a website visitor right? Well most law firm websites lack one thing that makes that happen. You want to know what it is right? Well do I have you on the edge of your seat, ready for the answer? Well this suspense is something that you should take into account when people approach your law firm website. TELL THEM WHAT TO DO!

Your website should have a strong call to action telling them what they need to do. It doesn’t help them if they have nowhere to go once they get to your site. Most lawyers think if they have just a website up the calls will start to come in, well I have news for you. People react on being told what they should, or need to do. They are emotional thinkers and think when they need to, and act when they need to. Do you practice personal injury? Tell them they need to see a doctor right away. Do you practice divorce? Tell them they need to come talk to you before they make a big mistake in their claims process.

Ok so your website is lacking a call to action, now what? Improve your headers, your colors and your wording. Use footers to tell people where to go and what to do. You kind of need to be the ringleader of your website to direct the show. Take them along the path you want them to be taken, then you will see more conversion.

Important Points:

1. Tell them what to do- Strong Calls to Action

2. Design your site to be a path rather then a informational blah site. People will find the information they need online, but you must have them react while on YOUR site.

3. Use graphics as an aid, not as a distraction.

Take these tips and turn your website into something spectacular. We also build law firm websites that follow this guidance and convert really well. If you are a lawyer with a basic boring website, contact us today to get starting on the path of convergence. Do not let your old business card website take down your online presence. Law firm marketing is important, whether it be online or offline.

Are you getting outranked by a lawyer by you? Is his website not even as close as good looking as yours, or has the amount of content you have? Well, let me just set the record straight, it could be that the lawyer or law firm has more inbound links then you do! Plain and simple. Well you ask, what is a good link? And why does he have more then me? Well simply put, people think their website is better to link to. Whether that be because of the information they provide, the content of the site, the site design, or whatever reason, you need to make your website more “likeable” as the web 2.0 states.

To do a quick and easy check on the links that your competition has over you, visit Yahoo Site Explorer.  There you will find a place where you can enter a URL, or website link. Simply copy and paste your competitors in there, and bam. Then click on the INLINKS button. You will see all of the sites linking to theirs. Pretty simple right? Well know what do you do to get some of these same type of links that they are getting. Simply put just go to these sites and see if you can leave a link there, a comment, or however you see the competition there, mimic. Yahoo site explorer tells you where your competition is getting links from, and is a great tool I have used for many years.

Now this will be time consuming, and probably easier from someone from your law firm like a marketing assistant to do, but if you really want to understand it, you can do it yourself.  Good luck if you have any questions in doing this, just contact me and I will be able to help you along. These links WILL help you move up the Search engines and will help you creep up on that first spot.

In my previous posts I have talked about a lot of traffic and search engine ranking how tos. This time around I am going to tell you abit about how to get your law firm marketing in shape and where it should be this far into 2010. Let’s take a look at what were your goals for 2010 and how you are coming along with them.

Lawyer Online Marketing has to deal with so many aspects, it is quite hard to wrap your head around it right? Well wrong! I have been working with lawyers who typically need to have a blog and need to be generating content everyday. Is this the right or wrong method you say? Well, from my experience in working with metrics that measure success, and keyword research for certain areas of law in different cities around the US, it is astonishing how many websites have tons of content, but yet to be on the first page of the search engines. What are they doing wrong? What could they be doing better? Below is my feedback for you guys. Take this from this post if you take anything at all as this will be shocking to hear for some law firms trying to be the online marketing generators.

Things that DO NOT WORK:

1. Telling people to link to you. Don’t waste your time and efforts. It is hard to get people to link to you but it is also hard enough to get the correct anchor text and link to the specific area you want on your website. ( Get 25 FREE Links HERE)

2. Stealing keywords and content from the most successful competition for you search terms. This is being done even now! If your content is not relevent to the meta descriptions and keywords you are stealing, then why bother?

3. Adding fancy style to your website rather then focusing on what actually works. The internet is a fierce place to practice law. If you are wanting to generate clients from your website, focus on what is working rather then what looks nice. Just because a site looks nice does not mean it converts well.

Things that DO WORK:

1. Creating quality content so people will actually link to you! This is the most important aspect. Why do all the top law firms that do not have the highest amount of content rank better? This is because they have stuff that is actually linkable! People pay more attention to quality rather then a huge load of crappy content.

2. Addressing people’s concerns about what area of law your website deals with. Convey a message, and stick to it. Help people rather then try to help someone. Give them guidance.

3. Give them something for free. Reports, how tos, consultations. Give them something to get their information. This builds leads into clients. Enough said there.

Lawyer online marketing is a how to market of everyone doing something wrong and right. The ones who do the most right are the ones who suceed. If you are one of the law firms or lawyers who are doing something from the above DO NOT DO list, don’t worry. It is not too late for you to turn it around and give your prospects what they want.

You see these lawyer directories all over the place when trying to market your law firm. You think to yourself, do these really work? You also wonder why so many lawyer directories have the same reoccuring theme over and over again, in which they sell the front page to the highest bidder and take your money as well to have a quality link to your website. Well, I am going to tell you what you need to know about lawyer directory websites and if they really work or not, in terms of getting what you paid for.

Let’s start by defining a lawyer directory website. A lawyer directory website is a resource of a combined list of lawyers and attorneys from all over the world, for which consumers or clients can research a law firm and make a informed decision about which lawyer they should choose. Some of these have added features like intergrated blogs and other design aspects, but most are all the same in all avenues. They list the top paying firms on the homepage to grab your attention, and try to drive you back to the firms website. Some examples of this type of site is Hr.org and Martindale.com.  The more of a highbred lawyer directory is considered Avvo.

Ok do these lawyer directories actually work Jesse? Well let me tell you this, if you are gaining any business from these sites ( which you should be measuring if you are or not) then I guess you could say that they are working for you. If you also are gaining a quality linkback to your website, that is also a win in my eyes. As long as the linkback contains quality anchor text to your law firm website, you should have a impact on the search engines in your niche area. *Remember – when linking to your website, use the most targeted word searched for your site and focus on building that up. When you dominate the search engines for these words, you should then move your focus on other areas of practice.

Ok now what? Show me how I should be using these types of websites. These types of websites are all over the net. List your law firms on all of the free ones first (if you want help on listing your firms on these types of sites, contact me). Then focus your marketing dollars on the top lawyer directories. These may be a good ROI based on the price paid. Market and research. See what worked best for you. Using these types of sites is really hit or miss. Use your metrics and measuring to your advantage. And if you are not measuring your search metrics, you may want to reconsider doing any marketing because you need to learn how to measure before you can jump. EasyLegalMarketing can help with a effective marketing campaign lawyer directory services. If you need this type of search use the contact page on this website. Also, if you are a lawyer that needs help measuring their metrics, you can also contact us to help you with this as you will not move forward without doing this first. Overall, use these to your advantage but do not sink a lot of money or investment in these types of sites as they are only good as one quality link to your site. Choose wisely!!

In the fierce world of online marketing for lawyers and attorneys, the intial impression you leave in a prospective clients mind about your law firm intially comes from your website or web design. Making this a key point in your plans on building a effective online campaign is crucial for not only getting traffic to your site, but to be able to convert those who visit your site into clients.

The key to any marketing effort in the legal industry is having identified goals. This is no truer than when it comes to marketing your law firm through a website. So ask yourself, what are your goals for your website? Here are just a few examples:

Getting your Point Across

Some law firms just want what I describe as “an online business card” or “static site. Their website goal is to have something to show people who want to see something up on the internet about their website. They don’t care or plan whether or not their site will get visitors, leads, or generate new clients. This is the term known as a ego that wants to serve just a single purpose of seeing their name on a website.

Using a Blog To Boost Your Site

Some lawyers recognize that merely having an online static site or frontpage is not enough for them to be profitable. They want to be the next great blog author. They want a following of people to read what they have to say. Perhaps they want to generate advertising revenue. They understand some basics about law firm internet marketing, but aren’t really ready to completely commit to a full-scale online marketing campaign. Typically, they’re less excited about practicing law than they are about writing about it. Read a previous article about the best lawyer blogging tools.

Improving Your Practice Online

That brings us to the main goal of any law firm marketing on the internet, making money from prospects from the internet. Many law firms are learning that the internet can be an excellent source of new clients and new sources of referrals. They need comprehensive web marketing services utilizing SEO and online marketing projects and plans. These typically include a website and blog, contact form integration built into the website, link building best practices, and other features designed not only to help the website get found online, but to turn more traffic into leads and clients.

These are only a fraction of the different goals amd projects that a law firm website can be used to achieve. The key is to identify these goals band plans before you even start. Jeff Bermanof AttorneySync states “Your goals for your website can take you in completely different directions and change your prioritization of time investment, monetary investment, and overall implementation. That is why it is critical to establishing these goals before diving into an expensive and time consuming law firm website solution.” Wow what a great statement about a law firm design aspect.

Need an Attorney or Lawyer Website Designed?

It is hard to find someone with the knowledge of designing a website for a law firm. I typically do not recommend having just any website design company taking this task, as they do not know the audience a lawyer or attorney is typically going after in clients. Lawyer Website Design by JLG Marketing Solutions is a tried and true website design company that can help you with your needs. With the trend of web 2.0, you need a up to date website to keep up with the times and JLG does great work! Click the link above to contact them to help develop either a blog or a full functional website for your law firm.