Pick Up the Pace and Get Your Website to a Better Place
If you are interested in SEO for law firms in legal marketing listen up.
Daily blogging will get you higher rankings in search engines. Google has just made sure of this with its latest update. As I highlighted right here at Rainmaker Lawyer in this bog post on Search Engine Optimization and Law Firm Marketing, updating your blog frequently will definitely have a positive impact on your search engine rankings for your keywords. This has become particularly relevant after the June update to Google’s algorithm.
So given this new information (don’t believe me, read credible internet experts here and here) why aren’t you updating your blog several times each week?
In case you need more persuading, here are the benefits of updating your blog frequently:
Interaction with Potential Clients and Referral Sources: Frequency of communication is critical to the development of any relationship. If you update your blog three to five times each week you are developing a more intimate relationship with your reader. This is a huge benefit. People do business with people they know like and trust. As communication frequency increases, so does trust.
Better Traffic: People will not read everything you write. If you produce more content, people will have more choices as to what to read. This is a good thing. With more choices, you are likely to keep people on your website longer.
In addition, the people who do read your content everyday will be great website visitors and will likely become referral sources or clients. This is because they visiting to hear what you have to say. At first they may visit your blog because they have an interest in a specific topic. After a while they may just be interested in your opinion on anything. This is how good relationships begin. Developing relationships is the object of law firm marketing.
Better thinking: Writing frequently (daily is preferred) is a great way to organize your thoughts. If you write every day, you will be forced to be organized in your thinking and in sharing your ideas. Both of these are good things for lawyers and law firms.
In many, many ways updating your website content daily will help strengthen your brand, your blog and your business. If you are serious about law firm marketing and serious about search engine optimization for law firms you must find a way to update your blog every day.
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EmailThe Shift in Law Firm Marketing on the Web
In case you haven’t noticed, Google changed the algorithm they use to rank websites once again. It appears that all the ingredients necessary for a high ranking are still in place (keyword rich content, inbound links and frequent updates among about 100 other things) but the priority of them has certainly changed.
How do I know?
The sites with the most inbound links used to rank in the top five for all search results (regardless of the keywords or content on the site). That led me to believe that inbound links were heavily weighted in the algorithm.
As of the end of June 2010, this is no longer the case. Don’t get me wrong, links still appear to be weighted heavily, but content updates are also important as are subscribers, traffic and everything else that goes into your search engine ranking.
What does all this mean?
Actually, there is no conclusion that can be drawn…yet. But anecdotally, I can tell you that the website that I updated weekly in June (this one) improved in ranking while the website I could not attend to Legal Marketing For Lawyers dropped dramatically.
I am moving back to frequent updates (three times each week or more) on each website to see if it makes a difference.
Stay tuned as I conduct this law firm marketing experiment.
Lawyer Marketing and the Internet: Three Ways
There are three ways to use the internet for lawyer marketing: The Right Way, The Wrong Way and No Way at all. There are lawyers out there doing all three. Here are my brief thoughts on each way of using the Internet for Lawyer Marketing:
No Way at All
I start with the most obvious opportunity. About 50% of the lawyer population doesn’t even have a website. Maybe they think they don’t need one. Maybe they see it as an expense. Maybe they think they just can’t compete with the large law firms on the Internet.
Even if a website helps you get one more client because they read your biography on line, the website is worthwhile. Forget about lawyer marketing, how about lawyer commonsense? Every lawyer needs a website.
The Wrong Way
About 40% of attorneys have a static web page they use as their website. They put something up in the Internet a few years ago and they forgot about it. The site probably has the attorney’s biography and some photos on it. It probably has some information about where the attorney’s office is located. It may even have a photo or two. But there is nothing about the client. There’s no educational material. There’s no information about how the client can get help. The website is all about the attorney.
The Right Way
About 10% of all lawyer websites have educational information on them. They are vehicles that clients use to find out about solutions to their problems. These websites are updated regularly. Clients return to these sites again and again not only for the information but also to keep up with the lawyer’s opinions on a variety of issues.
Clients who visit these websites feel as though they have a relationship with the lawyer. They do not hesitate to call and to refer other people to him.
Lawyer marketing is about building relationships. Your website should help build and strengthen your relationships with the people who are looking for information in the area of law where you practice. If you do not have a website you are missing out on a huge segment of potential clientele. If you have a website and it stinks, you are probably driving prospective clients away.
Three Tools That Lead to Lawyer Marketing Success
Lawyer marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. Attorneys often tell me they only have time to do a few things related to marketing each week. That’s fine. You don’t have to implement 100 different marketing initiatives in order to increase the number of clients that find your law firm.
Here are the three lawyer marketing initiatives I recommend you implement if you have limited time to focus on business development:
A Blog
Lawyer marketing is about communication, education, differentiation and motivation. You must help your clients choose you. This starts with communication. A good blog is like a conversation. The more you speak with someone the more they will begin to know you, like you, and trust you.
If you can post a short article (between 250 and 500 words) to your blog a few times each week, you will dramatically increase the visibility of your website on the Internet. An increased frequency of posting will also improve your relationship with your readers (many of whom are potential clients).
Email Newsletter
A weekly update via email is one of the most effective lawyer marketing tactics ever invented. That is not an exaggeration. If you email your clients once a week and you provide them with a pithy anecdote (about life, about business, about sports, essentially about something you would discuss with your colleagues around the water cooler) you will grow your business dramatically.
Many attorneys believe this type of communication is too frequent. They believe they will be annoying their clients and prospective clients. They are wrong. As long as the information is interesting, weekly communication is an effective lawyer marketing tool.
Monthly Printed Newsletter
A printed newsletter mailed monthly is another highly effective tool for lawyer marketing. Once again, the information must be interesting. If it’s not, the newsletter will be thrown in the garbage. But if you engage your reader, he will welcome your monthly newsletter.
There are a number of reasons why you will not implement these three lawyer marketing tools into your law practice. Ultimately, they will provide you with a huge return on investment if you do. It’s up to you. Do you want to give in to excuses or do you want to be highly effective at lawyer marketing?
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Why Blogging is Great for Law Firm Marketing
Sitting with a client yesterday I found myself falling into a familiar conversation. The client is a busy attorney with an intellectual property practice. Most of his work comes from local companies. His law firm marketing plan involves speaking at industry trade events, sending a weekly educational email to his clients, publishing a monthly newsletter and membership in several networking and trade organizations.
This lawyer’s practice does a fair amount of business. He is well known within the local community as a good intellectual property attorney. There are three main reasons he (and you) should add a blog to your law firm marketing plan. They are:
Deepen the Relationship with Clients and Prospective Clients
A blog is like a daily conversation. Readers feel like they sit down with you on a regular basis and share ideas. It is similar to the feeling you have when you read a good book that you can’t put down. Clients are engaged. They feel as though they are part of the story.
Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader
Everyone can benefit from greater visibility. This is even true for attorneys who have a thriving local law firm. Blogging provides you with additional credibility. You are viewed as an authority on your subject matter. Since the Internet has no boundaries, people from all over the world will be able to read your writing.
Clients doing research on a legal issue within your area of expertise will read your blog articles. They will consume the information. More importantly, they will begin to trust you.
Leverage Your Knowledge as a Competitive Advantage
Most attorneys (over 90%) do not provide educational information on their website. Your blog can be a significant competitive advantage for your law firm. As one of the few people providing educational information, you will be different from and better than your competition. This is one of the primary objectives of law firm marketing.
Adding a blog to your law firm marketing plan involves additional work on your part but the return on investment of your time will be substantial.
Law Firm Marketing Required Reading Part 1
Many people have asked me what blogs I read regularly or what websites I visit to keep up with the ever-changing world of law firm marketing. Since there are dozens of blogs that are great resources for lawyers interested in finding clients, I decided to highlight a few each week and bring them to your attention.
Tom Kane’s Legal Marketing Blog is a terrific resource for law firm marketing information. Tom has been blogging for over 6 years and the information he provides is timely and accurate.
Amy Campbell has been blogging since 2003 and her blog is a must read. Start with her article on the benefits of blogging.
Larry Bodine’s blog is a great place to get the latest information on law firm marketing. He is not only on top of the trends but his commentary is spot on.
Kevin O’Keefe offers the best insight into the world on on-line marketing for lawyers. He is a pioneer in blogging for attorneys and you would be smart to read everything he writes about law firm marketing and blogging.
Carolyn Elefant is The Dean of Solo and Small Law Firm Management. You’re crazy if you don’t read her blog each week. Start with this article titled “When You’re the Boss, You Don’t Beg For Work Life Balance. You Make It So.”
I’ll point you to more blogs I love to read in the days and weeks to come. Rest assured there are dozens of them out there that focus on law firm marketing. The majority of them have something of value to offer.
Marketing for Attorneys and The Magic Beans
Marketing for attorneys is just like Jack and the Beanstalk. Every attorney I meet wants to plant the magic beans, go to sleep and wake up with a beanstalk that will lead him to a beautiful place in the sky that contains untold riches. Of course there is a giant who guards this place and he enjoys eating attorneys who climb the beanstalk. Occasionally, one or two attorneys will make it down from the beanstalk with the hen that lays the golden eggs. But most of them spend a lot of time and money and in the end; they get devoured by the giant.
In marketing for attorneys, the magic beans are their website. The attorneys believe you plant the seeds, go to sleep and wake up with a vehicle that will lead the clients to your doorstep. In a few cases, this actually happens. But in most cases, fees, costs, and unforeseen expenses (the giant) beat you up pretty well before you even sniff any gold.
Don’t get me wrong, a website is a critically important tool in marketing for attorneys. You must include it in your arsenal but success doesn’t happen overnight. Here are four things you must do if you want your website to deliver qualified clients to your doorstep:
Post New Articles at Least Three Times per Week
Static web pages are as useless as brochures. (In case you didn’t know, I hate brochures. They provide no value and they only enrich the printers who sell them to you.) You must have dynamic content on your website and it must be updated a few times each week to drive your webpage to the top of search engine rankings. The articles you post do not need to be long but fresh content is critical.
Focus the Content on the Client
Don’t write about you and your firm. Someone who just arrived at your website is searching for help in solving a problem. Write about solutions to problems. You must enter the conversation that is going on in your client’s mind. Provide the information the client needs and he will check out your background once he sees what you can do for him. This doesn’t just apply to the Internet; it is a fundamental principle of marketing for attorneys.
Offer Information for Free in Return for Contact Info
The thing that separates your website from a brochure is the response device. This is a little section on the website where you offer information in return for the client’s contact information. It can be in the form of a little box at the top of the page that says: “Enter your first name and email address for my free report titled: ‘Five Things You Need to Know About Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer’” or whatever your practice area may be.
Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up
Marketing for attorneys is all about follow-up. The web is no different than any other media. Once you get a lead you need to call and email that person within 24 hours. After your initial contact, if they don’t ask to come into your office for a consultation, you should keep them on your mailing list forever. That’s right. I said forever. Your goal is to be the FIRST and ONLY attorney they think of when they have an issue in your area of expertise.
In marketing for attorneys there are no magic beans but your website can eventually help you live happily ever after.
Five Reasons Why Nobody Visits Your Law Firm Blog
Many of the calls that come in to my office are about Law Firm Blogs and attracting visitors to attorney websites.
Blogs or blawgs as some have taken to call blogs written by attorneys are terrific resources for clients and prospective clients. They also serve a valuable marketing purpose for your law firm but they are much like a tree falling in the woods—if nobody is there do they matter. And this is why I get the phone calls.
Attorneys complain that they have poured their heart and soul into their blog and nobody has visited.
They want to know where all the prospective clients are.
They want to know why people aren’t reading their information.
They want to know what is wrong with a world that cannot recognize their Pulitzer Prize-worthy ability and intellect.
The problem is not with the clients. The problem is with the attorney and how they are managing or NOT managing their blog.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, here are five reasons why nobody is visiting your blog:
Reason 1: You don’t add new content to your law firm blog frequently enough
A blog is a conversation you have with your readers.
Even if your blog is primarily educational and you are the person doing most of the “talking”, frequency of interaction is important.
If you want to develop a relationship with your reader you must add new content to your law firm blog a few times each week.
How much is enough?
That’s up to you. In most cases, three new articles per week will keep your readers interested.
Once a month is too infrequent.
Reason 2: Time is not on your side
It takes a while for your content to appear in the search engines.
Google, Yahoo and MSN will begin adding your content about three to six months after you begin frequently updating your site. This time period is not a hard and fast rule. In some cases, especially if you are writing about current events, this may happen faster.
If you are waiting for a client to find you via a web search and your blog is your only means of search engine optimization, you will be disappointed.
Reason 3: Lack of promotion is killing your blog
You need to constantly promote your blog as if you were promoting a book or a product that was just released to the public. One way to do this is by finding other blogs that discuss similar topics and commenting on them.
You should also add your blog’s web address to your email signature and your business cards. If you can afford it, send out a post card campaign announcing your blog to all of your friends, colleagues and prospective clients —remember you are not soliciting clients with these post cards, you are soliciting readers.
Reason 4: You are not adding value to your reader’s lives or businesses
The content on your blog must be worthy of being repeated. This means that it must add value to the lives of the reader. If your content is good, people will share it with their friends. If the content helps people solve a problem or make more money, people will talk about it.
That is what you are looking to accomplish.
Do not talk about yourself. Solve problems for your readers. Give them something valuable and they will tell their friends.
Reason 5: Your blog is hard to Remember
If the domain name for your blog is easy to remember you have a better chance of attracting and retaining readers.
Since the Internet has been around for a while many of the memorable domain names are taken. A good rule of thumb is that it is better to have a long and descriptive domain name than a short name that people have to figure out.
For example: If you want ExpertDivorceAdvice.com but it is taken it is better to go with ExpertDivorceAdviceBlog.com or ExpertDivorceAdviceWebsite.com than Expert-Divorce-Advice.com
Make your name memorable.
What do all of these suggestions have in common?
They are all dependent on you. You need to focus on your blog if you want it to deliver new clients.
It will take time. You must be patient. You must be dedicated to consistently working on it. But it will pay off.
Attorneys: Claim your Blog on Technorati
If you are new to blogging you need to do two things immediately. The first thing you should do is read through all the articles that we have on RainmakerLawyer on blogging. This will help you get up to speed on what to write, how often to write and how to maximize the exposure of your blog.
The next thing you should do is set up your Technorati Profile. Technorati is the ultimate search engine for blogs. Creating a profile on Technorati will help your search engine rankings and allow your content and you website to be found easily.
If you are serious about using blogging to attract clients, you need to invest the time to set up your Technorati Profile correctly.
Only Blog if You Can Handle More Clients
One of the questions I am asked most often by attorneys is: “Should I have a Blog?”
The answer is a resounding and emphatic “YES”.
This is true even though many attorneys complain that their blog has not helped them develop new business. They go on and on about how they post new content and they don’t see any improvement in their website traffic. And they talk about how much time it takes to blog.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard:
- “There is no payoff from blogging. It is too time-consuming. I have to think of something to write, actually write the content and then look it over and post it to the website. It sometimes takes me over an hour just to write one article. At my billing rate it is actually COSTING me money to blog!”
Sound familiar?
These folks also complain that the blogging software is challenging and they have trouble formatting the content and making it “look right”.
These complaints are absolutely true.
Unfortunately, the blog, the Internet or even the software are not to blame.
These issues – including the new business lead-generation issue- are cause by user error. Blogging has proven to be a high-payoff activity for many attorneys.
If it isn’t working for you, you may want to examine your approach. There are ten keys to building a successful blog – a blog that attracts qualified traffic and helps convert that traffic into paying clients.
Here are the ten keys to attracting clients with a blog:
1.) Cover topics that are relevant to your clients - People will read articles – both on-line and in print - when they are relevant to them. Your blog should allow you to enter the conversation that the client is already having with their friends, family and most importantly in their own mind.
This is critically important.
You must write for your reader and not for yourself. They want content they find interesting and relevant.
2.) Post articles frequently – You have to post a few times each week. That’s right. Each week. A blog is a communication tool. It should help you build up trust with your client base. Frequency of communication will help build trust.
3.) Grab attention right from the beginning – You must have powerful article titles and a strong opening paragraph for each article you write. You need to pull the reader into the article.
Too many attorneys write as though they are trying to build up to a crescendo with a compelling article. This style is not going to work on a blog. You are not making an argument to a jury. You are competing for attention. You need to reach out and grab the reader right away.
4.) Write the way you speak – A blog is a discussion with your clients. You should have a conversation on your blog the same way you would have it around the water cooler in your office. Remember that you are trying to develop a relationship with your reader. Speak in a natural voice and using common, plain, everyday language.
5.) Educate the reader on the issue – Every article is an opportunity for you to enhance your credibility with your readers. You can do this by educating your clients on a topic relevant to them. Good old common sense, educational content is great for helping people realize how smart and qualified you really are.
6.) Include lists, interviews and links – People love to read and save “bite size” information. Your readers will love lists, short interviews and links to more detailed information on important topics. Keep in mind that if the readers are interested in a specific topic, you can’t wear it out. Keep presenting important information on that subject but in new and unique ways. Interviewing experts and providing links to other articles on an interesting topic is infinitely more valuable than providing new information on a topic that is of no interest.
Any time you can summarize some information or give people a “shortcut” they will save it or pass it along. Do a “top ten” list every week. Do a five question Q&A via email with an expert each week. Do an “around the web” post every week that provides links to interesting information. All of those things should be in addition to your regular writing and they will be greatly appreciated by your readers.
7.) Have an opinion, damn it – You are an expert. You get paid for your advice, your research and your opinion. Make sure you include it in the articles you write for your blog.
Taking a stand, even a controversial one, will increase your readership. Sometimes you need to piss people off to get a reaction out of them. Some reaction, any reaction, is better than no reaction.
Many successful journalists polarize their readers. That passion leads to discussion far beyond the typical water cooler talk.
8.) Make the content the star – Don’t talk about yourself. The information you are sharing with your readers is really the most important part of your website. Getting that information across in a way that helps it stick in the mind of the reader is the main objective. Flattering oneself can only get in the way of this objective. Don’t do it in an informational article.
9.) Give stuff away – Include extra content as an ethical bribe for something – an email address, a mailing address or going to a specific website. Offering free reports or White Papers is a terrific way to get readers to give you some additional information about themselves.
10.) Promote your blog – It takes just as much work to convince someone to spend their time reading your free blog as it does to get them to pay for a magazine. In fact, it may be more difficult to get them to read a blog on a regular basis.
Whenever you are speaking to a group or conducting a seminar always offer the audience some type of specific incentive to go to your blog. Use a statement like: “The first fifteen people from this seminar to leave a comment on my blog will get a free copy of my e-book”. This can help you pick up a couple dozen readers in a day.
Blogging is well worth the time effort and aggravation. It can help you build your list of prospects, and it definitely enhances your credibility.
Look through this list of tips and test a few of them. If you notice a positive reaction from your readers, implement a few more. Building a solid base of readers is just like climbing a mountain. It will take a while but when you get to the top you’ll be glad you made the trip.
Also review these items from the Frequently Asked Question section:
Why Should Every Attorney Have a Blog?
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