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ARTICLE TOOLS Email This Article Print This Post Comments RSS Feed Trackback This Article Areas of Law Administration City Regulations State Policy Criminal Law Drug Related Juvenille Estate Planning Elder Care Law Medical and Financial Directives Probate Wills and Trusts Family Law Child Custody CPS Representation Divorce Domestic Violence Cases	Attorney SEO Series: Marketing Your Law Firm Online – Harnessing Web 2.0 Posted by admin 0n May 24, 2009 in Blog, SEO I recently had the pleasure of attending an attorney workshop hosted by the Houston Bar Association. The subject of the workshop was ‘How To Market Your Law Firm on The Web’, and I thought that my notes would make a great addition to our Attorney SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Series. If you are unfamiliar with the series, feel free to start at our introduction. I have added some additional information to the notes below, and will continue to elaborate on similar topics as the series progresses. If you have questions drop us a line or use the comment form below. Houston Lawyers Direct prizes feedback and will gladly get back to you as soon as possible. Let start with the basics: What is Marketing? Marketing is all about developing relationships. The internet is an augment factor of this relationship, but it should not be your only tool. Social media, which will be expanded upon in the next segment, should not take the place of traditional marketing (newsletters, calling, etc). Your goal is to make a sincere connection with your clients and potential clients. Think of the internet as one more avenue to accomplish this task. What is web 2.0 and why is it important? Web 2.0 is the interactive form of websites that is often considered the second generation of the medium. Web 2.0 is based upon the collaboration and interaction between the web user and the website. This can be in the form of everything from comments to discussion forums. Web 2.0 enables sites are ideal because they create an active back and forth between you and the user. Thus, clients and potential clients feel more acclimated to your firm and are more willing to offer you the prize of their business. Keys to Effective Sites: Simple navigational structure Engaging and relevant information Content that is updated frequently o (Most users only visit a site for just a few seconds- this is your opportunity to capture their attention while encouraging a follow-up visit.) The site should reflect you and your personality. Try to avoid pre-made templates as they do little to convey your unique brand. o Think of who you are and what you would like your business to convey. The more information that you can give concerning your practice, the better. Be considerate of your audience. For example, a divorce attorney’s web site may take extra care in appealing to families. o Example: Clement Law Firm (http://divorce.clementlaw.com/) – This site is clearly geared to the affect divorce has on families. Note the images of parents and children playing together. One of its chief goals is to attract parents with a strong interest in maintaining child custody. If you are comfortable with online videographer or rich photographs include them! However, be sure that you are comfortable with your image, etc. If you are nervous or otherwise, perhaps this is not the best approach: videos are often unforgiving. Finally, actively manage and update your content. o This can be done by consistently submit articles, writing Blog Posts (on even the casual of subjects), and keeping a presence on the web. I have bolded this last as I’d like you to offer it special attention. Managing your content is by far the most important step. It goes without saying that professionals, especially attorneys, are very busy. However, all that it takes is an hour or two invested a week to really make a difference. Write with your potential client in mind and you would be surprised as to how effective this strategy is. You will immediately be thought of as an expert. Simply put, when someone searches your name or area of practice – your short educational article may very well be the first link. There is no better way to control your online identity, improve search engine rankings, and actively shape what clients think of you. This concludes part 1 of the ‘Marketing Your Law Firm Online’ series. Check back often and make sure to subscribe to our updates on the left. Please leave a comment, and we look forward to seeing you back. Related posts: Attorney SEO Series - Designing Your Web Presence Attorney SEO Series - Choosing a Host Attorney SEO Series - A New Call To Action! Attorney SEO Series - Introduction Attorney SEO Series - Choosing the perfect domain name Bookmark: Tags: attorney-seo, marketing, SEO, web 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Add New Comment Subscribe: This Thread Go to: My Comments · Community Page Sort thread by: Viewing 8 Comments Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. Permalink Admin Remove Post Block username Block email Block IP address Himanshu Tripathi 1 month ago 1 point Please login to rate. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. Your trusted, comprehensive resource for locating lawyers and law firms nationwide that can help you with any of your legal issues. Search over 600,000 listings by geographic location and areas of expertise such as DUI, Divorce, Personal Injury, Criminal Law, Mesothelioma, Living Wills and more. Use our extensive legal directory to find an experienced attorney fast. Lawyer Marketing reply edit reblog flag record video comment 2 /people/facebook-1460203325/ /people/facebook-1460203325/following/ Permalink Admin Remove Post Block username Block email Block IP address bishoy 1 month ago 1 point Please login to rate. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. SEO is a very important tool, with direct results. You can drive traffic easily to your website using SEO, saving money supposed to be paid for AD words. It is an easy, cheap & effective way to boost your online sales too. search engine optimisation reply edit reblog flag record video comment 1 /people/bishoy/ /people/bishoy/following/ Permalink Admin Remove Post Block username Block email Block IP address tomraley 2 months ago 1 point Please login to rate. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. A market is any one of a variety of different systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby persons trade, and goods and services are exchanged. california bankruptcy attorneys reply edit reblog flag record video comment 1 /people/tomraley/ /people/tomraley/following/ Permalink Admin Remove Post Block username Block email Block IP address seo company 4 months ago 1 point Please login to rate. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. I have to agree with SERM there because it has been a practice of mine that when I make websites, I make sure that they are clean and can really attract many visitors. It also has many informative topics so that visitors will not be bored. Remember simplicity is not a bad thing. reply edit reblog flag record video comment 1 /people/link_building/ /people/link_building/following/ http://www.pageonerankings.com.au/ Permalink Admin Remove Post Block username Block email Block IP address SERM 5 months ago 1 point Please login to rate. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. we should always ensure that our website reflects our professionalism, and this is where SEO takes place, at the same time increasing our traffic and search engine rankings. reply edit reblog flag record video comment 1 /people/sermozz4/ /people/sermozz4/following/ http://keywordsearchpros.com/seo-serm/ Permalink Admin Remove Post Block username Block email Block IP address brate 5 months ago 1 point Please login to rate. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. Search Engine optimization and Internet Marketing are the way to go these days. Seo service includes advanced up-to- date search engine optimization, advanced link building, directory submission, ppc, email marketing, Banner ads and many more. One should be aware of the facts of the seo services before having it as many firms fake promises to rank the website #1 in all leading search engines. As the Seo services are for the long run so not be ensnared in the fake assurance of the optimizers. reply edit reblog flag record video comment 3 /people/brate/ /people/brate/following/ Permalink Admin Remove Post Block username Block email Block IP address socialmaker 5 months ago 1 point Please login to rate. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. When it comes to services there are only a handful of companies who really know what they're doing. Only these know what content is all about, fixing site issues, URL canonicalization and rewrites and getting you a lot of links. reply edit reblog flag record video comment 2 /people/socialmaker/ /people/socialmaker/following/ Permalink Admin Remove Post Block username Block email Block IP address personal injury austin 5 months ago 1 point Please login to rate. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. thanks a lot for the tips, currently I'm working on my blog to gain trust of my fellow readers and clients, it's one good step towards success I think.. reply edit reblog flag record video comment 1 /people/injury2/ /people/injury2/following/ Add New Comment Trackbacks (Trackback URL) close () status via twitter recent comments (follow comments) View Profile » Powered by Disqus · Learn more close Reblog this comment Powered by Disqus · Learn more blog comments powered by Disqus