March 18, 2008 – 12:28 am
Law firm marketing through word of mouth is nothing new. In fact since there have been lawyers there has been word of mouth marketing. Many attorneys and marketers for law firms like to pat their chests and point to the fact that they get most of their clients through referral.
The question they should be asking is not where they get the most referrals but are they getting the most possible referrals? Whether expanding a firm or becoming more selective with the cases you take lawyers and marketers must introduce their firms to the twenty-first century and realize word of mouth marketing means blogs, e-mail marketing, websites, search engine optimization and more!
March 18, 2008 – 12:17 am
As many of us Internet marketers look from the sidelines as acquisition and takeover talks swirl about Yahoo! I cannot help but to think back at a seemingly small yet significant mistake Yahoo! made in recent months.
When, how and most important WHY did Yahoo! remove the numbering as part of their search listings? Huh? What? What’s the big deal, you ask?
For the last several years I have been nothing short of impressed by the fact that Yahoo! searches have always had a higher conversion rate than Google searches for my clients. When I say my clients I do not mean a few of them. I do not mean some of them. I do not even mean most of them. I mean ALL of them. The conversion rates on Yahoo! have always been higher than the conversion rates on Google.
Small law firms and large law firms alike can benefit greatly by using webinars. Webinars, the online version of a seminar, is more cost effective than traditional seminars and allow for greater follow-up marketing.
Certain areas of the law lend themselves to webinars more than others. Attorneys practicing in: Tax Law, Elder Law, and Estate Planning can have great success with webinars.
In order to succeed with an effective webinar the entire presentation must be planned with a central theme or focus that speaks to the law firm’s target audience. Savvy marketers plan a series of webinars. Each of these webinars will be focused on a specific market.
Content is king on the Internet. Website content, online press releases, blogs and E-Zine articles are all important. Over the next few weeks we will talk about each of these but today let’s focus on website content.
Attorney websites, just like any other type of website, are judged in large part on their content. Potential clients want to be impressed with the site’s content and feel confident in the attorney’s or law firm’s background, philosophy and approach.
Though many attorneys are outstanding writers, the most savvy understand that writing for the web is quite different than writing for a case, client or to another attorney. For that reason they leave the content writing to the experts.
So what is the right way to write web copy for an attorney? First and foremost you need to keep in mind that there are two distinct audiences you are writing for. You are writing for potential clients and you are writing for the search engines.
It is amazing at how many websites for attorneys are in complete violation of the rules for attorney marketing and advertising in their given state.
Every state has its own rules on what is and what is not permissible. States have rules about everything from disclaimers and testimonials to past awards being posted and naming of […]
Attorney marketing is critical to the long term success of any law firm. Some firms invest in their websites while other firms try to rely more on word of mouth. Though there is no disputing that word of mouth marketing is important to the success of a firm it is not the basket a law […]
