Getting new clients is half the battle, but keeping clients satisfied and delivering results for clients is the other half. As an attorney remember and apply the following, despite how old you are or how many years you’ve been practicing:

- Pick up the phone – One of the main complaints you will hear from clients is that they are trying to reach and ultimately hire an attorney, to no avail. Be sure you don’t instruct staff to just let calls go to voicemail or allow yourself to be lazy with returning calls. If potential clients aren’t getting a response or prompt answer from you – I can guarantee they are moving on to other options. Client leads are only as good as the attention you give them.

-Low Expectation – High Return – Not only do Model Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit you from over-promising or misrepresenting your abilities, specialties  and expected results to potential clients, it’s bad form in general. Be honest and upfront with clients regarding potential success and case outcome, and state realistically not dramatically. This applies to deadlines as well – it is always better to respond with a timely and expected update than having to communicate another delay or let down.

-A Hostess with the Mostess – Being a professional does not give you the right to act however you’d like. In fact, it requires you to be upstanding and catering. You are not only an attorney, but a counselor, and a host. When potential clients or colleagues are in your office, remind them that they want to be there and feel comfortable. Remember your staff’s demeanor is also just as important – wait times should be minimal. Remind clients their time is just as valuable as yours – focus on the client not email, computer, phone, etc.

-Feedback not Flattery – A great way to gain client satisfaction is to know your strengths and your pitfalls from your clients’s perspective. Asking for feedback from clients gives direct insight into what you can improve on and what is already working well. Whether in the form of a Google+ review, Yelp testimonial, word of mouth client referral or direct conversation; all forms of feedback are incredibly valuable and should be solicited – with caution and care.

In 2012, Smartphone penetration reached over 50% of all U.S. mobile phones in use. Now, nearly 86 million Americans use their mobile phones to interact with local business content. Tablets are being adopted at an unprecedented rate, reaching over 40 million Americans two years after their introduction. Neustar: Trends Shaping Local Search in 2013

This recent Neustar Webinar focusing on local search trends, revealed mobile devices are more important for local search than ever, and Google app search is most dominate for businesses. Law Firm’s whose websites are not mobile optimized may not show up correctly on devices and may deter mobile users from contacting or learning more about the firm. Optimizing your firm’s website not only helps in search results, but provides a friendly and easy user experience for potential clients. A mobile optimized firm website is equally as important to ensure potential clients don’t go elsewhere due to a bad user experience, or get lost in functionality and can’t easily find your contact information or click to call ability.

Below are some key takeaways regarding mobile trends, and mobile optimization best practices for your firm’s website.

Key Findings from Trends Shaping Local Search in 2013 Webinar:

• 56% of mobile phone owners use their browser for search, making it the #1 activity on mobile browsers.
• The top reason for using mobile phones for local search is because information is needed on-the-go; 56% percent of mobile phone users selected their phone for search for that reason.
• Tablet searchers are becoming more demanding of the depth of local content. They are more likely than PC/Laptop and mobile phone searchers to use consumer ratings/reviews.
• Most use apps to interact with local content on a mobile platform – map based apps are the most popular.

In the end, it’s all about user experience and you need to give them what they want. When surveyed, mobile device users listed the top things they look for in an easy to use mobile site:

1. L. Leona Frank, Esq. Frank Law Office, P.C. Indianapolis, IN

2. Floyd S. “Trey” Mills III, Esq. Trammell & Mills Law Firm, LLC Anderson, SC

3. Robert D. Lipman, Esq. Lipman & Plesur, LLP Jericho, NY

4. Linda S. Corley, Esq. San Antonio, TX

5. Stephen L. Nordstrom, Esq. Nordstrom Law Firm, PLLC Spokane, WA

Congratulations to March’s winners! And we look forward to seeing all of you in this month’s giveaway!

When it comes to SEO and optimization for websites, there are very specific elements you need to review to ensure they’re consistent with best practices. These elements help search engines establish the topical focus of your website and individual pages as well as identify the specific level of detail your website offers.

In collaboration with The Search Agency, a search marketing and optimization agency based in Los Angeles, we have developed a Website SEO Best Practices Guide to help attorneys get their websites to where they need to be.

The Offer: As a courtesy to our newsletter subscribers LawInfo is offering a copy of our Website SEO Best Practices Guide to the first ten (10) newsletter readers to email marketing@lawinfo.com and use “Website Guide” as their subject line will receive a guided checklist identifying specific website SEO elements to review, as well as their importance and the best practices associated with each element.

We look forward to your email, and good luck!

 SEO Best Practices for 2013

1. Meta Data and Description

The meta data is the background language of your website that search engines crawl in order to determine where and how your website should ranking in search results. I say background because it does not display to a visitor necessarily however is present and vastly important. If you have never been on your firm’s website and right clicked your mouse, and click view page source, you have never viewed your meta data. I suggest you go do that right now if you’re not already….I’ll wait.

Now do the following using your keyboard: hold down Ctl + F and find the locations of your Meta and header tags (title, h1, description and keywords).  You should find your most important keyword phrases located within these tags.  Example: personal injury lawyer in Portland. If these tags are not optimized, present or keyword rich and relevant, your website could be losing out on higher search engine rankings.

2. Mobile Optimization

By now you have probably heard online experts talk about mobile optimization until they are blue in the face – but is your site mobile optimized and practicing what the experts preach? It’s one of the most hotly discussed issues right now for a reason. It matters. It’s clear based on mobile device consumption and local search trends that the wave of mobile device use is only going to continue to rise. To make sure your website is optimized using mobile best practices it is recommended to use CCS media queries over a new domain name (eg: m.yourdomain.com) often because this keeps things in the same domain (link juice, no duplication, etc.).

3. Content is King

The name of Google’s game is still focused on rich, relevant content that is updated frequently. Not only should your content be relevant and unique, it shouldn’t be unnaturally stuffed with keywords. Google has a firm grasp on those that use the archaic practice of keyword stuffing and will eventually (if not already) penalize the rankings of sites attempting to use this practice. Blogging is also hugely important way to feed Google the fresh and relevant content it needs and loves. Not sure where to start with blogging or need some relevant attorney topics? No worries, we’re here to help.

Also, check out how your website looks to crawlers by going into your browser’s preferences/settings and disabling the java script and images to see what your site looks like to crawlers. This is the bare bones if you will of what content Google is given to read and evaluate.

4. Authority and Author Rank

A key element to getting your website credibility and strength in search is establishing your Authorship. AuthorRank is a new factor that holds a lot of weight when Google is calculating your website’s search worth and is a tactic you should absolutely implement. If not today, yesterday. The process is not difficult, and a step by step guide can be found here, but basically involves linking your established and optimized Google+ Profile to your website. AuthorRank helps your rankings and also helps your click-through rate by establishing your author photo next to your website link, and as we all know – people love images, so why not give the people what they want!

5. Broken Links, Duplicate Content, and Navigation

This is the hodgepodge section of necessities, all minor details that have a huge impact. Are links broken on your site and giving your visitors error messages? Do you have duplicate content that isn’t friendly to both visitors and search engines? Search engines have quickly caught on to duplicate content and penalize content that is diluted due to duplication. Twice is not as nice – so give content to Google once and you’ll be rewarded. And most importantly, but often overlooked, make sure your site is easy to navigate. If users can’t easily and efficiently find their way around, search engines certainly won’t be able to and that is vitally important. Robots will crawl your website to review what you are displaying users, and how you are providing content and user experience. Don’t make it difficult for them, you’re only hurting yourself.

If any or all of this is overwhelming or you’re not sure where to start, we’re here to help. Click here for a free marketing audit that evaluates all of the aforementioned components to see how your efforts are holding up, or as always, feel free to give us a call.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with online marketing, or unfamiliar and impatient? Well, you’re not the only attorney feeling this way and we’re here to help. LawInfo is introducing a case study series that will walk an attorney through their online marketing needs, step by step, starting from relatively nothing. Each month our featured “Legal Marketing Newbie to Ninja” newsletter section will introduce an online marketing aspect that is necessary to grow your practice and online presence. We will build/develop/design/implement that aspect for our case study attorney and get the attorney’s perspective on their level of knowledge and understanding of it and the process. Our team will then review the results (tracking, contacts, analytics, etc) of these efforts and share the effects they are having on the growth of their practice.

This case study series idea began by having LawInfo’s Content Supervisor, Shannon Blanchard, Esq, write an article for our newsletter. Shannon is also a practicing Immigration attorney who admittedly stated she was unfamiliar but excited to dive into the marketing aspect of LawInfo in order to write an informative article. As she continued to tackle her task she realized and verbalized her lack of knowledge and confusion. She ultimately pounded out an awesome article, however she realized she’d rather just “leave it to the experts” and pointed out there may be many more attorneys like her who need help from the ground up. Excellent point, and that is exactly why we decided to use Shannon for our case study, and bring her up to par by establishing and optimizing her marketing efforts from the ground up and allowing our readers to learn by example in the process.

Say Hello to Shannon, our Marketing Newbie:

Hello, I am Shannon Blanchard, the Legal Content Supervisor for LawInfo.com and an Immigration lawyer – not a marketing expert. Actually, I do not know much at all about marketing. You normally see Chris and Courtney giving you marketing advice and yes, they do know what they are talking about.

This month we thought it would be a good idea to bring in a perspective from a “regular, not marketing savvy” attorney. You see, for most of us, law school was the vessel which carried us to the bar exam. After that we were on our own and if you are anything like I was, online marketing was and is a confusing place. That being said the introduction of this series project has left me anxious to learn and see the effects of the step by step process the team will take to get me to Ninja status in my marketing efforts.

Say What Up to Courtney, our Marketing Ninja:

An attorney’s level of marketing knowledge can vary from super savvy to total amateur hour. Each has room for improvement, and presents an exciting set of new challenges and solutions that allow our team to get an attorney’s online marketing efforts where they need to be. Our newsletter tries to include and relate to all levels of attorneys at varying stages of their marketing ladder.

We want you to follow along the next couple of months and try to implement the necessary efforts we will be providing Shannon. We will implement one solution a month (Google+, Website, Social, etc) and will be tracking progress and updating as well so you can see the return of each step of our turnkey solutions case study series. Stay tuned…

• Is my website mobile optimized?
• Is my website SEO savvy for Google?
• Is my Google+ Page properly linked to my website?
• Has Google Authorship been established between my Google+ Profile and my website?
• Am I making the most of my LawInfo Directory Listing (if applicable)?

To request an audit please call us at 866-707-2703 or request one here. We look forward to hearing from you.

All links are not created equal. Links that help your website rise in the rankings are smart and well thought-out. These links are relevant to your website, they link from high authority websites, and have well defined anchor text.

How Do I Get Links to My Website?

The most efficient method is through quality content and blogging on your website. This method also fulfills your website’s SEO need for ‘fresh’ content. Quality content is unique to your website and does not include marketing and sales lingo. This content provides the user with information that is easy to read and understand. Make sure to establish Google Authorship prior to your content writing.

Internet users are looking for answers! The easiest way to start blogging is by answering questions. Compile a list of commonly asked questions and answer them using easy to understand language and step-by-step instructions if needed. External links are built when users find and enjoy your content and spread the word to others or recommend others to your website.

Your firm should also maintain a Facebook and Google+ presence. Make sure to push all your blog content to your firm’s profile. Every post should be concluded with a call to action and a link that points right back to the blog section of your website. A similar strategy should be utilized for Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other social media websites you maintain.

Are All Links Google Worthy?

External Links from well known websites will have more influence than a link from a new smaller website. Influential websites are sites that have high traffic, little to no spam, and are well known on the web or in your community.

Aim for Government, Informational and Education links (sites ending in .gov, .org and .edu). Try to get an external link on Local Government, Legal Information, and School websites.

Google knows the difference between paid links and relevant links. Paying for links is not part of a great link strategy.

Do not hire a company that promises to get you hundreds on links. Large companies have fallen victim to these black hat external link strategies, and Google has taken swift and overwhelming action against these unscrupulous tactics. Again, it’s not the number of links that influences Google rankings- it’s the quality of these links.

What Should an External Link Look Like?

It is best for external links to appear on a webpage as anchor text within the page content. Keywords make the most efficient anchor text. For example:

“Attorney John Doe saw his clients more than double after using the greatest legal marketing company around.”

The phrase ‘legal marketing company’ is the anchor text for a link to the LawInfo Legal Marketing website.

What if No One Links to my Content?

If you’re not getting the links you think you deserve then it’s time to reach out. Networking can play a huge role in your link strategy. Reach out to all your contacts and introduce them to your content. Make sure to remember that you should never pay for links!

What Your office Says About Your Firm

Just like the first impression you personally give a client, your office makes an impression regarding your firm. Know what message you want to send clients and portray your office accordingly. Your office is about as public as it gets when it comes to the image you display, and it is judged whether you think so or not. Assumptions are made regarding your level of competency, capability, professionalism and intelligence based on office appearance. Not that an Extreme Home Makeover is necessary, but take a hard look around and ask yourself if you would hire yourself if you were a potential client.

Organize and Rearrange

Being disorganized can cost your firm both time and money. According to the Delphi Group, a Boston consultancy, each lost piece of paper costs a business $120, which is a LOT considering 15% of all paper handled in business is lost. 30% of all employees time is spent trying to find lost documents.(Boston Globe, March 12, 2006) Julie Morgenstern, says in Organization from the Inside Out, that there are usually issues and road blocks you need to address.

Morgenstern says common misconceptions include:

• Organizing is a mysterious talent. – It’s not. You aren’t born with it.

• Organizing is a complex skill. – Wrong again. It’s quite simple.

• Organizing is an overwhelming, hopeless chore. – Nope. It’s cleansing and empowering.

• It’s impossible to stay organized. – Not if you set up a system.

Helpful To Do’s: 

• Go Paperless - many firms and courthouses are already full swing into being paperless. Jump on board, help eliminate the clutter, and go green in the process. 
• De-Clutter – If you’re not using the crap on your desk, get rid of it. If you need it, file it away. You’ll free up desk space and de-clutter your mind in the process.
• Attack the Pile – It’s easy to let things pile up, much like the clothes on your floor. No one wants to dive in, but your inbox and voicemails need attention.
• Answer the Phone – In correlation to Attacking the Pile, rather than letting it go to voice mail and letting the voice mails pile up, answer the phone. If potential clients aren’t able to reach you, they’ll call another attorney. Don’t let potential clients move on. Pick up the phone.

Firm Feng Shui

Not only does your staff need to feel comfortable and energized, but most importantly your clients need to feel welcomed and at home. Simple added bonuses such as fresh flowers, mints, coffee, and soft reception room music can go a long way in making clients feel comfortable.

Little Comforts That Have a Big Impact

Wireless Internet – it may be helpful to provide your visitors with guest wi-fi access for device use while in the waiting room.

Good Reception Room Reading – Don’t give clients the stuff you wouldn’t want to read either, that’s what dentist’s offices are for.

Friendly Greeting and Good Coffee – Nothing says “We don’t care” more than a stale cup of coffee and a half-hearted hello. Give a little, gain a lot.

Art, Wall Color, and Greenery – There is a psychology behind choosing wall paint and the art that graces office walls. Read more about the psychology of color to help choose the best color to convey your firm’s ideal vibe. Greenery helps soften any space and is another effective way to help your office feel more homey.

What Your Online Office Says About You

Your law firm’s website is essentially your online office. Is its design modern and professional? Is it easy to navigate? Is the layout organized and optimized? Is it easy to find contact information or firm and attorney information? Check out some examples of websites that have the aforementioned qualities here. To get a free online marketing audit of your firm’s efforts and pitfalls click here.

Through law school we often hear an attorney’s reputation is everything. Personal and professional images we began cultivating in those first few years have, in many cases, stuck with us through our professional careers. If you review any attorney’s resume or online profile you’ll notice they typically go to great lengths to highlight past achievements including verdicts, settlements, published works, and well-known cases they’ve managed. So with the importance placed on an attorney’s reputation, why do so many fail to monitor and bolster their online image through basic website optimization?

Those who claim they don’t need to worry about their online visibility because a majority of their cases come from referrals are missing the point entirely. This is because a potential client who receives a referral may first Google your name in order to review your qualifications. If you’re not in the first position of that search results page you’re allowing a third-party resource like Yelp or a better optimized law firm website the power to control your brand. This means whatever defamatory, inaccurate, or false information published on these sites is what your potential client will first see and use to learn about your services.

Consider the following example: I’m located in San Diego and want to research the firm “Adler Law Group.” I do a Google search for “Adler Law Group” and the first result is this:

Everything’s great right? Not quite. The above firm is not the Alder Law Group located in San Diego. To find the correct link I have to scan down to the fifth result.

As a potential client if I eventually find the right link I’m left wondering why Adler Law Group is pushed so far down the results page. Additionally, take a look at the tagline under the website link: “When trust is not enough, skip intro. ADLER LAW FIRM.” Not only does this make no sense, the firm is presenting their name spelled two different ways. Do they not know their own name? If a firm can’t get these types of details correct I begin to develop suspicions whether they can manage my case competently.

Compare the above with a Google search for the law firm “Arenstein and Gallagher:”

In this example this firm dominates the search result. There are seven links pointing to Arenstein’s website, and six pointing to their Google+ Profile and Page where they’ve taken the time to verify and optimize their firm’s business information.

Unlike the Adler example, Arenstein and Gallagher have optimized their website and web presence to achieve not only top rankings, but also four additional benefits for their branded search term:

1. Authorship: An image of one of their attorneys is appearing next to their website link.
2. Sitelinks: These are the additional website links under the primary website link.
3. Knowledge Graph: This is the large section of content in the right column where a photo, map, and detailed firm information appears.
4. Reviews: There are seven links to reviews and testimonials, one of which the firm has complete control over the content.

Here’s a breakdown of how your law firm website can achieve the same expanded results as Arenstein and Gallagher.

Establish Authorship

Getting an image to display next to your website link can dramatically increase the likelihood you’re website will be clicked. To get your image to appear you’ll need to establish Google Authorship, which is basically a link between your Google+ Profile and your website/website content. I wrote on this topic in a recent blog article here: Law Firm Blogging Tip: Establish Google Authorship Today.

Get Sitelinks

Sitelinks will only appear when your website ranks in the first position on Google. Therefore, you will likely only get sitelinks when a person searches for your firm name. According to Google:

1. Confirm your site follows on-page optimization SEO best practices. This will help your website rank in the first position when a person Google’s your firm name. Use the LawInfo created free law firm SEO guide to audit your site.
2. Establish Google Authorship (see above). This will help with your site click through rate, which many believe plays a roll in getting sitelinks to appear.
3. Verify your firm’s business information (see below regarding Knowledge Graph).
4. Make sure your site is clean and easily navigable. This means you have an intuitive navigation menu, pages are named and organized in a logical manner, and there is a clear flow through your content.

Get in the Knowledge Graph

Google will display the Knowledge Graph in most cases when your site appears in the first position (just like sitelinks) and you’ve verified your business information in Google+. Therefore, just like with sitelinks you’ll first want to make sure your site follows on-page optimization best practices.

You’ll also need to verify your business information in your Google Maps listing (also known as Google+ Local). To do this go to Google Maps and search for your law firm. In the Adler Law Group example the result looks like this:

Click on the “more info” link and you’ll be taken to your firm’s business listing. In the right column there will be a link to “manage this page:”

Click the link and follow the prompts. To successfully verify yourself as the owner of the page Google will send a postcard to your mailing address with a unique pin. The postcard will include instructions on how to use the pin to verify your listing.

Once verified you’ll be able to edit your firm’s business profile to include a tagline, operating hours, payment options, contact information, and you’ll also be able to upload both photos and videos. Do you best to fill out your firm profile completely to increase the odds this information will be pulled into the Knowledge Graph.

Get Reviews

Take steps to actively encourage your clients to leave reviews such as:

• Adding a “leave a review” button on your website’s “contact us” section.
• Following up with clients after their case is resolved to thank them for their business and to encourage them to leave a review on your Google listing.
• Write reviews for your colleagues (NOT in the same firm) and encourage them to do so for you.

Google reviews in particular are critical due to their prominence in search results. While Yelp reviews or LinkedIn endorsements are nice to have, Google is your best option to help bolster your search dominance.

If your state ethics guidelines permit the use of reviews in marketing then you should also publish your reviews on a “testimonial” page of your website. As seen in the Arenstein And Gallagher example, this page may get indexed as a sitelink – a huge win.

A word of caution: avoid earning many reviews within a short period of time. The best strategy is to establish a system where reviews are earned genuinely and will continue to trickle in while you operate your firm.

If you need help responding to reviews, both Google and Yelp have put together informative articles on best practices: [Yelp] [Google].

You’re now armed with the tools you need to ensure your site is structured properly to maximize clicks and provide reputation management. Good luck, and feel free to contact either LawInfo or me with any questions or comments.