Marketing Technologies for Law Firms

Once Your Phone Starts Ringing - How to Work Web-Based Prospects

Heidi Sogn — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:28:34 -0800

Posted by guest blogger, Kevin Kaiser, of Surety Bond Co., a surety bonding agency.

You've learned all the tricks to bring tons of leads into your business. But now you need to turn those leads into clients. People want to know that they are going to be working for a trustworthy lawyer that will be committed to their case and not just blow them off for easy money. Here are two big tips that are sure to help your practice succeed.

1. Call people back as soon as possible

Why? Studies have shown that every minute that passes, you have an exponentially lower chance of getting clients business. For our surety bond site, we make sure that the leads we are getting in through the site are getting to our agents as soon as possible. And it makes a difference. I keep track of the leads that we are able to close and what is different about those compared to the ones we aren't able to close, and almost every time the only difference from the leads we closed to the ones we didn't close was the amount of time between the getting the lead and the initial call.

You can set up some easy analytics yourself to determine the optimal time for you to call leads. If you have a dedicated programmer working for you, it should be pretty easy for him/her to come up with a fancy program for you. But for those of us not so lucky, you can set up a simple spreadsheet in Excel or whatever program you use. Just enter the time you received the lead, the time you called the lead, determine the amount of time between the submission and call, and if the lead turned into a client or not. Then see what appears to be the threshold for when a lead turns cold and make sure to call them before you hit that time limit.

If you're saying to yourself that you're already too busy to call leads as they come in, hire someone to call them and set up a time for the initial consultation with you. That way they know that you care enough to meet with them in person and will give them quality service.

2. Establish Rapport Using Technology

You might be the outgoing type that loves meeting new people, but I'm sure that all your potential leads are not the same. That's why it's good to help build an initial trust through your website. The Princeton WordNet Search defines rapport as "a relationship of mutual understanding or trust and agreement between people". When someone visits your site, they want to be able to trust the person they are going to use as their lawyer. The easiest way to build that relationship is through face-to-face contact. Be sure to have your picture and information about you that can help build that trust. Simple enough, right? And for the more savvy out there, it would probably serve better to shoot a video with an introduction of yourself and your firm. Be sure to make it lively (nobody likes a boring video), and make sure that it's prominently located on your website. As far as putting it on the homepage, I'll leave that up to you, but do make sure that it is easily found for visitors. Using Google's website optimizer you can even test where the best place is for your video.

Why You Should Be Optimizing Your Web Site Right Now

Heidi Sogn — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:40:58 -0800

Posted by guest blogger, Kevin Kaiser, of SuretyBonds.com

If you're reading Sogn Consulting, I'll already assume that you're familiar with some of the concepts and applications of SEO and PPC methods of driving people to your site. But when they get to the site that you've spent countless hours working to get them there, did you expect that the work is over for you and people will just start using your service. Well it's not that easy, so optimizing your conversion rate is an important part of an overall online marketing campaign.

Conversion rate optimization is the process of turning all those hard earned visitors to your site into leads, and ultimately, success for your business. It's free (just requires your time), easy, and usually there is an immediate effect. Here are a few tips to make sure your site is bringing in all the clients it can.

1. End Your Blog Posts with a Call-to-Action

Let's be honest. For most people in the law industry, the blog becomes the highest source of traffic. So why not take advantage of that to help turn prospects into clients. I often see law firms just putting a link that goes to some page that is normally bland (and usually hard to find), therefore, it never gets clicked on. Instead of wasting that great traffic, add a contact form at the bottom of each page, or if that's too bold for you, make sure that the link to your form is outspoken and really draws the users attention to that link after reading the article. Test different images and see what gets a better reaction. Blogs may be all about the content, so even if your new contact form drives away some traffic, it certainly will help increase the number of clients you get, which is what everyone wants at the end of the day.

2. Make Yourself Available

Even with that great form, some people will end up deciding that this is just not how they want to get in contact. Make sure to list your phone number (office at the least and even a direct line helps get people to call and shows that you care to take time for them), and your email address at the top of your form. This will show people that you are always available to help them.

3. Forms - Easy and Easy to Find

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, ask for more information than you need! That is the simplest and easiest way to put it. You'll want to make sure to require just enough information that you don't get poor leads, but don't require so much information that you will turn all the good leads away. I know that I hate filling out tons of contact information on someone else's site, and if you do too, why would people will want to spend tons of time filling out your contact info?

Also, forms should be everywhere so that it's easy to find. My buddy's va loan site was able to increase his lead volume without any increase in his traffic so I thought I would try it out and it has done wonders. Just make sure that the form is linked to in a few different ways to engage the user on every page they go to and you will definitely see increases in lead volume.

4. Leads are a Tote, Auto-responder is Easy

If you're getting enough leads so that it's impossible for you to keep up, use an auto-responder. Using an auto-responder helps keep leads fresh and lets you not have to make calls as leads are coming in, so you can have time to do work and actually make money. Just have an auto-responder send a quick note back to the person a few minutes after they fill out the form and that person will be more likely to use your services.

5. Repeat, Using Google Website Optimizer

You're probably already using Google Analytics, so why not use another free tool they offer? With Google Website Optimizer tool you can test to see which layout helps to bring in the most leads and it also gives insight on other neat options. Go through Google's tutorials and see for yourself how powerful this tool can be. The key. though, is to always be testing, because every site has room for improvement. Also, since people change, what they like from a website will change as well, and this tool will be able to help you determine what they want the most out of your site.

This guest post was written by Kevin Kaiser of SuretyBonds.com, a surety bond only agency specializing in the notary bond and the auto dealer bond

LMA Luncheon: Social Media Marketing with Mark Britton, Avvo

Heidi Sogn — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:33:56 -0800

Join your fellow LMA Members for a brown bag lunch featuring Mark Britton of Avvo. Mark will be discusssing:

Preserving the Core: Marketing is moving online at a rapid clip. Already, there are myriad online alternatives for attorneys to market their practices and firms. Mark’s presentation will discuss the history of Web 2.0 and social media/marketing, and help legal marketers better understand how they can leverage these tools – most of them free – to reach their target audience. In particular, Mark will discuss the strategy of building a “Core Web Presence,” a necessary touchstone for any successful online marketing strategy

The cost is FREE!

Location: Stanislaw Ashbaugh Offices -701 Fifth Ave, Ste. 4400 Seattle

Date/Time: Tuesday, November 17 - 12:00-1:00

Bring your own lunch and to RSVP, email Annie Lombroia.

Working a Room in the Digital Age: Social Networking for Law Firms - Part II

Heidi Sogn — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:19:43 -0800

An update to last year’s popular LMA program, Kevin O'Keefe, a nationally recognized authority on blogs and social networking, will give us the latest trends in social networking and discuss what social networking is, which social networking tools are effective, and how to successfully implement a social networking plan in your law firm.

Invite the lawyers from your firm so they can hear how networking online today is as important, if not more important, than networking offline!

Kevin will be presenting live in Seattle on May 19th and in Portland on May 21st.

Kevin's presentation, extremely well received at other LMA chapter programs and Law Firm PR conferences, will cover:

What social networking is
LinkedIn
Legal OnRamp
Del.icio.us
Flickr
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook
MySpace
Role of blogs
Effective PR/Communications
Latest trends and developments

When:

Seattle: Tuesday, May 19th , 12:00-1:30, registration and networking start at 11:30 a.m.

Portland: Thursday, May 21st , 12:00-1:30, registration and networking start at 11:30 a.m.

Locations:

Seattle
Columbia Center
701 Fifth Avenue
40th Floor - Sky Lobby
Seattle, Washington
98104

Portland
Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt
19th Floor, Metolius Room
1211 SW Fifth Avenue
Portland, OR 97204

Cost:

$35 members/ $50 non-members (lunch included)

SEO Tip #10: "Click here" is SO 1999

Heidi Sogn — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:41:52 -0800

I was just on a web site and it seemed like every few lines said, “click here for more information” and it got me thinking about 1) how distracting it was when reading the content, and 2) what a missed SEO opportunity.

There was a time when people needed to be guided as to where they needed to click for more information. But that time has passed. Now readers know that when the text is a different color and/or underlined, it means that it’s a link to more information. What’s more, search engines pay more attention to word and phrases that are hyperlinked. As a double bonus, these words and phrases are easy to visually scan and will draw people’s attention. See, made you look didn’t I?

Here’s my challenge to you. Do a search on your own website for the words “click here” and then see if you can rewrite the content to incorporate the hyperlink directly for 90% of the occurrences. I’ll admit, there are times where it’s unavoidable but I’d be willing to bet the majority of the time there are better, more SEO-friendly content alternatives. Seriously, give it a try. Your SERP will thank you!

Free LMA webinar hosted by LMA Northwest

Heidi Sogn — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:28:42 -0800

To show appreciation to our members, LMA Northwest will be hosting a get together to watch LMA's Webinar "What You Don't Know Can Hurt You" with Carol Greenwald, Ph.D., President, Marketing Partners.

When:	Wednesday, March 18 at 11:00
Where:	Stanislaw Ashbaugh 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4400 Seattle, WA 98104

The webinar will discuss:

As a marketing professional, it is important to know the industry in which your clients (the attorneys) do business. Conducting marketing research on key clients and prospects, analyzing internal data to assist in building a marketing strategy, and preparing a competitive intelligence analysis may all be a part of your growing career. This session will cover:

Primary and secondary research sources
Quick survey options and accounting data analyzes
Analyzing data and preparing a useful research report

This event is FREE so RSVP today by sending an email to Annie Lombroia, ALombroia@lawasresults.com. Just bring a lunch and meet at Stanislaw Ashbaugh's Offices on Wednesday, March 18 at 11:00. Hope to see you there!

SEO Tip # 9: Check your link popularity

Heidi Sogn — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:33:48 -0800

I know, I know, we all thought we outgrew the popularity contests in high school but those darn search engines are bringing us right back. To a search engine, it’s all about how popular you are and you can’t be popular amongst the dorks, you need to be popular with the cool people or it doesn’t really count. To determine if you’re cool, search engines look at how many sites are linking to yours and the quality of those sites – the more popular the sites that like you, the more popular you become by association. It’s a high school e-deja vue (only former high school nerds are now often the cool people so who's getting the last laugh now…)

How do we know how many people are linking to us?

There are several free tools out there that check link popularity. I have found that I get different answers depending on which tool I use so I use several and then determine the commonalities among them. You can do a search for “Link Popularity checker” and you’ll get a whole slew of them. My favorite is MarketLeap.com because you can also enter your competitor’s web sites to see where they stand. Plus you can plug in your industry to see a comparison of others in the legal industry.

The results are helpful because they will tell you how many linkbacks (people linking to you) that you have but it will also show who some of the big players and “900 lb Gorillas” are in the industry. Many of these “players” are directories and are sites you might want to target for linkbacks (such as Avvo and FindLaw). I say “might” because I recognize there are politics and money involved with some of these sites, and I’m not addressing that right now (maybe I’ll tackle it in a future post, would certainly welcome your comments), I’m speaking strictly from an SEO standpoint. From an SEO standpoint, these sites will help you. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re the Lindsay Lohan of the online legal marketing world.

Of course, you could always go outside the legal world to make yourself more popular. Look for blogs in your client’s industry and post comments on it with links back to your site. This will establish your expertise in the area and provide linkbacks to your site so it’s a two-fer.

Social networking sites such as LinkedIn offer another free opportunity to increase your popularity. I recommend everyone in your office get on LinkedIn, with linkbacks to your site, of course. That said, before unleashing everyone into the world of social networking, thought should go into some firm guidelines. But again, that’s fodder for another post.

So, go ahead and relive your high school years online (consider it a second chance if need be). Ignore what your mama said because it IS important to be popular and money CAN buy popularity. Ride the coattails of the “in” crowd, your SERP* will love you for it!

*Search engine results page

LMA Northwest: Turning Attorneys into Thought Leaders in Nine Semi-Painless Steps

Heidi Sogn — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:51:23 -0800

Just about every legal-marketing expert agrees that attorneys with recognized expertise in a specific type of law command higher rates than the legions of the undistinguished.

But how does an attorney become a thought leader?

By turning to a legal marketer who’s heard Mark Firmani talk about the nine steps to creating thought leadership, that’s how.

Mark will show you a series of steps to help highlight the skills and talents of your firm’s shining star or polish up the image of the smart-but-gruff misanthrope, using traditional tactics as well as the emerging, such as social media.

Mark’s PR firm, Firmani + Associates, has 20 years of legal marketing experience, helping some of the region’s most forward-thinking attorneys find their deserved spot as thought leaders.

When:
Seattle: Thursday, Feb. 5, 11:30-1:30, (11:30 - 12:00 networking, 12:00 - 1:00 program)

Location:
Seattle
Columbia Center
701 Fifth Avenue
40th Floor – Sky Lobby
Seattle, WA 98104

Cost:
$35 members/ $50 non-members (lunch included)

To register, visit www.legalmarketing.org/northwest

Lawyers: Facebook's Friend, Foe or Frenemy?

Heidi Sogn — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:22:34 -0800

I know, I know, I’m writing about Facebook AGAIN. In my defense, I clearly stated that I was addicted to both Facebook and Twilight so it’s either I write about Facebook AGAIN or yammer on and on about Edward, my vampire crush. I’m choosing Facebook in order to save “face” (pun intended).

This time I want to focus on lawyers in particular. How can you encourage your lawyers to join Facebook (or other social networking sites)? But, even more important, should you encourage your lawyers to join Facebook?

There are many good reason for lawyers to join a social networking site, such as Facebook (and from this point further, I’m just going to talk about Facebook although much of what I say would pertain to other social networking sites as well).

Some reasons to encourage your lawyers to join Facebook include:

Staying connected with many people at one time
- It helps you to stay in touch with topics of interest and concern to clients.
- It keeps your face fresh in the client’s mind every time they log on.
- It “humanizes” you by sharing facets of your life, such as special interests, hobbies, family, pets, etc., that you might not normally have an opportunity to share with a client.
- There is potential for opportunities in markets (locations) in which you wouldn’t normally have access.
- You will have access to potential job opportunities. Okay, maybe you don’t publicize this one but it’s true.
You can create or join interest groups pertaining to areas of practice. These interest groups provide an opportunity to see specific trends and participate in discussions thus getting your name out there as a “go-to person” in your field.
Various degrees of security allow you to decide what information you’d like to make public, although nothing is ever 100% secure (see Facebook: Friend or Foe).
Facebook is mobile so you can check in and post updates on the go.
It allows for sharing of documents, photos, links, videos, you name it.
Here’s something near and dear to my heart, having a Facebook page will help with your SEO efforts. Facebook is a highly trafficked site so posting links from your Facebook page to your web site will help your web site’s rankings, not to mention getting traffic to your site from your Facebook page itself!
And, last but not least, did I mention it’s free?

So, that all sounds good but there are some downsides that I must warn you about. Here are some reasons to be cautious when suggesting Facebook to your lawyers:

It is addicting and can be a major time zapper.
It is a great way to stay in touch but it should never replace “real” face time with clients.
While there are security settings for most everything, there are still security risks. Caution must be used before posting anything on any social networking site, especially when giving out advice or posting documents of any sort.
Postings should be short and sweet, which can be challenging for people who earn their living with words.
This brings me to my last warning. Hmm…how can I put this delicately? I’m just going to say it. Facebook is not a place for egos, soap boxes and hard-core sales pitches. Too much self-promotion is going to turn off, or even offend, your clients every time they log on. The dangerous part is you will have no cues that you’re turning people off like you would have at say, a cocktail party where you would notice subtle things such as glazing eyes, stifled yawns, a sudden need to refill drinks, dash to the bathroom, etc.

So, should you recommend that your lawyers join Facebook? I still think yes but with plenty of caution. Guidelines should be set up and enforced in terms of how much time should be spent at work on Facebook and what types of information are appropriate to post. Lawyers should be reminded that they represent the firm and Facebook is no exception to this. I would also suggest a training session on how to use Facebook itself so they know what they’re doing and aren’t making embarrassing technical mistakes for all to see.

Social networking is not going away. Rather than fight it, I say embrace the technology and the opportunity to reach out to your clients, but do so with a game plan and guidelines. Those who do will be leaders in their field.

The Pope: Facebook's Newest Friend

Heidi Sogn — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:11:46 -0800

When it comes to ringing endorsements, you can’t get much better than the Pope! On Friday (1/23), Pope Benedict XVI talked about social networking sites such at Facebook and MySpace and called the technology a “gift”, while also warning about some of the potential dangers. I guess he thinks FB is more friend than foe!

Facebook: Friend or Foe?

Heidi Sogn — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:52:31 -0800

I have two obsessions as of late: The Twilight Series books and Facebook (FB). I’m not going to talk about the Twilight books here since they have nothing to do with Marketing Technologies (but they’re really good!). Instead, I’m going to focus on FB.

It all started innocently enough. I’m a marketing technologies consultant so naturally social networking has a big impact on what I do and so I went about getting involved in the various networks. Twitter <check>, LinkedIn <check>, MySpace <check> (Well, I didn’t actually join MySpace so as to avoid horrifying my son but I do closely monitor his account from both a technical and parental POV). And then I met Facebook <queue the angels harmonizing from above>.

At first, I was just professionally interested in FB. Why was it was created and how is it different from say, LinkedIn? It turns out FB was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University. Figures it was someone really smart! It was originally created so the students and staff at Harvard could get to know each other. It quickly grew to include other Ivy League schools, and then other non-Ivy League schools, and then high schools were let in and now pretty much anyone with a pulse over the age of 13 is a viable candidate, much to the chagrin of some of the original college student members but they’ll just have to deal with it. It’s different than LinkedIn because, in my opinion, FB is more of a personal network whereas LinkedIn is more professional.

So, as I’m analyzing FB from a technical perspective I suddenly get an invite to be friends with my old college roommate, Kim. How cool, I haven’t talked to her more years than I care to admit. And, look at that, according to FB we were both Great Danes in our previous lives. If only we knew that when we lived together, no wonder we fought over who got custody of the cat at the end of the year (I did).

Then the floodgates opened and I became pelted with friend requests, and started pelting others. It was so exciting to see all these faces and names from my past or just next door! FB has this feature where it suggests friends you might know and it finds them based on your friend’s friends or your networks (schools, employers, cities, etc.). I always look at the suggestions in the People You May Know box. Sometimes I know them and sometimes I don’t but after awhile you see the same people showing up and you start to feel like you do know them even if you don’t. Just the other day, I met some friends for drinks and one of the women brought her daughter whom I’d never met. Of course, we were all on FB and so her daughter would often pop up in my People You May Know box. Upon actually meeting her in person, I said, “So nice to meet you, I loved your wedding video. I laughed, I cried!” (I really did, it was beautiful) It felt like we were old friends, although she may have found it a bit creepy.

And that brings me to the issue of security. I was quite worried about security but you have the ability to set security settings for most parts of your profile, including photos. But you don’t have control over what your friends are doing so caution is still advised here. And, here are some words of advice; friends don’t let friend’s post party pics! Your friends can add photos and “tag” you in a photo (even if it’s not even you, which I learned from my friend, let's call her "Annie", when she played a brilliant trick on her good friend) and while you can block people from seeing tagged photos on your own profile, you can’t prevent your friends from tagging you in the first place. It’s horrifying, if you really think about it. That’s how I was able to see the wedding video; I saw it on her mom’s profile.

It’s easy to get caught up in the momentum of FB but, and here’s my consulting advice which is more common sense than brilliant nugget, don’t ever post anything on your FB, or any other online account, that you wouldn’t want your employer, potential employer (even 10 years from now), your employees, your client, your mother, your kids or your spouse to see. It can, and will, come back to haunt you even if you practice the highest standards of security. When it comes to technology, security is simply a challenge not a guarantee.

So, do I think FB is going to get me new clients? Maybe, but it doesn’t really matter anymore, I’m totally hooked. Do I think it’s going to hurt my chances of getting clients? Probably not (lucky for me, I went to school before the age of digital cameras and most of my friends don’t have scanners). Am I going to keep doing it? You bet I am! One of my favorite features of FB is the status updates. This is a feature where you enter a few lines to show your friends what you’re doing or thinking at the time. I LOVE the status updates! They’re what keep me coming back. I find myself logging on at all hours of the day or night because I’m dying to know if Milo is still eating cat food. Or if Marc likes the new judge on American Idol. Or if Lucas finally got shoes that fit. Or if Kelly is planning another Happy Hour. Or if Tiffany survived Chuckie Cheese. Or if Kati ever found her pants. Or if Julie’s mom learned FB.

Speaking of moms, I was trying to explain to my mom just how cool FB is. I told her about some of the friends from the 'hood whom I was able to reconnect with such as Kelley, Julie, Karen and Steve. She was intrigued but skeptical and said that when she wants to connect with her friends, she gives them a call or meets them for coffee. Sheesh, parents can be SO old-fashioned <eye roll>. I tried to explain that just this morning I was able to notify 56 of my closest friends and casual acquaintances that my hairbrush fell in the toilet. I mean, how cool is that?! She wasn’t sold; I’ve got some convincing to do. I’ll have to go log on to FB and see how Julie was able to talk her mom into joining.

All in all, I would say FB is my friend. My time-consuming, voyeuristic, addicting little BFF. So, I’m curious. What do you think? Is Facebook your friend or foe? Email me or, if you dare, post your response below.

SEO Tip #8: Attorneys v. Lawyers

Heidi Sogn — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:27:31 -0800

You say tomato, I say tomahto. You say potato, I say potahto. Okay, that’s cool but what do we call ourselves? Attorney? Lawyer? Does it matter?

Yes, it does to search engines. Many firms prefer the term “attorney” because it somehow feels more palatable than the word “lawyer”. I mean, you never hear someone tell an attorney joke, it’s always a lawyer joke (and I have quite a few good ones, btw). So we call ourselves “attorneys” to distance ourselves from these jokes and images conjured up. But what do search engines look for?

It got me wondering so I went to Wordtracker and compared the word “lawyer” to “attorney”. I’m sorry to say folks but people are searching for “lawyer” almost twice as often as they search for “attorney” (and they search for “lawyer” twice as often as “lawyers” but they search for “attorneys” more often than “attorney”. Weird, huh?). When their search includes “attorney” it’s usually in a phrase such as “power of attorney” but on its own, “lawyer” wins. Big time.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t have “attorney” on your site, just don’t become exclusive with the word or you’re missing an SEO opportunity. I recommend a mix of both words, aiming to have each word on each page 2-3 times unless it becomes distracting to the content.

So, tell the world you’re a lawyer and, as my daughter would say, tell them loud and proud!

SEO Tip #7: Naming your URL

Heidi Sogn — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:13:10 -0800

Your URL, which is essentially the filename and path of a page on your web site, is an opportunity to enhance your search engine optimization efforts. Before you start adding pages to your web site, take a few minutes to plan your naming conventions and keep the following in mind:

Your URL should be relevant to the page, and if you can add a targeted keyword in the name, great.
Don't add spaces in your filenames, instead use "-" or "_" in between words.
Keep the names short and clean.

Your URL shows up in the search engine results page (SERP) so people will see the filename/path of your page. It's much more enticing for people to click on a clean, easy to read (and easy to remember) URL. Plus, just like with all other SEO techniques, if it seems like you're "stuffing" in keywords it could backfire on you with the search engines. Not to mention it just looks tacky.

If you follow these guidelines, your URL's will enhance your search engine results. That's not to say on it's own, it's going to get you higher rankings but it's definitely a piece of the SEO pie.

If you'd like help coming up with naming conventions, contact me. I'm happy to help!

LMA Northwest Holiday Social

Heidi Sogn — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:07:20 -0800

The LMA Northwest Holiday Social has been rescheduled due to snow. The new date is Thursday, January 15. I hope to see you there!

Come mix and mingle with your LMA Northwest colleagues at the chapter's annual holiday social!

Please join us for some cocktails and hors d’oeuvres as we say goodbye to our outgoing board members and welcome in the 2009 board. Take a break and treat yourself to some holiday festivity and enjoy the beautiful views at the Columbia Tower Club.

When: Thursday, January 15, 2009 5:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Where: Columbia Tower Club
Simpson Library Room, 75th Floor
701 5th Ave
Seattle, WA 98104

Cost: $35/members, $50/non-members

RSVP: To register for this event, visit the LMA Northwest web site

SEO Tip #6: Get a Blog

Heidi Sogn — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:27:26 -0800

This tip is important enough to warrant its own posting, and I’m not just saying that to suck up to my friends at LexBlog. There are many reasons that a blog is a good idea including:

Search engines love blogs and therefore rank them higher because the content is timely, relevant and updated often.
Anyone (with a username/pw) can update the blog any time from any computer with Internet access making it easy for attorneys to post entries themselves whenever news breaks in their practice area.
Blogs are informal and conversational in tone taking some of the pressure off of creating a literary masterpiece. If you see a typo after it’s been posted, no biggie, go back and fix it.
People can sign up to receive updates either via an RSS feed or by email.
Blogs are cost-effective.
Blogs target-driven.
Blogs establish your attorneys as experts in their field. Once your blog gets rolling, you can expect to hear from reporters asking for quotes.

Who should have a blog?

That’s not to say a blog is for everyone because it’s not. Legal blogs take a commitment by the attorneys to keep the content fresh. It depends on the subject of the blog but a general rule of thumb is there should be 1-2 updates each week and that can seem like a daunting task. However, if you can spread it out a bit and have multiple contributors, it becomes quite doable.

The three steps to creating a blog

If you’re considering a blog, your first step should be to do some research. See what other blogs are already out there. Google has a special search tool just for blogs that will show you a listing of blogs in your area of interest. Don’t get discouraged if there are already blogs out there. There’s plenty of opportunity to carve your own niche but it pays to know what is already out there in order to do so.

Your second step should be to reserve a domain name. I use GoDaddy.com because I’ve found them to be very easy to work with and inexpensive but there are many different companies you can use.

Your third step should be to contact LexBlog. Or contact me and I’ll call them on your behalf. In fact, if you don’t want to do Steps 1 and 2 above make this your first and only step. Yes, there are free blog services out there but you get what you pay for. Your blog should enhance your image and branding efforts. LexBlog will do this for you plus they optimize your blog for search engines and by becoming a client you are added to their blog roll giving you links to your blog from hundreds of other highly respected legal blogs.

Trust me on this. If you’re going to have a blog, do it right, go with LexBlog.

SEO Tip #5: See yourself through search engine glasses

Heidi Sogn — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:29:25 -0800

If you’re thinking about getting serious about SEO you’ll want to start off by analyzing your existing traffic to see your strengths and weakness. Most likely your goal will be to increase traffic to your site but that alone is not going to determine the success of your campaign. You’ll need to look at the big picture.

For example, what search terms are people using to get to your site? If the first 20+ search terms used to find your site are all variations of your firm name, that will show that people who find your site are trying to find you. It’s nice your clients, family, friends and high school crushes were successful in finding you but new clients will not be searching for your firm name or your name. You need to attract your potential clients by optimizing for your keywords and having enticing descriptions.

Let me back up a bit. You should come up with a list of target keywords (5-7 or so) and compare your target to the actual phrases being used to find you. You will likely be surprised at some of the phrases being used. At my old firm, one of the lawyers shared a name with a former president (spelled differently). His name was always one of our top search phrases which wasn’t one of our targeted phrases and didn’t do us a whole lot of good (but made me laugh nonetheless when I envisioned fifth graders somewhere out there accidently doing their presidential report on one of our lawyers and not the actual president).

A tool that I have found to be helpful is Stomper Site Seer. You can run a free report on your site and get all sorts of information. In keeping with the target keywords theme of this posting, the StomperNet report will show you what Google thinks your site is about, which often varies quite a bit from what you may think your firm is about. Don’t take for granted that everyone knows you’re a law firm. I often find the word “lawyer” or “attorney” missing from web sites. It sounds surprising but it’s either overlooked, assumed or in a graphic, without an alt tag, so from the search engine perspective, they have no idea you’re a law firm even though the beautiful graphic in your header may say “XYZ Law Firm” prominently on every page. Once you know how search engines are reading your site, your course of action becomes clearer.

Christmas Gift Idea: A Photo DVD

Heidi Sogn — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:55:26 -0800

Okay, so I know photo DVD’s aren’t exactly breaking news but I wanted to share a software program that I think is pretty cool (all you Mac users can just ignore this posting because I’m sure you have even cooler programs at your fingertips. This posts’s for PC users).

I have always loved making slide shows out of photos. I’m a sentimental fool who loves technology so it’s a natural fit and somehow I became the go-to slide show queen for my friends and family. I made slide shows for weddings, funerals, retirement parties, birthday parties, vacations, you name it and I always used to use PowerPoint. PowerPoint worked fine for what I was doing but it’s more of a presentation tool so I had to get a little creative at times. Plus adding music was a bit touchy because only certain formats worked. Plus the timing was inconsistent and I never was able to successfully burn the show onto a DVD.

Then my dad got me started on ProShow Gold made by Photodex. It’s really easy to use. Anyone can create professional looking slideshows and burn them on to a DVD. You can easily add photos, music, video, menus, voice over, narrative, etc.

So, here’s an idea for Christmas. If you’re making a DVD for someone, narrate it by recording your own voice. You could even go a step further and interview other people telling stories to go along with the music and photos. Videos work well too if you can pull it off. Just a short personalized intro or story takes the slide show from being really cool to being a treasured keepsake.

You can use a program like RealPlayer to mix the voiceover onto the song, adding fade ins and outs.

As an example, for my parent’s retirement party, I had my aunt in Germany leave me a voicemail message describing life with my mom growing up. I then transferred the voicemail to my computer and used her story in the slide show. Imagine my mom’s surprise when during the slide show she suddenly heard her sister’s voice, speaking in German no less. Imagine all of our surprise when my aunt, uncle and cousin decided this was a party they didn’t want to miss and flew in from Germany just for the party. It was priceless and it all started from the slideshow!

SEO Tip #4:Invite people to your site

Heidi Sogn — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:04:13 -0800

The best way to get people to your site is to invite them there. There are many ways to do that online but if your audience isn't active in social media but addicted to email, you can invite them to your site via an e-Newsletter. E-Newsletters are incredibly effective if done well. And by that, I mean that the content needs to be timely and relevant to the audience. Don’t just tell your clients about an issue that will affect them, tell them specifically how it will affect them and what they need to do about it. A good practice is to create a generic “newsletter” and then have your attorneys forward it on to their clients with a quick note saying how it affects them and what they should do. Your clients will be flattered that you thought of them and will take notice of your advice.

As for the technical aspects, your newsletter should have some enticing teaser text with a link to the full article on your website. The full article should be done in html (you can have a pdf in addition to the html but you should not have it in place of the html page). You also want to make sure that you are compliant with the CAN-SPAM laws.

Email Signatures: Logo or No Logo?

Heidi Sogn — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:57:47 -0800

Many firms are moving towards a standardized email signature, complete with a logo. While they do look nice when everything works as it should, there are a few things you should consider before making the plunge.

First of all, if you want to have your logo appear on your email signature, you will need to post your logo online somewhere and then link to it (as opposed to inserting it directly into your email). But even if you do it correctly, you run the risk of it appearing as a placeholder to the recipient. That’s because it’s up to the recipient as to whether they want to see images or placeholders. If they want placeholders, there’s not much you can do about it.

Secondly, in order for it to work correctly (and not appear as an attachment), you’ll need to format your email as html. The problem is that some firms block html files and/or flag them as junk mail. Even if they don’t block the actual email, having it as html is a mark against it making the email more vulnerable to being marked as spam. (spam filters often have a “scorecard” so to speak and if there are a certain amount of marks against it, it will be marked as spam so you’re starting off with one.)

And don’t even get me started on the issues with logos and handhelds.

My advice is to make a nice looking email signature, with standard fonts but maybe play with the color and font size a little to make it interesting. Use colors that aren’t standard (please don’t use that standard blue for a hyperlink, I’m so over it!). Non-standard colors come through as they should, unless the recipient is set to text only or a handheld in which case it still looks okay, you just lose the font size and color.

Two other things to consider are logos as attachments make the email (file) size a little bigger. Not much but when you multiply it by the volume of emails sent it will add up. Also implementation (and enforcement) is a bit of an issue if you use non-standard colors (but worth it because non-standard colors are way nicer.) To get around this, create your autosignature in Word, assuming you know the RGB numbers of your logo, and you can change it there and then copy paste into Outlook.

Do you have any autosignature stories to share? If so, please comment back, I’d love to hear them.

Obama - McCain - or Starbucks?!

Heidi Sogn — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:44:28 -0800

It's Election Day and I'm sitting here working on my blog and wondering who is going to win the election. Well, I have a pretty good idea but still wondering how things are going at the polls. Anyway, I started wondering what people were tweeting about on twitter. It turns out, it's not "Obama" or "McCain" but "Starbucks" that is causing a raucus. Becauase of the free coffee Starbucks is offering to (presumably) voters today, "Starbucks" is the third most tweeted word behind behind only #votereport and "Election Day".

That just made me smile. It's a proud day for us Starbucks fans. And to top it all off, the red cups came out today. I might just have to go celebrate at my local Starbucks.

Now if only their stocks would go up!