Law Firm Marketing BLOG

You are just getting comfortable with the idea of having a website for your law practice.  Then, BAM!, here comes something new for you to learn about: a BLOG.  Just what is it and why should you use it for your law firm? A BLOG is actually a web log.  The idea is similar to that of an online journal (without the juicy, private thoughts that you may keep in a personal diary).  You basically just type out whatever comes to mind (that you just opened your practice, that you hired a new associate, that the new medicare laws may help your clients, etc) and publish it for the world to see.  Then, people that read your BLOG can ask you questions and post comments.  You basically start an informal dialogue with potential clients. People often read BLOGs (and comment on them) because it provides a lot of information in an informal setting.  The client can get a feel for who you are and will feel more comfortable asking you questions or making comments.  Granted, they may have to book an appointment and hire you before you can answer all of their questions, but it definitely gets your foot in the door with a new client.  Don’t forget that people buy from people that they know; if a client feels that they had the chance to “meet” you through your BLOG, they may be more inclined to call and hire you as their lawyer.  The information that you provide in a BLOG gives your clients important information.  Maybe you are telling clients about what is going on in the legal world or you put in a link to a relevant article.  Either way, clients know that if you mentioned it, it must be worth looking into.  Thus, you are giving them the added value of providing information without necessarily expecting something in return.  When it comes to the client’s next legal matter, he/she is likely to remember you as a great source. 

From a marketing point of view, the BLOG provides one of the most important things that your Internet presence needs: fresh content on a regular basis.  Google and the other search engines love this; they give fresh content priority since, obviously, you are keeping up with the times and have something new to say.  By showing you a little favoritism, you are more likely to show up more quickly in the natural listings of the search engines.  Not only is this a great way to get your name out, but it also helps clients to find you more easily.  (And we do like to make it as easy as possible for our clients).  Plus, BLOG entries make you a published author that can be picked up by other media, such as CNN.com or MSNBC.  Now, is that a great feature or what? 

If you want to set up a BLOG for your law firm, we can set that up for you.  

I found an interesting article off of one of my search engine newsletters from Pandia. The article was about the top five alternative search engines to consider outside of the usual search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc). I thought it might be of interest to all of you in case we ever feel like expanding our list of search engines we submit our client websites to. (I’m not sure which, if any of the smaller search engines, we may already be using on this list)

Fun fact: Top 3 Search Engines for the US Search Engine Market
     1.       Google 50 % of US Market
     2.       Yahoo! 28% of US Market
     3.       Microsoft 13% of US Market

        See below for the five best smaller search engines Pandia highlighted

1. Ask: the largest of the small search engines. Has 5% of US market. Has been around for 10 + years.
   
2. Gigablast: has a large index with advanced search options. Also provides directory searching form The Open Directory, blog search and travel search. Not considered to be very advanced with other tools and features.
   
3. Factbites: a search engine that returns relevant results on whole topic area in addition to websites that match search terms. This method returns results pertaining to your topic even if the word searched for isn’t mentioned in the topic results.
   
4. Exalead: a European search engine which has advanced search options and new way to provide search results. Also provides thumbnail images of web pages matching search terms and related terms or categories to search terms entered.
     Advanced search features: truncation, proximity search, stemming, phonetic search, and language field search
   
5. Snap: also provides visually enhanced search results (like Exalead) and allows you to line preview sites; websites can be shown inside snap window or in a new browser
   

Factbites and Exalead caught my attention for two reasons: Factbites would be good to consider for our attorneys that use our SEO service. It would let us “cast a wider net” for potential leads that receive topic area results in addition to the keyword search results. As far as Exalead goes, it would be a good site to consider for any of our international clients we may have (or will have) in Europe.

If you are interested in more information about the article click on the link for the full article http://www.pandia.com/sew/277-alternative-search-engines.html

The CEO of Attorneys Online, Inc. will be in New York City the week of April 23rd.  If you would like to set up a time for a free consultation to review your law firm’s current marketing strategies and discuss options for the further expansion of your firm, please contact us today.

As The Premiere Attorney Business Development Company, we pride ourselves on keeping our clients ahead of the marketing curve with creative and effective campaigns.  Check out our website for more information about our services such as website creation, graphic design, brochures, top listings on search engines such as Google, AOL, Earthlink, Yahoo guaranteed and more as well as strategies such as electronic newsletters that give your website refreshed content weekly which assists with SEO placement and the development of a customized marketing list enabling your firm to market to other law firms for referral business.  www.attorneysonlineinc.com 

Please contact us at (800) 221-8424 to set up a convenient time for your law firm’s marketing evaluation.  We look forward to meeting with with New York law firms soon.