The reason that you do not want to direct sponsored links to the homepage is because your cost per click and position on the page is largely determined by the quality score of 1-10 assigned to you by Google’s algorithm. Your quality score is based on how closely your landing page content relates to the keyword you are advertising on.

In most instances, your landing pages will be more on point and have higher quality scores for specific, relevant practice areas. If you simply redirect all keyword phrases to your home page, then you end up in a lower position for your ads and a higher cost per click.

The first seminar we hosted was on Using Google Analytics to Improve Your Law Firm Website. You can also download the PowerPoint version of Using Google Analytics to Improve Your Law Firm Website, as well.

It includes the following topics:

• Why use Analytics
• Why use Google Analytics
• Key Areas to Review
• Page Views
• Unique Visitors
• Bounce Rate
• Time on Site
• Error Pages
• Referrals (Search, Direct, Paid)
• Monthly Review Process

You should review your site monthly to improve time on site, conversions and ultimately your web presence. Learn all about how to review your Analytics via our seminar.

Sign Up For FREE Today!

The good news is, if you are such an attorney, there are some simple things you can do to boost your law firm blog’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  

They are:

1. Write Killer Headlines
2. Use Important Keyword Phrases (But Don’t Stuff)
3. Write About the Niche Topics
4. Write Frequently – At Least Once a Week
5. Tag and Categorize Your Blogs
6. Coordinate with Social Media
7. Link to Old or Related Articles

Write Killer Headlines

Headlines are key to achieving top rankings. Search engines like Google use your headlines to figure out what your blog posts are about and assign them value.  So make sure your headlines are clear and descriptive.

If you are writing about a recent ruling that affects New Jersey premise liability cases, the headline should say just that (“Ruling Changes Game for New Jersey Premise Liability Attorneys”), not something vague like “Changes Ahead” or “In the News.”  You can even be a little provocative, like this blog post of ours on law firm SEO: Is SEO Snake Oil?

Not only will clear headlines boost your SEO, they will boost your readership. If your headline is vague or confusing, people simply won’t bother to read it.

Use Important Law Firm SEO Keyword Phrases (But Don’t Stuff)

Lawyer keyword phrases are the words that people type into search engines when they are looking for a law firm. They usually involve a city/state/region, plus a practice area, plus the term attorney(s)/lawyer(s)/law firm. An example would be “Washington D.C. patent attorney” or “Seattle divorce lawyer.”

The first step is to figure out what your keyword phrases should be (If you have a SEO team, like PaperStreet, this step can involve a lot of important strategy). Once you have made a list, look to see if you are using any of these terms in your blog posts naturally.  If so, great! If not, you are sabotaging your own efforts.

PaperStreet recommends that you have two to three keyword phrases somewhere in the body of your text and, if possible, one keyword phrase in your headline.  This is for an average-length post of about 350 words; shorter posts will naturally have less.

This also assumes that you can use your keyword phrases somewhat gracefully, without making the copy sound like spam or gobbledygook.  Legal bloggers who stuff their copy with too many keywords turn off readers and do not get any better rankings than writers who use keywords simply when they make sense.  (Note: If your posts never lend themselves naturally to your keywords, than you are probably writing about the wrong topics!)

Write About the Niche Topics

So you are a newly minted Boston personal injury attorney, and you want to rank high for this same phrase.  Get in line.  Sometimes, when you live in a highly competitive region, or you practice in a highly competitive practice area, it just plain difficult to rank well (let alone quickly) for the most sought after terms. 

The solution? Go after niche phrases.  If you are the lawyer that everyone goes to see about dog bites (or you want to be the lawyer they go to see), consider a niche blog, or at least a series of niche posts on this topic.  You’ll see easier, faster results.

Write Frequently – At Least Once a Week

Lots of attorneys have great intentions when they start blogging. Then reality hits (cases, deadlines, business issues, personal problems) and the blog moves to the backburner. Six months later, it is a sad, stale thing.

There are so many other legal bloggers out there now, if you want to get noticed, you have to be consistent and write at least once a week. Form a plan about how you will make the time to do this before you start blogging.   Set up a writing schedule and stick to your plan.  You can even write all your articles for the month at once, and post at a later date.  Further, envision the typical problems that will pop up – because they will — and decide ahead of time how you will head them off.  

This may involve getting special clearance from your boss to prioritize your writing –  or, if you are the boss, delegating less important tasks, so you have the time to write.

Tag and Categorize Your Blogs

Most blog publication tools, like WordPress, allow you to categorize your blogs by subject matter, often practice area, and tag with important phrases. Don’t forget to do this.

You can set up categories when you create your blog and add new categories as needed.  Categories should be the topics that your blog posts are about.  So if you are a criminal lawyer, you could have the topics such as:  DUI, Misdemeanors, Arrests, Felonies, and so forth.  Categories appear on every page.  They help organize your blog and help with SEO.

Moreover, you can tag each post.  Tags typically are keyword phrases associated with your blog post.  They are a comma-separated list, usually found at the end of the post that says something like “Tags” or “Found in.”  The tags then list all the possible keyword phrases associated with your article such as “DUI, drunk driving, arrest, top tips, lawyer, Dallas.”  Users can also search your articles by tags using a “Tag Cloud” that can be found on some blogs.

Creating tags and categories for your blog is easy.  It typically takes just a minute to properly organize your blog.

Coordinate with Social Media

Some blogs have a huge following. But most of us aren’t so lucky.

That’s why, once you post your amazing blog post, you need to get the word to your other social media followers on your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. If you aren’t yet on these social media, set up your accounts and get going. Today. (Learn more about law firm social media.)

To attract new followers, you can also offer to guest blog on a colleague’s website.

Link to Old or Related Articles

If your blog post is related to past articles you have posted before, make sure to link to these resources in the post. Not only is this helpful to readers looking for more detailed information, but it shows the search engines that you are an in-depth authority on the topic.

For example, because this is a post on law firm blogging, I would be remiss in closing if I didn’t also mention other great posts we’ve written, including:

5 Post Ideas for Lawyer Blogs  

Using Google Analytics to Analyze Your Law Firm Website Content

Legal Blog Post Writing: How Much Can I Copy?

How to Prevent Your Content From Being Copied

Wrap Up

These are just basic tips for lawyer blogs. If you have any other tips for SEOing your blog, feel free to post in the comments section.

If you are familiar with the Google Analytics Dashboard, you are aware that the main navigation gives you the option to view the Dashboard, Intelligence, Visitors, Traffic Sources, Goals and Content.  But how can we use the information provided by Google Analytics to see if our content is doing the job it is supposed to be doing?  To analyze your content on Google Analytics, you will have to use a combination of the Traffic Sources tab, the Visitors tab and the Content Tab.

Reading the Google Analytics Content Tab

The Content tab will give you a list of your ‘top’ pages.  Select the view full report link in order to see a list of your pages on your site from the most visited to least visited.  Now, most likely, your homepage will be the most visited page.  But this doesn’t tell us whether the content is good.  Instead, look at your Visitors tab first, and navigate to the Bounce Rate.

Checking the Bounce Rate of Your Pages

The Bounce Rate will show you a percentage of people who hit a page on your site and left immediately.  Always understand the difference between good Bounce Rate and bad.  If you have an instructional ‘how-to’ page, then maybe a higher bounce rate is a good thing, as the user needed to solve a problem, found your article, read it and no longer needed anything else.  This is an example of a page where a higher bounce rate may be appropriate.  However, if you are a law firm and have a page describing the services you provide, and see a very high bounce rate, this is a definite indication that something needs to change.

How People Are Finding Your Site on Google

The Traffic Sources tab will give you a list or terms people searched for in an Organic Search Engine (such as Google or Yahoo!) to find your site.  If you see that people are finding your law firm website through obscure searches and irrelevant searches, then it may be time for some new content on your pages to make the pages more relevant to what they are supposed to be about.

Lastly, when evaluating your content you can look at the actual Content tab in Google Analytics.  The Content tab will give you a list of pages on your site in order of most visited to least visited.  This can be a very useful tool for finding out if your site is guiding the user in the proper way.  If you are selling a service, you may want the top content to be something like the Homepage, followed by the Services offered page and then leading to the Contact page.  If the users aren’t following the site as you intended, it may need new content.  If the top Content had been Homepage, then Services, then Contact Us, with a major decrease in the amount of people between the services page and contact page it may be that the services page needs better or different content to guide the user properly to your phone number, email or contact form.

When creating a law firm website or business website, it is important to consider the site as a step-by-step guide to the user, with definite set benchmarks.  Having a site where users always follow the same path will make your site much more effective and user friendly.  This is why an easily navigable site and clear, concise content is King.  If users are easily able to distinguish where they should be going, and when they get to the next step their questions are answered, then odds are you will have a successful website.  If you are confident in your content, but still aren’t getting the results you would like, check on this article on Using Google Analytics to decide if it’s time for a Website Redesign.

For more information on successful Law Firm Content, Attorney Internet Marketing or Custom Lawyer Web Sites, please Contact PaperStreet Web Design today for a free consultation.

Conversion Rate Optimization (or CRO) is the process of creating an ideal website or landing page, with the goal of increasing the percentage of visitors that convert into customers or leads.

Don’t run the risk of having your visitors confused, bored or, even worse, hassled – leading to a higher bounce rate and less leads for business. Increase your webpage Conversion Rate by improving these 5 elements:

1. 1. Content

   The copy on your page directly affects how people will behave once on your site. A few tips can have your users focused and engaged:

• Create quick, compelling, specific and action-oriented headlines; and
• Shorten the body text, bold a few key lines, and highlight important information with bullet points.
2. 2. Imagery

   Most people are visually inclined and connect with a message faster when a related image is present. Use this to your advantage and:

• Focus on one main image that pertains to your message; and
• Keep it simple and clear, especially when using charts or graphs.
3. 3. Contact Form

   The contact form is your vehicle to obtain leads, so it’s imperative that it be efficient and effective:

• Ask and require only the need-to-know info;
• Place the form above the fold;
• Keep the form headline consistent with the main headline; and
• Try a more relevant title for the button than “Submit.”
4. 4. Calls To Action (CTAs)

   How can you expect your visitors to take the actions you want if you don’t direct them? Calls To Action do just that. Take this advice for a winning CTA:

• Make the CTA obvious and easy to find on the webpage; and
• Use action-oriented text that is relative to the offer, i.e. “Get the Free E-Book”
5. 5. Trust Factors

   When users believe a lawyer or company is trustworthy, they are more likely to become clients. Build trust by utilizing any of these tips (if applicable) on your webpage:

• Feature a few testimonials;
• Highlight the number of years in business;
• Highlight the number of clients or customers; and/or
• Display logos of reputable companies or charities you work with.

Generating more contacts, customers and clients that visit your site is attainable with Conversion Rate Optimization. A few simple improvements can go a long way!

Have any questions about CRO or how PaperStreet can optimize your website? Please contact us at 954-523-2181.

It’s for a new lawyer TV show (yes, another one) called Franklin & Bash. Unfortunately, it is close to the reality of how some attorneys market their law firms. (Law books? Check. Snarky lawyers? Check. Ugly green marble? Double check.)

We see clichés like this all the time. Law firms spend thousands — sometimes tens of thousands — of dollars on a new website, only to spoil it by slapping on a giant photo of a gavel. Sigh.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you are a lawyer struggling to convey your firm’s mission and reputation through photography, here are a few simple alternatives to try. (A good web design company should have access to hundreds of thousands of stock photos and, if they are anything like PaperStreet, they help you select from them for free. Better yet, go custom.)

Show Your Personality

If someone has found your website, chances are they were searching for it on Google, either by typing in their legal need (say, Florida probate attorney) or you firm name. Either way, this means they already know you are a lawyer. There is no need to hit them over the head with obvious lawyer images, like scales of justice. If you are struggling because your law firm serves a wide variety of clients across multiple practice areas, instead focus on something else specific — like your firm personality:

http://www.llw-law.com/

Focus on Your Client

Instead of images that focus on your firm (“Courthouse steps! Get it? We go to court!”) why not feature images that focus on your clients? This is a no-brainer for firms that serve particular business industries — manufacturing, agriculture, etc.  Here’s one of our clients who specializes in cruise line defense:

www.horrnovakandskipp.com

Focus on Your (or Your Client’s) Product

Obvious examples of this would be real estate photos for a real estate lawyer or technical photos for intellectual property attorneys.  Even better, incorporate technical drawings and architectural blueprints that have a compelling, graphic quality.

If you have multiple products or practice areas, you don’t have to pick just one. Simply make sure that the photos are similar enough in style and tone to be grouped together. Putting them all in black and white, or sepia, is one way to do this easily.

www.bloomlegal.com

Focus on Your Heritage

If your firm is lucky enough to have a long history, flaunt it. If you don’t have any old internal photos, visit your local library, historical society or even the Library of Congress online at www.loc.gov/pictures/ for some ideas. Classic black and white photos of your community from around the time your firm was founded can stand alone, or be juxtaposed against modern photos, to communicate that you are traditional and established, yet have kept up with the times.

Tell a Story

Too many lawyer websites are boring – which is ironic because every lawsuit is the result of conflict, and conflict is the key element of storytelling. What is the main conflict your clients face? Feature photos that illustrate this.

www.smglegal.com

Still Stumped?

Some of the hardest law firms to illustrate without resorting to clichés are those that represent businesses in general (or worse, the public in general) across dozens of divergent practice areas. If your website currently features people in suits carrying briefcases and shaking hands, you know what I mean.

In such cases, the answer isn’t easy enough to break down in a quick blog post. It requires you  — and your web designer/marketing team — to sit down and identify what specific strength you want to convey and who exactly you want to convey it to.  This could require hard choices. But it is important to make them.

www.bergersingerman.com

Otherwise, you’ll resort to those tired old clichés and end up lumped with all the  lawyers at Franklin & Bash.

(To check out the show’s hilarious promos, go to www.weretotallylawyers.com. The “Hot Tub” one is my personal favorite.)

Selecting a Lawyer

A large majority of respondents who have used the services of lawyers in the past five years report that area of law practiced (88%), character attributes (88%), general reputation (81%) past results (74%), and client endorsements (61%) are important attributes to consider when choosing a lawyer. Comparatively, only 12% selected celebrity or well-known person endorsements as an important consideration.

Editor Note: The good news is that the practice areas are very important to selecting a lawyer, as is character. Endorsements and results are also reasons to choose a lawyer.

Lawyer Selection

For those who report hiring a lawyer within the past five years, the most important reason for selecting that lawyer or law firm is through a friend’s or relative’s recommendation (46%), followed by previous knowledge of the lawyer or law firm (11%). Comparatively, few respondents report that their most important reason for choosing a lawyer or law firm is through an advertisement (5%) or an Internet search (2%).

Editor Note: The best referrals always come from a friend, which is true in almost any industry.  While survey respondents may state that only 2% choose a lawyer from an Internet search, they certainly do search for lawyers online.  Per Google’s own data of search volume, in Florida alone, the top 50 search terms brought in over 100,000 search queries each month. [http://www.paperstreet.com/blog/3505]

Prestige

Respondents indicate a very high level of prestige for doctors (89% great or considerable prestige). Lawyers (59%) and accountants (55%) rate about evenly when considering level of prestige, followed by bankers (45%) and real estate agents (26%). Those respondents who think highly of lawyers also tend to think highly of the justice system in general.

Editor Note: Overall, lawyers are just below doctors on the prestige scale.

Advertisements

Just over one-fifth (22%) of respondents feel that advertisements in general for professional services are misleading, while an equal percentage (22%) of respondents feel they are accurate.

Editor Note: Seems like a quarter of the people believe the ads are misleading and a quarter believe they are accurate.  That is a big middle ground of indecisive people.

Outlook

Almost three-fifths (59%) report that their regard for the Florida Court system is about the same after viewing lawyers television advertisements, while one-quarter (25%) report their view is lower and 10% report their view is higher.

Editor Note:  Well that is good, 75% of the people who view the ad either have the same opinion or higher.

Words That Describe Television and Internet Lawyer Advertisements

71% of respondents list “self-serving” as one of the words that describes the advertisements for lawyers they have seen on television, while 62% list misleading and 61% list manipulative. Next are emotional (46%), informative (45%), helpful (42%), confusing (37%), dignified (36%), high quality (34%), humorous (31%) and truthful (26%).

Editors Note:  While I think that most advertisements are self serving, perhaps all lawyers should run more “The more you know” or GI Joe style PSAs.

Confidence in the Florida Court System

In general, nearly two-fifths (38%) of respondents have confidence in the Florida Court System, compared to nearly one-quarter (24%) who do not have confidence.

Editors Note:  Ouch.  The Florida Bar needs to start a PR campaign.  Only 38% have confidence in the system.

Use of a Lawyer

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents have not used the services of a lawyer in the past five years. A large majority of those respondents also report that they do not plan to hire a lawyer in the next 12 months. Over four-fifths (82%) of respondents who have used a lawyer in the past 5 years report that they are satisfied (59% very; 23% somewhat) with the legal services they received.

Editor Note: I find it a bit odd that two-thirds of study respondents have not used a lawyer in the past five years.  What if Coca Cola did a study about soft drinks and the respondents had not drunk a soft drink in five years?  Unless the goal is to just gauge overall public perception, then I think we should have a study about people who have used lawyers and who plan to use lawyers within a year.

The Rule
The SCA has found that an advertisement is misleading if it lists law firm offices in several cities when, in fact, there are no bona fide firm offices in those cities. Rule 4-7.2(a)(2) defines “bona fide office” as “a physical location maintained by the law firm or lawyer where the firm or lawyer furnishes or reasonably expects to furnish legal services in a substantial way on a regular and continuing basis.” The SCA has developed the following criteria for determining whether an advertised location is a bona fide office:

The Test
1. Does the office have the firm’s name on an outside office sign or on the building’s directory?
2. Is the advertised location staffed by law firm employees who answer phone calls at that location from prospective clients?
3. Is the advertised location staffed by receptionists, secretaries, clerks, or paralegals employed by the firm on a full-time basis?
4. Other than client interviews and conferences, do firm attorneys furnish legal services from the advertised location?
5. Is the advertised location staffed by at least one firm lawyer on a regular and continuing basis?

Conclusion
Even though an attorney may not advertise an office location that is not a bona fide office, the attorney may nevertheless advertise that he or she is “available for consultation” at a specified location or may identify other locations as “limited service” or “satellite” offices. Make sure you disclose which offices are satellite offices on your website.

If you want to see more rules, visit the Florida Bar website here. There are rules on websites, social networking, videos and traditional ads.

The Supreme Court of Florida has issued a revised opinion amending the rules regulating lawyer advertisements over the Internet. Websites will be subject to the general advertising regulations set forth in Rule 4-7.2. Websites will remain exempt from the filing requirement under Rule 4-7.8. The jurisdictional disclosure requirement will no longer be required on the homepage, but will be required to appear on the website. Requirements for direct e-mail will be reinstated: a statement of qualifications will be required and a disclosure if a lawyer other than the one whose name appears in the advertisement will handle the matter will be required. Direct e-mail also will be required to begin the subject line with the statement “legal advertisement.” The changes will be effective 90 days from the Court’s order in SC10-1014, which has not yet been decided. In Re: Amendments to Rules Regulating The Florida Bar – Rule 4-7.6, Computer Accessed Communications , 34 Fla. L. Weekly S627 (Fla. Nov. 19, 2009), Case No. SC08-1181.

At the direction of the Supreme Court of Florida, the Florida Bar filed a petition on June 1, 2010 to adopt amendments to Rule 4-7.6 on Computer Accessed Communications . The amendments in case number SC10-1014 , if adopted, would provide a method by which a portion of the website would be considered information at the request of a prospective client and therefore not subject to subchapter 4-7 (the lawyer advertising rules) if specific requirements are met. The Florida Bar also filed an emergency motion to request a further stay of the effective date of the amendments to Rule 4-7.6 in SC08-1181. The Court issued an order, granting the bar’s motion to stay the effective date, which will be 90 days from the Court’s order in SC10-1014, which has not yet been decided.

Thanks to our client at Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, P.A. for the analysis and update.

The larger the word, the more times it is searched.  The smaller the term, the less it is searched.  For instance, “criminal lawyer” is searched for 135,000 times per month with broad match turned on, whereas agricultural lawyer is just 73 times per month.

Also below is the actual keyword volume, in case you do not like the visualization.