Acquiring extra visitors to your law firm’s website is just half the battle. Being confident that they are calling you when they arrive is seriously important. Here are several ideas you can easily employ to produce more interaction through your law firm’s site:

1. Make certain your telephone number is shown prominently on each and every page of your website - This may seem to be obvious, but it’s important. You shouldn’t make visitors have to click through to your contact us page. Showing your phone number inside the top part of your firm’s website, adjacent to the firm’s logo or towards the right side, is a good spot. Just help make sure it can be easily found.

2. Include a submission form on each and every page of your site – Not every potential client wants to speak via telephone. For people that would prefer to email the firm, provide them a form to do so. Better still, make sure that form submission is accessible on every page on the website.

3. Offer a free whitepaper a potential client can get in exchange for their contact details – This not only permits you to have interaction with your website visitors, it even allows you to build trust and establish your firm as an authority. Here is an example of this strategy in action on our very own site.

4. Present a newsletter sign-up – Constructing a list of interested readers is a excellent method to market your law firm. Make certain you are following up by sending out a newsletter at the very least once a month.

You can download our Complete Library of Guides for Lawyers here. The guides are filled with helpful tips and examples so you can get the most out of your online marketing.

Attorneys regularly inform me that while they put out the hard work to craft and maintain a blog, they find it difficult to get more readers. I have made up a list of several strategies that with minimal effort, will help to give further publicity to your firm’s blog.

1. Distribute the blog to applicable web directories. Even though this should seem obvious, I am stunned at how many lawyers neglect to actually do this. Distributing your firm’s blog to directories can help to give men and women looking for your blawg content the potential to discover it. The following is a checklist of a few blog directories to get you started: Blawg, Technorati, MyBlogLog, and ABA Blawg Directory. There are countless others as well. Just conduct a search for “Legal Blog Directories” and start submitting.

2. Use Twitter to send out your blawg posts. The significant thing about Twitter is that like-minded people can come across one another and share thoughts and content. You can implement a program, for instance twitterfeed, to automatically send out your content as you publish them to your blog.

3. LinkedIn Groups and Facebook. Spreading your articles and thoughts with fellow law firms and group members through LinkedIn and Facebook is a very good means to get additional exposure. Start by subscribing to appropriate LinkedIn groups such as Legal Blogging, Lawyer Marketing – Grow Your Practice, Legal Marketing, and any others that may be more practice specific. Share your posts with the LinkedIn groups. If you produce useful material, people will visit to read and subscribe.

4. Comment on other Attorney’s blawgs. The very dynamic of blogging lends itself to engaging and conversation. Take time to browse other interesting blog articles and remark on these, expressing your thoughts. DO NOT SPAM. The idea of this exercise is to include yourself in the blogging community and participate in the discussion, not spam others.

5. Take advantage of social bookmark sites to submit your most effective legal blog posts. Uploading a great post to sites like Digg, Stumbleupon, Reddit, and Delicious will drive readers to your blawg. If others like the articles you write, they will “vote” for it. This can bring new eyeballs to your posts.

Law firm web marketing begins with a built-in difficulty concerning the content you are writing for the website. It is because the subject material is sophisticated, comprehensive, and requires an advanced degree to understand completely. The content on your website is confronted with the unenviable task of describing, in layman’s terms, very intricate subjects while at the same time struggling with the short lived focus of internet users.

It is essential to recognize that authoring content for the web is unique and must be handled differently than other kinds of traditional writing.

Effective law firm internet advertising involves being familiar with how to craft internet copy

I am going to address writing website content from the perspective of usability and engaging your visitors. Even though it is also valuable to have an understanding of how to craft website content for seo,I will reserve that issue for another post.

The following are a few ideas to keep in mind when writing copy for your legal website and/or blog:

• People visiting your website glance over the web pages…they don’t read them – Keep your paragraphs and sentences simple. Make use of headlines and bolding that highlight your main messages.
• Utilize bullet points - Consumers enjoy lists on the web. Any time lists and bullets are applied correctly, a customer can more easily scan and process the points you address.
• Be conversational, less “marketing speak” – I consistently point out that people prefer to purchase from other people, not faceless law firms. This is particularly legitimate when offering professional products and services. Be sure you compose with your style, while keeping a professional tone.
• Stay away from legal writing – Not only doesn’t the average person have an understanding of it, but these people will quickly write off your material and proceed to another site. Focus is fleeting on the internet, if a prospective customer does not understand what you are stating, they will quickly go somewhere else.
• Employ pictures, video, and designs in your content (where applicable) – This makes your content more visually attractive and pulls the readers in.

A fantastic book to read on the subject is Net Copy by Nick Usborne. It is a easy read that discusses how to approach writing content for the web.

Taking a deeper look at the content on your website will boost the effectiveness of your lawyer internet advertising.

Getting your firm found in local search results is becoming increasingly important. Roughly forty percent of all search requests executed every month have some type of local intent (for example: city or state name, zip code, community, and so forth.). There are certain methods and factors that are influential in helping your law firm website perform well for local searches.

1. Categorize Your Firm The Right Way

Picking the proper categories for your firm in local listings is quite important. Quite a few firms do not devote adequate time thinking about which category labels to use. They dismiss this as a trivial step. When your potential clients are not looking up a specific law firm by name, they first find firms by category. If you don’t associate your firm with the category they are seeking, you won’t be found.

2. The Value of Backlinks and Citiations

Hyperlinks From Other Websites: Backlinks are the currency of the internet. A link to your site is like a vote for your site in the eyes of the search engines. All else being equal, a lawyer site that has additional backlinks from local and pertinent sites will acquire more presence in local search results.

Citations: Citations are references to your firm name, address, and telephone number on various other web sites. These references do not have to include a link to your web site. A good example of a citation might be an online attorney directory where your practice is listed, but not linked to. Another would be a local yellow pages site.

3. The Title Of Your Firm

Your law firm title (ie: the name of your firm) is a very important factor for ranking well in the local search engines. You want your title to be consistent across the listings as well as having it include related phrases to your law firm’s practice. Having uniformity helps your practice create confidence in the eyes of search engines. Integrating appropriate phrases in your title helps your practice get better placement when individuals perform queries. As an example, The Law Offices of Joe Smith, based in Chicago, could create a title called Law Offices of Joe Smith | Chicago Criminal Lawyer. Just keep the title consistent and uncomplicated. Do not attempt to stuff too many keywords into your title.

The goal of using search engines for lawyer marketing is to increase your law firm’s internet visibility. Let’s face it, more and more people are using search engines like online yellow books. What better way to find a lawyer than searching on the internet. The amount of information you can learn about a lawyer from a web listing far-exceeds that of a traditional lawyer directory.

The Net market is growing at an astonishing rate. The sooner you accept search engine marketing for your law firm, the better results you will see from your web marketing campaigns. Once your page appears in the first three results for a particular high volume key phrase, you will see amazing traffic, lead, and new client increases for your firm. Lawyer search engine marketing is the is the future of tapping into the vast number of people online. Successful online lawyer marketing involves demonstrating your professional credentials through articles, analysis and other forms of content. Additionally, using video in your internet lawyer marketing has proven one of the most effective ways to demonstrate expertise. Producing a successful video can be expensive, but if professionally done, it can be well-worth the investment.

It is amazing what the web is able to provide when it comes new client acquisition for law firms. Some law firms have even begun to conduct initial consultations through completely online means. The fact is, there is more information available for both lawyers and consumers when the connection is made through use of successful online lawyer marketing. If you establish a strong web presence in your niche, you will reap impressive benefits from your lawyer internet marketing investments.

In order to have success with online lawyer marketing, you will probably need some help. Unless you can dedicate a significant amount of your professional time to search engine optimization, you will need the assistance of a law firm SEO. But not all lawyer internet marketing services are created equally. Finding one that works for your firm may turn out to be more complicated than you think. The things to keep in mind are that, eventually, you have to be getting more revenue from your online presence than you are spending to build and maintain it. It’s really that simple.

Like SEO companies, not all SEO strategies are created equal. Every technique that is executed on you firm’s site will have some “effect” on its search engine visibility. Some have a great effect, some have little to no effect, and some may even have a negative effect. Some of the most important things to consider when implementing a law firm seo campaign are keyword strategy, site structure, and the quality of the content on your law firm website. Once these components are properly balanced, your website will turn into a client generating machine.

Marketing your law firm on the web can be one of the best marketing investments that you ever make. But it can also be one of the worst. The key is learning how to select the right law firm SEO for your particular firm. This will depend on your budget and goals.

Websites, when done properly, can be very effective advertising for lawyers. Today I will focus on why you need multiple calls to action on your law firm’s website.

Depending on the prospect that arrives on your site, you will see a variety of ways they choose to interact with elements on your web page. This is why it’s important to provide several means of getting them to take a desired action.

When designing our website, we can’t really tell how others will respond to the design since we all have unique tastes. Just because we like it does not mean someone else will. This is the reason that we offer different ways to contact our law firm.

As an illustration, say I want to write a guide that appeals to people with legal problems in my field of practice. What I need to do is display a professional looking graphic of the guide which also is a link to download page where a prospect receives the guide in exchange for contact information. In addition, I will write a short sentence underneath the graphic which links to the same download page. This way, I will capture people that wish to click on the picture as well as the text.

If you were to place another picture with an offer to get a free consultation, as well as a text link for the same thing, and include your firm’s phone number you will appeal to prospects ready to talk now. Some potential clients will want to download a free guide while others are ready to talk today. Giving multiple ways to get in touch with you will increase the chances of visitors to your site converting to prospects.

“If a prospect wants to contact me they go to my contact us page!”

Even though you should have a contact us page, you need to offer value to your site visitors. Put yourself in their shoes. What reasons do they have to get in touch with you? When you provide value in the form of a free guide or free case evaluation, you are giving them a great reason to call or submit their contact information.

By implementing these ideas on your website, you will see how effective advertising for lawyers through the web can be.

Sometimes the best lawyers are not the best business people. Often the skill sets of a lawyer do not translate smoothly over to the business side of running a successful practice.

It is crucial that lawyers learn how to sell. It’s a skill that needs to be developed and polished over time. I think that often times sales has a negative connotation attached to it. However, we need to be able to sell our legal services or our practice won’t survive.

These are 5 sales basics that I think every lawyer should know:

1. Clients Don’t Walk In the Door Check In Hand – It would be great if potential clients walked in ready to pay you for the services they know they need. However, the reality is that they often aren’t sure what to do when it comes to their legal situation. Many will have questions, others are shopping with different attorneys, some won’t have the money, and so on. You need to be prepared to convince these people how you can benefit them and improve their situation. You need to explain what the consequences of NOT hiring an attorney may be.

2. Open Your Ears, Not Your Mouth – I think there is a false impression that the best sales people are the best talkers. In fact, the best sales people are the ones that learn to ask good questions and listen. It is impossible to sell someone without providing value. The best way to provide value is to understand what is valuable to your prospect. The only way to understand that is to listen to what they are telling you.

3. What Are You Doing To Solve Their Problem – It boils down to the simplest of things. What will you do to fix their problem? The better you are at concisely and effectively communicating your ability to solve their problem, the more clients you will have. Talking about yourself and your firm incessantly will not achieve this.

4. Network, Network, Network – The key to sales, especially in the legal field, is networking. Building contacts, relationships, and networks will lead to a successful practice. Ignore this at your own peril.

5. Refine Your Sales Systems – You need to develop systems at your firm for each aspect of the sales process. Think about how you want to handle incoming prospect, intake interviews, follow ups with potential clients, etc. Much of your success rests on your ability to be organized, persistent, and have good follow through. You can’t afford to be disorganized when handling your potential contacts and clients.

Attorneys using the internet to market their practices need to be aware of the content being publicized on their sites. There are many important ramifications of having original quality content on your website. These can range from ethical considerations, marketing effects, and search engine optimization aspects. While some lawyers provide their own site content, many more are turning to third-party content sources. A content production firm will produce new, fresh, and unique content for your website. However, if you decide hire a content production service, be sure you grow your relationship slowly.

Another aspect to hiring the right content provider is being sure they are experienced in SEO. “Writing-well” and “writing-well for the internet” are two different things. Some content providers don’t understand the nuances of content production in the context of SEO. Ideally, your SEO firm handles your site’s content production. That way, you can be sure that your content is written with search engine optimization in mind.

One of the first factors that your content provider should be considering is keyword density. While there is no bright-line rule about how many keywords should be used on a page, there are some basic guidelines. You can visit google.com to get an idea of what they recommend. As a general rule, keyword density should not be recognizable to the reader. In other words, if a visitor to your site can identify your targeted keywords at a glance, you are probably using too many keywords on the page.

Your content provider should also be given a list of keywords that you would like them to target. This is another reason why partnering with a content provider who also performs SEO is so beneficial. You should provide your content producer keywords of low, medium, and high competition. While you should be able to quickly rank for some of the lower competition keywords, it is also important to work your more long-term keyword goals into your content from the beginning.

Another SEO consideration that needs to be considered by your content producer is on-page placement of keywords. As a general rule, keywords should be placed early, used in headers, and used in bold. This is just a general guideline and the issue of keyword placement is a little more contemplated than can be thoroughly explored here.

Using the internet to market your law firm must begin with quality content. The problem is always finding fresh, unique, and seo optimized content that you can rely on. While producing your own content gives you maximum control of quality, it is not always properly optimized. Further, it is difficult to produce good content on a regular basis. That is why hiring a content providing service can be such a good choice.

If you’re law firm SEO efforts have managed to get your firm’s site to the top of the search engine results for the key phrases you’ve targeted, congratulations.

Don’t think that just because your site “ranks” that your law firm search engine optimization is over.

Now is the time to consider building practice-specific sites that target a particular area of law that your practice.

This law firm SEO technique, known as “micro-siteing”, involves building several more specific websites that help promote your firm.

When properly implemented, you can spread your reach and increase your real estate in the top search engine results.

The practice-specific sites you create may be very different from your main site and very different from each other. In fact, if the content is even similar, Google, Yahoo and Bing will discount the value of the these practice-specific sites as duplicates.

In addition to being careful of duplication, it is essential that the sites are robust. Don’t just put a page or two on a topic and expect your visitors to engage your site. For example, if you are building a bankruptcy site, think of what you would want your visitors to know about bankruptcy as if this were your firm’s only site.

Once implemented, you now have more than one site at work for your law firm. This is analogous to having multiple ads in other media. Different color, design, and content will appeal different visitors. You will be able to capture a bigger portion of the targeted search market.

This article provides some basic information about the law firm SEO strategy of practice-specific sites. However, there is much more to consider on this topic. Not implementing this technique properly, can lead to ineffective results. That is why it is important to fully understand the nuances of micro-siteing before diving in.