Attorneys are some of the busiest people on the planet. As a result, it is tough to find the time to run your practice and take advantage of all the marketing opportunities available on the web today. To help lighten your load, we will post some quick and painless attorney website tips in this section on a regular basis. Please remember to check back frequently.
GET ON THE MAP!
You may have seen by now when you type a search into Google with a location mentioned you receive some points on a map listed at the top of your search results. Take for instance the following search for pizza in Austin, TX.
You may be wondering why we're showing pizza places (it's actually getting close to lunch time) but, this example shows how you can position your law firm in location-based searches. Most of the major search engines allow you to list your business on their mapping applications and local directories and it is quick, easy and amazingly free of charge (at this point anyway). Some maps even allow you to post photos which, can only help in differentiating yourself from other law firms in your area. Also, with the massive popularity of iPhones and other web-enabled phones you can get exposure on these devices as well.
Here are some useful links for Yelp, Google, Yahoo! and Bing that will help get you listed on local maps and directories when people are searching for your type of services. And, yes, the directories listed below are free (for now).
- Add Your Business Listing to Yelp
- Add Your Business Listing to Google
- Add Your Business Listing to Yahoo
- Add Your Business Listing to Bing
Get on DMOZ.
DMOZ.org, a.k.a the open directory project is billed as the largest human-edited directory on the web. The beauty of DMOZ is it is free to get listed, you simply need to adhere to their rules for submission which, are clearly explained in their editing guidelines. Another great feature of DMOZ is the fact that they share their listings with several partner sites such as Yahoo, Lycos, AOL, Google and Ask.com. Did we mention Google?
Now, you may be saying to yourself well, I've already submitted my site to my favorite search engine or I've seen it listed in DMOZ's partner sites so, why do I need to be in DMOZ? DMOZ can only help add to your site's popularity, it allows you to control your site's title, description and the category in which it is listed, very powerful and attractive features for a law firm wanting to differentiate themselves in a specific practice area or geographic region.
If you are now excited to submit your website to DMOZ and ready to reap the benefits please be aware that getting listed does not come easy or quickly for that matter. Every submission needs to be reviewed by an actual human DMOZ editor and this can take some serious time. You can expect to wait several weeks or even months to start seeing your listing in DMOZ. Another painful reality is the fact that you may not even be accepted into DMOZ. This is why it is extremely important to only submit your website if it is complete and contains somewhat valuable information. Do not submit your website if it is under construction, has broken links, or missing pages, images, etc.
Published Articles
Regardless of how long you have been practicing law there is probably a good chance you've written an article or two (or several) on your particular practice area. Instead of letting your hard work fade into obscurity buried on your hard drive... why not put it to good use? By simply sharing your wonderful content with a reputable attorney-centric website like your local Bar affiliate, Bar Section, or a Pro Bono Program you can generate new interest in your practice by placing a non-promotional link to your website in the "about the author" section. It's important to note that the link back to your website is important, it's also important to do it very tastefully...bold-face font with your 800 number and "hire us!" is NOT the way to go. However, some nice background information about your credentials and linking keywords under your signature to your website, something similar to "Ft. Myers Family Law Attorney" (notice the reference to your location and practice area) can help add some nice exposure for your firm.
Press Releases
A great way to increase business exposure is to write a press release about any event that your firm/company has recently encountered. Make sure to include key words that would increase your search engine optimization such as: Your Practice Area, Your geographic service area, etc. Once you have an article written, you will need to find a Press Release distribution site. Many press release distribution services exist; the following few are only a handful of some of the more popular services.
Here's an article about writing an effective press release
Fresh (and easy) Content
Let's be perfectly clear, the most effective way to guarantee website success is to consistently create compelling, original content. If you have the time and the creativity nothing compares to good old fashioned useful information. But, since the subject of this article is "Quick and Painless Website Tips" and most of you don't have a spare 30 hours to spend on a creative writing assignment, we'll discuss a more practical approach. Google makes a nice tool to pull in blog headlines from your favorite sources. The dream scenario would be to pull in headlines from your own blog or a highly relevant blog to your particular subject matter. The beauty here is the content stays fresh (it updates dynamically) and all that is required from you is a one-time copy-and-paste installation. You can view a sample of this dynamic feed widget down below. To build your own widget simply visit:
http://www.google.com/uds/solutions/wizards/dynamicfeed.html
So there you go.... Five quick and painless tips you can perform yourself or pass on to a member of your admin staff to add a little energy to your website. Hopefully, you will find these to be useful and simple to implement. Good luck!
