Websites Matter- Make Sure Yours Represents You at Your Best

 

Click here to read our April newsletter!

Top Three Reasons to Focus on Mobile Communication in 2014

As we near the end of the year, business leaders are focusing on the future, on their strategies and goals, and on ensuring that next year is better than 2013. When setting budgets and priorities, be sure that a high-quality website with decent mobile access is on your must-have list for a successful 2014.
According to Pew Research Center, 63 percent of adult cell phone owners (as of May) use their phones to access the Internet. Whether your organization is B2B, B2C, or somewhere in between, your current and potential clients are trying to find you with their mobile devices.

Why go mobile?

1. No one carries the print phone book in their pocket. Audiences are trying to quickly find your physical location, phone number, and other contact information. Most of us are constantly on the go, so the ease of tapping on an address and being routed to a location or tapping on a phone number to make a fast call is crucial.

Again, recent research by Pew documents that 74 percent of adult smartphone owners say they use their phone to get directions or other information based on their current location. As someone who is usually short on time, I can attest to the frustration of being unable to find my destination quickly and easily-or at all.


2. Failing to embrace mobile holds you back. If a website wows on the desktop and disappoints on the smartphone, the brand appears to lack consistency and a forward-thinking attitude.
What if your news source displayed content online in the same size and format as it did for print? Zoom, scroll, zoom out, left, right, zoom, scroll? No. Websites must translate flawlessly onto mobile devices and function just as well.

If the information housed on your website is not easily and immediately accessible, your visitor is likely to go somewhere else for the content, product or service he/she is seeking. Pinching to zoom in on a website that isn't responsive gets old fast. (Responsive design is aimed at providing an optimal viewing experience, easy reading, and navigation with a minimum amount of resizing, panning, and scrolling across a wide range of devices-from mobile phones to desktop.

3. Just because you have a "mobile site" doesn't mean it's working. Did you consider your user before adopting a mobile strategy? Many open source platforms (such as WordPress or Drupal) have options for a generic "mobile friendly" themes or versions, but often you're getting the most basic, boring, and unbranded mobile presence possible.

The mobile site should not be an afterthought to the mobile desktop site or the exact same website attempted to be compacted into a 4.87-inch screen. Businesses and brands should begin with a thoughtful understanding of targeted users' needs and create mobile experiences that impress users. Can your visitors share information about your organization or business from their mobile devices?

Can everyone easily find the methods to contact you, mail a donation, walk through your doors? If your user is lost, can your mobile presence lead them where they need to be? If the answer to any of these questions is "no," strongly consider making mobile a priority in 2014.

Kiersten Bagley is the Digital Marketing & PR Specialist at Speak Creative, a digital agency based in Memphis, TN. Follow her on Twitter @kabagley and read what's spoken by the agency at @speakcreative. 

Top Online Forums for Attorneys

1. Lawyers.com A leading legal site, their forums are also not to be missed. Most active discussions are listed at the very top, while scrolling down gives you even more. They also offer many legal forms, resources, and even a blog to help make sense of it all.


2. The Law Similar to the above, this site offers everything you could imagine in a legal site, including a massive forum. There is an A to Z section of categories to choose from and even sub-categories within them. Be sure not to miss the Law Library with more.


3. Legal Nut Get discussions for everyone from law students to practicing attorneys here. They also have legal news and even a special section for passing the LSAT. They also have relevant articles for the reading.


4. Free Advice Get just what the title promises with a visit here. Free legal advice comes in every subject from auto accident to wills. There is even insurance advice on the site.


5. The Attorneys Forum Instead of massive boards that go everywhere, this forum is simpler and offers more ease in finding what you’re looking for. They include latest posting, how many are viewing now, and even a little preview of the latest comment.


6. Law Info Visit here to get 872 rooms on various subjects for attorneys. They provide an opportunity to share information based upon an array of legal topics. You can even search for federal or class action legal discussions.


7. Undercover Lawyer This forum bills itself as “what your boss does not want you to know.” A lot of work-related issues are discussed here. A few samples include early retirement, discrimination, and contingency vs. hourly fees.


8. About Law If working as a law practice manager or for one, these forums have items for you. It is run by William Pfeifer of About.com who has lots to say on his blog for About.com. There are even essential reads on it such as “Become the Expert in Your Specialty” and “Lawyer Email Scams.”


9. Law Vibe This forum allows visitors from all over the world to come and discuss law. Five main topics include legal profession, law student, shooting the breeze, updates, and a suggestion box.


10. Expert Law Finally, if you can’t find it in the above, you can probably find it here. The folks at Expert Law have the specific goal of helping visitors find answers to their legal questions. There are loads of forums to choose from as well as legal articles, litigation support, and even expert witnesses.

Click here to see the rest!

Maximizing Your Marketing in a Bad Economy Part II

More high-tech, low-cost ideas for marketing yourself, your Firm, and practice area courtesy of free publicity guru Bill Stoller.

Money Saver #4: Free Keyword Research Tools
In the Internet age, the role of the press release has expanded considerably. No longer is it simply a one-way communication with journalists. Now, the press release is an integral weapon for building web traffic and reaching consumers directly, thanks to the art of search engine optimization.

Your releases need to be optimized for the right keywords to reach your target market. Here’s a site that can help you find those elusive words and phrases --
and it’s free!
http://seocompany.ca/tool/8-keywordsuggestion-
tools.html

Money Saver #5: Create Podcasts For Free
Podcasts are a great way to build a loyal audience. And it couldn’t be easier to create and host a podcast without spending a penny.

To create your podcast: I recommend Audacity, a
free, open-source recorder that’s a snap to use.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

To get music for your podcast: The Podsafe Music Network offers loads of excellent music that’s legally cleared.
http://music.podshow.com/

To host your podcast: Find free, easy-to-use hosting at http://www.podomatic.com/

Money Saver #6: Use Twitter to Build Your Business
What started out as a means for folks to send silly micro-messages to one another is maturing into a useful marketing tool. Here’s a superb guide on how to get
the most out of this free service:
www.carolinemiddlebrook.com/blog/twitter-guide/

Money Saver #7: Get a High Google Rank Free

1. Create a keyword-targeted article and submit it to
a top site like ezinearticles.com or goarticles.com
2. Submit the article link to social networking sites
using socialmarker.com
3. Link to the article in your blog and include the link
when you comment on other blogs.

Make Your Website Reporter Friendly

Welcome back! We hope everyone had a relaxing holiday last week. I know its tough to get motivated to get back to work, but if you are anything like me you like to start the New Year with debts paid, goals established, employees motivated and websites optimized to the hilt for lots of new year business.

With that in mind, today we talk about optimizing your website for not just search engines, but reporters. Today's post is courtesy of an expert on this subject, communicator extraordinare Charles Pizzo of Ragan communicators.com:

Some 10 years into the Internet revolution, you'd think companies would have their acts together when it comes to creating great online pressrooms. But according to Charles Pizzo, a communications counselor who's a close watcher of Web press rooms, plenty of them still stink.

"PR people design press rooms for their bosses, and not for the media,'" says Pizzo. "They're beholden to marketing departments, who are making them post voluminous piles of information." Pressrooms are often dumping grounds for marketing material that journalists don't really need—and don't have enough of the brief, easy-to-scan info that reporters want.

"Journalists need fact sheets with bullet points, and they don't want to have to scroll down the page to find what they're looking for," Pizzo says. Herewith, Pizzo's suggestions on reporters' loves and hates when it comes to online pressrooms.

What reporters hate

Poor organization: Pizzo says the online pressroom for Entergy is a great example of organization. Press releases are organized by year, with press releases going back only a few years on the same screen. "Old releases should be archived," Pizzo says.

Too many PDF files: Some organizations post press materials as PDF documents, which need to be opened using the Adobe Acrobat plug-in. "They'll do this because they're control freaks, and they want their logos and the text to appear just so," Pizzo says. "In some newsrooms, reporters can't launch plug-ins, so they'd have to download the PDF, and open it elsewhere. Do you really think that if they're on deadline that they'll take the time to do that?"

What reporters love

One-click access: Too many Web sites force reporters to guess where the pressroom is hiding, Pizzo says: Is it in the "About" section? "Company"? Make sure there's a direct link off of your company's home page.

News on the home page: Pizzo likes Bell Canada Enterprises' Web site, which has news releases right on the home page. "When you do that, not only are you serving your media audience, but you're serving investors as well," Pizzo says.

After-hours contacts: Sure, no PR person really wants to post her cell phone number to a public Web site, but some sort of after-work contact info is essential, Pizzo says: "News cycles are 24/7." One option is to do as the Federal Aviation Administration does, and post an after-hours administrative number, which will connect an on-deadline reporter to the right PR person if necessary.

Useful search functions: Sure, you post press releases, but are they searchable? "They have to be, because reporters work by beats," Pizzo says. At the very least, allow them to be organized by subject matter: "Lists are out, and categorization is in." He likes the way Texas Instruments allows visitors to do full-text searches on releases.

Fact sheets: Where have the bulleted, easy-to-read facts sheets gone? Pizzo says they're a rare find in pressrooms, and that's too bad, because they're a brilliant tool for time-pressed journalists.

Newsletter formats: Too many pressrooms are set up to look like lists. Pizzo likes the varied newsletter-like design of Visteon's Web newsroom, which presents visiting journalists with all sorts of useful tools: press kits, events, media contacts and executive head shots.

Printer-friendly: It's a small touch, but one many Web sites neglect, Pizzo says. Do you offer pressroom visitors a printer-friendly option, or do you force them to print out extra pages and waste ink?

Executive speeches and articles: "Reporters don't want stale quotes from your press releases. They want to find something on their own from a speech—something that hasn't been used by everyone else," he explains.

FAQs: "If your PR staff if answering the same questions from reporters more than a few times a month, put them into an FAQ," Pizzo advises. And if the questions involve simple factual information, like how many employees you have, make up a fact sheet.

Downloadable logos: Not enough Web press rooms offer these, Pizzo says, which makes no sense. "I think companies are afraid someone's going to use their logo on stationery or something. But reporters will just end up taking the logo off the home page if they need it." You're better off providing high-resolution versions.

How Free Reports Can Help Your Firm Market

Have you considered writing a free report but never really taken the next step? If so, you’re not alone. Many attorneys I’ve worked with have heard that free reports are an important piece to their law firm Internet marketing structure. But they aren’t sure how or why they are important.

The real value of a free report in law firm Internet marketing is in its role as an “ethical bribe”. In essence, you ask potential clients to give you some information about themselves in exchange for some truly valuable legal information. That information you are asking for is their contact information. And that is a key first step in beginning a trust-building relationship with them.

Once you have the prospective clients contact information (and some added credibility), the next phase of your law firm Internet marketing plan can begin (more about this later). But first, you need to make sure your report is worth the valuable information the prospective client has just given you.

Here are four proven elements to a well-crafted free report in your law firm Internet marketing structure: Addresses issues that the individual really cares about – Remember, your clients may not care about legal precedents, but they are very likely to care about to save money during divorce proceedings. Uses regular laymen’s language – If they are being completely honest, most people would tell you they prefer to read USA Today over the New York Times. While the NYT is a serious paper for serious people, USA today is interesting at the individual level, and it’s written in an easy-to-read format. Builds credibility for your law firm – Don’t miss this opportunity to share client quotes or real life results you’ve gained for your clients.

Perhaps the most important, element to your law firm Internet marketing plan is to include a worthy call to action – By the end of the report, the prospective client should be interested enough to take a next step toward you. Whether that is going to your web site for more information, or signing up for your newsletter. In sum, the free report can be an indispensible law firm Internet marketing tool. Its real value to your law firm Internet marketing structure is as the first step in connecting with new clients.

If used correctly, it earns you both contact information and credibility. And don’t forget to include that all-valuable call to action. If your prospective client doesn’t take that next step, your report hasn’t completely done its job in your law firm Internet marketing scheme.

PR in the Age of Search Engine Optimization

Consider this: Up to 80 percent of Web traffic now begins in a search engine. Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important practice that businesses are now embracing as they seek to stay competitive in a world linked 24/7 to the Web.

Between December 2005 and April 2006, online searches jumped 25 percent from 5.1 billion to 6.4 billion per month. Annualized, that shift is a 95 percent increase.

Potential clients are now buying services, not waiting to be sold. Through comprehensive identification of keyword search phrases and other research, SEO provides companies with a powerful way to influence the decisions and perceptions of consumers interested in their
services.

The business reality of the Web’s impact is changing the way law firms need to conduct effective public relations efforts. Here are five ways to get top-dollar results from your firm’s PR efforts in the age of optimization.

• Smart optimization helps you speak directly to your audiences.
  Today smart optimization enables you to bypass mainstream media gatekeepers and go directly to your audience via optimized press releases, white papers, blogs, and Web landing pages found directly through Google, Yahoo! and other search engines.
  
  
• Speak in your audience's language, not yours.
  Audiences don't need to learn about your Firm's practice areas, they want information helpful to them. Replace your legalese-heavy 'Our practice areas' with "Ten important things to know about real estate law".
  
  
• Its not just who you know but who knows you.
  A key factor in favorable search engine rankings is the number of inbound links from other Web sites and the quality of those links. Some of the most sought-after links are those from .gov and .edu domains. Search engines know these are credible institutions so having them link to you increases your search engine power. How do you do this? Online article distribution- (see our Social Media for Attorneys page for details) press release optimization, and by registration of your Web site with relevant, high-quality online directories.
  
  
• Be professional, everywhere.
  Keep your firm messaging consistent. Periodically, do Google searches of not only your Firm name, but the partner's names and key words that identify your practice. Make sure there aren't any unprofessional or contradictory messages out there on the World Wide Web.
  
  
• Move beyond mainstream media.
  With more and more media layoffs the opportunity is better than ever to get your message out there so get to work!
  

Using Videos Effectively on Firm Websites

There has been a lot of talk about whether or not to utilize videos in Firm websites. What video is interesting and useful and which is boring and too self-serving?

It is best to start by examining the motivations of the audience for a particular firm or practice area. If you determine through target market research the audience wants an attorney that is competent in the media spotlight- a video such as the one we created for high profile defense attorney Terry Yates is perfect. We simply recorded some of his TV appearances and spliced the video together to look as though it is a TV news promo.

Click here to watch it

This sort of video has the effect of positioning the attorney as an expert in their practice area via third-party media mentions. Obviously, the most effective free advertising any professional can get.

Interested in putting an effective video together for your website? Start collecting video, pictures, sound, any multimedia resource that presents you or your Firm in the position of an expert and call us, we'd be happy to put together a video for you that meets your goal and targets your audience.

Obama's Use of Technology to Communicate Didn't End With Election

Friday, we talked about Obama's new website, change.gov and what it means for the new frontier of communications. Sunday in the Houston Chronicle, journalists Richard Dunham and Dwight Silverman took a more comprehensive look at Obama's Web 2.0 strategy and how it beat out traditional thinking about press releases, press conferences and media kits. Here is an excerpt every lawyer should read as it heralds the beginning of a whole new way of communicating not with the media, but directly with your audience:

The next president's Internet strategy could allow him to bypass mainstream media outlets and talk radio, alike. But his technological prowess could foster resentment among the media and lawmakers on the receiving end of messages from the White House Web machine.

Obama's advisers are willing to take that chance.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 46 percent of Americans used the Internet, e-mail or text messaging to get information about the 2008 campaign or to mobilize others.

That's more than the 34 percent who read newspapers daily, the 39 percent who watch cable news or the 29 percent who view network TV news, Pew found.

And though the 47-year-old Obama is older than Bill Clinton was when he became president in 1993, the BlackBerry addict from Illinois is much more in sync with the emerging technology than the two relatively young presidents he follows: Clinton and George W. Bush.

Already, Change.gov sends a clear signal that Obama plans to replace the largely static Web sites of the Clinton and Bush years with an interactive venture.

The president-elect's Web site declares that the goal of his efforts is to create "a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for America's citizens."

For example, Obama has promised to give the American public an online "comment period" before he signs all non-emergency legislation.

"I think you're going to see an extraordinary reinvention of how the president connects with the people," said Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, a tech-savvy Democratic group. "President Obama will be using a whole array of 21st century tools to define his relationship with the American people."

Social networking

A clue that Obama wanted to be on the cutting edge of political communication was his campaign's hiring of Chris Hughes, the 24-year-old co-founder of the phenomenally successful Facebook social networking site, to be a top strategist.

The Obama campaign has collected about 10 million e-mail addresses, and its database contains details of the issues of concern to many of those citizens.

Although federal election law may not permit Obama to transfer the data to government computers, PoliticsOnline's Noble thinks more than 50 million Americans would sign up for Obama's www.whitehouse.gov Web site within six months.

Another likely scenario: a new federal government "smartphone" application. This could allow Americans with mobile devices or home computers to access government services quickly — ranging from applying for welfare to checking campaign finance documents.

What's more, an agency like the Federal Emergency Management Agency could create a smartphone application that makes it easy to apply for and track the status of assistance requests.

More than any politician since the Internet was opened to the public in 1990, Obama has leveraged the online world effectively.

On www.barackobama.com, there are links to 16 social networks where Obama has a presence. They include familiar names such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube, as well as more specialized networks, including BlackPlanet, Faithbase, MiGente, MyBatanga and AsianAve.

On Flickr, there are photos of Obama volunteers working in regional headquarters, shots from the convention and on the campaign trail, and photos of the Obama family watching election returns on Tuesday.

Public input

The core of Obama's strategy was my.barackobama.com, a social network that let followers and volunteers share organizational tips, discuss successes and failures, and plan local events.

Knowing that many younger voters rely on their cell phones and PDAs to communicate, the Obama campaign used tools such as text messaging for those who were away from their computers.

More than 3 million people signed up to receive the announcement of Obama's running mate. The campaign then tapped those numbers for the rest of the campaign.

Obama's staff also created an application for Apple's iPhone, timed to be available as a free download when the latest model was released in July.

The application tapped into the contact list on a user's iPhone, urging calls to friends who live in battleground states. It sorted the contact list by state, based on area code, then noted whether the owner had already called that person.

In the end, Obama won the votes of 66 percent of voters under the age of 30, according to CNN exit polls.

"It's not the victory of the gadgets," said Jim Henson, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. "It's the victory of a sophisticated media strategy. And that's what you're going to see continued."

Kyle Pendergast of the Chronicle Washington bureau contributed to this report.

The Ultimate Website Example

Many political pundits believe it was Barack Obama' Chief Campaign strategist, David Plouffe who can take a bulk of the credit for his election. How Plouffe did it is a process that should be studied by communications experts for years to come. Plouffe not only utilized web 2.0 techniques, he embraced them and redefined what a campaign for the Presidency could look like. Even though the campaign is over Plouffe's winning strategy is still being utilized by the administration. Case in point: change.gov.

This website is incredibly clean, simple and user-friendly. It is familiar to those who visited the barackobama.com campaign website. The site allows the viewer to get a real-time look at the formation of Obama's administration as it happens. Features include uploaded speeches, a newsroom, a place to apply for a job, volunteer opportunities, bios of appointees, the administration's agenda and time lines for completion, a blog, upcoming events and a transition directory. There is even an opportunity for the visitor to weigh in on what they'd like to see in a section called:

It’s Your America: Share Your Ideas

The story of the campaign and this historic moment has been your story. Share your story and your ideas, and be part of bringing positive lasting change to this country.

This website is the penultimate example of how to cut out the media and share you and your Firm's message to the target market. No misquotes, no chance for spin, just direct interactive information. Check it out!

Online Press Rooms: For Your Firm and Your Client

Make your Firm's and client's web site reporter-friendly, today we discuss ways to make an online pressroom more than just a

dumping ground for marketing material that journalists don't really need—and don't have enough of the brief, easy-to-scan info that reporters want.
Here are some tips to make your online press room a place that reporters can easily access for information that results in positive publicity!

1. Organization: The online pressroom for Entergy is a great example of organization. Press releases are organized by year, with press releases going back only a few years on the same screen.
   
2. No PDF files: Some organizations post press materials as PDF documents, which need to be opened using the Adobe Acrobat plug-in. But in some newsrooms, reporters can't launch plug-ins, so they'd have to download the PDF, and open it elsewhere. Reporters don't have time to do that.
3. One-click access: Too many Web sites force reporters to guess where the pressroom is hiding. Is it in the "About" section? "Company"? Make sure there's a direct link off of your company's home page.
4. News on the home page: Bell Canada Enterprises' Web site, has news releases right on the home page. When you do that, not only are you serving your media audience, but you're serving investors as well.
5. After-hours contacts: Sure, no PR person really wants to post her cell phone number to a public Web site, but some sort of after-work contact info is essential as news cycles are 24/7.
6. Useful search functions: Sure, you post press releases, but are they searchable? They have to be, because reporters work by beats. At the very least, allow them to be organized by subject matter: lists are out, and categorization is in.
7. Fact sheets: Where have the bulleted, easy-to-read facts sheets gone? Fact sheets are a brilliant tool for time-pressed journalists.
8. Newsletter formats: Too many pressrooms are set up to look like lists. We like the varied newsletter-like design of Visteon's Web newsroom, which presents visiting journalists with all sorts of useful tools: press kits, events, media contacts and executive head shots.
9. Printer-friendly: It's a small touch, but one many Web sites neglect. Do you offer pressroom visitors a printer-friendly option, or do you force them to print out extra pages and waste ink?
10. Executive speeches and articles: Reporters don't want stale quotes from your press releases. They want to find something on their own from a speech—something that hasn't been used by everyone else.
11. FAQs: Create a simple factual information sheet like how many employees you have, etc.
12. Downloadable logos: Many reporters will just end up taking the logo off the home page if they need it. You're better off providing high-resolution versions.

Law Firms and Recruiting Videos

Kashmir Hill, one of my favorite bloggers, blogged yesterday about recruitment videos. Kashmir's blog can be found here: http://abovethelaw.com/2008/10/adventures_in_lawyer_advertisi_2.php

In the blog, Kashmir refers to Chicago firm Freeborn and Peters. Their career site promises associates the opportunity to "thrive in an open, supportive, collegial culture." A series of recruitment videos have firm attorneys and partners in starring roles and are a testament to the firm's unorthodox culture. Check them out here-- they are long, but worth it.

Kashmir's favorite video is "Attorney Lunch," featuring attorneys snoozing, taking shots of coffee, and whistling while they march, as well as an evil partner who misdirects said attorneys to an e-discovery seminar instead of a "weekly gathering of attorneys with free food and drink." We are left wondering though why Freeborn attorneys have such paralegalish days: making photocopies and re-stacking boxes of document production.

Another video, "Bags," ends with the exhortation: "Work Hard. Play Hard." Kashmir's tipster had this to say about using videos like this as a recruiting tool: "I'm still not entirely sure what I think of them as a recruiting tool. On the one hand, they're completely hilarious, especially for a law firm, and I thought it made the firm look like a fun place to work. On the other hand, I could see how a lot of people would think the videos portrayed the associates as unprofessional (doodling and bored while on the phone with someone, looking unprepared while taking a deposition, etc.). So I think it completely depends on how you think they struck the balance between good humor and professionalism. I'm sort of amazed that the firm put the videos up on its website at all, but ultimately I think it was a good thing they buried the videos on the associate recruiting page where potential clients most likely wouldn't look!"


Be sure to check out these videos. They're funny, but are they an effective recruiting tool for new talent and what will be the overall impact on the firm itself? Let me know what you think.

And thanks for this blog, Kashmir!

Ten Ways to Boost Your Google Rank

Google has replaced the Yellow Pages and become the first stop for most people looking for legal representation. Its more important than ever to make sure your Firm's website shows up before your competitor's. But with so many companies out there offering to improve search engine rankings at a hefty price, take some time to learn how to do it yourself and save some money. Here are some tips courtesy of Web expert Gerry McGovern:

The goal of any Web content manager is to increase their company's search engine ranking. This guide to search engine optimization will ensure you're doing all you can.

1. The title tag is critical

The title tag is the single most important piece of content for people who search.

• Keep it short: Don’t have more than 60 characters (with spaces), which is roughly 8-10 words.
• Lead with the most important careword for that particular page. Always start off with what is specific about the page and move to what is general. Many websites begin their title with their brand or organization name, and then follow with what is unique about the page. (This is a very common mistake, so check out your website.)

2. The description tag is recommended

The description tag is not nearly as important as the title. However, it does have some value. Write it as a summary and keep it under thirty words. It should be written in a compelling, clear manner.

3. Light pages, and lean, quality HTML

The less HTML code you have, the better, as it makes it easier and faster for the search engine to index your page. Aim for a total page weight of 50 KB for any page (that’s including graphics). Certainly, anything over 100 KB is going to be slow, and some search engines don’t like pages that are over 100 KB.

4. Have a site map/index

People like site maps/indexes, and so do search engines. Make sure that the site map is available from the homepage, that it is presented in a text-based format, and that it is kept up to date.

5. Avoid Flash

I’ve nothing against Flash design except for the fact that I generally detest it. It’s such a waste of time; fourth rate TV advertising by people who will never get the chance to do a real TV ad. Search engines don’t like Flash either, and find it very hard to index Flash-based pages.

6. Build your Web site in static HTML

You don’t need a “dynamic” website unless you have dynamic content, such as airline seat availability and pricing which needs to be dynamically published from a database because it constantly changes. You may store your website in a database but you’re better off publishing it as a static HTML website. It’s cheaper, the pages will download faster, and search engines will find it easier to comprehensively index your website.

7. Avoid PDFs

One of the sure signs of a badly managed website is that it has lots of PDFs. Publishing content in PDF is usually a shortcut. Search engines have got better at indexing PDFs but it is still recommended that you publish a heading and summary in HTML.

8. Watch your JavaScript

Any links that you have in JavaScript should also be published in HTML, otherwise the search engine won’t be able to follow those links. Rollovers are cool but they cause nothing but problems, so unless you have a brilliant technical team, avoid them.

9. Alternative text

As a rule you should have alternative text for every single image. However, the only alternative text that search engines recognize is for those images that are linked. Make sure you use descriptive, careword-rich text.

10. Keyword tags

Over the years, some websites tried to trick search engines by stuffing keyword tags with lots of popular words. Because of this, most search engines give very little value to keyword tags

Gerry McGovern provides Web site content management solutions.

Draw Visitors to Your Website and Keep Them Coming Back!

With the importance of a Firm's website growing every day, how do you attract potential clients online and keep them coming back? Today we examine the best way to do just that.

Welcome Web surfers: How to attract first-time visitors.

1. Search engine optimization. Google is the search engine that drives the most traffic to your site so task your staff to incorporate into your Firm Web copy key terms that people might search. This organic search method is called search engine optimization, or SEO.

Click here to learn how your Web site winds up on a Google search page.

2. Content syndication. Disseminate your legal intelligence articles to other Web sites. That way, someone searching a particular topic might stumble upon an article written by one of your attorneys and then head to the company’s Web site.

Please come again: How to ensure return visitors.

Ensuring visitors return to your Firm site begins with a payoff. What’s on the site better match what you promised would be there.

1. Quality video. If the Firm's bios are videotaped, ensure that video is quality. If the Firm has been involved in some high profile litigation and received media coverage, make sure the clip is featured on the site.

2. Strong writing. Keep Web copy short and punchy.

3. Customized pages. That means someone interested in a specific service, say Intellectual Property, can follow a link from the company’s home page that brings them to a landing page built specifically for the topic. The purpose of these customized pages, is to give visitors easy, bulleted scannable content as well as an easy pass to find more information.

Firm Website Bio Videos- Do You Need One?

I am on a national law marketing list server that recently tackled the question about the proliferation of videos on firm websites. Needless to say the discussion struck a nerve. Suddenly my Inbox was flooded with differing opinions about the videos from disgust at the "ego-driven" exercise to infatuation with the technology. I thought I would share some highlights from the conversation with you and the general consensus we all reached after we got sick of writing about the topic.

Why do we need these? Is it worth the cost? How do we know it's worth the cost - how can we measure ROI to this added investment. Just because technology is the "cool" thing, why will prospects and clients find video-bios an advantage to THEM? Why bother with it? Written bios on the web are good enough. Further, some professionals will relate well to the camera, others will not. How will we as marketers be able to assist those less camera-friendly in communicating a powerful message? What will it take, and how much will that kind of coaching cost? Sometimes a photo, and audio, and a mini-movie of this person gives me a feeling about him or her. It's an opportunity to have potential clients "connect" with the professional early on- if these videos are produced properly.

Consensus: These videos must be less like video-brochures and invite the viewer into a "dialogue" about the issues that are most important to them. The starting question should always be, "What are my goals? What do I want to accomplish in a video, website, blog, etc.?" Then, weigh your answer against the following litmus test: "If I could care less about the lawyers or law firm involved, why would I surf/read/watch???" If you can't give a strong answer to that question, don't bother.

If you do have a ready answer to that question, then focus on the medium and the best way to produce. In most cases, what you would produce would not be a firm profile, but, instead, a set of videos that provide helpful information and leave the viewer firmly convinced that ABC Law Firm is the best shop to solve my problem.

Additional comments:
As much as I am awed and amazed by technology, and relish working with it myself, it is so important for us to remember how suspicious and uncomfortable many people still remain with technology.

It's our opportunity to help those we serve leverage it successfully. And this technology is only desirable if it brings our professional clients greater relatedness and success with their clients.

If video allows us to "experience" the lawyers, a bland video allows us to experience bland lawyers ... and an unimaginative drone who stands in front of law books or in a conference room pontificating is what most "experiments" have produced thus far.

Here are some good examples of law firm videos done well:

An expensive version:
www.babcockfirm.com/

A lower-tech version:
www.lowenstein.com/deakeley/