Attorney Website Design Blog

You draft a clever email message and send it off to hundreds, or even thousands, of contacts and there you have it – your firm’s monthly e-newsletter. Seems simple but without the right program, these email blasts can do more harm than good. Just yesterday, we received an email blast from a law firm which committed all of the cardinal sins of e-newsletters. While the greeting was a nice one, the delivery and presentation of information was grotesque and potentially unethical on the part of the firm. We thought we’d share these mistakes so you can make sure your firm doesn’t repeat them by using a well-designed e-newsletter program.

The Amicus Creative team has been hard at work over the past few weeks, launching new websites for law firms across the country.  We wanted to share just a few of these great sites with you:

The Estep Law Firm, a St. Louis Estate Planning Practice

The Law Office of Charles Leonard Mitchell, a New York City Labor/Employment Law Firm

Schneiders & Associates, L.L.P, an Oxnard, CA Law Firm specializing in Business, Bankruptcy and Estate Planning

In 2012, we've developed over 100 new attorney websites but we're not done yet. Stay tuned for even more great new Amicus Creative sites in the weeks ahead!
 

Over the past week, people all along the East Coast felt the negative effects of Hurricane Sandy. With high winds and surging sea levels, this “Frankenstorm” caused severe damage to millions of homes and businesses.

Success is always subjective. For some firms, website success may be achieving a top spot on a local Google search. For another, it might be getting four leads a month from the firm’s main site. And yet another may just consider having a professional-looking website as online marketing success.

Every day we’re contacted by prospective clients.  Many ask the same questions like how well do your clients rank with Google? How long is the development process?  How extensive is your content management system? One consideration which is far too often overlooked when selecting a website provider is loading time. How quickly does the server respond when a visitor arrives at a new site?

A slow loading time can be harmful in a number of ways.

We meet a lot of attorneys at conferences and networking events. Of course, the topic of their firms’ websites always comes up. The most common reaction we hear from lawyers is “I have a website but it could be better.” After digging a little deeper, we often find out why it could be better. Often the graphics just aren’t great, the content was never completed, the site is outdated or it looks nice but it just isn’t bringing in business. In an effort to help attorneys better understand the potential of their marketing efforts, we’re pleased to offer free, no-obligation website assessments.

We’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with the New Jersey State Bar Association! As an Affinity Partner, we will extend a significant discount on our website development fees to all members of the NJSBA. In addition to a stunning design and unparalleled one on one client service, Amicus Creative will provide all firms  with compelling content, search engine optimization, unparalleled content management system and interactive tools to engage visitors.

You can learn more about this great member benefit by visiting NJSBA's website or contacting our sales team.

During your many trips around the web, you’ve likely encountered “live chat” on a site. Usually it comes in the form of a small pop up window with a message along the lines of “Hi. I’m Sarah. Can I help answer any questions for you today?”

The main goal of this feature is to encourage interaction with visitors before they jump off of the site. This tool allows the web user to make contact in the most non-committal manner; after all, they don’t have to pick up the phone or submit a contact form. Heck, they don’t even have to give you a name and they get an instant response.

Even though we're all about technology here at Amicus Creative, we have to admit that tech terms can be confusing. There are lots of them and when developing a website, many lawyers face the difficult task of familiarizing themselves with all of the basics of domains, websites, DNS hosting and email. To save attorneys time, we thought we'd create a little cheat sheet of key terms and how they are all connected when it comes to your law firm's website.

When discussing content optimization with our clients, we’re often asked whether or not people tend to search by “lawyer” or “attorney”. Truth be told, internet users include both in their search queries. In an attempt to show up in all search results, we often find attorneys trying to include the different terms in a short page of content or even worse, in one sentence. This is largely unnecessary and can actually turn off site visitors.

Join Amicus Creative’s CEO Fred Cohen for Web Presence 101 - Websites and Blogs: The Basics, an informative webinar hosted by LegalTypist.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012 from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM

Learn how to establish an online presence that will increase exposure, enhance credibility and, in time, supercharge referrals.

In this practical presentation you will gain an overview of effective strategies for building and maintaining your web presence, including:

• How to establish a brand that powerfully resonates with prospects, clients and colleagues
• Search engine basics: how does it all work and how can you increase your firm’s online exposure
• Turning your website into a potent resource
• How to use legal content to convey credibility
• Overview of blogging, its benefits and best practices
• Criteria for selecting a website provider

By attending this webinar, you will attain a comprehensive understanding of all the critical elements of creating an effective on line presence, as well as common pitfalls to avoid.

Register online.